Book Review: A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer

I loved reading this book while in Doha, Qatar in the heat of summer 2010. It is another epic from Jeffrey Archer and I should grab your copy today. It draws on Archer's first hand knowledge of prison and is a delight.

The story concerns a character called Danny Cartwright who gets involved in a pub fight and is framed for a murder. The murdered man's friends close ranks to get Danny convicted. We also learn that Danny's girlfriend is also pregnant at the time.

Danny ends up sharing a cell with Sir Nicholas Moncrieff and another strange prisoner called Big Al. Sir Nicholas sees the gem that is Danny and helps him learn to read and their friendship becomes close. They look alike and Moncrieff grooms Danny.

Danny is also helped by a young lawyer called Alex Redmayne but Danny loses his first appeal and he is destined to serve his full term in Belmarsh Prison (where Archer was for a while).

Sir Nicholas is murdered but this is altered to look like the suicide of Danny and Danny swaps to become Sir Nicholas. Everyone is fooled of course. Big Al helps in the cover up and also helps Danny/Sir Nicholas when he is out of prison.

Once released Danny sets about putting his injustice to rights as well as untangling issues in the Moncrieff family too.

9/10 for me for this novel.

Book Review: Echo Park by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 12)

I can remember buying this book from Ottakers in hardback shortly after it came out in 2006 in Maidenhead, my home town. Sadly Ottakers is no longer there and I miss browsing that bookstore and sitting in the upstairs sofas. Happy days.

This novel finds Harry Bosch back with the LAPD but now pushing sixty years old. He is working with his partner Kiz Rider in the Open-Unsolved Unit.

Echo Park is in Los Angeles and a traffic stop in that area throws up Reynard Waits who is discovered to have body parts on the front seat of his car. Waits confesses to two crimes one that is a throwback to the 1992 LA riots and the other is a cold case that Harry Bosch had been working on years before, concerning a young equestrian called Marie Gesto. Her clothes were discovered but her body was never found.

Harry considered at the time that the likely killer was the son of a wealthy man so he is surprised to hear of Wait's confession to the killing. He digs back into the case and discovers that his old partner Jerry Edgar had made some errors on the case and Waits could have been apprehended at the time, a lead that was not properly followed up.

Waits leads the police to the grave or Marie Gesto but escapes during this visit. However, more twists are added to the mix by Michael Connelly. Did Waits really murder Marie Gesto or was he just in on the know as to her burial site?

You will need to read this novel to find out.

I really enjoyed this novel and 9/10 for me.

New Book Release: The Affair by Lee Child

The latest in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, the Affair is released tomorrow.

Grab your copy now!!!

Book Review: Cross by James Patterson (Alex Cross 12)

This is the first of the Alex Cross novels to feature his name, presumably James Patterson ran out of nursery rhyme titles.

This novel takes a step back in time. His wife was gunned down and killed before the first novel but we never discovered why. In this novel we find out. The killer was never caught, the most important of Alex Cross's unsolved cases. Just another drive by shooting?

He has moved on in his professional life and left the FBI, having earlier left the Washington DC Police Department. He is using that other string to his professional bow and set up a practice as psychologist.

His family life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie and Little Alex appears to be on track and he has a little romance in his life.

His ex police partner and great friend John Sampson wants a favour too. This too links back to a serial rapist from the past, another unsolved crime. This links in to the killing of Cross's wife Maria.

This novel is up close and personal and ties up many loose ends from previous novels that had been nagging away at me.

9/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 8)

A series of killings in Ireland and the USA are linked and Kay Scarpetta appears in both places. She has been on a lecture tour in Ireland and is able to do some more investigations while she is there. Time and an ocean separates the crimes. However, the tenth victim seems to be a copycat killing.

However, it is the next killing that really chills the spine when the victim is found to carry smallpox. Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta truly has her hands full now with the stakes set to high.

The killer contacts Scarpetta by email and this is another lead for her niece to follow up.

Scarpetta herself is put into quarantine due to exposure to the disease where she tries to pursue the case and sort out her feelings for Wesley.

How does she play a part in bringing justice to the fore? Well, you will have to read the book!!!

7/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

I had high hopes for this novel, having read Sam's Letters to Jennifer a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I was expecting something along the same lines with this.

Unfortunately, this novel was a waste of my time ready. The idea was silly, the story of no interest whatsoever and cannot see how this would appeal to anyone to read. I borrowed the book from the library so at least it did not cost me any money.

