March Round-Up

March has been a brilliant month for books and I have read a couple of fantastic ones throughout the weeks. My first read of the month was Rage Against The Dying by Becky Masterman, her debut novel which turned out to be a rather superb read. Masterman put her characters and her storyline together brilliantly and I found myself submersed in the pages. It was a fantastic read, with an unusual lead character, that I would highly recommend to lovers of the crime/thriller genre.

My next read of the month was Malicious by James Raven. Although it was a reasonably unique storyline I didn't enjoy this one as much; the story rolled on reasonably well but I couldn't connect with the characters at all. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

  

Uprising by Scott G Mariani was my first vampire novel of the month and my first read of this genre in a long while. For me, it took a little while to get going but once it did it pulled you right into the story. I found the vampires a bit cliche for me but, overall, it was a good read with decent characters that I would recommend to those who enjoy the supernatural genre.

The Prey by Andrew Fukuda was another stand-out read of the month for me. A fast-paced, entirely gripping and terrifying read following a small group of humans (hepers) on the run and being chased by vampires (duskers). Fukuda created an entirely unique race of vampires and the whole book had that 'end of the world' feel. It was brilliant and I would highly recommend reading it; it's the 2nd instalment of the series so it would be beneficial to read 'The Hunt' first but the book stands alone well.

 

Currently, I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's a story I've heard a lot of positive things around but I'm finding it all a bit slow at the moment. I hope it picks up a bit as the chapters go on as it has the potential to be an intriguing and fascinating read.

The Prey - Andrew Fukuda

★★★★★

Read : March 2014

"For Gene and the remaining humans - or hepers - death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast...and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they're not the only things following Gene. He's haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they're finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found - and Gene begins to wonder if the world they've entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other...if they can only stay alive."

Gene, Sissy and a small group of friends have escaped from the compound they had been trapped within and set out on their own into 'The Vast.' But they didn't leave alone and their enemies are becoming much smarter and much stronger with each day that passes. Gene and his friends reach the safety of a small village, full of smiles, song and plentiful food...but have they really reached the safe haven they believe it to be..?

They Prey is the second instalment in a series by Fukuda and sequel to 'The Hunt.' Those that have read and enjoyed the first book will fall head-first into this one and find themselves submerged in Gene's terrifying world again. For those that haven't, quite a lot is explained by Fukuda of previous events, but the terminology is something you will pick up along the way. Taking into consideration that this is a part of a series, I think the book stands very well on it's own but maybe a bit more of a recap of the previous book would be handy for those that haven't had the chance to read 'The Hunt' or read it sometime ago.

The Prey took me a couple of chapters to get into but once I'd fallen into the story and the characters it was impossible to pull myself out again, it gripped me through the rest of the pages until the very last word. Fukuda's character's are relateable and believable and I shared my terror with them throughout the chapters.

The last vampire novel I read, Uprising by Scott G Mariani, depicted vampires as a superior, sexy and toughened lot. This novel came from an entirely different angle, that of a group of petrified teenagers running for their lives from these hideous monsters who, throughout the majority of the book, don't appear in the traditional image of a vampire that we envisage in the slightest...which is just brilliant. I found myself frequently forgetting that they were vampires of human appearance as Fukuda described his grotesque, savage, blood-crazed but scarily intelligent beasts. I enjoyed it, it was original..I hadn't read anything with vampires such as this before.

The further you got into the book the more of a gripping, tense read it became. It was a page-turning horror that had me completely spellbound and unable to put it down; each page was filled with fear, survival and a distinct 'end of the world' feeling.

I would most definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys the paranormal, young adult and/or horror genres. It was a fantastic read and I am greatly looking forward to reading Fukuda's next instalment of his series, The Trap.

Uprising - Scott G Mariani

★★★

Read : March 2014

"For centuries, vampires walked the Earth undetected, feasting on humans in keeping with their ancient traditions, but now 21st Century technology has left them open to detection...
To establish order, the Vampire Federation is born, policed by special agents like vampire Alexandra Bishop, authorised to hunt down those who violate the new code. But rebel vampire Gabriel Stone doesn't play by the rules and declares war against the Federation, throwing Alex and her team into turmoil.
Oblivious to the chaos in the vampire world, human Detective Inspector Joel Solomon is drawn into an unlikely alliance with Alex when he investigates a series of gruesome corpses drained of their blood. Together they are plunged into a war of good versus evil, taking them from the streets of London to the mountains of Transylvania in a battle that threatens to destroy them all..."

Within Uprising we are allowed to enter the very exclusive and equally secretive world of the vampires. Evolving through the years and eventually establishing the Vampire Federation, they have learnt to live among the humans and to avoid detection at all costs. We follow Alex(andra), a hard-hitting, no-nonsense vampire Special Agent who works for the Federation and hunts down those that violate its rules and regulations. But not all of the vampire population agree with the Federation's new regime and the traditionalist vampires begin to show their revulsion. Finding an unlikely ally in human DI Joel, Alex and the Federation are forced into a battle of the new versus the traditional.

