Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |title=Dead Brigade | ||
| + | |author=James Lovegrove | ||
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| + | |genre=Dyslexia Friendly | ||
| + | |summary=Sergeant Jonah Hammond's career has been at a standstill in the years since he launched a complaint against a reckless commanding officer whose arrogance resulted in the massacre of British soldiers. Now that same officer is offering Hammond another chance. This time Hammond won't have to worry about some idiot getting his men all killed - because they are already dead. Hammond has been given the task of training a crack squad of reanimated soldiers, immune to pain, disease and capable of fighting with massive injuries. These living dead are reanimated by nanobots. They are capable of learning, following instructions, and meant to be incapable of independent thought. However, it soon becomes apparent that things don't always go the way they are meant to. These are not mindless killing machines; a part of them is still human, still the soldier they once were, trapped within a decaying corpse, kept refrigerated until ready for the next mission. They have no life, nor do they have the luxury of death. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842995081</amazonuk> | ||
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|summary=It's ten years since Charlotte and Nicole were close. Since then Nicole has married Julian, an eminent surgeon and Charlotte has made her way as a writer. She has a base in New York, but it's little bigger than a cupboard and is only a place to stay between foreign assignments. Nicole lives in Philadelphia but still spends her summers at her family's property off the coast of Maine. This year is going to be the last time though. Her father died suddenly and her mother can't bear to go back to Quinniepeague, so Nicole is returning to the island to clear the house for sale. And she's going to write a cookbook. | |summary=It's ten years since Charlotte and Nicole were close. Since then Nicole has married Julian, an eminent surgeon and Charlotte has made her way as a writer. She has a base in New York, but it's little bigger than a cupboard and is only a place to stay between foreign assignments. Nicole lives in Philadelphia but still spends her summers at her family's property off the coast of Maine. This year is going to be the last time though. Her father died suddenly and her mother can't bear to go back to Quinniepeague, so Nicole is returning to the island to clear the house for sale. And she's going to write a cookbook. | ||
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Revision as of 15:46, 25 July 2013
The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a book review site, featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - fiction, biography, crime, 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 author interviews, and all sorts of top tens - all of which you can find on our features page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the recommendations page.
There are currently 16,117 reviews at TheBookbag.
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Dead Brigade by James Lovegrove
Sergeant Jonah Hammond's career has been at a standstill in the years since he launched a complaint against a reckless commanding officer whose arrogance resulted in the massacre of British soldiers. Now that same officer is offering Hammond another chance. This time Hammond won't have to worry about some idiot getting his men all killed - because they are already dead. Hammond has been given the task of training a crack squad of reanimated soldiers, immune to pain, disease and capable of fighting with massive injuries. These living dead are reanimated by nanobots. They are capable of learning, following instructions, and meant to be incapable of independent thought. However, it soon becomes apparent that things don't always go the way they are meant to. These are not mindless killing machines; a part of them is still human, still the soldier they once were, trapped within a decaying corpse, kept refrigerated until ready for the next mission. They have no life, nor do they have the luxury of death. Full review...
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan
'My father still lives back the road past the weir in the cottage I was reared in. I go there every day to see is he dead and every day he lets me down. He hasn't yet missed a day of letting me down.'
This is how we meet Bobby - Bobby Mahon, as we'll learn - and he's brutally honest about his feelings for his father, who has deliberately drunk away the farm he inherited from his father. But Frank Mahon isn't Bobby's only, or even main, problem. He's been earning big money as Pokey Burke's foreman but the financial crash has hit and Pokey has done a runner. An investment in a fake island off Dubai finished him and now he's disappeared. On the estate of forty houses he was building, just two are occupied and the rutted roads are nothing more than a racetrack for the joyriders. Full review...
Twirlymen: The Unlikley History of Cricket's Greatest Spin Bowlers by Amol Rajan
Although they may lack the bang and bluster of the fast bowlers, the three leading wicket takers of all time in Test cricket are all spinners. They may look calmer in their run ups and action, but the effect they put on the ball can be incredible. Rather than blasting a batsman out, they bamboozle them. That's why Amol Rajan thinks them deserving of a book all of their own, and Twirlymen is the result of that belief. Full review...
Beyond Rue Morgue: Further Tales of Edgar Allan Poe's 1st Detective by Paul Kane and Charles Prepolec (Editors)
C. Auguste Dupin is often regarded as the first fictional detective and at the very least Edgar Allan Poe’s character was the blueprint for many sleuths to come, most notably Sherlock Holmes. Dupin is an eccentric genius from Paris whose use of logic and deduction aid the police on their most baffling cases. The characters literary debut was in the short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841 and between 1842 and 1844 Poe wrote two more short stories about Dupin and his exploits. Beyond Rue Morgue contains nine stories (in addition to the original Poe tale) by various authors and gives many different takes on the same character or influenced by him. From samurai assassins and the apocalypse to an agoraphobic distant relative of Dupin attempting to solve a murder without even leaving her home; the different writers all take the intriguing character to places we wouldn’t expect and the creativity of all keeps the character fresh from story to story. Full review...
The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
This is the memoir of one of the youngest people on Oskar Schindler's famous list of Jews saved from the Nazis during World War II. It opens between the wars, with Leon's family living in the small Polish town of Narewka. There wasn't much money but everyone was happy. Leon's father moved to Krakow in the hopes of making a better life and when Leon and his siblings eventually join him, you can feel the wonder of a little boy new to the big city. Full review...
The Burning Shadow (Gods and Warriors Book 2) by Michelle Paver
A year after the first book in this series finished, we rejoin Hylas who has been captured, enslaved, and forced to work in the copper mines on Thalakrea, a volcanic island. The Crows still have the dagger of prophecy, so this evil clan is still in control. Hylas is determined to escape and find his missing sister, but the mines are dangerous and run by ruthless slavers. Full review...
The List of my Desires by Gregoire Delacourt
Jocelyne is in her forties, married to Jo, and mother to one stillborn little girl and two twenty-something children who have grown distant from her with time. She owns a haberdashery shop in the small town where she lives, and she's writing an online blog which is growing in popularity. Although there have been bumps in the past, with her violent husband struggling with their little girl's death, the early death of her mother and her father's debilitating stroke her life is now reasonably stable and at the start of the story she seems, on the surface, to be happy although one suspects that beneath the veneer there are unresolved issues for Jocelyne. Full review...
Cold Steel: Spiritwalker: Book Three by Kate Elliott
The Master of the Wild Hunt has stolen away Cat Barahal's husband. She's being blamed for a murder. Fire mage James Drake wants to kill her. And rebellion is burning up the streets back in Europa. Can Cat save her man and crush her enemies, and maybe even change her world? Full review...
The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons
On her thirtieth birthday Juliet Montague went out to buy a fridge for the princely sum of twenty-one guineas. She'd saved hard for it - and her parents had given her the final few pounds - but then Juliet did something impulsive. Instead of buying a fridge she commissioned a portrait of herself and so began her involvement in the post-war art scene. Juliet wasn't - by any stretch of the imagination - an artist, but she had a startling ability to spot a good picture. It was simply something which she knew, much as she had known for certain that her husband had left for good on the day he didn't return home as expected. Full review...
Cruel Summer by James Dawson
Twelve months after Janey Bradshaw's suicide, her friends get together in a secluded Spanish villa. After a year apart, there's a lot to talk about - but the elephant in the room is Janey's death. Ryan Hayward isn't convinced she killed herself - and when someone else from their old school turns up, they seem to confirm his suspicions. Except very quickly, there's another dead body, and Ryan and his friends need to get rid of the corpse. Of course, where there's a murder victim, there's also a murderer - who can it be? Will anyone stay alive to find out? Full review...
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Gregor is in the laundrette, daydreaming about his problems since his father vanished a couple of years ago, and not being too mindful of where his youngest sister is playing. The next thing he knows is that she has found the portal to an incredible underground world, and they are both entering it. The Underland is a home to gigantic, talking animals, and a parlous state of play between them and the human inhabitants – who have a very important prophecy about a certain boy entering their domain and becoming an instant warrior. Is Gregor up to it, so far down as he is? Full review...
Paralysed with Fear by Gareth Williams
Gareth Williams, author of Angel of Death, turns his focus from the history of the plague to that of polio in Paralysed with Fear. From the first report of a case in 1700-Strasbourg, right through to polio in the present day, he traces polio’s progression past age limits, socioeconomic boundaries and geographical borders. Almost more intriguing, though, is the insight we receive to the cut-throat competition between scientists who sought to use polio as a means for making history. Full review...
My Funny Family on Holiday by Chris Higgins and Lee Wildish
Mattie Butterfield and her family are going on holiday to Cornwall and as ever for Mattie there's lots for her to worry about. What if they lost one of them on the train to Cornwall? What if someone fell over the edge of the cliff? What if... As usual Mattie can think of all sorts of things which could go wrong and it looks as though her worst fears are going to be realised when the family manages to leave Jellico the dog on the station platform. It's a long journey to the south - eight hours on the train and then another hour on the bus to get them to the campsite, but after a couple of days they've all settled into a relaxed way of life. Mattie makes friends with a local boy too - although strangely enough no one else can see him. Full review...
Last To Die by Tess Gerritsen
Somewhere in Italy one summer, a group of people are gathered to take down Icarus. They have no qualms about their mission of taking out this immensely wealthy man. His wife and his children are merely by-standers, not to be involved. His habits have been studied. He is a monster, to be dealt with. Full review...
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
On the run from the Darkling, Alina and Mal are together at last. But when he emerges from the Shadow Fold with a horrific new power, the Darkling could prove himself to be more dangerous than ever. Alina will be torn between her growing power, the man she loves, and her patriotism - can she survive the oncoming storm? Full review...
My Funny Family by Chris Higgins and Lee Wildish
Mattie Butterfield is a worrier. Well, it's not surprising with a family like hers - something always seems to be going wrong. Or if it doesn't go wrong then it very easily might. She gets upset that the tomato seeds which she and Lucinda have planted at school won't thrive because they're in the cold, dark cupboard and they're all wet. Lucinda's parents don't seem to like each other very much and it might be that they're going to get divorced. What would happen if Mattie's parents stopped liking each other? Why does grandma seem not to like the Butterfield children very much? You see, when you think about it, there's lots to worry about. And Mattie is particularly worried about why Mum has been to the doctor. Full review...