I have read most of James Patterson's books but this one for me has been easily the worst. He is a good writer and I enjoy most of the books he writes. The worst book(s) I have ever read were the Lark Rise to Candleford triolgy that I had to read for A levels. However, this book seriously challenged that for a waste of paper.

1/10 for me

Book Review: Cause of Death by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 7)

A man is found dead beside a frozen river in Virginia on New Year's Eve. A diver is dead who was also a reporter who was known and liked at the Medical Examiner's office that is Kay Scarpetta's home turf.

Scarpetta finds out about the death by a phone call before the police were notified.

With the help of her niece and detective Marino, Scarpetta begins to sift through the clues, both forensic, electronic and good old fashioned detective work to track down the killer. This is not before they are led through a terrorist plot where hundreds of people could be victims.

Not one of the most enjoyable of reads so only 6/10 for me.

Book Review: LA Requiem by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole 8)

This is a very good novel, and delves back into the past of Joe Pike in particular and squares a few circles and ties up a few loose ends. We had not until this point found out why Joe left the police and we discover that he is a man of great honour, who's only crime appears to be to love his police partner's wife.

Elvis's relationship becomes more complicated with Lucy. On the one hand she moves to LA and everything seems set fair. But then a lady LA cop that Elvis is working with complicates his relationship and even more intrusively a case with a serial killer infiltrates Lucy's comfort zone. Elvis has to choose at times between Lucy and either Joe Pike or crime fighting.

The novel concerns a serial killer who appears to be randomly killing people, one of whom is Joe Pike's ex girlfriend, who's heart Joe broke. The mystery unfolds and Joe goes to darker and darker places in his past and present. Elvis tries his hardest to defend and protect his friend but ends up making choices that are very difficult.

At the end of the novel Elvis ends up confused and much changed. Well worth reading this novel for me.

9/10 excellent!!!!

Book Review: The Closers by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 11)

Harry Bosch is back working for the LAPD in the cold case division, Open-Unsolved. He is also back with his work partner Kiz Rider. The first case he has to investigate relates to the murder of a schoolgirl in 1988 and there is some new evidence now that there is a DNA match to the blood on the murderer's gun.

While this evidence helps to link the gun to a white supremasist it does not link him to the crime. However, when Bosch and Rider investigate the case they discover that there has been a cover up and a high ranking police officer has tried to cover his son's links to the white supremacist and his Nazi links.

The book also has some human interest as we can see how the murder of some years before has affected the victim's family. The mother is a victim too and is trapped in life before the murder, while the father is an alcoholic and homeless.

The case moves forward cleverly in the hands of the master writer Michael Connelly and you can sit back and enjoy the literary ride. Kiz Rider is a good foil for Bosch and gives a perspective to Bosch's viewpoints.

Another fantastic novel from Michael Connelly and 8/10 for me.

Book Review: The Blood Doctor by Barbara Vine

As ever with Barbara Vine novels (and with the Ruth Rendell ones too) a lot of the novel is concerned with the thoughts of someone.

This book is about Martin Nanther who is a Lord in the House of Lords and he is starting to research his relative Henry Nanther who was a doctor appointed to Queen Victoria. Henry specialised in blood disorders and specifically haemophilia. 

Martin has his own issues with blood and with his second wife's desires for a baby. He goes back through Henry's letters and documents as well as visiting relatives for information. As the facts become known to him, Martin discovers his particular links back to Henry and what sort of man Henry really was.

I enjoyed reading this novel but it was a bit long!!!

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 11)

I got my copy of this book free and gratis thanks to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. I used the bathrooms to the swimming pool and when I came out this was one of a number of books on a shelf. I asked at reception about the books and the lady said that they were just left by guests for anyone to take. I took this novel! I had read the previous 10 Jack Reacher novels.

Jack Reacher is the ex-army military policeman who is a loner who strolls into town and puts right all the wrongs for some section of society.

The book concerns Reacher's investigation into the death of one of his army friends being pushed to his death out of a helicopter. Three of his pals help with the investigation but three others do not respond to his pleas for help. Why not?

Reacher tracks down the bad guys and puts wrong to rights and we are going along for the exhilarating ride. One of the better Lee Child novels.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: The Thief by Ruth Rendell

This is a pretty short book and it concerns Polly who has a habit of stealing objects from her friends and relatives, then destroying the objects. She then weaves a web of lies and deceit to cover her tracks.

As ever with Ruth Rendell, we are inside the mind of Polly and we get reasons for her actions. We live her fears and take the same decisions with her too.

