Book Review – Chloe – Lost Girl (Carl Sant Murder Mysteries Book 1) by Dan Laughey

This is a fast paced police procedure thriller with plenty of twists along the way.  It will be enjoyed by anyone who likes reading books of these genera.

Keith Jahans

 

Published by Next Chapter (5 Mar. 2019
in hardcover, as an ebook, paperback and audiobook

Book Review – Shadow of the Dome by Karen Warren

This is a novel set in a historical period I know little about.  I have heard of the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan,and the explorer Marco Polo but my knowledge is very sketchy.  I also know of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem about Kublai Khan and his stately pleasure-dome.  Karen Warren obviously knows her subject and has done her research well.

This tale of a Mongol princess and her servants is a compelling read.  The narrative kept me going right to the end and there are twists along the way.  The author is an exceptional storyteller and I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates not only historical fiction but also likes reading a good adventure story.

 

Keith Jahans

 

Published by Lume Books
available as an ebook and a paperback

Book Review – The Boy and the Briefcase and the Moose by Andrew Batty.

An antidote to Tom Brown’s Schooldays.

I was educated in both the private sector and state secondary schools during the 1960s.  In that time a child’s fate was governed according to whether they passed the then Eleven Plus examination which marked the transition between primary and secondary education.  This is an examination I failed so I can relate to the narrator’s experiences.  I also understand the author’s teenage angst when trying somewhat clumsily to understand girls.

The narrative is littered with fascinating characters.  The teachers were delightfully eccentric.  I too had an accident prone physics teacher but I was not fortunate enough to have so many subjects taught by people with such obvious teaching talent.  The contrast between the two private school exchange students and the secondary school pupils was well drawn as was the self-recognition of what was expected of them when grown to adulthood.  In those days corporal punishment was part and parcel of education but as the decade advanced it was rarely used.  Inventing stories to get oneself out of trouble was par for the course and as the stories were related over time the more outlandish they became, which was what indeed happened with the narrator of this book.  I loved the way that his fellows came to his aid and joined in with his attempt to mislead those in authority.

I found reading Andrew Batty’s story a captivating experience and can recommend it to anyone who enjoys a humorous read, especially those who were educated in the England of that time.

 

Keith Jahans

 

Published by Book Guild Publishing Ltd
and available as a paperback and ebook

Book Review – Gold: The Kincade Saga by Thomas Greenbank

A gritty mining tale of the Australian Outback.

This is an absorbing story, which is easy to read.  The plot is well derived and contains interesting descriptions of the mining process in Australia.  The characters with the exception of the sexy Bronte could have been drawn better but this did not retract from a rattling good yarn.  I recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading family sagas.

Keith Jahans

Available from Tudogz Publishing
as an Ebook and Paperback

 

Book Review – The Kalis Experiments by R.A. Fisher

Writing fantasy is a challenging task for a writer who has to create another world different to our own.  This author manages it exceptionally well and has created a world with its own politics and characters with superhuman powers.  The scenes are vividly described as are those depicting action and violence.  The protagonist changes form a number of times throughout the narrative, but maintains an underlying profile.  How the writer achieves this is very cleverly done.

The plot interwinds through a number of episodes each one adding to the atmosphere of the story.  It kept me reading right until the end.  This is Book One in the Tides series and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy.

Keith Jahans

Published by Next Chapter and available in hardcover,
as a paperback, an audiobook and ebook

 

Book Review – A Litter of Bones by J D Kirk

I am reviewing the audio book version of this novel which is a task I have not done before as I usually down load the ebook to read.  This is a tense thriller in which a team of detectives led by a DCI Logan are investigating the disappearance of a young boy in the Scottish Highlands.  Logan had previously brought to justice a serial killer of children and was seeking to find a boy whose body had not been accounted for.  There were striking similarities between the past case and the current abduction.  Had Logan got the wrong man or was this a copy cat scenario?

The characters in this narrative are wonderfully described particularly the interaction between the members of the investigative team.  There is some humour between them but mostly tension as they sought to find the boy before he is found dead.  The story kept me listening avidly right to the end.  I particularly like the Scottish brogue of the narrator which added to the narrative atmosphere.  I thoroughly recommend this book to all fans of this genre.

 

Keith Jahans

This is book 1 of DCI Logan Crime Thrillers
published as an ebook, hardback, paperback and audiobook
by ‎Zertex Crime

Book Review – Drugs to Forget: Race Against Bioterror by Martin Granger

A tale about a team of documentary film makers, bioterrorism and criminal pharmaceutical companies, which combine to produce an intriguing thriller.  This proved to be an entertaining read which provided interesting information on how independent TV film makers go about their work.

I found the description of the documentary filming process fascinating.  All the more so as it was underpinned by bioterrorism and the methods used by pharmaceutical companies.  The characters were believable as were the locations in London and Zimbabwe.

The author was well briefed on the situation his characters found themselves in and so was able to produce a believable peace of fiction.  I highly recommend it.

 

Keith Jahans

Available from Red Door Publishing
as an ebook and paperback

Book Review – Collateral Damage by Steve Howell

This is a political thriller set mostly in London and partly in Libya just after the aerial bombing of President Gaddafi’s residence by the USA.  A young journalist dies mysteriously while attending a conference in Tripoli.  A junior solicitor is persuaded by the dead man’s girlfriend and his own ex-girlfriend to fly to Libya to find out exactly what had happened so she can gain closure.  The solicitor’s ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend, who was at the conference with the deceased, is unable to travel with them because of a family illness so the solicitor and the decease’s girlfriend travel to Libya together.

They arrive in Libya where they are met by the deceased’s father and a Foreign Office official whose attitude towards them is decidedly frosty bordering on hostile.  They return to England with the cause of death unresolved and subsequently discover that the circumstances surrounding the death are not what they were at first led to believe.

It is an intriguing story which keeps the reader turning the pages as further disturbing revelations come to light and I thoroughly recommend this book to all those who enjoy tales of political deception.

 

Keith Jahans

 

Published by Quaero Publishing
and available as an ebook and paperback

Book Review – Destination Unknown: A Tale of Time Travel by Kathleen Ballantine Watson

This is an intriguing tale about time travel and a serial killer.  I would have never dared to mixed these subjects myself but the author seems to have made them work.

The novel concentrates on the time travel aspects of the story and in particular the transportation of the heroine back to the mid nineteenth century.  She is stalked by the killer who has a list of female victims behind him.  The description of life in the USA rural 1800s, especially the people she encounters, is particularly good.

The narrative falls down a little with her projections of the future but despite this I found it a good read as the plot kept me turning the pages right until the end.

 

Keith Jahans

Available as an ebook and
paperback from Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review – Tall Tales: A collection of short stories by Jack Kregas

This is a collection of stories written by a master.  The author has an exceptional understanding of his characters.  Because of this it is easy to empathise with them during the trials and tribulations they go through.

This is readily apparent right from the first story, “It’s There for the Taking”, where the two main protagonists scale icy Alpine slopes.  The reader literally feels the cold, fear and exhilaration they go through.  It is a remarkable piece of writing.  In the second story, “Lopez”, the writer demonstrates his comprehensive understanding of baseball and the emotions a player and spectators can go through.  The third tale, “Sinner Sid, expertly describes the actions of a master manipulator of people, and the final story, Morris Morris, tells how two people can overcome the loneliness and challenges of retirement.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading these tales and recommend them to anyone who enjoys good writing.

 

Keith Jahans

This edition is published as an ebook
and is available on Amazon