The Black Count: Glory, revolution, betrayal and the real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
While the novels of Alexandre Dumas, like The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, weren't true, they were based on a real hero - Dumas's own father. Born the son of a slave and a French nobleman, General Alexandre Dumas would go on to rise to fame and fortune during the French Revolution, only to face racism, betrayal, and a rivalry with Napoleon Bonaparte which would eventually lead to the virtual disappearance from history of this incredible figure. Full review...
The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix by Kate Saunders
So I’ve jumped right into the world of Skittle Lane, going straight to the sequel, The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix. One of the great things about this book is that while going straight to number two makes you want to find and read the first one because you know it’ll be a good book, you’re not lost. It stands easily by itself as a fairly awesome magical adventure. Full review...
Hold Your Breath by Caroline Green
Tara can locate lost objects - keys, phones, and even people. But she knows that this strange ability can bring trouble, so when bully Melodie Stone goes missing, she wants to keep her visions to herself. The images she sees won't go away, though - should she risk humiliation, or worse, by trying to find her? Full review...
New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay
After being expelled from her boarding school, Rain Mackenzie gets sent abroad to New England, to live with her parents and attend the local high school. Not expecting to like anything about the place, she's surprised to find herself immediately falling for the school heartthrob Jesse Devlin. Will they end up together, or will Jesse's girlfriend Amber get in the way? Full review...
Midsummer Magic by Julia Williams
After a whirlwind romance, Josie and Harry are engaged to be married and she is putting every waking hour into planning the wedding down to the finest detail. This includes taking Harry, bridesmaid Diana and best man Ant down to her parents’ home in Cornwall for the weekend as that is where the wedding is going to be taking place. It should be a weekend of excited planning and preparations but, unfortunately, things don’t turn out entirely as Josie hopes. She turns into the 'bride from Hell' driving all her friends crazy with boredom as she talks non-stop about the wedding plans in the minutest of details. In order to liven things up, Harry and Ant persuade the girls to take part in a hypnosis experiment which will make them plight their troths to their true loves at midnight on Midsummer Night’s Eve. As you might imagine, all sorts of mayhem occurs as well as a few home truths shared. Full review...
Tutankhamen's Curse: The Developing History of an Egyptian King by Joyce Tyldesley
The striking cover of 'Tutankhamen’s Curse' certainly has a way of arresting the reader’s attention. The iconic golden funeral mask peers out from an ink-black background and those heavily-lined Egyptian eyes seem to stare eerily into the soul of the beholder. Full review...
Phoenix by SF Said
Lucky thinks he is a normal Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing to him and he can feel a mysterious power rising within him. When he wakes, his bedclothes are scorched. And when his mother finds out, Lucky's world is turned upside down and he finds himself on an alien spaceship, on the run, and in the middle of a warzone. Everything Lucky has been brought up to believe is being tested. The war between Human and Axxa is raging, so why does Lucky's mother trust alien renegades more than she does humans? Where is his father? What are the secrets his mother has kept from him all his life? Full review...
As the Cards Fall by Christina Green
At the end of the nineteenth century Bella Reed was working as a companion to a lady in Exeter and she had a gentleman friend, Jack Courtney. Jack was a solicitor and their friendship seemed to grow steadily - the the extent that Bella suspected he might be about to propose. The letter from her cousin rather upset the applecart, not least because she had no idea that she had a cousin. Since the deaths of her parents she'd thought of herself as an orphan without any relatives - but Lizzie asked that she visit the family home on Dartmoor as her Uncle William was ill and wanted to see her. A weekend trip didn't seem unreasonable and Jack escorted her to the station and said that he would meet her on Monday when she returned. Full review...
Indiscretion by Charles Dubow
Charles Dubow's debut novel promises to be a modern day Great Gatsby. It too is set amongst the rich and famous outside New York, it too is narrated by a character seemingly on the outside, Maddy's childhood friend Walter. Full review...
The Curiosity by Stephen P Kiernan
Microbiologist Kate Philo is a member of an Arctic expedition sent to locate life forms frozen in ice flows. Striking it lucky, she and the team find a human whom they reanimate once they get him back to their American lab. However new life brings new challenges. The man died over a century earlier and much has changed. The press is now omnipotent, his 'resurrection' offends religious fundamentalists and scientific ethics never saw this problem coming. To Kate, though, he's not a problem. He's Jeremiah, afraid, bewildered and in need of an ally. Full review...
Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky
It's ten years since Charlotte and Nicole were close. Since then Nicole has married Julian, an eminent surgeon and Charlotte has made her way as a writer. She has a base in New York, but it's little bigger than a cupboard and is only a place to stay between foreign assignments. Nicole lives in Philadelphia but still spends her summers at her family's property off the coast of Maine. This year is going to be the last time though. Her father died suddenly and her mother can't bear to go back to Quinniepeague, so Nicole is returning to the island to clear the house for sale. And she's going to write a cookbook. Full review...