One day Polly goes too far and steals something from a fellow passsenger on a flight back to London from New York. She tries her usual pattern of behaviour but the other passenger is as strange as Polly and he sets about his revenge. His revenge completely changes Polly's life.

A nice book and 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge

This novel is strangely written in the first person by different characters each short chapter. It is horrendously confusing. Surely if you are going to write in the first person then that should be the person writing throughout the book. It took me a few chapters to realise that it was different characters commentating so I was doubly confused.

The novel was set in the Hamptons and dealt with a black kid being framed for four murders. It dealt quite well with the race angle and the difference in money between those from one side of the track and those from the other. However, I did not engage with the characters at all and with the confusing first person writing I did not enjoy reading this much.

The other Patterson/de Jonge novel Beach House is much better and you would be better hunting that one down for a more satisfying read set in the Hamptons.

5/10 for me.

Book Review: From Potter’s Field by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 6)

Sometimes Christmas is not so great, like it is here for Kay Scarpetta when she is called in on a case where an apparently homeless girl is shot in Central Park, New York on Christmas Eve. Later a policeman is shot in a subway tunnel and also a crooked local sheriff is also murdered. The figure of serial killer Temple Gault is on the loose.

Kay Scarpetta the Medical Examiner must track him down and she is assisted by Benton Wesley the profiler and Marino the cop. The book ducks and dives through the clues before the impressive climax on the New York subway system where Gault hides out.

This is one of the better Scarpetta novels.

An 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Indigo Slam by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole 7)

I am now hooked on the Elvis Cole novels and I read this one really quickly. Once again, it is all jokes and quips at the beginning and then there is a bit of a fog while Robert Crais unfolds the story for you, then it is into the action with the bad guys.

This one concerns a family abandoned by its father with the mother dying years ago there is only Elvis to look after them. The father has serious problems and is linked with the bad guys. Elvis is contracted by the children and ends up doing more than the fee he is getting. A lot more!

The action at one point switches to Seattle but is mostly in Los Angeles. We enter the worlds of forgery, bad Russians and not quite so bad Vietnamese. There is plenty of action and suspense too.

We also get the relationship of Elvis and Lucy moved on too and this is left hanging for the next novel so I will have to get on and read that one soon too!

9/10 for me.



Book Review: The Narrows by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 10)

This novel also involves the death of another of Michael Connelly's other characters the FBI profiler Terry McCaleb. Harry Bosch the LA Detective is employed by McCaleb's wife to investigate the murder of her husband.

Bosch suspects that the serial killer the Poet is responsible for the killing and he follows leads that lead him to Las Vegas. The Poet is Robert Backus who has been presumed to be dead. Bosch contacts the FBI in Vegas and this also leads him to hook up with FBI agent Rachel Walling who is also heavily involved with the ex-FBI agent Robert Backus case. She comes out of her imposed exile in South Dakota and teams up with Bosch to track down the Poet.

Bosch also ends up rejoining the LAPD and eventually there is a terrific climax to the novel in the Narrows that are the flood relief channels in Los Angeles. However, did he kill Terry McCaleb or was Bosch on the wrong trail?

In this novel Harry Bosch goes through the complete affair with Rachel Walling and we also meet up with Eleanor his ex-wife and his daughter in Las Vegas too. Therefore there is some ongoing background in Bosch's life that is also enjoyable.

8/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: The Hard Way by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 10)

The 2006 instalment of the loner, drifter, tough guy Jack Reacher. He is the ex-army policeman who we admire and want to be and women want to be with.

Reacher is in a New York cafe waiting for his coffee when he witnesses a man getting into a Mercedes and driving off. It soon becomes apparent that he has witnessed a ransom scheme that has got the kidnappers one million dollars. The next day Reacher is roped in to help Edward Lane who has been the victim of the kidnappers who have kidnapped his wife and daughter.

Jack Reacher helps in his own inimitable tough guy manner to put wrongs to rights.

How does he get on with his task? You will have to read the novel! This book is well written, you can identify with Jack Reacher (in a slightly larger than life way) and you want him to win out at the end of the day.

A good novel for me and 8/10.

New Book Release: Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson

The new episode in the James Patterson Alex Cross series is out tomorrow. Grab your copy!!!

Book Review: The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson

This is the first published novel by James Patterson and everyone has to start somewhere. For me the book was confusing and I ended up finishing it as I want to read all of the main James Patterson novels (not the Maximum Ride books etc).

