Welshrogue

People are raping and murder, or rather all the evidence points to these random people committing these crimes. Lincoln Rhyme starts believing that one man is responsible for all these crimes. A man with the power to know everything about anyone, and also with the ability to alter the information for his own plans. But how do you find a man who knows everything? At the heart of the story is the subject of information. Information about a person and how much is stored and how it is used. Clever identity theft, databases of information ranging from cell phone records to education, all twisted by one man using it for his own private needs.

As usual with a Jeffery Deaver story, there are false leads twisting off in various directions along the way, just helping the reader sit on the edge of their seat before getting down to the nub of the plot. The main cast of characters are the same from previous books, with Lincoln Rhyme leading the way again from his disabled body via phone, computer, wit and sometimes whiskey.

This is a well paced story that doesn’t rush the reader other than to draw false conclusions. Its well put togeather, and feels as if Mr Deaver has researched well and long into the night to make sure that everything is right. While not a stand out compared to the previous Lincoln Rhyme books, it is at as high a standard as the rest which is no bad thing!

Serge A Storms is back and this time he is in the middle of a blood grudge between a criminal family bent on revenge and Jim Davenport, mild mannered wrong person in the wrong place. Along the way there will be blood, drugs, inventive ways to kill people and of course a cruise ship.

Serge A Storms is a wonderfully manic character. A serial killer who is just plain lovable. He loves the culture in Florida, hates bad people, and generally is a nice guy if you can avoid becoming one of his victims! This is the tenth Storms book and they are beginning to blur into one. The plots, while different, all seem the same and other than Serge finding new and wonderful ways to kill folk, there is nothing new under the sea.
A book just like all the previous ones, there is only so many druggies, sex maniacs and gangsters that Florida can handle, and the reader feels the same way!

A cargo ship from China is going to the middle east and it may or may not be carrying biological weapons. This is the dilemma facing the president of the United States. Well that and there appears to be a man in a Chinese prison who may be his father.

Although written by Gayle Lynds, the books states Robert Ludlum on the cover because it is another one of those spin off books, even though Mr Ludlum is no longer with us.  It deals with Covert-One, a secret agency that answers only to the president and one of their assets, Jon Smith. It’s funny how different writers can make such a difference to a
character. While The Altman Code is far from being a drag to read, I much preferred The Arctic Event written by James H Cobb. The characters were more enjoyable and the action faster paced.

The Altman Code is not a bad book but its a slower read than I would prefer and not as exciting as I might have wished for. Other than that, an enjoyable book.

In Mississippi, a man from Minnesota is taking part in a reenactment of a civil war battle when his life is suddenly ended. Was it an accident as the police are suggesting or was it an attempt on the life of the man standing next to the victim? The mans widow has only one person to turn to, the father of her child, a man she has not seen for eleven years, a disgraced photographer.

Unlike previous books that focused on the main character of Phil Broker and his family, and stay within the confines of the Minnesota border, South of Shiloh spends the majority of the action in the steamy south of Mississippi as the main character of John Rane discovers that the civil war may be over but there is still a lot of history happening. Its funny that the book doesn’t even read like the previous books, its is more like a Harlen Coben novel, and this isn’t a bad thing. Chuck Logan‘s books are hard hitting, action packed and full of emotional twists and turns before the final page is read and South of Shiloh is no different. Its just that it feels different. There is a large chunk of history from the civil war en-wrapped in the book with some great details and enough information to help anyone who doesn’t know which side wore blue.

Another very enjoyable book by Chuck Logan, a surprising change of page but still very enjoyable and a good read. I hope this is not the last we read of John Rane!

A statue of a sailor from 900 BC appears to be the reason why people are being killed and there would be more dead with not for the timely intervention of Kurt Austin of NUMA. Now he must find the real reason why a mysterious man is behind murder, theft and perhaps human sacrifice.

Another Kurt Austin story, the seventh, and again, I believe a return to form from Clive Cussler. After so many of the recent books missing that vital ingredient that made the earlier Dirk Pitt books un-put-down-able, the master story teller seems to be firing on all cylinders. The Navigator has all the ingredients of a classic Cussler novel. A prologue set deep into history, a loony power mad villain and high adventure on, under and off the water.

A great adventure book, and one worthy of joining the long list of good books that Clive Cussler has written.

An oral account of the war against the Zombies. Mulitple eye witnesses tell their tales of how they survived the rise of the Zombies and how the war was won.

If this has been written as a straight story with main characters and plot, it would have been a lot more disturbing to read and more akin to a normal horror book. As it is, this is a fresh way to tell the tale of a war that lasted over a year and that encompassed the world. With no one ‘main’ character other than the interviewer, each person brings something different to the story. Their experiences and background offering the reader something new each interview.

A film production company has bought the rights to the movie but I can’t help thinking that it would be better told in a television serial format. The only downside to this would be the need to tone it down for television. You could easily do a season of episodes with each one telling a different story and not run out of new ideas any time soon.

This is a very enjoyable, well written and clever book, never delving into the grusome for more than a few moments but always giving enough for the reader to understand what is going on. Cheap thrills and violence are avoided as the focus remains on the story telling and the book is better for it. There is an audio book that I think I will have to listen to as it will transfer prefectly to audio!

Seriously good book. One of the best ‘horror’ books I have read and one that I will re-read again!

A couples son becomes more moody after his friend kills himself. The couple try to discover whats wrong but things go badly wrong and they have lost their son forever.

Another stunningly tense book from Harlen Coben. Seemingly unconnected events are all threads in this twisty plot that continues to surprise right until the end. With characters appearing from other books as well, the cast is well rounded and all are interesting and believable. The situations are not everyday ones but are still possible.

This is a great book, moving, thrilling and very satisfiying!

The crew of the high tech spy ship Oregon discover a cruise ship floating with seemingly now left alive on it, just before it is destroyed by explosives. From this, they follow a trail towards a cult who is planing to release a virus and change the world forever.

Another book about Oregon and her crew, the third in the series, is a fast paced action packed story with perhaps the ship taking a back seat to her crew for this one. Recent Clive Cussler books have disappointed with a lack of excitment but Plague Ship is back up to form. The plot is twisty and yet not too complex. The characters are fun as always and the predicements they find themselves in as good as any that Dirk Pitt ever suffered through. The only down side is the long winded speechs of one of the main villians which tends to slow down the story.

A very enjoyable book and glad to see Clive Cussler back on form!

Between jobs at airports, Alex Shanahan finds herself investigating the death of a friend, someone who risked a lot for her. She finds herself in Florida on the tail of fake airplane parts but the trail is a lot more dangerous than it first seemed.

Following on from Hard Landing, Tarmac still uses the airline business as its background but focuses more on the investigation and discovery of clues. There are several twists along the way and misdirections that keep the reader trying to work out who is who etc, but the pace is just fast enough to keep the pages turning. It isn’t the slowest book but have a pace that seems work out OK for the reader.

An enjoyable book with an interesting subject.

The opening of a super airport offers one of four airline makers the holy grail of orders but there are forces at work trying to stop the airport from opening or perhaps to stop one of the airlines from surving.

A different take on an airbourne thriller, China Dome, sets out its stall early and with few surprises other than the final ‘whodunit’. It’s tense, fun, and exciting and doesn’t try to be anything other than a hard to put down thriller. The cast of characters are for the most part enjoyable and likeable. The internal and external stresses of this Chinese super airport are well presented and make a nice background to the main story.

Very enjoyable book!