Solving Cadence Moore

Solving Cadence Moore

Title: Solving Cadence Moore

Author: Gregory Sterner

Year: 2017

Genre: Thriller

Amazon Link: £3.89 (Kindle Edition)



Hi guys, so it has been a couple of weeks since I have written a blog post as instead I have read a batch of books in one go so that I can hopefully post on here a bit more regularly. Among them I was sent Solving Cadence Moore to review, the debut novel by Gregory Sterner.

The mystery surrounding Cadence Moore hasn't been resolved in over a decade. The beautiful college singer was on the cusp of success with a blossoming music career when she disappeared without trace on a highway in Pennsylvania, following a college party. Was she murdered or did she run away to start a new life?

The case has reentered the public psyche following the release of a documentary film, which makes it a perfect candidate for the local radio station who wants to launch a podcast series, following its successful conspiracy theory radio show "Underground Broadcast".

In a heated argument with his boss, the host and producer of the show, Charlie Marx tells his boss that he has solved the case and promises to reveal her fate at the end of a two hour live radio special following the podcast series. So beings a race against time as Charlie pieces together the evidence surrounding her disappearance to solve the case. If he succeeds, it will mean closure for Cadence but if he fails then his world could crash down on him live on air, and the case may never be resolved.

The book is written largely in an epistolary style with most of the story taking the form of transcripts for the podcast series, and radio special, with smaller sections of narrative used mainly to set the scene at the beginning of the novel. I found this structure to be very effective and Sterner overall uses it really well to peel back the layers of the story surrounding Cadence Moore - in fact it is really only two thirds of the way through that you learn all of the theories that have surrounded her disappearance as Sterner uses the format to build up one theory about the case before immediately countering it with another theory so your loyalties to each character get tested at different points.

In the foreword, it mentions Sterner is a listener of National Public Radio series such as This American Life and I myself have actually been listening to the Serial Podcast produced with the same company ( I am currently still on Season 1 of this series but it is worth a download if you haven't listened to it before as it is fascinating - https://serialpodcast.org/). The transcripts in this novel were actually so realistic that I began to question if I was reading a fictional story or if this actually happened - they are that good.

Another point I ought to make which readers of my blog will know I do every time I review a thriller is whether I could guess the ending and again I didn't as the book has many different possibilities that the end result is surprising. It also asks questions of the reader who has so far been forced to accept a glamorised, embellished version of events when the truth could be something far more ordinary which is something which happens in everyday life with sensationalism in the media.

However I do feel in the last chapter the momentum does slow down a little as the tension becomes less about what happened to Cadence and more to do with whether Charlie's version of events actually works out to be the truth. I did like the fact Sterner actually uses another character in the final chapter who holds the key to the mystery, rather than the protagonist, meaning some degree of tension is carried through to the very last page. However by the time Charlie reveals his theory on what happened earlier it is hard to deny it being any other possibility which is where I feel some of the tension is lost.

However, sitting here as I write this review the ending is actually more thought-provoking than I first thought (if you pardon the pun) as Sterner could also be making a comment on Charlie's own obsession with celebrity culture and how in society people trample on others to get to where they need to. He himself has used Cadence to further his own career so the book highlights that fact by focussing at the end back on Charlie's career, not on the singer's disappearance.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and it is a great debut novel for Sterner which is worth checking out.

Die Trying

Die Trying - Lee Child

Title: Die Trying

Author: Lee Child

Year: 1998

Genre: Action/Thriller

Buy on Amazon: Book version is £4.00





Hi guys, so following on from my review of the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor - I decided to continue reading the series with the second novel, Die Trying so let's jump right in.

Plot

The story starts with Jack Reacher walking down a Chicago street, still drifting since his previous adventure in Arizona when a young woman on crutches accidentally drops her laundry right in front of him. Reacher goes to assist her when suddenly three men appear out of nowhere and kidnap them at gunpoint.

Meanwhile, three carpenters are at work on a new room within an existing room in an old building, one where no one can escape and they are gradually picked off, one by one...

In the truck, Reacher learns more about the mysterious woman, who is FBI agent Holly Johnson and daughter of a high ranking general in the US Army. but as they near closer to their journey’s end they find themselves descending into a nightmarish world of milita forces and extremism right on their doorstep...

Thoughts

I absolutely loved reading this novel – there is really no other way I can describe it. The book was brilliantly readable and I found myself devouring it in two-three hour reading sessions at a time.

Jack Reacher continues to be an extremely fascinating character and I loved the leading lady character, Holly Johnson. Though it is typical for these types of novels to have a man and woman dynamic (similar tothe James Bond novels) I really liked how Child has written Holly’s character in this novel – she really does hold her own and is in many ways Jack’s equal and in comparison to Roscoe in the first novel, Holly is for me a much more interesting and rounded character.

I also really liked the political themes in this novel compared to the previous one – Beau Borken is an evil villain and some of the views expressed in the novel, that Borken doesn't like Mexicans taking jobs from Americans could just as easily be applied today in the tumultuous times America and Britain find themselves in. The fact it all takes place in America however, rather than some far flung country, or in a fantasy setting, makes this even more disturbing to read.

The book moves along at a rip-roaring pace and though most of the events in the novel are your typical action movie tropes, I really like how Child slows down these moments and really breaks them down into the finest detail without ever losing tension e.g. when Reacher shoots a sniper’s rifle at one point you can almost picture ever minute movement and blow of the wind.

The book also has several twists throughout the story and the book did manage to fool me on a couple of occasions which I won’t spoil here but as I have mentioned in previous reviews if a thriller can do this then it will always live for a long time in my memory.

Verdict:

A fantastic thriller and sequel to Killing Floor which takes the original and makes it 10x faster, slicker and more interesting – clear some space in the diary and enjoy this rip-roaring thriller. It is available on Amazon for £4.00 at the time of writing. (This link is an affiliate link, and I may receive a commission from the sale though this will not affect the price for you).

The Last Straw

The Last Straw - Ed Duncan

Title: The Last Straw

Author: Ed Duncan

Year: 2017

Genre: Crime/Thriller

Buy on Amazon: Available for £1.99 (eBook edition)



Hi guys and a Happy New 2019 to you! Apologies I haven't posted in a while and this is my first book review of 2019.

I do just want to start with a quick shout out. As I had decided to commit to a 30 day Yoga practice called Dedicate: A 30 day Yoga journey which is on the Yoga with Adriene YouTube Channel which I'll link to here (it has just finished in terms of doing it "live" with the community but it was great fun and I've felt myself have far less aches and pains already and has helped me to de-stress from the day job!). I've also been reading a couple of books which I hope to have reviews for in next few weeks.

Anyway one book which landed in my inbox to review was The Last Straw by Ed Duncan so here goes:

Plot

The book is the second novel in the Pigeon-Blood Red series. It is set in Chicago and opens with a prostitute called Jean bringing one of her clients back to her apartment for sex when things turn nasty, quickly as he tries to rape her and physically assaults her before a neighbour intervenes. We soon learn she is the partner of 'killer with a conscience' Rico who goes after him to extract revenge.

In the meantime, we meet Paul Elliot who is a successful district attorney who has been asked by his neighbour to help look after his daughter, Sandra. Sandra was a witness to a car jacking where the driver was killed by the car thief. 

However it soon turns out that the perpetrator, Jeffrey Philips, is the son of a big-time gangster boss who had an affair with his mother many years ago and, up until recently, had managed to keep her son a secret from him. Now though, his father will stop at nothing to keep him out of prison - even if it means murdering the only witness to the crime...

Thoughts

Overall I found the Last Straw to be an entertaining and enjoyable thriller.

The book has a very fast pace which makes it easy to read and the book handles several plot strands overall very well, with all the strands neatly tied together by the novels' conclusion. My favourite plot strand was the story around Beverly Philips and the racism she encounters throughout the novel which was handled by Duncan well and I found her character the most relatable of all the characters within the novel. 

However, the novel does have some flaws.

Some of the flaws I partly put down to the fact that I read this book first rather than it's predecessor. Duncan throughout the novel drops in references to some previous events like Rico being tasked to kill Paul which initially I thought it was made up as it went along before I realised there is an existing book in the series so I would say it would possibly be worth reading the first novel as the way the information jumps up here is a bit jarring and it may not work as well as a standalone novel.

Also, the book does have a very fast pace which is always good for a thriller and makes it easy to read but a few times where the book switches between plot strands I did find I had to re-read sections to pick up where I was again and what was happening which suggests maybe the book had a few too many plot strands to handle for me. I have to admit some sections are a little bit predictable such as the Rico vs D'Angelo rivalry which ends up exactly how the reader expects it to end.

Verdict

Overall, an enjoyable thriller novel that is good fun to read whilst it lasts, if a little predictable and the fast movement between plot points can be jarring.

The book is available as an eBook for £1.99 on Amazon but note this link is an affiliate link and I may receive a commission from the sale, but this won't affect the price for you.

If you disagree with my review then leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Killing Floor

Killing Floor

Name: Killing Floor

Author: Lee Child

Year: 1998

Genre: Action / Thriller



Ok so for my first review back, I have read a book which I have wanted to read for a long time but have always found it unavailable in my local library until finally I checked a few weeks ago.

This novel is the first in the Jack Reacher series, Killing Floor.

Plot

The story begins on a Friday morning with Jack Reacher in an American diner eating breakfast and we learn he is an ex-military policeman who has since left the army and is now drifting across America. He then decided on a whim to get off the bus he was on heading for Atlanta and walk fourteen miles to a small town called Margrave in Georgia, a place he had heard about from his brother due to their fascination with a guitar player called Blind Blake.

Suddenly he is arrested by the police for a murder that occurred the night before at a warehouse he passed whilst walking to Margrave. The chief detective, Finlay, interrogates Jack and we learn that the body was found with gunshots to the head and had been kicked to pieces after death, before being hastily covered up with a sheet of cardboard. The face had been disfigured by the kicking so the body couldn't be identified.

The only other piece of evidence was a slip of paper in his shoe which had a telephone number on it and the US motto backwards, E Unum Pluribus - out of few comes many. 