The first thing I noticed while reading Uprising was it's setting(s) within the UK. It's one of the very few fantasy/supernatural novel's that I've come across that have been set within my own Country. I did find a couple of the other locations a little obvious and cliche but it generally worked within the genre and the book.

At first, I found it quite hard to get into the book. The first half of the novel became a bit of an uphill struggle (maybe because it's not one of my favourite genres?) and it did take me quite a while to get through. Once I hit the 2nd half of the book however, that all changed. The story picked up a lot of pace and became quite gripping. It boasted a huge, action-packed ending which finished the book off well whilst leaving it open enough for a possible sequel.

I thought the characters within Mariani's novel were reasonably well rounded and relateable, I could understand the three main character's points of view and why they were taking the actions that they did. At times, I did find the book became a little cliche, especially some of the settings, but overall it didn't become too obvious and yet another rewrite of the traditional vampires that appear in novels such as Dracula.

I liked that Mariani approached the story from three very different angles and found it interesting how he told his tale through his three main characters, each holding a differing view of the vampire race and their place within the world in the 21st Century. Alex(andra), working for the Federation, represented the 'new age' of the vampire where all attempts are taken to blend in and walk among the humans; feeding on human blood only when essential and using state-of-the-art drugs so those you chose as your victims aren't infected and have no memory of anything having happening to them. Olivier represented the traditional vampires who were didn't want to conform to the Federation's laws and felt it was their right to act as they always had and as the creatures that they are; feasting on humans and their lifeblood and shunning all the rules and drugs developed by those they felt were diminishing their race. Joel came from the viewpoint of the humans, living in fear of these creatures that were evil to the core, preyed on the human race and needed to be extinguished before they could continue to do so.

Overall, it isn't a genre I find myself particularly drawn towards, and at points during the novel I did find things became a little cliche, but the story and characters were put together pretty well and I found myself enjoying it more than I had thought I would. I would recommend it to those who like reading fantasy/supernatural.

Malicious - James Raven

★★

Read : March 2014

"He calls himself the Slave Master. He spies on women through their computer webcams. Then he blackmails those who unknowingly reveal their secrets to him. His last victim was brutally murdered. Now he's targeting the cop in charge of the investigation. To him she's the perfect prey - because she has secrets of her own.


He hacks into women's computers and laptops, has a snoop around and then uses their own webcam against them to watch and record the things they do in the privacy of their own homes. Some of his 'slaves' he just watches, but when he finds the 'right' woman he blackmails her to do as he wishes using the embarrassing evidence he's gathered. He thinks he has found the perfect 'slave' in Robyn Tate, the Officer currently in charge of investigating the circumstances behind his previous victims brutal murder. She is in a position of authority with a lot to loose and a lot of secrets she doesn't want revealed. But has he met his match this time?

'Malicious' was an okay, reasonably easy read but it didn't jump out and scare me as I had expected it to. It unnerved me slightly but, for me, the pages didn't quite pack the punch that they could have. I wasn't overly keen on the writing style but I found the subject matter interesting and the story moved along well. I did feel, however, that the plot of the book was laid out far too quickly...it felt a little 'obvious.' Within the first 10 pages Raven revealed a lot of the plot and I could see how the majority of the book would pan out, and it did. Whilst saying that, the identity of the hacker aka the Slave Master was hidden reasonably well throughout the story and the police investigation held it's own mysteries.

I didn't find the main characters within Raven's novel very believable, which became an issue for me as I made my way through the chapters. Robyn was rather unlikeable at times, which isn't a problem in itself, but she also didn't come across as a rounded and relateable character and although I felt for her and her predicament I didn't connect with her character well enough to care too much about what happened to her throughout the story.

Overall, Malicious was an okay read; the story rolled along well and read easily. The subject was interesting and not like anything I had read before but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was kindly sent to me via Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions on the book are my own.

Rage Against The Dying - Becky Masterman

★★★★★

Read : February/March 2014

"In her hey-day, ex FBI Agent Brigid Quinn, not only worked serial killer cases but became their prize. Small and blond, from a distance she looked vulnerable and slight...the perfect bait to catch a killer. But as Quinn got older, she realised she needed to find a protegee, a younger field agent to take her place. So Quinn trains a twenty-two year old and lets her loose in the field. The plan works. Until the Route 66 killer not only takes the bait, but kills the bait too.
Years on, Quinn is trying to move past the fact that she has a young woman's death on her conscience. She's now the perfect Stepford Wife - until she gets a knock on her door. The girl's body has finally been discovered. Quinn is pulled back into the case and the more she learns about the killer the more she comes to believe, despite the overwhelming forensic evidence to hand, that they have the wrong man.."


Written in a 1st-person narrative, Rage Against The Dying, follows Brigid Quinn, a retired FBI Special Agent, as she is dragged kicking and screaming back into the world she has tried so hard to leave behind her. Now married to Carlo and doing the best impression she can of a 'Stepford Wife,' 59 year old Brigid finds herself being drawn back into the world of the FBI and risks losing her marriage in the process. An investigation she once headed up, the Route 66 Killer, and the case she also lost one of her own to, has made a sudden development...a man has been picked up at a checkpoint with suspicious things in his car and  has made an unnerving confession. But Brigid, and the new leader of the investigation, Laura Coleman, have doubts about how genuine this man's announcements are, something just doesn't sit quite right for them and as they both begin to dig a little deeper a whole can of worms begins to open up.

