Andrea Smith

Advantages: A true tale of tension and suspense
Disadvantages: None

...One of the all-time classic action thrillers, from one of the best writers in the genre. I am an avid fan of Alistair MacLean as an authour and I am also a big fan of the Burton and Eastwood film. The book is though superior in a number of areas to the film, providing as it does greater detail and slightly differing action at key points of the story. MacLean returns to one of his most detailed areas to write about, with the book set in the Second World War. This theme can be seen in some of his best works - Guns of Navarone, Force Ten from Navarone, Partisans and San Andreas. The book starts inside a Lancaster bomber and you are quickly introduced to the main characters in the story - Smith, the leader of the expedition; fellow British soldiers Carraciola, Christainsen, Thomas, Terrance-Smythe and Harrod; as well as token American... Read review

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Advantages: Gripping, Edge of your seat suspense
Disadvantages: Some details were too much

...Mary Higgins Clark has yet again created another amazing book. In Daddy’s Little Girl Clark takes us to small town USA with your average American Family attempting to provide a healthy stable environment for their children. Dad, a highway patrolman, Mom, a homemaker with two young girls Ellie and Andrea. Clark bases this story around the main character, Ellie. She is the youngest child in the family who admired her father deeply. But to Ellie, daddy’s favorite was her big teenage sister Andrea. But Ellie did not envy Andrea; in fact they were the best of friends and kept each others secrets. But in the end, one of these secrets would change the whole family’s lives forever. Andrea was dating the town trouble maker, Rob. Not many of the other teens liked him. Because he was known for causing problems and his wealthy family covering... Read review

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Advantages: Very readable
Disadvantages: I didn't want it to end!

...understanding of what constitutes a good book. As most award-winning books tend to be wordy, obscure or just plain pretentious (sometimes all three) I wonder if the judges are even remotely interested in whether they are readable or not. Which is why the other week I was standing in WH Smith pulling Small Island by Andrea Levy off the shelf, looking at the cover, putting it back, taking it down again ... having another look. In the end my husband who had offered to buy me the wretched book lost his patience and went ahead and bought it anyway. The reason for my reluctance was that Small Island is the winner of the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction. Did that lofty accolade mean that it was going to be an up-hill struggle just to make sense of it? Was I going to end up baffled and bemused by it - unable to grasp the story-line let alone the long words... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful