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<metadesc>Book review siteExpert, with books full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, biographynon-fiction, crime, cookery and children's books & self-published books plus author interviews and & top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in! Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''], [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''], [[File:instagram_classic_logo.png|link=https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/|alt=Follow us on Instagram]] [https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/ '''Instagram'''] and [[File:LinkedIn.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-bookbag-1b12a264/|alt=LinkedIn]] There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews ]] at TheBookbag.

==Reviews of the The Best New Books==

'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--> <!-- Leah Hazard -->1009473085|title=The Conservative Effect 2010 -2024| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)[[image:1786331608.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786331608/ref=nosim?tagrating=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Politics and Society|summary===[[Hard Pushed: A MidwifeSometimes it's Story simpler to explain a book by Leah Hazard]]=== [[imagedescribing what it ''isn't'' and that applies to ''The Conservative Effect:4star2010-2024 - 14 Wasted Years?''.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] If you're looking for an easy read which will deliver the inside story about what ''really'' happened on certain occasions, [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] Over the past few years we've had a rash (sorry - no pun intended) of books by medical practitionersthen this isn't the book for you. Doctors have been at the forefront, but If that's what you'Hard Pushed'' is the first book re looking for, Idon've seen by a midwife. Itt think Anthony Seldon's an unusual profession in that it's one of the few callings within the medical system where most of the patients are healthy book, {{amazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10}}, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. It's a compelling read and the only one where one person comes into the system and (should be compulsory for the most part) more than one goes outanyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. ''The Conservative Effect'' is an entirely different beast. It's an amazing thing to be able to do - to escort new life into the world - and an enormous responsibility. Leah Hazard came to it after seventh book in a career in television and ''Hard Pushed'' is series which looks at the story of her career as impact a midwife government has made and co- and the title tells more than one storyeditor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. [[Hard PushedThis book follows the well-established format: A Midwife's Story by Leah Hazard|Full Review]] <!-- Lucinda Riley -->a series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, the changes that occurred and the situation in 2024.}}|-{{Frontpage| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Max Boucherat[[image:1529014980.jpg|linktitle=http://wwwThe Last Life of Lori Mills|rating=4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529014980/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Confident Readers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley]]=== [[image:4starWe meet Lori on the first evening she's got the house to herself – no neighbour to pop in, babysitter poorly, mother at work, just an avidly rule-breaking eleven year old, on her lonesome.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women What could possibly go wrong? Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, and that is to log on to Voxminer, the world-building, critter-collecting game that is a hit in Lori's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Paradiseworld. But first Lori has a tiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't find herself entirely on her own, and then she finds something even more spooky. That's what it seemed like For the server she and her bestie and nobody else should be able to nine-year-old Posy Andersonenter shows signs of tampering. Her father delighted in indulging When malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother was rather distant, but her father more than made up for that. The only blot on safe place in the horizon was that her father was a spitfire pilotgame has been doctored – well, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that he would have to go back to the war. Everyone thought that it was drawing to where is a close, but men still had girl to go and fight - and risk their turn?|isbn=0008666482}}{{Frontpage|author=Jenny Lecoat|title=Beyond Summerland|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=Jean lives. Posy was staying on Jersey with her grandmother in Cornwall when mother where they are celebrating the end of the news came through that her father had been killed in actionoccupation. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk to tell her what During the war, Jean's father was going to happen arrested for listening to a banned radio and soldiers took him away one night, leaving Jean and hermother waiting for years for news of him. [[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley|Full Review]] <!-- Carroll -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471160645 As the British finally free the Channel islands from the Nazis, and the war is finally over, their hopes rise that they will finally learn what became of him.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471160645/ref=nosim But will the truth come as a relief, or will it raise further questions around what else happened during the war? Who was the informer who told the Nazis about the radio? And what other secrets have been kept throughout the occupation?tag|isbn=thebookbag-21]]1846976537}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"1529428289|title=A Grave in the Woods (A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel)|author=Martin Walker|rating=[[The Words That Fly Between Us by Sarah Carroll]]==4|genre=Crime [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Lucy is living in a beautifulBecause of various property transactions, expensive house along with her joking, playful dad and her lovely mumpeople were searching for the grave but when they found it, it came with three sets of bones. Everything should be perfect. Her dad is a property investorThey dated back to World War II and it fell to Bruno, making millionsthe Chief of Police for St Denis, to discover the identities of the bodies and she and her mum donestablish whether or not a crime had been committed. As if this isn't lack for anything in their lives. But stillenough to worry about, Lucy lives her life on edge, controlled by the words around her, whether they are spoken, or unspokenthe Dordogne River - normally tranquil - is flowing at record levels. You see, her dad is It's not just the local autumn rains that have caused the problem: various dams upstream on another river have had to release water and St Denis faces the possibility of a bully, edging closer and closer towards physically abusing her mum, and Lucy is manipulated by him, unable to express her true feelings, or fully develop her artistic side which is where she feels her talents lie but her dad says won't ever lead to her having a successful life. [[devastating flood.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=152919640X|title=The Words That Fly Between Us by Sarah Carroll|Full Review]] <!-- Kan -->Suspect|-author=Rob Rinder| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|4.5[[image:1911115847.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911115847/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan]]=== [[image:4starThe nation's favourite daytime TV presenter, Jessica Holby, was murdered live on television and it seems that there's only one suspect. He's celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks and his contract stated that he must not serve anything containing miso to Jessica Holby.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Literary Fiction| Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]]  She''Nights s seriously allergic and carries an EpiPen in case of the Creaking Bed'' is a collection of short stories by Toni Kanemergencies. The series of stories tell of the lives and lusts of an assortment of characters living Everything seemed as normal - as normal as they can be in a busy, live television studio - and around Lagos, NigeriaBrooks served a ragout to Holby. Nigeria, in this collection, is imbued with its very own heart of darkness. Danger stalks the shadows Her EpiPen was nowhere to be found and people are killed for nothing more than a wrong lookshe was dead within minutes. Kan writes with a vitality and passion It was soon clear that allows these cynical stories to achieve a glimmer of hopethis was no accident. [[Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan|Full Review]]}}<!-- Macdibble -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008385068| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|The Midnight Feast[[image:1910646482.jpg|linkauthor=http://wwwLucy Foley|rating=4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910646482/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Thrillers|summary===[[It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble]]=== [[image:4Manor.5star It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows. The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and famous. Her husband, [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Set in a dystopian AustraliaOwen, this was the architect and work is the story still ongoing on parts of Ella and Emery and their dogs travelling across the outback togethersite. A red fungus has wiped out all the crops and grasses, The heat is oppressive and with amongst the food chain grinding guests are enemies as well as friends. Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a halt, society body is collapsingfound. Ella}}{{Frontpage|author=Ashley Hickson-Lovence|title=Wild East|rating=4.5|genre=Teens|summary=Written in verse, this is Ronny's mum has been gone for story, a long time - she left for work one day young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and then never came homestart at a mostly white school. Ella and her half brother Emery have been living at home with their dad and their dogs, hoping The move is initiated by Ronny's mum who is worried for the bestRonny's safety after a tragic event, but one day their dad decides to go out and try so Ronny finds himself trying to find Ella's mum. When he also fails to returnsettle in a new town, a new school, Emery decides that their best chance and keep himself out of survival is to set out with the dogs trouble. He listens to travel across the outback to his grandfather's house wheremusic constantly, he believes, there will still be food and a safe place for them has always dreamed of being a rapper. But now, in this new school, his teacher encourages him to live until their father can find them again. [[The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble|Full Review]]be part of a poetry writing workshop group and, slowly, Ronny begins to see the connections between rap and poetry, and the power of creativity and crafting your words.|isbn=0241645441<!-- Sara Sheridan -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1635866847| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Lavender Companion|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci[[image:1472127110.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472127110/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan]]==genre=Lifestyle [[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Life has changed dramatically for Mirabelle, our favourite fifties sleuthIt's strange, since the war, and not always things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for the betteryou. When she first settled in Brighton she was alone, rudderless and secretly grieving for Jack Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the lover who died before he could leave his wifeauthor's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm. As time went by she found in herself an ability to solve crimes, made friends including an ebullient com/ website] and determined young woman called Vesta who refused to let there's a picture of a little thing like racial prejudice stop her doing what she slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted, and even found consolation that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the arms of a rather charming policeman. [[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan|Full Review]] <book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!-- Gomes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008291845) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it.jpg|link=http://www Notes in the margins are sanctioned.amazon You get to fold down the corners of pages.co.uk/dp/0008291845/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I ''loved'' this book already.}}{{Frontpage|author=Rob Keeley| styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-alignChildish Spirits: left;"|10th anniversary special edition|rating=4|genre==[[We Are Not Okay by Natalia Gomes]]===Confident Readers[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Set in a typical American town, Around here, we're big fans of children's author Rob Keeley. He'We Are Not Okay'' tells the story of four teenage girls facing the difficulties brought on by high school and growing up as s a girl in today's society. The novel is told from four different perspectives, those ball of Lucyhappy positivity, Ulanahe understands children, Trina and Sophia, whose friendship statuses vary from BFFs to sworn enemies. The reader is presented with a glimpse into each of their lives, but more importantly he writes for their minds, and at times the thoughts of those characters could have been taken directly from my own. Gomes has created a heartbreakingly real pleasure and relevant novel that focuses on prominent topic areas which are becoming ingrained in our societyenjoyment, particularly in relation not to the ''Me Too Movement''. ''We Are Not Okay'' reminds the reader of the importance of phrases like ''I'm With Her''. [[We Are Not Okay by Natalia Gomes|Full Review]]  <!-- Doescher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683691172.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683691172/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:2.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, all the Star Wars films were crunched up against Shakespeare, and the marriage seemed a perfectly suitable one. So much so – so easily did the plots and characters converse in Shakespearean dialogue, and behave with Shakespearean stage directions – that the producers tried again, with [[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher|Back to the Future]] no less. And that worked. But simultaneously they put a real test out. A film I can't even really remember seeing was transcribed into the original Elizabethan lingo. A cult following I had never followed whatsoever was given the brand new, yet oh so ancient, dressing. Here was the true challenge – would I manage to enjoy this, based on little foreknowledge? Oh damn those shiny gold stars for letting the game away… [[William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Jane Casey -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008149038.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008149038/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cruel Acts by Jane Casey]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] They called him 'the white knight' because he picked the women up when they were in difficulties. But they called him a serial killer too, because he murdered them and everyone heaved a sigh of relief when he went down for life. Then one of the jurors self-published his story of the trial which explained how he and another juror had looked up Stone's history and found a trail of violence. After that, he explained, they knew that Stone was guilty. The juror got two months for contempt of court and Stone was released on bail pending a retrial. [[Cruel Acts by Jane Casey|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:168369094X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/168369094X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] A long time ago, in a publishing house far away, [[:Category:Ian Doescher|someone]] thought it wonderfully wacky to rewrite the story of Star Wars in Shakespearean pentameter, colliding two entirely different genres and styles in such a clever way they seemed perfectly suited. It was then duly repeated for all the other films in the main Star Wars cycle, and clearly someone's buffing their quills ready for Episode Nine, the title of which became public knowledge the day before I write. In the hiatus, however, the effort has been made to see if the same shtick works with other texts, and to riff on other seemingly unlikely source materials in iambs. And could we have anything more suitably unsuitable-seeming than Back to the Future, with its tales of time travel, bullying, and parent/child strife like no other? [[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Crossan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408868121.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408868121/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Toffee by Sarah Crossan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''I am not who I say I am,'' ''and Marla isn't who she thinks she is. ''  ''I am a girl trying to forget.'' ''She is a woman trying to remember.'' Allison has finally had enough and has run away from home. The burning red weal on her face provides a clue to why. She's on her way to Bude to find Kelly-Anne, who was the first to run away from home, but Kelly-Anne isn't answering her phone. Night is closing in and so Allison takes refuge in a shed in the garden of what looks to be an empty house. But the house isn't empty. Marla lives in it and Marla doesn't remember things very well. She mistakes Allison for her friend, Toffee. And because Allison doesn't much want to be Allison any more and because Marla is so happy to see Toffee - why shouldn't Allison ''become'' Toffee? [[Toffee by Sarah Crossan|Full Review]]<!-- Bowling -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911077686.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911077686/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[In The Shadow of Heroes by Nicholas Bowling]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Life as a slave in ancient Rome could be harsh and degrading, but Cadmus has it much easier than most. Taken into the household of the scholar Tullus when he was a baby, his keenness to learn and his excellent memory have made him invaluable to his master, who treats him more like a secretary and perhaps even a member of the family, rather than a despised, barely human creature. [[In The Shadow of Heroes by Nicholas Bowling|Full Review]] <!-- Golding -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008293678.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008293678/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Little Darlings by Melanie Golding]]===[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]Lauren Tranter and her husband have just welcomed the arrival of children – twin boys, who they decide to name Riley and Morgan. But something's wrong. While everyone else is celebrating, Lauren starts to worry – that someone out there is coming to take her children away, and if she looks away for even a second, they'll strike… [[Little Darlings by Melanie Golding|Full Review]] <!-- Alice Feeney -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008236070.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008236070/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Aimee Sinclair is just on the edge of making it big time as an actor. Right now she's the sort of person whom you think you know but can't quite remember where from, but that's all about to change. That's a little worrying for Aimee as life has changed for her before and she knows that she's not really Aimee Sinclair, she's Ciara: Aimee is simply the name she was forced to take when she was snatched as a child. That's not at the front of her mind though when she comes home one day and finds that her husband, Ben Bailey, has disappeared. Disappeared completely. Along with considerable funds from their current account [[I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney|Full Review]] <!-- Rubin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0718187091.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0718187091/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] In an alternate 1952, Soviet Troops control British Streets. After D-Day goes horribly wrong, Britain is first occupied by Nazi Germany – only to be rescued by Russian soldiers from the East, and Americans from the west. Dividing the nation between them, London soon finds itself split in two, a wall running through it like a scar. When Jane Cawson's husband is arrested for the murder of his former wife, Jane is determined to clear his name. In doing so, Jane follows a trail of corruption that leads her right to the highest levels of the state – and soon finds herself desperate to stay one step ahead of the murderous secret police… [[Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin|Full Review]] <!-- Howe -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1788002865.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788002865/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Not My Fault by Cath Howe]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  ''Maya and Rose won't talk to each other. Even though they are sisters. Not since the accident. Maya is turning wild and Rose doesn't know what to do. And now Maya and Rose have to go away together on a week-long school trip. Will the trip fix their sibling bond... or break it for good?'' [[Not My Fault by Cath Howe|Full Review]]<!-- Lupo -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408898055.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408898055/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[We Are Blood And Thunder by Kesia Lupo]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  ''In a sealed-off city, a young woman, Lena, is running for her life. She has been sentenced to death and her only way to survive is to trust those she has been brought up to fear - those with magic.'' ''On the other side of the locked gates is a masked lady, Constance, determined to find a way back in. Years ago she escaped before her own powers were discovered. But now she won't hide who she is any longer.'' So, Lena is a cryptling - a low caste individual living in the city of Duke's Forest.[[We Are Blood And Thunder by Kesia Lupo|Full Review]]  <!-- Kidd -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786893762.