Welshrogue

Kevin, under appreciated and unassuming, works at a bank, run by a loud mouthed, incompetent bank manager. But Kevin has had enough, he is going to rob his own bank.

Written for World Book Day, The Grey Man is a 99 page book. As such, it quickly setup the main characters, plot and locations. That being said, for an author such as McNab who is more often found writing about his characters hiding in the mud as bullets fly over their heads, The Grey Man is a great, quick read about the kid at school you don’t remember. The one that you see in school pictures and don’t even bother to wonder what his name was. The main character of Kevin is so different to anyone else that McNab has written about and yet seems to capture him so perfectly.

This is a good book, not hard to read by any standards but yet in the half hour or so it took to read it, fulfilling. A very simple plot is made all the more enjoyable with good characters.

While taking it easy in Australia, Nick Stone sees a tv report of a massacre in Georgia which causes him to accompany a friend into the dangerous streets of that country.

While other authors write about subject that they have researched and read about, Andy McNab writes about what he knows. He doesn’t avoid the details, and it is in the details that an Andy McNab book truly excels. His writing style is ultra-realistic and very addictive as you are drawn into one dangerous situation after another. His main character, Nick Stone, screws up, makes mistakes, and yet keeps going. He isn’t a member of MENSA, but he tries to get the job done and can handle nearly all sitatuions.

Aggressor is another great McNab book. With a fast moving plot that, like many Alistair MacLean books, doesn’t let the reader worry about the last paragraph before giving the reader something else to think about.

Another brilliant book. If you like military, or just action books, Aggressor is a great book!

The evil Opal Koboi escapes from where is was being held in a coma and executes a plot that will give her revenge on those who helped have her captured in the first place, Holly Short, Julias Root and Artemis Fowl.

The fourth in the Artemis Fowl series is the best so far,  filled with action, danger and  a clever plot that has no holes. Eoin Colfer makes every word enjoyable with a writing style that is at once, easy to read and yet still, not too easy that you get bored.  The characters he has created life and breath and grow as people. The situations are wild and yet you never loose track of what is happening.

If you are looking for a fun book about magic and pixies and a teenage master criminal genius, look no further than the Artemis Fowl series.

Boston, 1865, a group of poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell, along with their publisher, J.T. Fields find that the book they are attempting to translate, Dantes Inferno, is the inspiration for a killer who is stalking the streets and murdering his victims in ways mentioned in the book.

Think of a murder mystery, set a century and a half ago, throw in a classical book such as Inferno and use real life characters trying to solve the murders and you have The Dante Club.

If you are at all a fan of Dante Alighieri’s Devine Comedy you will appreciate how Matthew Pearl has crafted this story around it and created a very good book. While it is very well written, if you are not such a literary fan then you may struggle slightly at points and find the book longer than its 418 pages.

A very enjoyable read regardless of your knowledge of Dante.

Where’s My Cow is a picture book for children featuring Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch and his young son, Sam Jr. Set in the real world of Ankh-Morpork, the senior Vimes reads the book to his son every day at six O’Clock.

This is a beautifully illustrated book. It truly looks wonderful, bringing to life several Discworld characters that fans of the series have read about for many years. The fun thing about Where’s My Cow is that it is a book that is intertwined with Thud!, a novel of Discworld. There are many references to things that happened in Thud! in Where’s My Cow, which in turn, is part of the plot of Thud!

This is a great idea and one that I believe works very well indeed. Where’s My Cow is a book not just for small children but for children of any age, from one to ninety two as Bing Crosby once sang.

Racial tension between Dwarfs and Trolls threatens to overflow into full fledged war and Commander Sam Vimes is the only man standing between them. Vimes must battle not only two species but a mysterious darkness. Oh and he must read to his son every night.

Terry Pratchett’s books have matured over the years, moving from frivolous fantasy to fantasy that actually is a commentary on real life. These days, Pratchett’s books make you think as well as smile and laugh out loud.

