Dacre Stoker – Dracula: The-Undead

Synopsis: The official sequel to Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, written by his direct descendent and endorsed by the Stoker family. The story begins in 1912, twenty-five years after the events described in the original novel. Dr. Jack Seward, now a disgraced morphine addict, hunts vampires across Europe with the help of a mysterious benefactor. Meanwhile, Quincey Harker, the grown son of Jonathan and Mina, leaves law school to pursue a career in stage at London’s famous Lyceum Theatre. The production of Dracula at the Lyceum, directed and produced by Bram Stoker, has recently lost its star. Luckily, Quincey knows how to contact the famed Hungarian actor Basarab, who agrees to take the lead role. Quincey soon discovers that the play features his parents and their former friends as characters, and seems to reveal much about the terrible secrets he’s always suspected them of harbouring.

Review: When Quincey defies his parents and becomes an actor, he comes across a play about his parents and Dracula, and finds out all about the secrets his parents have been hiding from him. Then when people start getting attacked by what looks like animal bites to the neck, it appears it’s not over and Quincey has to step up and relive his parents past.

I love vampire stories, and this one was everything that I expected. I haven’t actually read the original Dracula story, but I’ve seen the film and know lots about the tale, but that doesn’t matter, Dacre did a great job of recapping the previous book without making it boring and repetative, and I never felt like I was missing any plot lines as it was always explained. I adored the inclusion of Jack the Ripper, who is another subject I find fascinating, and I thought Dacre’s take on it was really interesting, and it fit in well with the story he was telling. My only dislike about this book was that it took me forever to read, and it sometimes felt disheartening that I didn’t seem to be making progress very fast. Recommended to any vampire or Dracula fans, or to anyone who likes old gothic horror tales.

Rating: 4/5

Richard Jay Parker – Stop Me

Synopsis: Forward this email to ten friends. Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends. Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends. If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat. Can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?

Vacation Killer Leo Sharpe’s life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears. His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she’s the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already – is Laura going to be the twelfth? The MO is the same every time – a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email. A few days later, grim evidence of the victim’s death is delivered to the police. But in Laura’s case, nothing is sent. Has the killer spared her life? Why? And for how long? For Leo, the clock is ticking – he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Review: When Leo’s wife disappears from a restaurant, he doesn’t have a clue what’s happened to her. That’s until he sees the newest email from the Vacation Killer, and is positive he has her. But when no jaw bone is sent to confirm she’s been murdered, Leo’s life falls apart. He is determined to find out what happened to Laura, and will stop at nothing to get answers…

It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel because it’s just so well written. The story flows effortlessly and it’s so easy to sink into Leo’s world, even though his reality is so warped. I really loved Leo as a character, even though he was so messed up, there was just something so endearing about him. The ending completely surprised me, I would never have guessed how it played out, but I thought it was great. I would definitely recommend this to thriller fans, it’s something you will certainly enjoy.

Rating: 4/5

Marina Fiorato – The Madonna Of The Almonds

Synopsis:

Young widow Simonetta tries to rebuild her family in 16th century Saronno, tuscany, following the death of her husband in one of the battles ravaging the land. In pursuit of a means to keep her estate together, she stumbles upon a new drink made by inffusing almonds with alcohol. At the same time, she encounters Bernadino, the protege of Leonardo da Vinci. What follows is a glorious story of passion, betrayal, warfare and bravery.

Review:

Two parallel stories of love, loss and growing up. Simonetta is a widow at 17, and her dead husband has left her broke, so in order to save her house she agrees to pose as Madonna for artist Bernardino Luini who is painting a religious fresco in her local church. Peasant orphan Amaria is being raised by a kind woman she calls Nonna, and when she tells Nonna of the strange wild man in the woods, Nonna goes to look for him and takes him into their home. On the verge of death, the man they call Selvaggio has what appears to be many war wounds, but he doesn’t remember anything of his former life or how he came to be injured.

Historical fiction is a genre I’ve not really tried before, as I didn’t think I’d enjoy it very much. How wrong I was! The story was so easy to get in to, and the characters are fantastically written, I found it so easy to imagine them in my mind with the vivid descriptions that are given. I enjoyed reading about the wars and the religious persecutions of Jews and thought both subjects were written about really well. To put it simply, there was nothing about this book I disliked at all, everything about it was great. I’d really recommend it and I’m eager to now read The Glassblower Of Murano, Marina Fiorato’s first novel set in the same time period.

Rating: 5/5

Amy Bohan – Take A Girl Like Me

Synopsis

Having grown up in Wales, Amy Louise excelled at sport (representing her country in athletics), was spotted by a model agent and then came to London to work on the London Fashion Week catwalks. Very soon she was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, stopped eating and her life rapidly spiralled down until she found herself at the mercy of a drug dealer who regularly raped her. Her extraordinary story pulls no punches and brings into sharp focus the lies perpetrated by the glamorous image of Fashion Week and and the tabloid perspective.

Review

A harrowing true story about how one woman’s life spiralled out of control. From drugs to celebrities, booze, rape and self harm, this book really has it all, and shockingly it all happened to Amy.

I started this book a few hours ago and couldn’t put it down until I finished the last page. It was just gripping, and I can’t believe that someone could actually survive so much in such a short space of time and come out the other side relatively unharmed, it seems crazy! I found it quite shocking that everything just spiralled out of control so quickly, but I wanted to reach into the pages and scoop Amy out to safety. Having gone through a few of the same things, I could relate to certain parts of her life and it wasn’t a far stretch to see how it all turned to drugs and alcohol as an escape. I was so glad to read that Amy managed to pretty much overcome it all and emerge on the other side, it must have taken a lot of strength to do that, and I certainly admire her!

Rating: 4/5

Kathy Balland – Lose The Diet

Synopsis

Are you tired of yo-yo dieting? You have the power to look and feel great without dieting. With this book, your weight and your life can bring you peace of mind. You ll find answers that will end your need for dieting and uncomfortable food deprivation that ultimately leads to weight gain. Instead, you’ll find the good health and happiness that you deserve. Lose the Diet is your complete, easy-to-use guide for reconnecting with yourself and discovering the power to achieve and maintain a healthy weight without diets. Drop the diets and the weight in a healthy and natural way. Find out why deprivation doesn t work. Learn about the mind-body-soul connections effect on weight. Discover that happiness leads to a healthy weight rather than the other way around.

Review

A guide for reconnecting with yourself as a way to lose weight. Each chapter covers a different aspect in achieving this such as meditation, fitness and relationships with other people, especially focusing on the fact many people have lost the connection with the world, other people and even themselves, causing them to eat unhealthy food out of unhappiness and boredom.

As a yo-yo dieter for many years, I hoped this book would be full of different information on the battle of weight loss and I wasn’t disappointed. This book is a positive experience from page 1, focusing on what you can change in your life and help to achieve those changes rather than focusing on any failures you may experience along the way. I love the tips and techniques that are scatted throughout, and will definitely be referring back to them as my weight loss attempts continue. I’ve learned a lot, especially about the power of positive thinking and focusing on your goals, using meditation and visualisation to get you there. As an emotional eater, I really think this is the perfect book to help you overcome the hurdles that make you eat out of sadness or loneliness, and eat only out of hunger therefore controlling your weight. I think this book has a unique approach, focusing on healing yourself to help you lose weight, rather than starving yourself or joining some fad diet.

Rating: 4/5

Running With Scissors – Augusten Burroughs

Synopsis from Amazon.co.uk

There is a passage early in Augusten Burroughs’s harrowing and highly entertaining memoir Running with Scissors that speaks volumes about the author. While going to the garbage dump with his father, young Augusten spots a chipped glass-top coffee table that he longs to bring home. “I knew I could hide the chip by fanning a display of magazines on the surface, like in a doctor’s office,” he writes, “And it certainly wouldn’t be dirty after I polished it with Windex for three hours.”

