The Flood by Ian Rankin

Advantages: Good story, enjoyable writing and exciting ending
Disadvantages: No epilogue

...Background I'm sure most people have heard of this author Ian Rankin through the Rebus books and television series. This was however my first experience of his work. About the Author Ian Rankin was born in Fife, Scotland in 1960. He is the UK's Number 1 selling crime author. So far he has written 27 novels, of which his most successful have been the Rebus books. His first novel was indeed 'The Flood', which originally was planned for Radio 4's Short story section but was considered too long so Rankin converted it into a novel instead. He has received many awards for his work including an OBE in 2002 for his services to literature. The Storyline of the book The book is set in a small Scottish town called Carsden. Whose traditional industry of coal mining was closing down due to it being uneconomic to mine there any...

CPTDANIELS 22.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Flood - Ian Rankin

FREE DVDs

Advantages: Free trial, large choice, post included,new realeases
Disadvantages: see review

...I like movies and I like freebies, so when you get offered both in one swoop you?re bound to accept! I used my two week free trial with this company and remained with them for a couple of monthsbefore moving on to try many other companies free trials (and winning a new DVD player on Tesco DVD rental site on their free trial offer). I then had an email from DVDs 365 asking me to go back, and offering me a free DVD if I did so. I had just left Tesco (with my new DVD player) so I chose to go back with them. ∆◊◊ THE SERVICE THEY OFFER ∆◊◊ Basically it?s like going to a video shop and hiring films on DVD, except you don?t pay for each film you chose ? rather a monthly fee for which you can watch as many movies as you can fit in, for us this is usually around 8 a month (2 a week usually weekends...

dabmim 15.11.2004 · Read review
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Surprising Picture Quality - Panasonic DVD-S54

Advantages: Incredible picture quality when compared to my old non-upscaling player with a scart lead
Disadvantages: Sometimes disc drive can be really noisy when DVD's initially load.

...At first I wasn't convinced by up-scaling DVD player technology but was persuaded after reading an article in "What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision" magazine. Unable to afford a Blu-Ray player my sister and I bought the Panasonic DVD-S54 to match our parents brand new Panasonic TX-32LZD80 LCD television as their Christmas 2008 present. Admittedly it was a slightly selfish purchase as we both live at home and wanted to watch DVDs on the big new TV ourselves! We bought the player from the electrical retailer Comet for about £100 just before Christmas so there were no discounts applied. On Christmas day when opened we found a relatively small box tightly packed with the player in polystyrene packaging. All the components such as cables, remote and manuals were well presented in their own protective plastic bags, to keep them protected. The player...

bobbacon985 12.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Panasonic DVD-S54

IAN BROWNS THE GREATEST!

Advantages: EVERYTHING YOU COULD ASK FOR FROM HIS SOLO CAREER
Disadvantages: NO ROSES, NOT EVEN ANY CHOCOLATES!

...with each single. Nor is it the Ian Brown of yesteryear, with his Stone Roses counterparts fighting for the fan and his ever challenged wallet. No, this is a new era Ian Brown with units to shift. The question is, will he with the DVD? Sure, the die hard fans will rush out to get their hands on it like it was a free pint on a Saturday night. In all honesty though, it is an awesome line up of tracks. With the 6 live performances added to ensure anybody who already had all the videos rushed out to but the DVD, I?m pretty sure that yes, it will sell. Admittedly, most of the videos offer up nothing new and contain nothing more than predictable but nevertheless enjoyable promos. I can?t help but wonder why Brown couldn?t have taken a heads up from U.N.K.L.E. who often produce outstanding videos for their material. Hey! Whatcha gonna do...

ANTACID 14.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Greatest, The - Ian Brown

Ian Brown's Greatest Hits

Advantages: Perfect collection of contemporary music
Disadvantages: Could be seen as repetitive because of the large number of tracks

...Never a person to dissapoint, this album offers a brilliant insight into the lyrical and musical talent that is Ian Brown, presenting some of his most renound tracks such as "F.E.A.R" and "My Star" in a well produced collection. The clear and obvious upside to this CD is the fact that it not only summarises Ian Brown's uncommon genre of music and taste, but it also provides a contemporary twist on what could be considered tracks worthy of his former band, The Stone Roses. The music on this CD is most definately creative, with a wide variety of instruments and mechanically engineered sounds implemented into many of the tracks. This could be considered a bad point by many people but in this instants it is a passable act because of the way the tracks have been recorded and layered in the studio. A slightly negative attribute...