Sam Vimes is a brilliant character and one that just seems to get better and better. Along with the other Watchmen, Vimes keeps the law in a place that is not famous for such a thing.

Thud! is a brilliant book, possibly one of his best.

Set in Hong Kong, a group of Vietnam War veterans are put together to pull of a daring robbery under the leadership of a mysterious man.  The mastermind of this robbery sets his own plan in motion, with much more at stake than a few million dollars.

This is a fun plot, with twists, turns and the obvious betrayal all making it an interesting book. It is a little slow and long winded at times and the book did feel a little longer than needbe.

That said, the characters are well rounded and the detail enjoyable. The slowness of the book may be also due to the difficulty finding time to finish reading it.

Intricate enough to make me want to read about by Stephen Leather.

When a business meeting goes wrong, Artemis Fowl’s trusty bodyguard, Butler, is mortally wounded and a computer that could revel the existence of the magical fairy’s is stolen.

Artemis Fowl’s third book is also the biggest challenge for the 13 year old criminal genius. He has to save his bodyguard’s like and recover the stolen computer before any more damage occurs. Reunited with with Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon fairy police, Fowl is going to have to use every ounce of genius to save the day.

Eoin Colfer writes the Artemis Fowl books with style and humour that is understandable by young and old alike. Yes, the subject matter is a 13 year old super criminal genius and his encounters with fairy’s, dwarves, and other magical creatures but there is something about the books that draws the reader in to the point where it all makes sense and is hugely enjoyable.

The Eternity Code is the best book so far, building on the solid foundations of the previous two books, Artemis Fowl and The Arctic Incident, the third book flies through the plot with enough twists and plotting to keep even Elmore Leonard happy.

Such an enjoyable book and one that can be read by all ages from pre-teens to old and crinklies.

A special team put together from the CIA, Special Forces and the Marines search for stolen radioactive material that they fear will be used against the United States in a terrorist attack.

First Team started slowly but picked up the pace towards the climax. The danger with a story dealing with such a subject as radioactive material is that the author uses too much technical information and the reader begins to gloss over, luckily, while it does happen here, it is only briefly.

The action, as with Larry Bonds books, is first rate with the main characters believably over coming the challenges thrown their way and its nice to see that they didn’t have to kill everyone they meet, as so many books seem to have.

Obviously the first in a serious of books that probably will be written more by Jim DeFlice than Larry Bond, a good start with a solid bunch of characters and plot. Look forward to the next one.

Steve Solomon wakes up to a 300 lb marlin sticking in his door. A freshly released shrink with whom Solomon has a somewhat murky legal history with is calling him name on the radio and his girlfriend and legal partner Victoria Lord is having doubts about their desicion to move in together.

The third book in the Solomon vs Lord series by Paul Levine featuring the oddball couple of Solomon and Lord is his best book by far although that is not to say that the previous two books, Solomon vs Lord and The Deep Blue Alibi were bad, far from it, its just that Kill all the lawyers is that good.

The books have always been witty, funny and enjoyable but perhaps lacked the seriousness to take them to the next level, not anymore. Kill all the lawyers is funny as hell but also sports a plot that Harlan Coben would be proud of. The combination of the humour and plot makes the book un-put-down-able. It has tense moments that makes the reader turn the pages as fast as possible, and yet there are moments were you can’t help laughing out loud. Many of these moments occur when Solomons nephew, and perhaps one of the coolest kids in print since Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird, Bobby is in the scene. Bobby is such an amazing person that you can understand the love the Solomon has for him.

The only downside to Kill all the lawyers is that the better looking side of the partnership, Victoria Lord appears to take a back seat in this book and isn’t as involved as in previous books. Its a shame but doesn’t spoil the book or detract from anything.

All in all Kill in the lawyers is one of the most enjoyable books I have read this year. Its funny, clever, actually has some caring moments, and is a well disguised thriller.