ian Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Happy New Year everybody! Christmas saw me well catered for in terms of books - 6 received as presents plus a Waterstones voucher and a Book Token. I'm already well into my first book, which is "Never Go Back" by Lee Child. After reading what I received, my only other plan for this year is a re-read of all the Harry Potter books, most of which I've only read the once, when they first came out, so I'm due another go I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Happy New Year to you too, Ian. Hope you enjoy re-reading the Harry Potter books this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Happy Reading in the coming year Ian. A Harry Potter re read is a grand idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Happy new year Ian! I hope its a good reading year for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I wish you a good reading year in 2014, Ian . I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series myself at the moment, I'll be re-reading number four in a little while. It's a lot bigger than the first three books, though, but it should be good. I liked this one the least when I first read it, so we'll see how I get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Never Go Back by Lee Child After an epic and interrupted journey all the way from the snows of South Dakota, former military cop Jack Reacher has finally made it to Virginia. His destination: a sturdy stone building a short bus ride from Washington D.C., the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. It was the closest thing to a home he ever had.Why? He wants to meet the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner. He liked her voice on the phone. But the officer sitting behind his old desk isn’t a woman. Is Susan Turner dead? In Afghanistan? Or in a car wreck?What Reacher doesn't expect to hear is that Turner has just been fired from her command. Nor that he himself is in big trouble, accused of a sixteen-year-old homicide. And he certainly doesn't expect to hear these words: ‘You’re back in the army, Major. And your ass is mine.’Will he be sorry he went back? Or – will someone else? My Thoughts I can't say that this is the best Reacher novel in the series. For a large part of the book the plot seems simply to be treading water, almost as if Lee Child had the basis idea for the book, but not enough to fill a full sized novel, so needed to fill it with padding to get the book to an acceptable word count for the publishers. Hopefully a blip, and not the start of a decline. What could have been an interesting development for the character of Reacher and, potentially for the series as a whole turned out to be false, which I personally think was a shame. Oh well - 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Ah thats a shame, good review though. Happy reading for 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Happy New Year Ian! Sorry that your year didn't get off to the best of starts re: reading but then it wasn't awful either so not so bad. Hope your next read is awesome Good luck with re-reading the Harry Potter's .. you have hours of guaranteed pleasure ahead of you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Happy Reading in 2014 Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thank you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Standing in another man's Grave - Ian Rankin A series of seemingly random disappearances - stretching back to the millennium. A mother determined to find the truth. A retired cop desperate to get his old life back... It's been some time since Rebus was forced to retire, and he now works as a civilian in a cold-case unit. So when a long-dead case bursts back to life, he can't resist the opportunity to get his feet under the CID desk once more. But Rebus is as stubborn and anarchic as ever, and he quickly finds himself in deep with pretty much everyone, including DI Siobhan Clarke. All Rebus wants to do is uncover the truth. The big question is: can he be the man he once was and still stay on the right side of the law? My Thoughts Show More Show Less I've been a long time waiting to read this book, which has been sat on my Mother-in-law's bookcase for ages now. I've always loved Rebus, so I need to explain why I haven't read this sooner. The answer? The last two non-Rebus Ian Rankin books I read; The Complaints and Doors Open. Both were OK but weren't on a par with his Rebus novels. So, in the back of my mind I was wondering if Rankin had gone off the boil. Thinking that, I was shy of reading this, in case it didn't live up to his previous offerings. I needn't have worried. This book had me hooked from page one right to the last sentence. The characters are sharply drawn and complex - they never cross the line into caricature. The plot is beleivable and keeps you guessing. There is sub-plot aplenty. "Rebus is back" says the front cover of the book - I, for one, couldn't be more pleased. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Great review, I'm glad to hear you liked the book . I have Set in Darkness on my TBR, I believe that's part of the Rebus series too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Great review, I'm glad to hear you liked the book . I have Set in Darkness on my TBR, I believe that's part of the Rebus series too? It is - I know I've read it, but such a long time ago, I can't remember much about it. I've liked all the Rebus books I've read, so hopefully, you should be in for a treat. In the meantime, I have Doctor Sleep by Stephen King to read, but as it's been a number of years since I read it, I think I need a re-read of The Shining first, so I can go straight from that into Doctor Sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 The Shining - Stephen King Danny is only five years old, but in the words of old Mr Hallorann he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow out of control. As winter closes in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seems to develop a life of its own. It is meant to be empty. So who is the lady in Room 217 and who are the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why do the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? Somewhere, somehow, there is an evil force in the hotel - and that, too, is beginning to shine . . My thoughts I was probably a teenager when I last read this book. I thought it was a work of genius then, and a re-read some twenty years later hasn't diminished it in my opinion. Perhaps inevitably, I relate more to the father, Jack Torrance, now than I did when I first read it. I can see the tragedy of what happens to him. I also got a better idea of why Stephen King dislikes the film version of this book! (I still think both versions are great....just different). I enjoyed this re-read, and it's set me up very nicely for Doctor Sleep. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Thanks for the review ,Ian . I may be the only person in here who has yet to read or SEE The Shining . I have it on my Kindle ,so will give it a shot when I'm in the mood . Hope you like the next one just as much . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Thanks for the review ,Ian . I may be the only person in here who has yet to read or SEE The Shining . I have it on my Kindle ,so will give it a shot when I'm in the mood . Hope you like the next one just as much . Nope, I too have made it this far in life without ever reading or watching The Shining! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Happy reading Ian 'The Shining' is one of my favourite books by Stephen King, I hope you enjoy 'Dr Sleep' as much as I did, it was worth the wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I've seen the movie but not read the book, I do have it on my TBR pile though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 The Shining - Stephen King I was probably a teenager when I last read this book. I thought it was a work of genius then, and a re-read some twenty years later hasn't diminished it in my opinion. Perhaps inevitably, I relate more to the father, Jack Torrance, now than I did when I first read it. I can see the tragedy of what happens to him. I also got a better idea of why Stephen King dislikes the film version of this book! (I still think both versions are great....just different). It's great how differently you react to and see a book on a re-read after a decade or two... How you have changed in that period of time and will relate to a different character now. If that doesn't justify a re-read, I don't know what does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Nice review! I have The Shining on my TBR, I don't think I've ever read the book before, I did see the film though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Nice review of The Shining. I read it many years ago, but wasn't too impressed with it. I'd like to read it again, to see if my opinion has changed, and also because I'd like to read Doctor Sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Stephen King seems to be one of those writers that really divide opinion. I like that he gives lots of seemingly irrelevant back-story, but I know others just see that as page-filler. I'd certainly recommend a re-read before Doctor Sleep, it's helped me to have been reminded of the characters as they were written, rather than as they were in the film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Doctor Sleep by Stephen King An epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon. King says he wanted to know what happened to Danny Torrance, the boy at the heart of The Shining, after his terrible experience in the Overlook Hotel. The instantly riveting Doctor Sleep picks up the story of the now middle-aged Dan, working at a hospice in rural New Hampshire, and the very special twelve-year old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless - mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the 'steam' that children with the 'shining' produce when they are slowly tortured to death. Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him and a job at a nursing home where his remnant 'shining' power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes 'Doctor Sleep.' Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival ... My thoughts. I got a bit worried when I first heard about this. Would it be any good? Would it spoil The Shining for me? I needn't have worried. The book has a fairly slow start, but King uses this to really invest in bringing us up to date with where Dan Torrance is. When the pace picks up in the second half, I found it difficult to put the book down. The characters are believable and three-dimensional; the plot is excellent. My only niggle - I was expecting more from Snakebite Annie - her conversion to one of the True I thought should have gone on to more later on in the book. But really, that is the only thing I could criticise. 5/5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I'm glad you liked Doctor Sleep! I didn't read the synopsis as I want to read The Shining first (though I did see a film of it ages ago). Nice review . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) The Sentry - Robert Crais After the nightmare of Hurricane Katrina, Dru Rayne and her uncle relocated to Los Angeles. Five years later, their struggling restaurant faces a different danger. When Joe Pike witnesses Dru's uncle beaten by a neighbourhood gang, he offers his own brand of protection, but neither Dru nor her uncle want his help. And neither do the federal agents mysteriously watching their store . . . But Pike is falling for Dru, and won't back away whether she wants his help or not. As the violence escalates, Joe discovers Dru and her uncle are not who they seem - and now a vengeful, murderous force from their past is catching up with them... My thoughts It took me a while to get into this, probably about halfway. A couple of reasons for this: I've just finished an epic Stephen King, where everything is detail and character driven. Then I drop onto a fast-paced action driven story and it seems a bit thin in comparison. The second reason - I've read a few Crais books now; most have been centered on Elvis Cole, but this one is mostly about Joe Pike, Cole's professional partner. As such, a lot of the humour that Cole's narration brings to the mix is missing here: Pike could out do Jack Reacher in being monosyllabic. Still, Crais knows how to tell a good story, and eventually I was lapping it up. So, over all, I will only deduct a point for the start - 4/5 Edited February 24, 2014 by ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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