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Pickle's books 2011


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49.Deathstalker Legacy - Simon R Green

 

This was a free book which I picked up in the tea room in the office yesterday, periodically people bring in boxes of things like books and dvd's they no longer want for free or donations to charity's they choose and I picked up this one becuase I am familiar with and have enjoyed the book in the past.

 

Its been ages since I read anything by Simon R Green, I certainly enjoyed a number of his books when I was younger in cluding the Deathstalker books and the Blue moon books, and this did n't dissapoint Its probably not as good as the original Deathstalker series and is set about 200 years after the last one, but if you like space stuff mixed with a bit of more traditional fantsy then I recommend these books. It w

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Yay the big 50

 

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

 

synopsis from Amazon

 

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair. The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.

 

I really enjoyed this book, it was witty and engaging and brings you to a London which is slightly hidden from the rest of us, a world where magic exists and the police dept has a small unit dedicated to wierd happenings. I have read quite a few books along the vein of this hidden London Neverwhere, UnLundun, Kraken this is much lighter than all of these, and although there is violence its muted and funny in a very real way.

 

I think if you like slightly skewed reality and black humour you would enjoy this.

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"Rivers of London" is now on my wishlist!

 

It was a really good read hope you get round to it soon and enjoy it.

 

51 The Leopard - Jo Nesbo

 

This is the latest of the Jo Nesbo books to be translated into English, I caught up with all the others last year and I have been tempted with this since it was released in Jan 2011. Finally I have given in and it didn't dissapoint. Set after the horrendous events of the snowman Harry Hole appeard to be a broken man living as an alcaholic and drug addict in Hong Kong but he is tempted back home by a series of gruesome murders Harry is the only man who has successfully caught a serial killer but back home he is drawn against his will into internal politics withing the police which compromises the investigation. The book is a masterpiece of twists and turns even when you think you have finally reached the end it continues. Hole is a great character he isn't a real hero but he is a believer in justice.

 

a well written continuation and may the series continue to produce such high quality books.

 

52 The Spy who Haunted Me - Simon R green

 

This is a series of books I hadn't come across before by an author I had read books by before and it was the third part, I found I didn't really need to have read the forst two but I may go back and do it. I am definitely going to be looking for them in the library.

 

the synopsis (courtesy of Amazon)

 

The legendary Independent Agent is dying . . . so who will inherit his hoard of secret information and fabulous secrets? For most of the last century, he was the greatest spy in the world, but now The Independent Agent is retiring, he has decided on one last great game - the six greatest spies in the world today must work together - and compete against each other - to solve the six greatest mysteries in the world. Whoever wins the game will also win The Agent's priceless treasure-trove of information. Eddie Drood, aka Shaman Bond, has been invited to join the great game, and of course he can't say no, especially when he learns what the mysteries are - everything from the Tunguska Incident to the Philadelphia Experiment, to whatever the hell it was really happened at Roswell. But that means he needs to survive working alongside old friends and old enemies . . . especially when the spies start dying, one by one . . . And one of them is going to haunt him . . . for the rest of his life. THE SPY WHO HAUNTED ME is the third of the Secret Histories: a riveting roller-coaster ride through the dark side

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51 The Leopard - Jo Nesbo

 

This is the latest of the Jo Nesbo books to be translated into English, I caught up with all the others last year and I have been tempted with this since it was released in Jan 2011. Finally I have given in and it didn't dissapoint. Set after the horrendous events of the snowman Harry Hole appeard to be a broken man living as an alcaholic and drug addict in Hong Kong but he is tempted back home by a series of gruesome murders Harry is the only man who has successfully caught a serial killer but back home he is drawn against his will into internal politics withing the police which compromises the investigation. The book is a masterpiece of twists and turns even when you think you have finally reached the end it continues. Hole is a great character he isn't a real hero but he is a believer in justice.

 

a well written continuation and may the series continue to produce such high quality books.

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

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53. Lover Unleashed - J R Ward

 

right I am finally back to do a review of this book, I think for JR Ward fans of the BDB series this is back on foprm after a couple of books where I liked but didn't love them as much as the first 4.

 

this is the story of Payne and Manny (he is the Dr in the Vishous and Jane one) there is probably less interaction with the lessers in this book than any of the others but there is the introduction of a new set of characters and a bit more of a backstory, but in the main this concentrates on the relationship between Payne and the Dr as well as giving a bit more to the story of Jane and Vishous. I loved it though, I think Payne is a great chracter as like Xhex (without the issues) she is a fighter and probably more equal in that sense to the brothers. I hope there and there probablyu will be many more to come...come on you other BDB fans I want to know what you think :D

 

 

54. The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett

 

55. A Hat full of Sky - Terry Pratchett

 

56. Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett

 

These books are the first three in Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series and I really like them, she is one of those well written intelligent chracters who you don't find annoying. Pratchett seems to capture females really well and it has of course both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg making appearances so in that sense cannot fail for me.