SamJohnson 19.01.2006 (23.01.2006) · Read review
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Review of Greatest, The - Ian Brown

A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin

Advantages: The tone of this entry in the series is much lighter than the earlier books.
Disadvantages: The unspoken suggestion that the SAS soldiers are idiots, just because they oppose Rebus.

...surrounds. You really get a terrific feeling of place thanks to the detail that Ian Rankin goes into when moving through the city. If you?ve never read an Inspector Rebus book before and came across this one, you would be inclined to think that here was an untroubled policeman who is very proficient at his job. In actual fact, during the course of the previous 13 books, he has battled through a failed marriage, chronic insomnia, alcoholism and thoughts of suicide. Finally he appears to have arrived at a place where he is much more comfortable with himself. In the past he was a loner on the job, preferring to keep his thoughts and his theories to himself, much to his fellow detectives? frustration and his superior?s total annoyance. It looks as though this attitude has changed and I think it?s a change for the better. I was actually concerned...

damieng 22.01.2005 · Read review
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Review of A Question of Blood - Ian Rankin

IAN WRIGHT WRIGHT ... DEFINATLY RIGHT!!

Advantages: GREAT STOCKING FILLER - FUNNY - IDEAL FOR FOOTBALL FANS
Disadvantages: COULD ADD ANOTHER 20 CLIPS

...I had this DVD for Christmas and I must say I didn't really see it advertised so as you can guess I was suprised when I opened the packaging to find it was an Ian Wright DVD. At first I thought it was going to be tons of mishaps by fellow Arsenal team mates or from the times when he was playing but I must admit it had clips that I can't even remember happening which made me giggle. Ian Wright: It Shouldn't Happen To A Footballer is a DVD which consists of funny comical clips of footballers basically making a fool of themselves whether it is clear through on goal and whistling it wide or falling over trying to do a complex trick. All the clips are chosen by US .. general football fans thanks to the football magazine Four Four Two (must say I've only read it a few times but it seems to be a football fans bible...) The DVD is...

Phoenix7891 16.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of Ian Wright - It Shouldn't Happen To A Footballer (DVD)

Lost Love (On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan)

Advantages: short, well written, poignant
Disadvantages: cold

......

magdadh 03.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan

Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin

Advantages: A very good police procedural with a likable protagonist in John Rebus
Disadvantages: Part of a long running series, you may feel you have to read the earlier books to keep up.

...Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series is now 15 books strong and probably stands at the top of the list of new releases that I look forward to each year. John Rebus is a CID detective with the Lothian and Borders Police in Edinburgh, Scotland. He's a driven, dedicated policeman who lives for his job and rarely rests until his case is solved. But for all his dedication he has always had a distinct disregard for his superiors with his unorthodox and preference for working in solitude regularly landing him in trouble. Faithful readers of the series will have noticed a gradual but definite change in John Rebus’ personality (a necessity in the success of a long-running series). When we first met him in Knots and Crosses he was a tormented man who was trying to get over a failed marriage, invariably drinking himself to sleep, that is...

damieng 19.01.2005 · Read review
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Review of Fleshmarket Close - Ian Rankin

THAT'S JUST GRAND Mr RICHARDSON??.

Advantages: Lovely Old Building. Fabulous View. Wonderful Food. Service.
Disadvantages: Shortage of Parking. Some dingy, scruffy stairs and passageways. Dirty Curtains.

...was a larger than life size cardboard cut-out of Jack Nicholson greeting guests to the Grand?? ??only later were we to discover the figure actually to be that of Keith Richardson - owner of Richardson Hotels, a small but select chain of seven hotels including the Torquay Grand. CHECKING IN 9 / 10 The receptionist was very pleasant and her first concern was for our car. The hotel is well aware of the parking difficulties and has an "arrangement" with the station over the road that ten marked spaces are reserved for the use of hotel guests. She issued us with a parking permit for use either in the station car park or in the hotel garage. The usual brief explanation of the facilities and where to find them was given - including a number key pass for the pool and gymnasium downstairs. A fairly comprehensive list of requirements was...

RICHADA 10.01.2008 (11.01.2008) · Read review
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Review of Best Western The Grand Hotel - Torquay, Torquay