Karsa Orlong

I'm just glad, for our sake, that Brett Lee's quit test cricket - he is (and always has been) brilliant As usual when we lose, our bowling's okay but the batting's poor. I can see Australia winning all seven. Mind you, if you'd've given me the option before the tour to either win The Ashes or the ODI series, I know which one I'd've taken, so I'm still happy. Don't give us much hope for the World Cup, though - we were a shambles in the last one as well

Cracking book - can't wait for the tv series Last night I finished Endless Night by Richard Laymon. Fortunately the book did end

Endless Night by Richard Laymon I don't even know where to begin with this one. First off, it's the first Laymon book that I've read, and it'll probably be the last. I hate to be disparaging about someone who's passed away, I really do. But this book is simply dreadful. I'm not entirely sure why I bothered finishing it, other than I determined to finish it quickly so I could cleanse myself of it as soon as possible. Sixteen year old Jody is staying at her friend's house when a gang of killers invade the house. Somehow she manages to escape with the last surviving member of her friend's family, twelve year old Andy. It probably should be pointed out that these killers (the so-called Krull Killers - I'm guessing they had something against 80s fantasy films) are completely incompetent when it comes to dispensing with Jody, even when they have her in their grasp. They also don't have any reason for doing what they do, they just enjoy raping and murdering and dismembering etc etc. Their one rule is that, if a victim escapes, the one who let them escape must find and kill them or forfeit the lives of his family and friends. Which brings us to Simon, one of the murderers, who tells his story to a tape deck as he tries to find Jody. These sections of the book are told in first person. And that is pretty much it in terms of plot. Killers come, girl escapes, killers try to find girl. It's not exciting, it's not scary, it's just deeply unpleasant. There's no rhyme or reason for any of it. You'd think that the graphic descriptions of gratuitous violence would be enough, but on a par with that is a scene in which Jody's father - a cop, no less - teaches twelve year old Andy how to use a gun, and how nobody says "no, this is wrong". It's a book that reads like it was written by a teenager, glorying in floods of blood and objectifying women. Even the title is irrelevant; 'Endless Night'. The night in question lasts for barely a quarter of the book's length. Not exactly endless, then It's not quite the worst book I've ever read. But it's just about on a par. Quite how it's managed to average 4.5 stars on Amazon is beyond me Avoid like the plague. 2/10 Kindle formatting: Okay, but quite a few spelling mistakes.

I know what you mean Facially I reckon Daniel Craig fits the bill, I just don't think he's big enough. I've got this image of Reacher as being HUGE, and I can't think of any well-known actors who could pull that off. Also know what you mean about the intuition. I must admit, certainly in the more recent novels, Reacher's omniscience has bordered on the ridiculous

Great, thanks Tunn - I'll download a sample of Relentless and give it a go

Thanks for the comments guys - I hope you all enjoy Splinter as much as I did

Yay I decided to read Richard Laymon's Endless Night next. I got it after seeing it mentioned somewhere on these boards. Never really thought Laymon would be my cup of tea so we'll see how it goes.

I've read The Road (before seeing the film) and thought it was terrific. He's got a very stark, bare bones kind of style which is challenging at first but, once you get into it, works really well. He doesn't even bother with much in the way of punctuation - I don't think he uses speech marks at all in the book. The film follows it pretty closely, so if you liked that I think you'd like the book, too.

I wholeheartedly recommend it - I was really worried that I wouldn't get on with it, because I had a Sony Reader that I didn't think a lot of, but the Kindle's been a bit of a revelation. Although, having said that, I think Splinter is out in paperback in April, so it's not too far away

Try The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. It's a time travel mystery/thriller and it's an absolute cracker

Finished Sebastian Fitzek's Splinter. Now the task of deciding what to read next ...

Splinter by Sebastian Fitzek I've literally just finished this cracking psychological thriller. I picked it up on a whim for £1 in Amazon's '12 days of Christmas' promotion for the Kindle, and I'm really glad I did. The story, essentially, is about memory or - more precisely - our ability to forget. It begins six weeks after Marc Lucas has lost his pregnant wife in a car crash - an accident that occurred whilst he was at the wheel. Tortured by guilt, he responds to an advertisement in a magazine that offers to help him learn to forget. But, when he turns up at the clinic, he has second thoughts and leaves. I don't think I'm spoiling anything with this next paragraph, as it all happens in the first few pages and is the set-up for all that follows. Soon after Marc leaves the clinic strange things begin to happen: his credit cards won't work, the address book on his mobile phone is suddenly empty, the nameplate on his front door has changed, his keys won't fit in the lock, and the person who answers the door doesn't remember him at all. What follows is a real page-turner, full of twists and turns and shocks and surprises, as Marc's life begins to fall apart and he begins to question his own sanity. In the hands of a lesser author, I suppose, this could have been an complete mess, but Fitzek's handling of it all allows everything to make sense. Sure, I doubt anyone would ever go to such lengths when the truth is ultimately revealed but, in context, it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. One aspect of the book I liked very much was the occasional surreal changes that happen around Marc. One moment he'll be talking to someone and the next he'll turn around and they're gone - it really makes you wonder if he is losing his mind. So it's a fast-paced, well-written and exciting thriller, that sucked me into its world and made me keep turning the 'pages' to find out what happened next. And it doesn't overstay its welcome, which is always a bonus. 8/10 Kindle formatting: Very good.