Jack manages to cast doubt over Finlay's accusations and tells him he believes their to be three people involved in the murder, a meticulous shooter who shot him in the head, a psychopath who destroyed the body and someone to cover it up. He persuades Finlay to call the number and it belongs to a man called Paul Hubble, who lives in Margrave. He is bought in Friday evening and confesses to the murder of the man - he is arrested but as Jack's story hasn't been fully checked out either both are sent to prison for the weekend.

When they arrive, they are meant to be placed in a separate area for people arrested on suspicion but not convicted but a "mix up" occurs where Jack and Paul are left in the lifer section with the worst convicts. 

A gang in the prison threaten Paul with gang rape but Jack steps in and head butts the leader but in doing so, Paul's glasses are smashed so Jack takes a pair from one of the gang as a trophy. Later that day however the two are attacked by another gang who look at both of them and attack Jack, starting a prison riot. In the chaos the guard returns and moves them into the safe area of the prison. Over the course of Saturday, Paul informs Jack the man found was an investigator he was using as he had been dragged into a criminal scheme which he wanted out of but refuses to tell Jack any more for fear of his life.

On Sunday morning the two are released and Jack is picked up by Roscoe, a beautiful policewoman who drives him back to investigator was his brother, Joe/

As Jack takes on a mission to find out what his brother, who he last heard was working for the Treasury in Washington, was doing in Margrave, the body count begins to rise as he gets closer to the shocking truth.

Thoughts

This is the first novel in the Jack Reacher series and it is a brilliant introduction to the series.

The book moves along at a gripping pace, in fact the events I mentioned above are only the first few chapters of the novel alone and there is plenty to satisfy any action novel fan.

The book reminded me of the OTT action movies of the 80s and 90s - things like Speed and Die Hard in particular and Jack Reacher is probably my man crush action hero. I definitely found myself reading it far too late into the night - something which I don't believe my boss would appreciate when I've been straining to keep my eyes open.

Also the book is very strong as a thriller with even the tiniest details at the beginning of the novel taking on huge significance by the end. For instance, Child has Reacher read a news clipping at the start of the novel about the President's plans to cut the Coast Guard budget which has forced them to stop their operation into stopping smuggling. In fact, even Blind Blake has a shocking reintroduction right in the books closing chapters. I also enjoyed that several times the book mentions theories and counter theories to what was going on which can sometimes be a little too unbelievable but none of the twists in the story seemed illogical to me.

Verdict

Overall, I strongly recommend checking this book out as it is a brilliant introduction to the series and I will definitely be looking to read more of this series. The book is available on Amazon for £5.75 at the time of writing here. (This link is an affiliate link, and I may receive a commission from the sale though this will not affect the price for you).

Disagree with my review, or have a book you love and you would like me to review? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I will get back to you.

The Deadly Caress

The Deadly Caress

Name: The Deadly Caress Author: O.N Stefan Year: 2014 Genre: Thriller, Murder-Mystery

For this week's review I have been given a review copy of The Deadly Caress by O.N. Stefan.

Plot

The novel begins in California, with the main protagonist, Amanda Blake on her way to meeting Jean Campbell, a millionaire who owns Campbell-Beare Pharmaceuticals who completely out of the blue wrote a letter to Amanda to tell her she was her birth mother - a complete shock to her as she had never been told she was adopted.

She meets Jean as well as her twin brother Brian (also a complete surprise to her) before passing out from the shock and subsequently has a nightmare involving seeing a woman face down dead in a blue dressing gown.

She wakes up in the evening where she meets her half-brother Dorian who we quickly find out has a strained relationship with Jean. At the dinner table that night Dorian begs Jean for a share of his inheritance which is stored in a trust fund for him by his father but she refuses.

The next morning, Amanda wakes to the screams of the maid Estella and that Jean has been murdered but who killed her? The mystery deepens when we find out Jean tried to change her will the week before she died and also tried to contact Brian's adoptive brother Scott but why did she feel the need to do both of these things? Also, why are members of her staff now whispering together in secret? Also why is someone now out to kill Amanda?

Thoughts

The Deadly Caress is a book which definitely will grow on you. Initially on opening the page I found the book quite hard to follow as Stefan mentions a lot of information about all of the characters in a very short space of time e.g. in the space of five chapters we learn Amanda has had her adoptive mother commit suicide, a miscarriage and an eating disorder. This will appeal to some readers who like a quick pacy novel and when the character of Jean has died this to-the-point style works a lot better when the novel has something to focus on but in the opening chapters it comes across a little haphazard and I would have liked a much deeper exploration of Amanda's feelings at this point.

Further to this, I did find it initially hard to get into the story as Amanda's main motivation to investigate what happened to Jean is a little hard to swallow as for me Jean as a character does not have enough presence in the novel to make Amanda's motivations ring true and actually her character is written in a way that I found it hard to like.