Edited by pickle
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You're on fire woman, 56 books! :o:friends3:

 

:lurker:Thank goodness you haven't done a Lover Unleashed review, I came in looking for spoilers! :giggle:

 

 

I am going to do one but I thought I better do some work as thats where I am :D

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57. Burn - Linda Howard

 

I am a big fan of Linda Howard having discovered her many many years ago, I like this sort of book as an easy read, romance, thrills and passion.

 

58. Newton and the Counterfeiter - Thomas Levenson

 

This was a wierd book I was drawn to it because of the blurb its the story of perhaps one of the most famous scientists in the world but its not the story of science in fact its a story of his later career when he became the warden of the Royal Mint. This was at a time when counterfeiting and coining as it was called was at its height and with a war being fought the country was bankrupt. This story tells of Newton who applied all his logic int catching and sending to the gallows a number of criminal in particular Thomas Chaloner. Whats probably one of the most intersting aspects of this book is that it gives snapshots of life at this time from the darker underside of London, it describes Newgate prison and how you got in and more importantly OUT of there and not via the hangmans noose. It also however portrays Newton as a man driven both by science but also by philospophy and alchemy mixed with his great spriritual belief.

 

at some point I will get round to reviewing all the books I have read in the last week...sigh so many books so little time :D

 

done finally...phew !!!

Edited by pickle
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59. Fred Vargas - An Uncertain Place

 

This is the latest installment from Fred Vargas featuring Commisaire Adamsbeg

 

synopsis courtesy of waterstones

Commissaire Adamsberg leaves Paris for a three-day conference in London. Accompanying him are Estalere, a young sergeant, and Commandant Danglard, who is terrified at the idea of travelling beneath the Channel. It is a welcome change of scenery, until a macabre and brutal case comes to the attention of their colleague Radstock from New Scotland Yard. Just outside the gates of the baroque Highgate Cemetery a pile of shoes is found. Not so strange in itself, but the shoes contain severed feet. As Scotland Yard's investigation begins, Adamsberg and his colleagues return home and are confronted with a massacre in a suburban home. Adamsberg and Danglard are drawn in to a trail of vampires and vampire-hunters that leads them all the way to Serbia, a place where the old certainties no longer apply. In Fred Vargas' riveting new novel, Commissaire Adamsberg finds himself in the line of fire as never before

 

I love this series, the characters are quirky, its intelligently written, the crimes are shocking but lighlty done no overdoing it on the graphic front. I think if you have not come across this author before or read any of these books I should give if possible a little background to the main characters as they are what make the book so enjoyable

 

the main character is Commisaire Adamsberg he is a dreamer with a mind which doesn't latch onto anything, he spends half his time not paying attention to things around him, people are known to go to sleep in his company including violent criminals. But he solves crimes using methodology more akin to Zen than logic. Following him frustratedly is his second in command Danglard, a man with encycopeidic knowledge of everything, devoted to his family he is a single father of 5 children, he starts drinking white wine in the afternoon and frequeltly gets maudling and drunk he doesn't understand Adamsberg and gets agry with him but also protrects him. Others who make up this squad include Rentacourt a woman of immense proportions whose presence acts a catlyst inspiring devotion from those around her including the laziest of cats who in one mystery follows her scent through the streets of paris just because of its utter devotion, in another she hides Adamsberg by carrying him about her person. There is Fossily (not sure of spelling) who because of a period of abandonment at a young age has to have food around her at all times, she supplies all the squad with pate and bread and wine whenever they are out on a case. There is Melacart, who suffers from partial narcolepsy so have a place in the basement of the squad house where he spends most of his time asleep, Eastalere who is an innocent his devotion to Rentacourt borders on the reverential but his naive innocence sometimes sheds light on areas of crime others might miss. Side characters include Camille and on off love of Adamsberg and one of the principal characters of Seeking whom he may devour and Lucio Adamsberg's elderly neighbour who lost his arm in the Spanish civil war but has a persistent itch from a spiders bite which still bothers him....

 

anyway enough of my blathering if this hasn't put you of then these are the other books by Fred Vargas a french novelist

 

The Chalk Circle Man

Seeking whom he may devour

Have Mercy on us all

Wash this Blood clean from my Hand

This Nights Foul work

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I have had seeking whom he may devour on my bookshelf for so many years and started it many a time but not finished it, never heard anyone mention it before tbh, one day I'll finish it. I wasn't aware that it was part of a series?

 

 

I got into them because a german friend of mine had read them translated from the french into german and found some in English for me, I love them although seeking whom he may devour is not the best, my favourite so far has been The Chalk Circle Man, they don't have to be read in order I didn't but some of the characters obviously change and things happen to them which are refered to in later books.