Actually, I was just looking at all the treebooks and ebooks I've still got to read and I'm starting to wonder if I'll get to it before July anyway

The Leopard is out in hardback today in the UK. Current Amazon price is £5.83: The Leopard - hardback The Kindle edition is also out today, price £4.08: The Leopard - Kindle edition Looks like the new covers to the earlier books are also being issued today

I just got Jo Nesbo's The Leopard for Kindle. Current price is £4.08 and the paperback isn't out till July

Hi Pickle! Yes, what you say makes perfect sense - I very rarely read two books in a row by the same author purely because of that. Glad you enjoyed Persuader, though - I haven't read it yet but it's on my radar as I hear it's one of the best Reacher novels I have to ask: when you visualise Reacher in your mind does he look like any particular actor? There's been a big debate going on on another forum I visit about who should play him in a movie

Hi Tunn, great review of The Last 10 Seconds. I liked the way it switched between viewpoints, as well. This was one of the first books I bought for my Kindle on Christmas Day, based on the reviews on Amazon. I had no idea it was the latest in a series, now you've got me wondering what I missed. Which of his previous books do you think I should have started with?

These are all ebooks TBR on my Kindle: Blue Heaven by C J Box First Thrills by Various Worth Dying For by Lee Child The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Zoo Station by David Downing The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris End Game by Matthew Glass The Mall by S L Grey Pompeii by Robert Harris Conan the Reaver by Robert E Howard The Solomon Kane Collection by Robert E Howard Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles Endless Night by Richard Laymon The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland Remote Control by Andy McNab The Snowman by Jo Nesbo The Leopard by Jo Nesbo Zero Option by Chris Ryan Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson Dracula by Bram Stoker Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Samples downloaded: Transition by Iain M Banks Killer of Men by Christian Cameron The Complete Adventures of the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben You're Next by Gregg Hurwitz The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan A Song for Lya by George RR Martin The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers Alpha Force: Rat-Catcher by Chris Ryan Must get around to listing my treebook TBR pile at some point

Nice to see that there's now a rather more positive thread in progress on Amazon: How reliable is your Kindle?

Your favourite read of the year? I'll count this as new reads in 2010, rather than re-reads. Even then there are too many. It's between The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, and Lustrum by Robert Harris. Or Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell. Damn, this is difficult. Call it a tie. Your favourite author of the year? I'll count this as authors that were new to me in 2010. So it's Jo Nesbo, CJ Sansom or George RR Martin. Again, it's a tie. Your most read author of the year? Steven Erikson, I think, as I've been gradually re-reading his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Your favourite book cover of the year? The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, then the one you read the least of)? Only one - The King Beyond The Gate by David Gemmell. No reason other than I was unwell and lost touch with it. The book that most disappointed you? Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton. I'm a big Hamilton fan but this was the second book in a two-book 'saga' and it was over-blown and padded beyond belief. He could have stripped the extraneous stuff out and told the whole story in one book. Shame. The funniest book you read this year? Um, I don't really read funny books. Say Cross Country by James Patterson, just because it was so hilariously bad. Your favourite literary character this year? There are three that immediately spring to mind: Fermin Romero de Torres in The Shadow of the Wind, and Tyrion Lannister and Arya Stark in George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. All wonderful characters that jumped off the page in my mind. Your favourite children's book this year? I think Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye by Alison Goodman was the only one I read. Your favourite non-fiction book this year? Forensics For Dummies. It was research for a story I'm writing. I'm not planning to murder anyone. Honest. Your favourite biography this year? Didn't read any. Your favourite collection of short stories this year? I read some of Robert E Howard's Solomon Kane stories, which I enjoyed. Your favourite poetry collection this year? Didn't read any. Your favourite illustrated book of the year? Didn't read any.

I got about halfway through Sebastian Fitzek's Splinter last night. It's rather good! It's a Kindle edition that I took a punt on for £1 in Amazon's '12 days of Christmas' offer. Glad I did, now

Actually that is mentioned in the thread I linked to, and some people then go on to comment that they don't use those cases and have still had cracks appear. Who knows? Anyway, you're right, I'm not going to worry about it too much unless it happens. I do wonder, out of the thousands of Kindles that Amazon have sold, exactly how many people have experienced the cracking issue. I'd imagine there'd be far more of an outcry if it was a fundamental design flaw. Chesilbeach, I'm like you, I've been handling mine with extreme care although, until reading that thread, I always thought it felt like quite a solid little device. I steered away from the official cases because of the price, and I thought it looked like they added a fair bit of bulk to the Kindle. I read mine naked. Hang on, that sounds wrong. It's the Kindle that's 'naked', not me <shudder> I got this cover in the end, which it slips in to and out of very easily: Kindle Cover

The Shootist

Hi Pickle - glad you're enjoying Lee Child. The first novel in the series, Killing Floor, was actually the last one I read but I don't think it makes any difference as they seem to stand alone very well. I've got 61 Hours on the shelf waiting, and have got Worth Dying For on the Kindle ready to go! I think Die Trying and The Enemy are my faves so far

Have finished The Religion by Tim Willocks, which was quite dire, and have started Splinter by Sebastian Fitzek.