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786893762/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Things in Jars by Jess Kidd]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] A child has gone missing. The detective asked to take on the case is still struggling with the shame and frustration left by a previous case, where the child was not found in time. Hardly original themes for a private eye thriller. And yet . . . take another look. This detective is a woman, and the setting is Victorian London, with all the rich and colourful paradoxes of that era: technical and scientific progress jostling for space beside superstition and a fascination with the bizarre and the downright hideous. And before you're more than a couple of pages in, you realise just how much more unusual our heroine is than you expected. Bridie Devine may dress in half-mourning, with a widow's cap and stout, shiny boots, but the tobacco she smokes in her pipe (my dear, what an utterly ''fast'' thing for a lady to do!) is mixed with a nugget of something, well, let's say recreational, created by her chemist friend Prudhoe. The fact that it's actually meant to cure bronchial problems is by the by. Her housemaid, being seven foot tall, is also somewhat remarkable. And then, of course, there's the ghost. Ruby Doyle, world famous tattooed boxer (deceased) accompanies Bridie all through her investigation, and it's clear he has a soft spot for the determined young woman. If he really exists, that is. [[Things in Jars by Jess Kidd|Full Review]] <!-- Beckett -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786491559.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786491559/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Beneath the World, A Sea by Chris Beckett]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] South America, 1990. Ben Ronson, a British police officer, arrives in a mysterious forest to investigate a spate of killings of Duendes. These silent, vaguely humanoid creatures - with long limbs and black button eyes - have a strange psychic effect on people, unleashing the subconscious and exposing their innermost thoughts and fears. Ben becomes fascinated by the Duendes, but the closer he gets, the more he begins to unravel, with terrifying results... [[Beneath the World, A Sea by Chris Beckett|Full Review]] <!-- M J Lee -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07P6P4S7H.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P6P4S7H/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Where the Dead Fall (DI Ridpath, Book 2) by M J Lee]]=== [[image:4starlecture or hector.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]

The ''Childish Spirits'' series is one of his greatest achievements. It really shouldn't have happened. DI Ridpaths a sequence of ghost stories centring on Ellie, conscious that his relationship a stalwart young girl who can cope with his wife anything the spirit world throws at her, and child is hanging by Edward, a threadspoiled lordling and the first spirit Ellie encounters|isbn= 1783064617}}{{Frontpage|author=Jenny Valentine|title=Us in the Before and After|rating=5|genre=Teens|summary=Elk and Mab are best friends, or more than that even, their friendship is off to collect them at his mother-a once in-law's house for an evening outa lifetime connection. Traffic was heavy They meet as children one day on the M60 (a match at Old Trafford wasntrip out but unfortunately they don't helping) but it was moving steadilyget each other's contact details at the time. But then chance brings them back together, and they are inseparable. Something has happened though, something terrible and tragic, and now they must work through their grief, and their friendship, together.|isbn=1471196585}}{{Frontpage|author=Kieran Larwood and Joe Todd-Stanton|title=Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Meet Kit. Then a man wearing only Like most of the people in his world, it seems, he is an avid fan of Dungeon Running – the sport where a pair team of blue boxers dashed out into warrior, mage and healer enter specially prepared, century-old, magical mazes, and race to the exit, perhaps bothering with the treasure or the big bad and the points they grant you along the trafficway. Unfortunately for Kit, briefly put his hands on Ridpaththe only thing he's car then ran into seen of the latest race on the path inn TV equivalent is that one team has been retired, eaten, and a new trio of an articulated lorryquestors is needed. The driver had no chance Possibly very unfortunately indeed for Kit, he has taken to the goading from the token bully of stopping his world and the naked man was killed instantlystumbled into declaring he'll enter as a team. Glancing What chance does this friendless, muscle-free-zone have in actually managing that, and how could he possibly hope to succeed?|isbn=1839945184}}{{Frontpage|author=Saima Mir|title=Vengeance|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers|summary= I was instantly intrigued by the hard shoulder Ridpath glimpsed premise of this novel – an organised crime syndicate in the north of England run by a man with a gunMuslim woman. This The fact that it was now the second in a series I hadn't read didn't stop me – I've jumped midway into a crime scene few series before (on page and screen) and the resulting seventeen-mile tail back of traffic would it needn't be the least of Ridpatha hindrance if it's worries, although no one would let him forget about it in good enough. And that wasn't a hurryproblem here. [[Where the Dead Fall (DI RidpathVengeance swiftly brings you up to speed, Book 2) by M J Leeand I never felt lost.|Full Review]]isbn=0861541561}}

<!I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is -frankly - DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers |summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.|isbn=086154742X}}