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60. The Ninth Circle - Alex Bell

 

This was the second of the adult books I have read by Alex Bell and the first one he wrote. They are not connected though and on the whole I preferred the first one I read, although this was good.

 

Synopsis (from Alex Bells website)

 

A man comes round on the floor of a shabby flat in the middle of Budapest. His head is glued to the floorboards with his own blood. There’s a fortune in cash on the kitchen table. And he has no idea where, or who, he is.

 

alex-bell-the-ninth-circle.jpgHe can do extraordinary things – speak any number of languages fluently, go three days without food or sleep, and fight with extraordinary prowess. But without a name, without a past, he’s isolated from the rest of the world; a stranger to everyone, including himself – until a chance encounter with a young scholar leads to his first friendship, and his first hint that someone out there knows more about him than he does.

 

He’s being sent cryptic clues about his past, hidden in obscure places or pushed under the door by an unknown sender. But that’s not all; Gabriel Antaeus is seeing strange, impossible things: a burning man stalks his dreams and haunts his mirrors, his visions are filled with violence from the past, and he stumbles across an extraordinary golden aura, tracing a path past his home and through the city.

 

Something dark and disturbing in Gabriel’s past is trying to resurface. And as he pieces the clues together and fumbles his way towards the truth, segments of his past begin to fall into a sinister shape and events around him become increasingly dangerous. Gabriel Antaeus has a question to answer: is it really better the devil you know?

 

The book has many twists and turns, it gives so many red herrings that there are times when the story seems to go back on itself although this makes it so interesting that you want to know who and what will happen next.

 

 

 

 

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61. A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

 

Right I finished and loved it my only problem now is I am having to wait for the next book.

 

I loved all the characters, and yes I could easily fall for Matthew Clairmont, although one of the things I liked was that Diana wasn't bowled over by his somewhat medieval apoproach to women and particularly women who aren't vampires. But the reasons for his attitude are nicely explained. I am also glad he has a back story and has been in love before which I think it makes it more real, on top of this I like the idea that Diana accepts this.

 

I love the other characters too, from the Aunts but like a lot of people some of my favourites are Ysabeau (one of my favourite names) and MArthe and I hope they continue to feature in the new books.

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:woohoo: Brilliant!

 

I am so pleased you enjoyed DOW as much as you did :hug: Isn't Matthew wonderful? *dreamy sigh* I am really looking forward to the next installment and seeing how she writes about the characters in the past, no doubt there will be a whole host of new ones too! Just a shame we have to wait until next year :(

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62. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett

 

This was another re-read for me, I seem to turn to Pratchett whaen I am between books mainly I think they make so little impact on my life but nonetheless are very enjoyable. This was not his best but I did like it.

 

63. No Mercy - Sherlyn Kenyon

 

Another Dark Hunter book, but I have found that after a few the formula that she uses becomes very repetetive. This one is the story of Dev Peltier and the Dark Huntress Samie an Amazonian....it was all a bit blah really, the greek storyline background is becoming a little tiresome much to overly complicated, I wasn't that bothered by the plot it went backwards and forewards, she introduces new characters all the time and you can tell this is merely to add more books into the series as their contributions are a little silly.

 

so not a great read for me at all.... I am struggling to find another book now

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  • 2 weeks later...

64. Lee Child - Worth Dying For

 

The latest Installment of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books. Loved it another success be warned though as per usual expect no explanation of how he escaped from the last book apart from a brief mention of injuries in the beggining of the book and a small explanation in the middle Lee Child has done as ususal not explained any previous adventures.

 

in this book Jack Reacher takes on a horrible family in the middle of nowhere who have trapped a whole town into an endles cycle of paying, after the mysterious dissaperance of an 8 year old girl 20 years previously.

 

this was a really enjoyable book I do love Jack Reacher he is such a hero:mrgreen: (albeit a one man band)

 

 

65. Ben Aaronovitch - Moon over Soho

 

The second book after Rivers of London which I really loved and this was no dissapointment a great continuation of witty writing with a dark humour

 

Synopsis

I was my dad's vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that's how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it's why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn't the first. No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn't trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus' ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens' portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives. And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard 'Lord' Grant - my father - who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That's the thing about policing: most of the time you're doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you're doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you're doing it for revenge.

 

66. C J Box - Winterkill

I foolishly picked this up not realising this was the 3rd book featuring Joe Pickett a game warden in rural Wyoming it was a wierd read mainly because it was set on the middle of a winter I can't imagine so bad in a remote town cut of in an Ice storm and I was sat outside in the middle of the blazing sun trying to relate to it. I did enjoy it but was a little frustrated by my lack of understanding iof the US political system between goverment and federal an dnational agencies who all seem to clash (I remember having a discussion with a fellow archaeologist in the US who was havingh a frustrating time with federal land and not understanding it then as to who owns or runs it).

