Book-Review-Guilty-Not-Guilty

Guilty, Not Guilty

by

Felix  Francis

 

Guilty, Not Guilty, was my first, but will definitely not be my last, Felix Francis audiobook.

 

Guilty, Not Guilty, follows the trials and tribulations of Bill Russel after he is advised that his wife has been found murdered.  A few days after his wife’s death Bill is arrested for her murder after his nasty brother-in-law pointed the finger at him.   It didn’t seem to matter to police that Bill was so far away from home.

 

With nearly all of Bill’s friends and work colleagues declaring him guilty in the court of public opinion the outlook for Bill is rather grim.  The trial and verdict appears rather conclusive.  However, there is one more twist in this tale.  A twist which is inferred during the course of the plot and which, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight is obvious…although not so at the time.

 

Guilty, Not Guilty, moves along at a fast pace and I believe would make a good read and is an excellent audiobook.

 

I rated

Guilty, Not Guilty

as a

read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Guilty, Not Guilty

an average of 3.84 stars

from 1,306 ratings

and 203 reviews.

Guilty, Not Guilty

can be purchased on-line at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book-Review-In-Your-Name-2

 

In Your Name

(The Mechanic Trilogy #2)

by

Rob Ashman

 

Rob Ashman’s In Your Name follows hot on the heels of the first book of The Mechanic Trilogy.  Lucas, Harper and Bassano are still plagued by The Mechanic and her ritual serial killings and as far as the detectives know, The Mechanic has not killed for nearly eight months but this only makes Lucas more anxious in his search for clues to Mechanic’s identity.  

 

A Baton Rouge post marked letter arrives at the station addressed to Lucas.  Determined to solve the case Lucas asks his boss to mount an operation in Baton Rouge.  However, Lucas begins to doubt the veracity of the letter and with career and home life on the rocks, Lucas begins to lose control of reality.

In the meantime, in Las Vegas, Detective Rebecca Moran, an ambitious young detective, is tasked with solving a series of unusual murders.  Could Moran’s murder be related to the Mechanic’s murders?

Could Moran’s murder be related to the Mechanic’s murders?

 In Your Name can be read as a thrilling stand alone or as part of the gripping Mechanic Trilogy

I have rated

In Your Name

as a solid

four star read.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have awarded

In Your Name

an average of 4.36 stars

from 502 reviews

and 61 ratings.

Book Review-Red Earth

Red Earth

by

Tony Park

 

Red Earth by Tony Park was my seventh of his books set in Africa and it was as good, or better, than any of the other six.   As usual I had visited or knew some of the locations during a visit to South Africa’s, Kruger National Park, in 2013.

Basically this novel is one long chase scene and commences with a woman (Suzanne) who is victim of a car hijacking in Durban.   One of the hijackers steals her car along with her infant son.

Helicopter pilot, Nia, and wildlife researcher (Mike) are in pursuit and led on a merry chase by two teenage school children friends who do not know just who is chasing them and the baby they now have in their possession.

As Mike and Nia track the missing baby through wild game reserves of Zululand and Zimbabwe, Mike and Nia realise that war on terror has arrived in their world.

Not only are the bad guys trying to catch up with the baby and its teenage saviours, so also, are the CIA and no-one knows which members of the CIA are good and who is running with the bad guys.

Red Earth moves along at a good pace and lovers of Tony Park books will enjoy Red Earth.  Narrator, Mark Davis, also adds to this story.

I have rated Red Earth as a four star audiobook.

At the time of writing my review other Goodreads readers had awarded Red Earth an average of 4.09 stars from 473 ratings and 36 reviews

I think

Red Earth

 is a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Red Earth

an average of 4.09 stars

from 473 ratings

and 36 reviews

Red Earth

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book-Review-Those-That-Remain-1

Those That Remain

(The Mechanic Trilogy #1)

by

Rob Ashman

 

 

Rob Ashman was a new author to my reading list when I commenced Those that Remain.

Those that Remain feature three Florida detectives; Lucas, Bassano and Harper.

 Lucas is biding his time until retirement comes around, when a series of brutally sadistic murders is inflicted upon Florida’s summer population.  