However, as I have said in the previous paragraph the novel has pacy action and it definitely delivers on this front with some breathtakingly exciting scenes, in particular when the action moves across to Australia and the mystery unravels you would want to set aside a decent amount of time to read this series of chapters as it contains some of the most breathtaking and even cinematic action sequences in the novel and there are plenty of red herrings dripped through the novel to keep you reading on and guessing who killed Jean.

For a thriller, the main crook of the novel is the ending has to be sufficiently unpredictable for the reader to guess whilst also not being silly and if you read the novel again it would make sense. The twist in this novel, when it does come, though probably not completely original as I have seen a similar twist before in movies such as A Perfect Getaway is still satisfying and all the various strands of the story do come together in a convincing and coherent way with no messy loose ends.

Verdict:

A solid and neat thriller with good pacy action but is let down somewhat by its push for violence and action rather than exploration of the characters.

If you would like to read it for yourself then  the Deadly Caress is available here on Amazon. This link is an affiliate link, and I may receive a commission from the sale though this will not affect the price for you.

Any thoughts or disagree with my review? Please feel free to comment below.

Classic Corner - From Russia With Love

From Russia With Love

Name: From Russia With Love

Author: Ian Fleming

Year: 1957

Genre: Spy, Thriller





For this week's classic corner review, I will be continuing the recent theme of reviews of the James Bond novels with the review of the fifth novel in the series, From Russia With Love.

Plot

In the opening chapter of the novel in what is quite a bizarre scene a masseuse has come along to visit a Englishman at his apartment to give him a massage. We quickly learn however that this is behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union and that this Englishman is in fact one of the main killing machines for SMERSH - Russia's secret police and that he has been summoned to take on a new assignment.

It appears that the heads of state in Russia have become increasingly angry at the poor performance of Russia's secret service in helping to spread Communism throughout the West and undermine Western powers so they set them the task of creating a konspiratsia that would be completely shocking to the secret services and would also cause a huge public scandal.

The chief strategist Kronsteen, comes up with a clever solution. His aim is to make it appear that a young Russian woman has apparently fallen in love with a Western spy after seeing their file, and is willing to steal the Spektor machine for the opposition, one of the Soviet Union's greatest secret weapons, provided that this spy will give her safe passage to the West. The secret service scandal would be the machine doesn't work and when the female spy and the male spy are found dead shortly afterwards, a film of them making love would cause a huge public scandal.

Following the input of SMERSH's head of operations, Rosa Klebb, it is decided the British agent chosen to have their reputation smeared by the conspiracy is James Bond after he killed some of SMERSH's key operatives (in Casino Royale, Live and Let Die and Moonraker). The woman chosen is the beautiful Tatiana Romanova and the location Istanbul.

Following this the action shifts to Britain where Bond is called into M's office and is sent to Istanbul to investigate Romanova's claim's and to retrieve the Specktor machine. However will he unravel the conspiracy in time or is he walking blindly into such a perfectly devised honeytrap.

Thoughts

On reading From Russia With Love, one of the first things that struck me is how Fleming once again changed the structure of the novel. In both of the previous two entries in the series, Fleming pretty much made us see the entire plotline through Bond's eyes as he investigates the villain's plot. However in this novel the entire first section takes place completely in Russia (in fact Bond only enters the novel at around the 10th chapter). This unusual tack means that the reader is more or less omniscient in the novel long before Bond gets to the same place. In some respects this may put off some readers who like to be kept guessing but it does make the book more readable as you can see Bond is walking blindly into the traps set out for him by the Russians.

The novel is once again very glossy and glamorous and features many of the usual elements to keep fans happy - the exotic location of Istanbul (and the exciting final chapters on the luxurious Orient Express), the action sequences (special mention again to the Orient Express and also the chapter set at the gypsy camp), a beautiful leading lady in Tatiana Romanova - it all once again comes together to make a very taught, complex thriller novel.

Also as a little side note for people who are fans of the 1963 movie adaption (and having only saw it again myself recently) the novel is one of the more accurate adaptions with most of the material having made it from the book onto the silver screen. This is probably because unlike the previous three novels which were only adapted on film some years after they were initially published - From Russia With Love was only 6 years old when it was filmed with Sean Connery so many of the elements would still have been very relevant.

Also, unlike the previous entries in the series, the novel actually ends on a cliffhanger and doesn't have a completely closed ending in the same way as the previous two entries, how that is picked up in the next entry in the series remains to be seen (though you know by now I won't actually reveal the cliffhanger here, right?).

There are however a couple of things which will grate some readers. In a similar way to the previous entry in the series, Diamonds Are Forever with Wint and Kidd being the two villains in a homosexual relationship, there is a massive suggestion once again that Rosa Klebb is in fact a lesbian when she comes on to Romanova in one of the earlier chapters. This may have been coincidence but it may grate that the villains in the last two novels are both homosexual so there seems to be the start of a theme here. 

Also the novel frustratingly takes another back step with its leading lady with Tatiana probably being on a similar par in terms of usefulness to the plot as Live and Let Die's Solitaire i.e. not very. This was a little frustrating for me after Tiffany Case and Gala Brand elevated the female presence in the novels beyond mere damsel's in distress for Bond to rescue. This does provide insight into Bond's character however in his protective instincts over seemingly vulnerable women and probably suits the plot of the conspiracy more than a character like Tiffany Case or Gala Brand would.