 

the book features Joe Pickett a game warden who whilst checking on Elk herds comes across the indiscriminate slaughter of a number of elk, he finds the culprite to be one of the men in charge of changing the federal law in the state and a deeply unpopular man. On their way back to the town the man is killed with an arrow and his throat is cut. This starts a race to find the killer whilst the storm is coming threatening to cut of the town. To add to his woes Joe Pickett also has to put up with his mother in Law stranded with his family and more sinisterly the return of the mother of his adopted daughter who has arrived back into the town along with a group of ardent survivalists from the fringes of society

 

67. Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Last Rituals

 

My first delve into Icelandic crime fiction and I loved the book the only thing which annoyed me was what was basically bad translation making the text disjointed.

 

A young man is found brutally murdered, his eyes gouged out. A student of Icelandic history in Reykjavik, he came from a wealthy German family who do not share the police’s belief that his drug dealer murdered him. Attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir is commissioned by his mother to find out the truth, with the help – and hindrance – of boorish ex-policeman Matthew Reich. Their investigations into his research take them deep into a grisly world of torture and witchcraft both past and present, as they draw ever closer to a killer gripped by a dangerous obsession...

 

I really liked the main character in this book a young female lawyer she was humourous and real which is what saved this translation problem for me.

 

68. Nora Roberts - Chasing Fires

 

Typical Nora Roberts fare for me another 'thriller' though I use this loosely as she spends most of the time dwelling on the romace and how nice and strong the female character is and how strong and sexy the main male character is. Its a shame I used to really enjoy her books but she just writes them by rote and they are all the same now.

Edited by pickle
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69. Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Ashes to Dust

 

This is the 3rd of her book I seem to have missed the 2nd but I bought this at a bargain price at the weekend. They are stand alone mysteries so its not to much of a problem.

 

The story features Thora a young Attorney based in Iceland, in this book she is called in to defend Markus who is accused of murder after the discorey of bodies in a remains of his house destroyed by an erruption on one of the islands 15 years before. Again I really enjoyed the book, but the slightly odd disjointed translation felt on occasion as if someone has simply typed something into google and pressed the translate button as it was a wierd way of speaking.

 

I will definitely read more of her books though, I like the character she is very real and quite humourous.

 

70. The big book of Paranormal Romance 2

 

Not even going to review this, short stories paranormal romance mostly rubbish but I was desperate ...yaddi yaddi yadda...at least now I have something decent to read as my new books have arrived.

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Pickle you have some cracking books on your blog I must come here more often. Although it will end up costing me.

 

Thanks Vodkafan, it does cost me a lot too. :D

 

71. Andre Camilleri - The Wings of the Sphinx

 

This is one of my favourite crime authors mainly because of Inspector Salvo Montalbano, he is eccentric, moody but hilarious at the same time. He loves his country (Scicily) hates the Mafia corruption, puts up with some great fellow officers, Catarella being my favourite (his inability to get messages right constantly leads to problems) his on off love affair with Livia, his passion above all else for food. I listened to one of his other books as an audio book and it was fatal going home from work my stomach would be rumbling, when I read this book it referred to a character in one of his earlier books and said that this mans wife had died and I felt sad as if it was someone I knew had passed away, silly I know but thats why I love them ....anyway synopsis...

 

In this book the body of a young woman is discovered on the site of a local dump, her face has been obliterated and her only identifying mark is a tattoo of a sphinx butterfly, |Montalbano and his crew start to investigate and discover corruption within the local catholic church. At the same time they are being drawn over the coals for the apparent disinterest they are showing in the kidnap of a local man...but they have their own theories about this one and it turns out to be a very Italian one :D

 

This is not the best of his books, it is perhaps the sign of a good book and author that his character also gets older and in this one there are references to Montalbano's age and the breakdown in his relationship with Livia which does perhaps make it a little more poignant.

 

PS. If you are a fan of the foreign fiction on the tv, then when it shows on BBC4 occasionally I really recommend you watch this, its brilliant not as dark as Wallander and the other Scandinavian and French crime series but well worth a watch.

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I didn't realise Montalbano had been televised, pickle, I will have to watch out for it - thanks for mentioning it! :friends0:

 

As you know, I have enjoyed the two books I have read, and am looking forward to the rest of the series. Like you, I enjoy it when an author allows their character to age, so that will add even more to my enjoyment.

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I didn't realise Montalbano had been televised, pickle, I will have to watch out for it - thanks for mentioning it! :friends0:

 

As you know, I have enjoyed the two books I have read, and am looking forward to the rest of the series. Like you, I enjoy it when an author allows their character to age, so that will add even more to my enjoyment.

 

 

Yeah its a great series its a shame its not repeated enough on the tv here and the dvd's are horrendously expensive. I hope you manage top work your way through all of them, they are a great light crime series.

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