There were certainly numerous chips in the childhood Burroughs describes: an alcoholic father, an unstable mother who gives him up for adoption to her therapist and an adolescence spent as part of the therapist’s eccentric extended family, gobbling prescription medicines and fooling around with both an old electroshock machine and a paedophile who lives in a shed out back. But just as he dreamed of doing with that old table, Burroughs employs a vigorous program of decoration and fervent polishing to a life that many would have simply thrown in a landfill. Despite her abandonment, he never gives up on his increasingly unbalanced mother. And rather than despair about his lot, he glamorises it: planning a “beauty empire” and performing an a cappella version of “You Light Up My Life” at a local mental ward.

My Review

When Augusten’s parents divorce, his mother starts having another ‘mental episode’ during which he gets sent to live with his mother’s psychiatrist Dr Finch and his rather crazy family. This is the true story of those years, almost unbelievable with events most people couldn’t even imagine.

This book is so crazy, I could easily believe it’s a work of fiction, but the fact this actually happened to someone is mind blowing. The main characters were weirdly endearing, even though they were slightly mad, in particular I liked Natalie and Hope, although I pitied them too. I really feel sorry for Augusten, being abandoned by your mother can never be easy, but into a house full of mad people must make it 10 times worse. I would recommend this book, if only to realise how normal your own upbringing was!

4/5

Bone Cold – Erica Spindler

Synopsis from Amazon.co.uk

She thought the nightmare was over…

Twenty-three years ago, Anna North survived a living nightmare. A madman kidnapped her, cut off her pinkie, then vanished. Today Anna lives in New Orleans, writing dark thrillers under another name. She finally feels safe.

But it was only just beginning.

Suddenly Anna’s quiet life takes a frightening turn. Letters start to arrive from a disturbed fan. Anna is followed, her apartment broken into. Then a close friend disappears.

Anna turns to homicide detective Quentin Malone, but Malone’s more concerned with the recent murders of two women in the French Quarter. But after a third victim is found—a redhead like Anna, her pinkie severed—Malone is forced to acknowledge that Anna is his link to the killer…and could be the next target. Now Anna must face the horrifying truth—her past has caught up with her. The nightmare has begun again.

My Review

Anna North is still living in terror of the man that kidnapped her 23 years previously, so when she starts getting weird letters, and red headed women start getting murdered, she becomes very worried, but is it too late to stop what has already been set in motion?

Another fantastic thriller from Erica Spindler, I couldn’t put it down! It was fast paced and I really liked how the story weaved together, fitting all the pieces into place. I kind of guessed part of the ending, but there was still a few surprises in store that even I could not have forseen, and for these kind of twists Erica Spindler is well known. I’ve enjoyed every one of her books that I’ve read, and highly recommend them!

5/5

Kandide And The Secret Of The Mists – Diana S. Zimmerman

Synopsis from Amazon.co.uk

When Kandide is crowned queen of the Kingdom Calabiyau after her father’s death, she becomes keeper of the Gift, the key to survival for all life. Like her father, she promises to be a great leader of all the Fée, despite her consuming vanity, a fitting characteristic in a land where physical perfection is cherished above all else. But then her wing is crushed in a terrible accident and she is exiled to the Mists, the uncharted territory to which all the flawed Fée are banished. Kandide must not only come to terms with her own horror at what she has become, but must also learn to survive in the dark, hostile land of the Mists. Encounters with dark magic and hideous beasts are just the beginning of her troubles. Within Calabiyau, there is a presence far more deadly that threatens her family and her people. Can Kandide prevail over injustice, wickedness, and greed to save the land she loves?

My Review

A fantasy story set in the world of Fée, centering around Princess Kandide, as she becomes Queen. Kandide is very beautiful, but she knows it, she’s vain, arrogant and selfish, so when she awakens after an accident with a bad injury, she’s is banished to the Mists, where Fée who are not perfect are sent. She soon comes crashing down to earth when she releases she’s alone in the dark scary woods with no way home, and no one to help her…

This is not my usual kind of book, but I throughly enjoyed it. It’s aimed at young adults, so it was very easy to read and follow the story without confusing any of the numerous characters and I feel it holds a very good message for readers about ‘perfection’. The characters were written well, with a wide variety of personalities so everyone will find at least one character to like, I must admit I liked most of them, and thought they were all written well. As the story continues over a series this book ends on a cliff hanger, so I’d be very interested to read the sequel to see what happens next!

4/5

The Rose Labyrinth – Titania Hardie

Synopsis from Amazon.co.uk

Before his death in 1609, the brilliant Elizabethan spy and astrologer John Dee hid his most astonishing secrets, trusting his descendants would one day bring them to light. That time has come.
In 2003, Will Stafford inherits a strange legacy from his mother: a key and an ancient script with an enigmatic note. Intrigued, he travels Europe seeking answers to Dee’s riddles, unaware that someone is following every move. Back in London, Lucy King becomes entangled in Will’s cryptic labyrinth. As its mysterious twists take her from France to New York, and from literature to myth, in search of its hidden treasure, she has never been closer to the truth, nor in graver danger.

My Review

When Will Stafford’s mother leaves him a mysterious key in her will, he has to find out what the story behind it is. But what he finds leads into an awful lot of trouble, as religious fanatics are desperate for the story that is unravelling and will do anything for the information.

I really enjoyed this book, the tone in which it’s written is beautiful, the language really flows and just draws you in from page one. I found the contents of the story fascinating – John Dee, ‘The Rapture’, religion, Shakespeare, cellular memory – there are just so many aspects, but surprisingly they all fit together perfectly. It starts as several different threads and then as the book progresses, they all start to twine together and I really enjoyed how they started to slot into the story. I especially loved the descriptions of the various settings, it has definitely made me want to go and visit them myself one day!

The Rose Labyrinth has been likened to ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘The Labyrinth’, so I think fans of those books would enjoy this, but I think everyone could take something from this, it has a bit of everything for everyone and it’s a really great book.

4/5

Bad Things – Michael Marshall

Synopsis from Amazon.co.uk

A heart-stopping tale of secrets, lies and our culpability in our own misfortunes. On a beautiful summer’s afternoon four-year-old Scott Henderson walked out onto a jetty over a lake in Black Ridge, Washington State. He never came back. John Henderson’s world ended that day, but three years later he’s still alive. Living a life, of sorts. Getting by. Until one night he receives an email from a stranger who claims to know what happened to his little boy. Against his better judgement Henderson returns to Black Ridge, unleashing a terrifying sequence of events that threatens to destroy what remains of everything he once held dear. Bad things don’t just happen to other people — they’re waiting round the corner for you too. And when they start to make their way in through the cracks in your life, you won’t know until it’s far too late…

My Review

A gripping storyline that kept me from putting the book down until I had finished it. The day his son Scott went out on to the jetty changed John Henderson’s life forever. He manages to get continue with some semblence of a life, but really he’s just walking the walk. Until the day someone tells him they know what happened to his son. There starts a nightmare John never could have imagined. Keeping you gripped the entire way through and surprising you with the unravelling story every step of the way, John comes to find out the terrible truth behind Black Ridge and its residents.

I enjoyed how this story had three parallel threads that start seperately, but all end up all entwining together, which means the story is fast paced throughout. The main character was lovable, and it was easy to become very attached to him, as well as having good secondary characters too. All were very well written and each aspect of their personalities is slowly revealed through the book, so you understand them more as each situation arises. The story itself was very interesting, and didn’t go in the direction I thought it would at all. I changed my guesses on who the bad guy behind it all was throughout, but was surprised when it was finally revealed in the ending. It’s a great book to read if you like fast paced thrillers.

4.5/5