Verdict
From Russia With Love is a searing spy thriller and a worthy entry into the Bond series.

Availability
At the time of writing, the book is available on Amazon for £8.99 here. This link is an affiliate link, and I may receive a commission from the sale though this will not affect the price for you.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Classic Corner - Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds Are Forever

Name: Diamonds Are Forever

Author: Ian Fleming

Year: 1956

Genre: Spy





For this week's review I shall be reviewing Diamonds Are Forever, the fourth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming.

Plot

The novel begins in South Africa where a dentist employed at the diamond mines in Africa near Sierra Leone is meeting a man in the desert as part of a wider criminal conspiracy to smuggle diamonds.

A few weeks later in London, the police have arrested a key link in this pipeline - a man named Peter Franks when M decides to let Bond take Franks' place in the pipeline - with the aim of following the pipeline to it's source and destroying it. It is believed the source lies in America with the Spangled Mob - one of the USA's biggest mobster gangs who are using the diamonds to make money to finance it's criminal activities - including selling the diamonds as jewelry at the House of Diamonds jewelers back in London.

Bond meets Franks handler, the beautiful Tiffany Case and manages to successfully smuggle the diamonds out of London and into America. There he meets the Spangled Mob and tries to infiltrate the gang further - whilst being led to some of America's glamorous gambling mecca's - including the glittering lights of Las Vegas.

However as Bond plays with fire in the gang, will he eventually get his fingers burnt.....

Thoughts

This review follows on from my review last month of the third James Bond novel, Moonraker and once again Ian Fleming as created a brilliant thriller novel.

In many ways I found Diamonds Are Forever to be much more relevant to a modern audience then all of the previous three entries to the series. In this adventure Bond is not dealing with the defunct Soviet Union, but a gang of criminals, a villain which we are all aware of and can believe in and Fleming takes this very gritty setting and adds in all the traditional elements of Bond:- the glamorous locations, action, espionage etc..

The book moves along at a very fast pace and it is interesting to see Bond operate on the inside of the gang, slowly increasing his status there before he can stab them in the back and the novel has its fair share of twist and turns to keep you reading. Also in a pleasing touch for longstanding fans of the series, Bond's American counterpart Felix Leiter, a character last seen in Live and Let Die also makes an appearance within this novel.

Also once again, Fleming has created a strong female lead in Tiffany Case. In many ways Tiffany is a stronger female character than her predecessor Gala Brand, even rescuing Bond from the hands of the villains at one stage of the novel so she doesn't fulfill the typical "damsel in distress" seen in some of the earlier Bond novels.

If I was to be picky, a handful of issues could be found - the novel obviously still has elements which are old fashioned - the reason M is so keen on infiltrating the gang is they are stealing the diamonds from a company which was a key asset to the British Commonwealth - basically the integrity of the British Empire is at stake. Also two of the henchman in the novel, Wint and Kidd are known to be in a homosexual relationship with one another and there are some attitudes expressed in the novel which may be uncomfortable in 2015 for some.

Verdict
Though a trifle old-fashioned, Diamonds are Forever takes the traditional Bond formula and makes it more glitzy. more glamorous and also more gritty - a very enjoyable thriller.

The book is available on Amazon for £8.99 or the eBook version is available for £4.99 here. These links are affiliate links, and I may receive a commission from the sale though this will not affect the price for you.

Classic Corner - Moonraker

Moonraker - Ian Fleming

Name: Moonraker

Author: Ian Fleming

Year: 1955

Genre: Spy, Thriller





For this week's review, I have decided to continue with the James Bond theme of recent weeks on the blog by following my review of Live and Let Die a fortnight ago with its sequel, Moonraker.

Plot

Moonraker begins with Bond on a Monday morning, stuck in between missions where his job is more akin to that of a civil servant rather than a spy. It is not long however before M is calling him into his office, yet this time the mission is more of a personal interest for M than a globe-trotting quest for an agent of SMERSH.

M would like Bond to accompany him to a session of cards at the Blades club, a sophisticated club in London. It appears one of the members there is Hugo Drax, a former soldier in World War Two who since the war has managed to earn millions and become a huge celebrity virtually out of nowhere. Drax is working on a project of huge national importance, the titular Moonraker, a rocket equipped with an atomic bomb capable of destroying any European city and Britain's main defence mechanism from it's enemies. M would like Bond to accompany him as there is a belief in the club that Drax maybe cheating at cards.

Bond quickly confirms Drax is cheating by using his silver cigarette case as a mirror for the cards on his draw. Therefore Bond plays him at his own game by cheating himself and wins. 

The next morning, the plot thickens when we learn that the Moonraker is due for a test flight on Friday from it's launching site in Dover, and one of the security men employed by the Ministry of Defence to protect the Moonraker is murdered.

Why did the security man's killer shout out that only he can love Gala Brand? Who's behind a potential dark plot to sabotage the Moonraker and is Drax who he says he is?