Thomas Berryman is a hit man who is hired to kill Jimmie Horne who is the first African American mayor of Nashville. We read of Berryman's life and his confusing relocation from place to place prior to the hit.

We also read of Ochs Jones who is a Nashville reporter who is working on a story on Berryman to try and make his name in journalism. He endeavours to follow Berryman around to get his story.

The novel meanders around for page after confusing page and does not amount to much for me.

4/10 for this one from me.

Book Review: Sunset Express by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole 6)

Part of this novel is a follow on from Voodoo River as it continues the long distance romance that Elvis has with Lucy from Baton Rouge. Lucy and her son come to stay with Elvis in LA while a case is ongoing. We therefore get a bit of romance and a bit of a travelogue about Los Angeles too.

The case that Elvis Cole takes on is to start working for a high profile lawyer who courts the press. Elvis does some good detective work and is then lauded in the press. He then discovers that he has been set up and starts working for himself on the case in support of a suspended police officer.

The novel moves along splendidly and I wanted to know what was going to happen next all the time. The action shifts between Elvis at work to Elvis at home to Elvis the romantic. The "argument" between Elvis and Lucy is particularly well played.

I am reading the Robert Crais novels in order and in this one he approaches the heights of LA fiction that I associate with Michael Connelly.

A 9/10 for me and I cannot wait to get started on the next novel!

Book Review: Mary Mary by James Patterson (Alex Cross 11)

Alex Cross is on the move in this novel outside of his native Washington DC to Los Angeles. He starts off on holiday with his family in Disneyland but of course this is interrupted by a call from his superiors in the FBI.

A killer called Mary Smith is on the loose. First off she kills a well known actress and then sends an email to the LA Times that gives details of the murder.

All of Hollywood appears to be terrorised by this Mary Smith. Who is she? How can a woman perpetrate such acts of violence and death? And why?

With the assistance of the LAPD and the FBI Alex Cross hits overdrive to track her down.

An enjoyable read for me 7/10.

Book Review: One Shot by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 9)

Another in the Jack Reacher, ex-army, loner, drifter, tough guy Mr Fix It at whatever cost Lee Child hero.

A killing spree in town is soon solved by the police, the suspect is obviously the killer. However the killer denies the killings and says to the police that they is to get Reacher for him. With no phone, contact details etc Reacher comes into town and helps out the accused, who is a military trained sniper called James Barr.

The killings involved precise shots from a parking lot and Barr has the type of skills to record such an accurate kill score. Reacher gets involved with a young defence lawyer who is working the case and the slam dunk case for the police soon starts to unravel.

Someone in the background is pulling the strings to frame Barr and Reacher is on the scent. A fascinating book and I am comfortable with the Reacher character and the tough guy ways that he uses to right the wrongs.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Lost Light by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 9)

Published in 2003, Michael Connelly remains on the top of his writing game for this Harry Bosch novel. We are used to the character now and Connelly's writing skills are honed to perfection.

Harry Bosch the LA Detective has resigned from LAPD and is now a private investigator. He investigates an old case. The case he is investigating involves the death of Angela Benton who had worked for a bank that had loaned $2 million in cash to a film company to be used in a film but the cash was stolen during a robbery during shooting.

The novel has all sorts of twists and turns before the solution to all the puzzles in your head are solved in the last few pages. Classic writing. You learn more about Harry Bosch and are interested in his life too. Connelly's description of Los Angeles is great too, giving you a slightly lonely empty feeling as well as a City with energy and feeling.

A 9/10 for classic Michael Connelly.

Book Review: Dead Cert by Dick Francis

I have always considered Dick Francis to be a cosy writer. Even in parts of his novels where the hero faces physical danger you always feel that you have a favourite uncle next to you to keep you safe. This is the first of the Dick Francis novels after he gave up being a steeplechase jockey.

Millionaire jockey Alan York uses the connections of Joe Nantwich a less than honest individual to track down the suspected murderers of another jockey Bill Davidson. York is ambushed by the thugs when he gets too close to the truth but he gets some vital clues from the encounter and he is on the way to solving the murder of Bill.

A great read as ever with Dick Francis and you will enjoy the ride. Quintessentially English and charming novels.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 5)

For me Scarpetta is a very efficient person but a bit cold and aloof. She hooks up with Benton Wesley in this novel and they are well matched. Benton is Mr Perfect for me, they suit each other. The relationship between Marino and Scarpetta is much more abrasive and therefore interesting. Her niece Lucy is irritating for me too, much too good to be true and too eccentric as well, she gets injured in this novel.

