Thriller Books

The torment of others - Val McDermid

Advantages: Easy read, hard to out down
Disadvantages: None

This is the first time that I have read a book by this author however I am a fan of the series 'Wire in the Blood' upon which the books form the basis of. Even though this is not the first in the series this book can easily be read on a standalone basis as the past history of the characters is referred to at various points in the story line. The storyline: The story is based around two main characters: Carol Jordan, a long standing detective and ...
...in police cases in preparing profiles of the killers especially cases involving Carol. Tony also has more than a professional interest in Carol (but this is not about this but is an underlying current). The story starts with a dead prostitute being found in her room. She has been attacked in the exact same way as some previous killings for which someone has already been convicted and is a mental institution (the same institution where Tony is currently ...

borstal 21.04.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Torment of Others - Val McDermid

Halloween will soon be on us - why not read this book to prepare

Advantages: A true ghost story, pure magic
Disadvantages: BOO!!

THE WOMAN IN BLACK SUSAN HILL "I looked directly at her and she at me. There was no mistake. My eyes were not deceiving me. It was she, the woman in black." After writing a review yesterday for Susan Hill's 'The Mist in the Mirror', I realised that for some reason I have never written a review on her better known, and in my opinion, far superior book 'The Woman in Black'. As the male contingency Chez Oldchem insisted on watching 'Casino ...
...emerge in skimpy shorts from the sea, and I would be able to refresh my memories of a book I have read on many occasions. (Oh and yes I did rewind my Sky Plus this morning to check out those shorts - as you must!!) Written in 1983, by Susan Hill, 'The Woman in Black' is a short ghost story about a menacing ghost that haunts a small English town. Although only about twenty five years old, the book is now something of a classic in its genre.It has ...

oldchem 20.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Woman In Black - Susan Hill

What Odds Would Ned Give Himself in Even Money?

Advantages: It's the latest DICK FRANCIS novel; sensitive portrayal of mental illness
Disadvantages: Poor development of female characters in general

...Would Ned Give Himself in EVEN MONEY? . + It's the latest DICK FRANCIS novel; sensitive portrayal of mental illness - Poor development of female characters in general . Hardback (and audio read by Martin Jarvis) . . . [UK £18.99] . . ISBN 978-0-718-15458-5 . . 400 pages . . released: 25 August 2009 (USA); . . . . . . . . . . . 3 September 2009 (UK) Published by MICHAEL JOSEPH an imprint of PENGUIN BOOKS . On the first day of Royal Ascot, ...
... EVEN MONEY by Dick Francis and Felix Francis I am really amazed how inventive the "Dick Francis" team are in cooking up a plot which is so relevant to the situations we find ourselves in day by day. This time, we see the world of horseracing from the point of view of a respectable third generation bookmaker in the recession; in fact, here he is, wearing "morning dress" on a much too hot June day at Royal Ascot, and there are quite ...

jesi 19.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Even Money - Dick Francis

A FAIR TRIAL .... WITHOUT A BODY?

Advantages: Chilling, gripping, compelling tale
Disadvantages: All the characters smoke excessively!

~~~INTRODUCTION~~~ I buy a lot of books from charity shops - after all they're cheap, accessible, tend to have an impressive range of genres available and at the same time you're supporting a good cause in a way that offers a benefit to you as well as the organisation concerned. I found myself in the local Oxfam shop a couple of months ago. Recently refurbished, it holds a remarkable collection of books, organised by author making it easy to see ...
...and sometimes when you've read a few books by an individual author in quick succession there's a danger of becoming bored with their style, tone or formulaic approach to writing. Nothing could be further from the truth in this case! ~~~THE AUTHOR~~~ McDermid became the first woman from a Scottish state school to be accepted at St Hilda's in Oxford to read English and went on to become a young and enthusiastic journalist. She always wanted to be ...

fantasybeliever 13.07.2005 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

vote goes to Chris Ryan

Advantages: good firm storyline
Disadvantages: chock full of military vocab, often hard to follow

I have read many of his books before and found that this book had the same storyline as many of his others. I also found that this book was hard to concentrate on for long periods of times as i read it on oliday. Now before i read this i read a similar style of book by chris Ryan and found it gripping but when it came to this i just wanted to put it down after one page. Some of the events were hard to follow and i found myself re reading large chunks ...
...found there was a large amount of military terms used without a defination of them meaning ifound out what they meant after i had read on a little (list of words in front of chris ryan novels). However saying this if you are a keen fan on military books or just gore in general this should not be a problem. Same if this is your first time reading one of his books.Although i found this book a bit of a struggle i have ot admit i was gripped until i ...

lobster_mobster 13.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Recoil - Andy McNab