The first thing that drew me to Masterman's debut novel was Brigid. It's quite unusual to come across an older female lead within the crime genre, but to find a retired, 59-year-old living in the Suburb's is even rarer. Don't have any illusions that Brigid has lost her edge though. She may be slightly older and a little slower physically, but her instincts and abilities are as honed as they've always been. Brigid makes a brilliant character and narrator; she definitely lived up to the strong female lead that I hoped she would be. A lot of crime novels that I've read lately with female leads seem to rely on the men within the book to get them out of the tricky situations (a bit of a pet peeve of mine) but Brigid can sort her own messes out thank you very much. The parts of the novel that explore her marriage to Carlo may seem a little unnecessary at first, but it helps to reveal her vulnerable side and create a really rounded, believable and relateable character.

The prologue hooked me straight into the book and wouldn't let me loose until I'd gotten to the finale. We join Brigid in a highly dangerous situation; enclosed in the back of a van in a virtually deserted part of town with what seems to be a serial sexual predator and murderer. Then it stops, in the middle of the action, and you have no idea what will happen to Brigid. It's a really effective way of enticing the reader in and one of the best prologue's I've come across in quite a while; it made me feel like I had to read on to find out what the outcome was.

The novel skits between the present and the past events that lead up to it. It's done well and, as it's narrated by Brigid, seems natural that there would be a fair amount of looking back, especially over the death of Jessica (Brigid's protege) which she blames herself in part for. There is also some exploration in past events of her difficulties forming relationships, trusting others and her meeting and subsequent marriage to Carlo.

The story moves along smoothly and gathers pace well. For that reason, and the gradual build up of suspense, it's really quite difficult to put down. Brigid's character is brilliant...even if some of her decisions and actions made me want to scream in frustration "No! Don't do that!" into the pages of the book. But that was a good thing, I love when an author can incite that much emotion within me from the words on the page.

The only thing that I didn't enjoy whilst reading Rage Against The Dying was the use of pet names for almost all of the main characters. It was quite useful at the beginning for keeping track of who was who and as a quick insight into their main character traits but it's something that did annoy me a little by the end of the book. I'm picking for faults though and Masterman didn't make many.

The finale was rather brilliant and the story built up to it well, dripping information without giving too much away. It was put together cleverly and the identity of the Route 66 Killer blindsided me; it was completely unexpected.

I gave Becky Masterman's debut novel 5/5 stars; it was a superb read that I would highly recommend to lovers of the crime/thriller genre. Keep on the look out for Masterman's follow up novel that she's working on now that will also feature the brilliant Brigid Quinn.


Disclaimer: A proof copy of this book was kindly sent to me via Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions on the book are my own.

Stacking The Shelves [01]

I'm linking up with Tynga Reviews for this week's 'Stacking the Shelves.'

PURCHASED
The Resurrectionist by James Bradley
Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak --- BOOK CLUB READ

GIFT FROM FAMILY
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil

GOODREADS FIRST READS
Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

What's On My March To Read List?

I'm just over halfway through Rage Against The Dying by Becky Masterman that I started at the end of February and hope to be finishing within the next couple of days. Lined up, in my to-read list, for the rest of March are the following.

  

  

The Spice Merchant's Wife by Charlotte Betts and Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner are the top of my March to read list. They were both sent to me via Goodreads First Reads and have been sat on my bookshelf a little too long...I can't wait to get around to reading them.
I'll also be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, our online Book Club's March read and a book that sounds 'right up my street.' I'm really looking forward to reading this one as I haven't heard a single bad word against it and it sounds like such a fascinating story.
Bound to You by Nichi Hodgson is also on my March to read list. It featured on my February list but, due to sickness, I didn't get around to it. Hopefully I'll be able to give it a read this month.
Last up on my list is Malicious by James Raven, sent to me via Goodreads First Reads. This isn't my usual genre and sounds quite unsettling but I'm looking forward to it as it's something totally different.

February Round-Up

February has been a month mainly consisting of brilliant books! The highlight for me has to be The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. It was an enchanting tale of 'Father Time' that had been modernised perfectly. I became very attached to the characters and it was the first book, for a rather long time, that has had me shedding tears over the ending.

  

My first read of the month was Lemonade Revealed by Will Chluho. There was an interesting tale and some very wise words that came across from the novel but I just could not get into the story and found there was too much skiting between characters and time frames for me to really relate to anybody and immerse myself in what was happening, which was a shame.

The Dark Inside by Rupert Wallis was also a very interesting read. I found the whole novel fascinating as it slipped in and out of the fantasy world quite credibly and loved the questions and uncertainty that it raised within my own thoughts as the reader.

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman is my final read of the month. As it's overlapped into March I'll be including it in next month's round-up. So far I'm really enjoying it; it has a great main character/narrator and a prologue that hooked me right in. Full review will be up soon once I've finished the book.

You can check out my March To Read List to see what book's I plan on reading this month.