In this novel Scarpetta assists in the investigation into the murder of a child in North Carolina. The murder has similarities to that of a serial killer who's crimes go way back and he has eluded justice for many years. The name of the Body Farm is a research facility in Tennessee where the answers to the murder of the child are discovered. There are also other clues in the apparent suicide of a local FBI Agent too.

This novel gets a 7/10 from me.

Book Review: False Impression by Jeffrey Archer

This novel was published in 2005 and has a background in the September 11 attacks and takes us on a journey through London, New York, Bucharest and Tokyo.

Anna Petrescu is fired by the evil banker Bryce Fenston who swindles people out of the valuable paintings. Anna tries to help a British lady called Arabella Wentworth to recover her fortune from Fenston.

However Anna is also being pursued by agents of Fenston as well as an FBI agent who is also trying to chase down Fenston. Who will catch who? Will Lady Arabella get her fortune back? What will happen to Bryce Fenston, how and who will bring him to justice?

The story of a doughty heroine is a wonderful novel.

7/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: Voodoo River by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole 5)

I am really getting to like Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, I am reading these novels in date order. The novels generally start quite jokey and you are never quite sure what the bigger picture is on the case. However, as the chapters unfold the picture becomes clearer. There seems to be a shoot out near the end. That seems to be the formulat of these novels for me.

This one is set in the south of the USA and you can almost taste the soutern Dixie way of life, the swamps, the food and the humidity. Elvis is called in to trace an adopted TV star's real parents. However he soon discovers that the TV star already knows these facts. The story moves on to other bigger issues involving the characters Cole meets.

It was nice to see some love interest for Elvis that remained open at the end of this book, so I will just have to hurry along to the next one!

8/10 for me, I enjoyed this book.

Book Review: Lifeguard by James Patterson

This is another co-written novel by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. Who writes what? Who knows?

This novel concerns a lifeguard from an Irish family of crimnals who accepts an easy money task. However, it all goes wrong and the robbery is foiled and his friends are murdered. The action alternates between Boston and Palm Beach.

Our hero, Ned Kelly (yes!) escapes the FBI with ease, falls in love and sees two of his family members die. This novel is a fun, beach side read but you have to suspend your imagination in places. I wouldn't rush out and buy this but borrow it from the library or get a copy from a thrift shop. Not in the same class as the Alex Cross or Women's Murder Club novels.

7/10 for me.

Book Review: Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 4)

A good mystery read. Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond waits for the body of a convict who has been put in the electric chair. However at the same time a young boy's body is found next to a rubbish skip. However there are links between the latest victim and the executed convict.

To make matters worse, Scarpetta's assistant Susan Story is killed too and Scarpetta is implicated in the crime.

There is a clever killer on the loose who can manipulate evidence to baffle everyone. Scarpetta is aided by the contrasting Benton Wesley the FBI profiler (Mr Smooth) and the much more down to earth Marino (Mr Rough).

How does Scarpetta remove herself from the list of suspects, how do we discover how seemingly unrelated crimes are related? You need to read the novel!

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Free Fall by Robert Crais

For all the Elvis Cole books I have read so far and I am reading them in order, they have a definite pattern to them. It starts off pretty jokey and lighthearted, then you notice after a few more pages the mood turns and they start to get serious, then turn to black before the sunshine comes out again.

This one I found a little mysterious in the beginning as it seemed to hinge on a woman's intuition that something was wrong with her young cop boyfriend. However she did not quite know what it was.

Elvis Cole began to investigate and he could not seem to discover it either. However, of course, the truth slowly emerged and Elvis was soon embroiled with his sidekick Joe Cole with some bad cops who were being blackmailed by drug dealers and gangs.

There is a real human touch for Elvis in a couple of these relationships that is heartening although I found some of the killing scenes a bit too much. However the book as a whole was a good read and I enjoyed it as usual with Robert Crais's Elvis Cole series.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Bloody Valentine by James Patterson

This is a pretty short book by James Patterson that is called a Quick Read and it is pretty enjoyable to while away a little time.

The novel is set in England and it could almost be a "cosy". However, as ever with James Patterson there is some blood and gore from a violent crime or two. This reads more like a mystery novel than the usual Patterson thriller.

A very rich man has his family living in the same building as him. But he has had one pregnant wife die in suspicious circumstances. Now on Valentine's Day his second wife who is also pregnant is also murdered. There are plenty of suspects including relatives and chefs who work in his restaurant.

A good read indeed and 8/10 for me.