The shock is more horrifying than one would normally think as three years earlier it was thought The Mechanic (the killer’s code name) was dead.  No family is safe from The Mechanic as whole families are ritualistically murdered.

What’s more the Mechanic seems to be always one step ahead the investigating team of detectives.  Does this indicate a mole in the police force?  Or is the killer just plain clever?

 

I have rated

Those That Remain

as a four star read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have awarded

Those That Remain

an average of 4.22 stars

from 1,211 reviews

and 152 ratings.

 

Those That Remain

may be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book-Review-Liar

~~~~~~~

Liar

by

K. L. Slater

 

I think all parents want the best life partner for their children, even more so when your child has lost his/her partner and is raising two young children as a sole parent.  So it is with Ben who has lost his wife leaving him with two young boys to care for.  Fortunately his mother, Judi is a great help.

Then Amber comes of the scene. Ben and his father think Amber is wonderful.  Judi does not want Amber anywhere near her grandchildren.  A feeling exacerbated when Amber begins to discipline the boys not long after meeting Ben’s parents for the first time.

A struggle between two strong women, one of whom appears to be using the truth rather loosely, follows.  Amber appears to have an intense dislike for Judi and Judi reciprocates with her own antagonistic views of her potential new daughter-in-law which grow to the extent that she decides to delve into Amber’s past where inconsistencies abound.  This sets the stage for another fantastic ending, which was the icing on the cake, again, from K. L. Slater

Liar was my fifth K. L. Slater read.  Slater’s fans and fans of this gere should not be disappointed.

~~~~~

I rated

Liar

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Liar

an average of 3.95 stars

from 10,679 ratings

and 938 reviews

Liar

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Review-Cold-Winter-Sun

~~~~~

Cold Winter Sun

(Mike Lynch Books #2)

by

Tony J. Forder

 

Cold Winter Sun is a sequel to Scream Blue Murder and chronologically follows hot on the heels of Scream Blue Murder.  Mike’s ex-wife contacts him after her new husband’s nephew disappears, apparently without trace.  Mike agrees to help, thinking it will provide the opportunity for some quality time with his daughter.

Mike also calls upon his Scream Blue Murder saviour (and good friend) from the past, Terry, for assistance.

And so begins the hunt for the nephew.  Initially Mike and Terry think he will turn up somewhere in Los Angeles or thereabouts.  However, they are quickly drawn to some seedy towns on lonely highways in New Mexico.  And towns where one person owns all buildings and employees their inhabitants makes the hunt for information even more difficult.

As with Scream Blue Murder, Cold Winter Sun moves along at a cracking pace.  There are several twists and turns to keeping readers guessing.  Which again makes it another book which I did not want to put down even in the early hours of the morning.

I rated

Cold Winter Sun

as a solid star read.

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Cold Winter Sun

an average of 4.27 stars,

from 117 ratings

and 36 reviews.

Scream Blue Murder

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Review-The-Apartment

The Apartment 

by

K. L. Slater

The Apartment was my second of K. L. Slater’s novels.  Freya, and her young daughter, Skye, are finding life difficult since the unexpected death of estranged husband and father.

Freya happens to meet elderly Doctor Marsden who is also looking for a tenant for a vacant apartment in his building in up market Kensington.  The apartment was not large but the peppercorn rent  being asked for the apartment, more than made up for its lack of size.  However would cheap rent and an up market setting compensate for the unease Freya felt about moving?

All tenants are much older than Freya’s thirty odd years, and all but one are not really friendly.   The ‘but one’ tenant is by far the friendliest and takes Skye under her wing paying special attention to the young girl.

A rumour emerges that a young girl died in Freya’s apartment however, Doc Marsden assures Freya that no child has lived in her apartment.

If my memory is working it is around here that things begin to go bump in the night….literally.  Around the mid-night hour things going bump and goose bumps was creepy and not wanted.  For anyone who may be thinking of reading The Apartment, you have been warned!

After slow-ish beginning, The Apartment developed into a very good read.  I cannot remember the last novel which gave me goose bumps.  For that I congratulate Ms Slater.