Thoughts

In writing my review of Moonraker, it is natural for me to compare it to it's two predecessors and overall I think it is definitely a massive improvement on Live and Let Die and possibly the novel even surpasses Casino Royale.

It is clear in this novel Fleming is far more comfortable in writing them and was prepared to experiment and take risks. In both of the first two novels we pick up the story with Bond mid-mission and in chapter two or three Bond (and us) are given the lowdown on the villain of the novel. I did worry that if this was the case with Moonraker then I was going to find it increasingly formulaic - however Fleming took the decision to start the novel right at the beginning of the mission and it is only as the plot progresses that we learn the full story. This makes the novel far more exciting as we follow Bond's own suspicions and thought processes as the novel progresses more so in this novel than in it's predecessors.

Fleming also took the risk of setting the entire novel within Britain rather than in the more exotic settings of France and America. This will for most Bond fans shy away from the traditional formula but it works to create a much more focused and fast-paced novel (also the fact the novel's events take place across a few days makes it even more frenetic).

Fleming also manages to solve one of my gripes with the previous novels (well partly) by being less sexist. Gala Brand, this novels' Bond "girl" is a tough policewoman and has far more presence in the novel than the previous two female leads. Though Bond still calls her "girl" numerous times, Fleming writes their relationship in such a way that Bond still respects Gala far more so than Solitaire and Vesper. Gala is also more fierce and independent than the previous two leads and their relationship rarely dips into love or sex which is a refreshingly different dynamic.

I also loved how Fleming dips some extra information in for fans of the previous two novels (and probably for fans of the film series too). We find out what Bond is like outside of a mission and the novel gives a few knowing references to both of the two previous novels - for instance M discusses the gold from Live and Let Die at the start of the novel and we learn Bond during World War Two wrote a report on ways to cheat at cards which obviously comes in useful during the chapters set at Blades and probably may have been of use to him in Casino Royale?)

I think the only real gripe I had with this novel is that occasionally the plot twists are a little bit peculiar for a modern audience. For instance, the fact M and Bond are onto Drax's case in the first place is because he cheats at cards, which in their eyes does not make him a very "good sport" is as laughable and as pompous as that description sounds but probably for the quintessentially British audience of the 1950s it probably worked.

Verdict

Moonraker comes on in leaps and bounds in comparison to Live and Let Die and is a very exhilarating third novel for the series.

Classic Corner - Live & Let Die

Live and Let Die

Name: Live and Let Die

Author: Ian Fleming

Year: 1954

Genre: Spy, Thriller




Following my review earlier in the month of the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, I have now moved on to it's sequel, Live and Let Die.

Plot

Live and Let Die begins a few months after the events of Casino Royale, with Bond on a new assignment. This time he is on the trail of Mr. Big - a big-time, black American gangster in New York.

It appears as though Mr. Big is actually a double agent for the USSR and he is smuggling gold from a treasure trove in Jamaica to sell on the black market in Harlem, with the funds helping to fund both his criminal activities and the operations of the USSR. To protect himself, Mr. Big is using his odd physical appearance to pass himself off as the Zombie of the Baron Samedi, the Prince of Darkness in the sinister Black Widow voodoo cult and a status allowing him to control almost all of it's worshipers throughout America.

Bond immediately attracts the attention of Mr. Big who sends a small bomb to Bond's hotel room as a warning to stay away. In retaliation, Bond and CIA agent Felix Leiter decide to track him down to his hideouts in Harlem. They are subsequently captured by Mr. Big's henchmen and Bond is taken to meet him.

Mr. Big interrogates Bond on his purpose in New York (to which he lies) and uses his girlfriend, the beautiful fortune-teller Solitaire to confirm whether he is lying or telling the truth. Solitaire confirms Bond's cover story so Mr. Big decides to let his henchmen beat him up as a lesson and let him go (we also learn Solitaire is trapped in an abusive relationship with Mr. Big). Instead, Bond kills all of the henchmen and escapes. It seems Leiter also has escaped and after killing the henchmen they decide to escape from New York.

At the last minute Bond gets a call from Solitaire who pleads with him to help her escape and she joins him on the train. However, with Mr. Big avenging the loss of his henchmen and his girlfriend, the possible consequences Bond and Solitaire must face in order to destroy his huge machine could be severe, including a deadly battle with barracuda....

Thoughts

The initial reaction to Live and Let Die I had, especially after coming from reading Casino Royale is that the action in this novel has increased sharply, in a way that is much closer to the experience in the movies than the more slow-burning Casino Royale. In many ways the novel feels like a step-up from its predecessor, with pacier action, the more glamorous locations of New York, Florida and Jamaica, the evil villain and I have to give special mention to what I think is one of the best names for a Bond girl character ever in Solitaire.

However, though it does feel like a step-up and as though Fleming was more asserted to writing this novel than Casino Royale, I did struggle to enjoy it in comparison.

My main criticism for this novel is the plotline feels a little bit dated in comparison to Casino Royale. Though there are obvious elements to the story which are no longer apparent like in Casino Royale, in particular that the USSR is no more, the whole concept of an American gangster digging up 16th Century British treasure was to me a little far-fetched and probably more Indiana Jones than James Bond. The Voodoo sub-plot though it is interesting I also felt was a little far-fetched and is really a vehicle to explain the henchmen's complete obedience to Mr. Big.

Also the book is sexist and racist. I did mention before in my review of Casino Royale how Bond is seen to treat Vesper in a sexist way and it is fairly similar here, with Bond calling Solitaire little more than "the girl" on more than one occasion and Solitaire is a comparatively weaker presence than Vesper. However, the racism is more apparent with Fleming calling the black characters "negroes" throughout (though admittedly this was a more socially acceptable word in 1954) and there are several references made to Bond's attitudes to black people as if they were somehow inferior (probably his consistent surprise at Mr. Big's inventiveness throughout the novel could be a sign that somehow Bond thinks Mr. Big can't think of an intelligent plan because of his colour - I'll leave you to make your own mind up on that). This consistent racism and sexism probably dates the novel just as much as the plot.

Verdict

Though it is clear Fleming did step up the ante on Live and Let Die and it is fairly entertaining, overall it is flawed and not as good as Casino Royale.

Losing Heart

Losing Heart

Name: Losing Heart

Author: Donna Brown

Year: 2014

Genre: Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Novella






For this week's review, I am reviewing the recently published psychological thriller, Losing Heart, by Donna Brown.

Plot

The story begins with Helen, a 45-year-old wife and mother who is awaiting a new heart after being diagnosed with heart failure. Fortunately, a donor is found after a 20-year-old woman called Sylvia tragically dies in a car accident.

A few months later, Helen has the new heart and we learn she is trapped in a loveless marriage with her husband Tom, who cannot get over her earlier bitterness whilst waiting for the new heart. Whilst having a routine check up with her doctor, Jack Meadon, she ends up meeting him for drinks and begins a passionate love affair.

At the same time we learn the mother of the daughter who died, Marion Chambers, wants to meet the person who received her daughter's heart and it soon becomes clear their is more to her than meets the eye and entering into a friendship with her could be a costly mistake...

Thoughts

Overall, my favourite aspect of Losing Heart was the very simple but effective setup revolving around the donor register. For a thriller, this is a very simple, easy-to-understand starting point for many readers and is different to some of the usual starting points for thrillers seen elsewhere. This simple set-up I also think gives the book an easy pick-up and continue reading aspect for people who may need to leave it for a little while.

The book moves along at a very fast pace - one of the fastest I have seen for a thriller novel (for instance, all of the events I have written in my synopsis above take place in the first three chapters alone) and the fact it is a novella means the book reaches it's conclusion very quickly. This combined with the simple premise probably makes it a good book choice for people with little time for reading, or for people who haven't read anything for a while and they need something short and satisfying to get back into reading.

The book is also very involving and stirs in the reader many different emotions which can be related too. Helen starts life as a very bitter character awaiting a heart which many readers probably would imagine themselves feeling when they are on a waiting list for what is essentially the chance to live again. She then also develops this glowing rejuvenation at being alive again and feelings of love and hope towards Jack which again can be related too.

The most absorbing part for me though is when Marion is first introduced and Helen has a range of emotions initially. From developing a fear of her (which we later learn is pretty much justified) to feeling guilty at the fact she is scared of Marion and the fact she can live on at her daughter's expense. These are very challenging emotions which the reader cannot help but feel along with Helen.

My only criticism of the book comes from the fact it is a novella. This means the book moves along at a very fast pace and I have to admit sometimes the book moved a little bit too quickly for me. There is little doubt this makes the book entertaining but on a couple of occasions I felt the plot twists were a bit too sudden - especially in the earlier chapters before the book develops a focus on Marian. From a personal perspective I would have liked the book to have been a little longer as I felt this would have developed the characters and story a little bit more than they are which may have lent the plot twists a bigger impact.

Verdict:

A very entertaining thriller which I think is great for people who haven't read anything for a while but the searing pace of the book made me feel as though the twists were a little too sudden.

Classic Corner: Casino Royale

Casino Royale

Name: Casino Royale

Author: Ian Fleming

Year: 1953

Genre: Spy, Thriller





First of all, I hope all of my readers and followers had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very Happy New Year. For my first review of the year, I have decided to review the classic spy novel which introduced the world to James Bond, Casino Royale.

Plot

The novel begins with James Bond already in the middle of a mission at the Casino Royale in France. We quickly learn that Bond is there in pursuit of Le Chiffre, a treasurer for SODA, the Soviet Union's main trade union. It appears Le Chiffre is in a vulnerable position after he used the trade union funds entrusted to him to fund a brothel in France which subsequently went under after the French Government passed a new law restricting brothels in the country. Therefore, Le Chiffre is aiming to recover the funds at the Casino.

Bond's mission therefore is very simple, to play him and beat him at the tables so that his soviet spymasters, SMERSH can "retire" him. To assist him in his mission, Bond is assigned a female agent from the department of MI6 which concerns the USSR, Vesper Lynd.

At first Bond is very skeptical at having a woman assist him but over the course of his mission he develops a deep attraction and love for Vesper. However will Bond beat Le Chiffre at the tables and what brutal cross to bear will Le Chiffre have in store for both him and Vesper if he does win? Furthermore, is the beautiful and loyal Vesper all she seems or is Bond heading for a spectacular downfall?

Thoughts

Firstly, I am not going to beat about the bush in guessing why people will actually first pick up this novel to read, as more than likely it will be because of the James Bond movies (indeed, the huge number of them shown almost daily on TV over Christmas was probably a factor in myself reading the novel).

For these fans, Casino Royale presents a very fine literary introduction to James Bond and it is clear even in 1953 most of the core elements of the series were already here in Fleming's first novel:- the glamorous location of Royale-les-Eaux, the women in Vesper, the devious villain of Le Chiffre and even a slight hint at the gadgets in the films (with Le Chiffre's spike trap in the car chase scene) and it is quite amazing as a fan of the film to see how the novel came out relatively untouched when it was released in 2006 - some 50 years on from the initial publication.

There are however some material differences in the novel from the film due to its 1953 publication - for example, Le Chiffre has Soviet Union connections rather than terrorist connections, Bond drives a Bentley and there are many references to World War Two which when the novel was released had only ended 8 years previously but in terms of tone the novel comes out relatively untouched.

The story is paced very well with lots of slow burning tension followed by quick bursts of action to liven it up. This is probably due to Fleming himself being a spy and focusing more on the espionage aspect of being a spy rather than the action we see in Hollywood movies. As such there is a huge amount of attention placed on Bond himself and his feelings and thoughts throughout the novel which build a very complex character - on the one hand he appears to be caring as shown in his growing relationship with Vesper but this is hidden underneath the fact he is a cold and brutal killer.

Also as the novel focuses more on espionage, the plot is a slow burner with Fleming revealing information very slowly which keeps you guessing and he saves a huge twist at the end which will surprise people who have not seen the film.

However, there are some less enjoyable aspects to the novel. For fans of the film as I stated above the plot focuses more on espionage as opposed to action so if you come along to the novel expecting an action-packed experience then do expect to be disappointed as the book is almost cerebral in comparison to the film.

Another problem for modern readers may lie in the book's age. Though Fleming was probably writing as society thought in the 1950's, there are some aspects which to modern readers may irritate them. Most significantly, Bond is sexist, very sexist towards Vesper and though he is attracted to her he rarely talks about her actual qualities and abilities - often talking about her as if she was a silly girl trying to operate in what he believes is a man's world which will grate on some readers. However, in terms of the plotting it could be argued as being a very clever move because of the twist at the end which I will not wreck here for people who haven't read the novel.

Verdict

If you are a modern James Bond fan, do not come to this novel expecting a pulse-pounding thrill ride of a novel as you will not get one. Though some aspects may grate, the novel is a fantastic introduction to the literary character of James Bond.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

The Hunger Games - Mockingjay

Name: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Year: 2010

Genre: Adventure, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Thriller

Here is my review of the third and final novel in The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.

Plot

(Note: This review does contain some spoilers - you have been warned).

The novel begins a few weeks after the events of Catching Fire, with Katniss visiting the wreckage of what was once District Twelve. We soon learn that after Katniss destroyed the arena the Capitol sent firebombs to destroy the entire district. Those that did manage to survive are now living in District Thirteen, a district which up until now was considered destroyed by the Capitol.

We also learn that the rebels managed to collect her from the wreckage of the arena but did not get the time to rescue any of the other tributes, who are now in Capitol custody, including Peeta.

However, Katniss was not just plucked out of the arena for nothing and District Thirteen now want her to become the face of the rebellion - the titular Mockingjay.

As the novel progresses we follow Katniss's journey from initially uniting the districts to taking on the Capitol and facing her biggest battle and greatest personal tragedy to date...

Thoughts

Out of the three books in The Hunger Games trilogy, I personally found this final novel to be the most hard-hitting and enjoyable of the three as Collins uses all of the ideas laid out in the previous two novels to create a riveting final novel.

One of the overarching themes in the novel is that of war, devastation and loss and Collins presents and uses this theme constantly. The sense of devastation is delivered right at the start when Katniss visits the remains of District Twelve which can only be described as an horrific moment showing the brutal reality of what she is going through. This then continues throughout the novel when Katniss begins to enter combat in the districts and again in the final chapters in the Capitol.

Also the book throws up more complex and morally ambiguous issues than the previous novels such as the underlying tension between Katniss and President Coin, the leader of District Thirteen where Katniss suspects she may be helping someone to take power who has her own dark political motives and throughout the novel Katniss is seen to constantly evaluate her actions, usually believing herself to be at blame.

The events in District Two also serve to create a moral dilemma where Katniss and Gale disagree on whether it is right to blow up a mountain base, trapping everyone inside and not giving them a chance to surrender.

My final point though I do not want to reveal too much is the ending of the trilogy (which happily I had forgotten about after I previously read the trilogy a few years ago) is exhilarating, pulse-pounding and definitely has the shock factor.

Verdict:

An exquisite final novel which manages to surpass the two before it to create a complex and thrilling conclusion to the trilogy.