~~~~~

I rated

The Apartment

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Apartment

an average of 3.75 stars

from 5,855 ratings

and 1,339 reviews

The Apartment

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Reviews-The-Other-Sister

The Other Sister

by

Elle Croft

Elle Croft’s The Other Sister was my second of this author’s books and one of the best books read this year.  Written in a now and then fashion it tells the story of siblings Ryan, Gina, Cassie (decease), their parents and Gina’s beau, Julian.

Having been estranged from her family for many years Gina makes contact with Ryan after their parents retire to Florida and soon moves into the family home with him.

Gina is not  happy in her work at Channel 8 and soon finds a way to gain some notoriety by live streaming her report of a body she discovered of a woman’s body in an alleyway.  Although not popular with her boss and colleagues Gina’s report sees the Station ratings soar.  As news of the murder begins to fade along with the ratings, Gina discovers another body.

And it is here that the plot tends to thicken.  Many believe Gina is the murderer?  Or perhaps it is Ryan?  Or could it be Julian? Or someone else entirely!

To add anything else will spoil the plot entirely.  A book well worth reading, and perhaps the best mystery I have read this year.

I rated

The Other Sister

as a solid gold
5 star read.

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

The Other Sister

an average of 3.84 stars,

from 562 ratings

and 80 reviews.

 

The Other Sister

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Review-Winter-Sisters

Winter Sisters

(Mary Sutter, #2)
by

Robin Oliveira

 

 

Winter Sisters was my first Robin Oliveria book. Winter Sisters commences with huge snow storm which descends upon Albany in 1879.  The parents of two sisters are killed in the storm and many believe the sisters could not have survived either and after many days of searching they are presumed dead and a family funeral is held.

Shortly thereafter the girls, who have been held captive by their rescuer, and now predator, escape and are found by friends and relatives.  One of their captors is identified and sent for trial and defended by a young, inexperienced, lawyer from their town.  What follows is one of the best trial/courtroom scenes I have ever heard, seen or read.  To say more will only spoil the book.

I have, on the odd occasion, been known to comment negatively about narrators.  Therefore, I feel it only fitting to pass comment here about Tavia Gilbert and her narration of Winter Sisters.  Tavia’s reading of Winter Sisters was one of the best narratives, male or female, that I have heard.  Character voices were all different enough to identify and more importantly they seemed age appropriate.

The audio version of Winter Sisters is rated, by the library, as a 14 hour 36 minute book.  Two of those hours are devoted to the courtroom alone.  It seemed like an 8 hour book so quickly did time pass.

I rated

Winter Sisters

as a

four star audiobook

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Winter Sisters

an average of 4.06 stars

from 3,267 ratings

and 506 reviews

 

 

Book-Reviews-Closer

 

Closer

by

K. L. Slater

Closer is promoted as a psychological thriller and I must confess to being thrilled when it ended.  Is it the publisher or author who adds the ‘thriller’ tag to a book’s description?  An interesting read but not as thrilling as other reads.

Seventy-five percent of the Closer is devoted to introducing and providing background information of each character.   During this seventy-five percent there were several occasions when I felt that the story was going to change gears, however, as I was pondering the who, what where when and why I would turn the page, commence a new paragraph and find the story focussing on one of the bit players.

There is also, occasionally, a paragraph or two written in italics which features (I believe) unnamed characters.   The action in italics takes place several decades earlier than present day.  In the context of the story this is important material, however, I believe only Perry Mason could figure out the connection.

Closer is about a family breakup, Shaun, Emma and ten year old daughter Maisie and in that aspect very topical.  And as often depicted in movies and television show children of blended families do not see eye to eye.  In Closer the future step mother has a witch of a ten year old daughter from her now deceased husband.

I must confess to not picking the villain.  In fact Closer could almost make a fair TV movie…all questions answered and unheard of villains introduced and disposed of in the last 10-20 pages of my mini-iPad and its enlarged text.  Based on the ending, and solely on the ending, I would have to read a sequel to Closer, especially if it was a direct follow up sequel.

I rated

Closer

as a

read.

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Closer

an average of 3.95 stars

from 2,869 ratings

and 314 reviews.

Closer

can be purchased on-line at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon