Review: Siege by Simon Kernick [Jan]

A group of terrorists plot to take over a London hotel, using violence and bloodshed to control the hostages they have. Wolf is the leader of a group of fanatics and they have ensured the head of MI6 is one of the hostages.  The rest of the group are Fox’s men, and he has a slightly different agenda.  As bullets fly some guests hide while others try to escape.  The rest are rounded up and hope they live through the night.

Scope has just assassinated several people and is on his way out of the hotel when the hotel is taken hostage and he is trapped.  He comes across Abby and her son Ethan and rescues them from immediate death, then stays to protect them.  Elena is the newly engaged hotel manager, planning to move to Australia she was handing in her resignation that day.  Martin has terminal cancer and is planning to commit suicide in a hotel room that holds a special meaning for him.  When the bullets start to fly, he discovers he doesn’t want to die that day.  Michael, the MI6 man, know secrets people would kill for.  There’s an interesting subplot with the officer on the ground that’s in direct charge of the police forces response to this hostage situation.

The plot unfolds rapidly, with points of view of different characters giving a perfect view of what’s happening.  The story is told in short chapters, usually ending in cliff-hangers that are exciting and teasers to devour the book in one sitting!  The story has masterful suspense where you’re sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the next thing to happen.

I loved the ending!  The good guys win, bad guys lose, and the dodgy hero’s motivations are revealed.  Brilliant.  Off to find other books by Simon Kernick.

Title: Siege
Author: Simon Kernick
Published: Bantam Press, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

This month I'm loving...

Online chatting.

Whether it's via twitter or a forum I just have to say it's absolutely *awesome*.

The conversations that people have online are intelligent, interesting and inspirational.  They are also - quite often in fact - really funny.  Where else can you chat about the books with outlandish titles, linear writing vs free-form writing (or chapter hopping as I call it - and which I am entirely notorious for doing in my own writing) and which TV show pairing is awesome or just plain icky and voice your opinion that the she or he of such pairing should be killed, preferably in the most gruesome way possible.

I always come away from these chats with a warm, glowy feel-good feeling that helps to inspire and encourage me throughout the day.  I also often come away with an ever increasing list of music to listen to, things to read and movies/TV shows to watch.  So much so that I've pretty much given up the idea that I will ever get my To-be-read, watched and listen to pile down. 

And that's exactly how I like it.

Pitch Perfect

I found out about this movie entirely from twitter conversations which raved about it. So of course I just had to check it out.

As you do.

It's funny, has awesome female characters and some great singing.  It also has The Cup song.  And if you don't know what this is then you really do need to check it out.  It just might make you want to watch this movie for that scene alone.

Bleak Expectations

I *adore* Anthony Head, better known as Giles from Buffy as well as a realm of British TV shows and the Nescafe coffee ads from the late 80's.

I now adore him even more after listening to this radio comedy in which he plays Mr Gently Benevolent, the sinister villain. 

Bleak Expectations is a silly, hammy and utterly irreverent take on just about every Charles Dickens novel written plus a few others.  My favourite was the War of The Worlds send-up of which I will probably never look at in quite the same way again.

Reviver by Seth Patrick

"Jonah Miller is a Reviver, able to temporarily revive the dead so they can say goodbye to their loved ones--or tell the police who killed them. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is on the other side watching..."

A crime novel.  A horror novel. A science fiction novel. Reviver combines them all in this creepy and absorbing read.

172 Hours On The Moon by Johan Harstad

"More than forty years since the first moon landing,  no-one has been back since then - until now. Three teenagers are about to find out why..."

Blood-curling creepy.  The ending will just blow your mind.

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

"16 year old Angie finds herself in her neighborhood with no recollection of her abduction or the 3 years that have passed since, until alternate personalities start telling her their stories through letters."

Gripping and sad, Pretty Girl-13 is a story of a girl trying to come back after the truly horrific has happened to her.

Backtrack by Jason Dean

"James Bishop is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. Finally a free man, with his name cleared, he has the chance to get his life back on track. But as he flees the scene of the hold-up with a terrified hostage, he once again finds himself a wanted man."

This novel starts out one way and then takes a complete 180 and spins everything you thought you know on its head.  Don't you just love stories that do that?

Fresh ink - new authors for jaded readers

They're the reason people keep trying to write. (Aside from that nagging little parasite in your ear, continually popping out to ask "So, have you done any writing lately?" and winkling itself back in again before you can get him with the tweezers.)

Debut authors who make it big - J. K. Rowling, E. L. James, S. J. Watson, and all those other initials. Who doesn't dream of being one? For most, it's a slow burn, gradually building an audience until one day you're on top of the pile. That's how it worked for Ian Rankin and Hilary Mantel, and even Dan Brown had three books behind him before his sudden leap to the peak. Who can predict the next big thing?

As they say in showbiz - no one knows anything.

So here's your chance to take a look at the crop of new authors for this year, before requests go sky-high. Which do you think will make it big?

The Deeply Paranoid, Zombie-Killing, Anti-Establishment Breakfast Club (no deathbots!)

Death comes to us all, eventually. The latest trend in youth fiction is to stare it in the face - then jab it in the eye. Mean girls and jocks usually come armed with more than a sharp tongue and a wet towel - and failing a test can be lethal.

Time for a new list of fiction for teens that takes the reader to dark places, and out the other side. Fans of The Hunger Games, rejoice!

Black Helicopters - Blythe Woolston

The recent kidnapping and hostage drama involving a small boy in Alabama shows just how dangerous anti-Government extremists can be. What if you were brought up by one? Meet Valkyrie White. She's fifteen. Her whole life, she's hidden in an underground den with her brother Bo while Da is working, because Those People will kill them like coyotes. But now, with Da unexpectedly gone and no home to return to, Valkyrie and her big brother must bring their message to the outside world. They're stupid out there - little boys wear their names on their backpacks and people don't pat down strangers before offering a lift. Valkyrie and Bo are going to wake them all up...Or will they be the ones to wake up? Explosions are promised.

City of a Thousand Dolls - Miriam Forster
Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls train as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron’s assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city’s handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die. Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls’ deaths. And may end up paying with her own life.

The Infects - Sean Beaudoin

Seventeen-year-old Nero is stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents on an "Inward Trek." As if that weren't bad enough, his counsellors have turned into flesh-eating maniacs overnight and are now chowing down on his fellow miscreants. These kids have seen zombie movies. They know the rules. Unfortunately, knowing the rules isn't going to be enough.

Freakling - Lana Krumwiede
In twelve-year-old Taemon's city, everyone has a power called psi -- the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the "dud farm". It's not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. But gradually he discovers that there are mysteries, too -- dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered. When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage?

The Farm - Emily McKay

For Lily and her twin sister Mel there is only the Farm...It's a prison, a blood bank, a death camp - where fear and paranoia rule. But it's also home, of sorts. Because beyond the electric fence awaits a fate much, much worse. But Lily has a plan. She and Mel are going to escape - into the ravaged land outside, a place of freedom and chaos and horrors. Except Lily hasn't reckoned on two things: first, her sister's ability to control the horrors; and, secondly, on those out there who desperately want to find and control Mel. Mel's growing power might save the world, or utterly end it. But only Lily can protect Mel from what is to come...

Shards and Ashes
Powerful original dystopian tales from nine bestselling authors offer bleak insight, prophetic visions, and precious glimmers of light among the shards and ashes of a ruined world. Stories from: Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, Kami Garcia, Nancy Holder, Melissa Marr, Beth Revis, Veronica Roth, Carrie Ryan and Margaret Stohl.

The Disappeared - C. J. Harper

In a future where children are segregated into institutions that range from comfortable “Learning Communities” to prison-like “Local Academies”, seventeen-year-old Jackson is an academic high flyer, living in a top Learning Community and destined for a position in the Leadership. But when he and his best friend Wilson are sent to deliver a package to a factory block, they are attacked, leaving Wilson dead. And now Jackson's teachers claim not to know him. Sent to an Academy set up to train factory workers, Jackson finds himself immersed in a world that couldn’t be further removed than the life he’s used to; where the students have created their own hierarchy based on fighting ability. He starts to realise that his whole life has been based on half-truths. In order to survive, he needs to expose the lies that surround the Academy and find out the truth about who he really is.

When We Wake - Karen Healey
Dystopian fiction by a Kiwi author. Sixteen year old Tegan was loving life: she was joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world, she was playing guitar, and she thought she might be falling in love. She didn't plan on the best day of her life being her last. When Tegan wakes, a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility, she has no idea what happened. The first person to be cryonically frozen and sucessfully revived, she is an instant celebrity - but all she wants is to rebuild some semblance of a normal life in this strange new future. When appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: should she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

Revolution 19 - Gregg Rosenblum

Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars turned their weapons on us. Nick has spent his whole life in a community in the wilderness, hiding out from the robots that have enslaved mankind. But when the bots discover the community's location, he, his tech-geek younger brother, Kevin, and adopted sister, Cass, barely make it out alive--only to discover that their home has been destroyed and everyone they love is missing. All survivors were captured and taken to one of the robots' Cities. Determined to find out if their parents are among the survivors, Nick, Kevin, and Cass venture into the heart of the City. As they live among the bots for the first time, they realize they're fighting for more than just their family. The robots have ruled for too long, and now it's time for a revolution.
If you like this one, I recommend the Tripods trilogy by John Christopher - a classic.

Shoot Them Up, Blow Them Up: My Kind of Valentine

Don't you just hate it when a perfectly good action story is ruined by an romantic interlude.  And I don't just mean a quick kiss and "I love you honey" type of thing.  I'm talking full out romance, the drawn out looks, the long speech, the whole package.

I mean come on... we've got time to declare our undying love for each other while people are shooting at us and the world is generally going to hell with a handgun.

Really???

Somehow I don't think so.

And it's kind of sad that writers think that the only way a woman can enjoy a action story is to have some romance thrown in.  Personally I enjoy nothing more than a shoot them up, blow them up kind of movie where the romance is minimal or even better non existent.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a big believer in romance - of all varieties.  Whether it's true love, soul mates, love at first sight, I'm there.  I just don't need romance for the sake of romance or because I'm a chick.

I'd much rather have an action story be what it is: gripping, exciting with the odd touch of humour and filled with explosions, kick ass fighting, baddies to cheer for and men who don't take no for an answer.

Skyfall

How can you go wrong with a James Bond movie and the latest is definitely one of the best.  There's a baddie whose a little bit psycho, explosions, shoot outs and kick ass fighting.

God this is so my kind of movie and the perfect movie to watch on Valentine's Day.

After all nothing says romance like 'Honey pass me the gun so I can kill some bad guys'  
 The Avengers

I've been a fan of Joss Whedon for years.  After all he created one of the best shows ever in the form of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and he is just brilliant at creating and writing well rounded characters, flaws and all.

So hearing that he wrote and directed The Avengers was more than reason enough to see it and of course it doesn't disappoint.  The characters aren't quite as fleshed out but then again this is a movie not a TV series so time is limited.  There is though enough of his usual touches with some great one liners and moments of humour plus some serious ass kicking.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

 Now this is my kind of movie.

A heroine who doesn't need rescuing but who can quite easily rescue herself and take out a few bad guys along the way.

Even better she gives the ultimate pay back to a lover gone bad. Yes!


Aliens

Another kick ass heroine and one of the best action sci-fi movies ever made. This is the ultimate movie.  And one where fans know the words line by line (trust me - having witness a cinema full of guys quoting the lines at an anniversary screening was one of the funniest thing... EVER!)

This time the baddies aren't CIA or criminals on the run but aliens who are out to make your life hell.

Don't you just hate it when the world needs rescuing from suck face aliens.

Die Hard

Die Hard is not only my go to movie for Christmas but is also a perfect Valentine's Day movie.

There's the divinely wonderful baddie in the form of Alan Rickman (be still my beating heart...), explosions galore and one liners that make the heart flutter.

Who needs romance when you've got terrorists to cheer for.

Kick Ass

A boy who wants to be a super-hero meets a girl who kind of is.

Kick Ass the movie might be called but Hit Girl is the star of this all out bloody, funny, action movie.

With her purple hair, cool cape and black eye mask Hit Girl is the idol of many a girl (and women).

Even better Kick Ass 2 is due for release later this year and Hit Girl is back, older and badassier than ever.

Person of Interest

There is no romance in this show except for the bromance (and those out there know what I mean) between the characters of Reese and Finch, and it's perfect because of that.

Finch is the brains and Reese... well he's the muscle.  A stealthy,  deadlier, shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of guy and between them their out to help 'The Machine' save the lives of people who find themselves in bad situations.

It's a perfect blend of conspiracy, corruption, crime and ... comrade-a-ship.

All I can say is... bring on the mayhem!

Fun summer reads

The holidays are coming soon (yay, one month to go!), and if you've been waiting a while since your last one, your brain probably resembles something like...hmm, I'm thinking pan drippings left out overnight. Burnt crunchy bits included, if you're feeling particularly fried.

At this time of year, it's nice not to have to think too much about what you're reading. Your mind should just drift peacefully on a soothing, gentle sea of words as it washes you along. There are two kinds of book that do this:

1) Action novels.
You know the ones I mean. The ones where everything follows a certain pattern: bad guys, good guys, no doubting who's who, and the good guy always - always wins. There's a girl somewhere too, so the hero can prove how hot he is in every way. Stand up, Clive Cussler and Lee Child.

2) Romances.
Don't need to spell this one out. Some can be erotic, some can be screwball (whoops, no pun intended), and some can be "sweet" like a Nicholas Sparks. Whatever you're into, you know pretty much exactly what you're getting. Like a Griffins sampler.

So here is a list of new and forthcoming books that might just put the sauce on your chips this summer.

Fifty Bales of Hay - Rachael Treasure

Just love the title of this one! Saddle up for a collection of "agricultural erotica" from Australia, featuring lots of luscious cowboys, cheeky farmhands and fun with a stock and a whip. Whoa, Nelly.









Friends and Rivals - Tilly Bagshawe

Record label Jester boasts some of the hottest musicians on the planet, but their shining star is super-diva Kendall Bryce - the girl with the voice of an angel and the attitude from hell. To the world it seems like owners and old college friends, Jack and Ivan, are living the dream - until the betrayal. Jack has no choice but to walk away from Jester and start up his own label and with the help of his own new discovery - the talented, beautiful and sweet Ava Klein - he is ready to take on Ivan. As passions rise and the desire to win becomes all-consuming, the two young and brilliant pop beauties and the two bitter ex-friends race for the Christmas number one record.


Dirty Little Secret - Jon Stock
Described as one for fans of Jason Bourne and James Bond. Salim Dhar, the world's most wanted terrorist, has disappeared after an audacious attack on an American target in the UK. The CIA believes Daniel Marchant, renegade MI6 officer, was involved. But Marchant has a bigger secret: Dhar has agreed to work for MI6. In return, Marchant must help him with a final strike against America. Should Britain sign up to this Faustian pact or hunt them both down? Fast and furious with the inevitable romance thrown in.

Threat Vector - Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney
Jack Ryan has only just moved back into the Oval Office when he is faced with a new international threat. An aborted coup in China has left President Wei Zhen Lin with no choice but to agree with the expansionist policies of General Su Ke Qiang. They have declared the South China Sea a protectorate and are planning an invasion of Taiwan. A new breed of powerful Chinese anti-ship missile endangers the US Navy's plans to protect the island. Meanwhile, Chinese cyberwarfare experts have launched a devastating attack on America. Jack Ryan, Jr. and his colleagues at the Campus may be just the wild card that his father needs to stack the deck. There's just one problem: someone knows about the off-the-books intelligence agency and threatens to blow their cover sky high.

It Happened in Venice - Molly Hopkins
For fans of sweet and funny romances. Evie has a handsome fiance and a fantastic job that takes her to fashionable Dublin, in-vogue Marrakech, cool Amsterdam and romantic Paris. But her fiance hates her job and her flatmate hates her fiance. And when an unexpected event strikes the epicentre of her happiness, Evie is driven to gin and tonic. If she doesn't sort herself out, her liver and her bank manager will hate her. So when she's offered a luxury trip to the sensual city of Venice, with its shifting silver canals and rose and vanilla hued architecture, Evie jumps at the chance. Four days in the city of light and love is exactly what she needs. The sumptuous Grand Hotel, the gondolas, the wine, the Italian men...But within hours of Evie's arrival, her life is poised to change for ever...

Newton's Fire - Will Adams

Luke Hayward is adrift. Blacklisted out of academia, he is in no position to refuse when a client asks for his expert help in recovering some lost Isaac Newton papers. But a chance discovery in a dusty attic plunges Luke into a race to uncover the truth behind some seemingly random scribblings - a race which pits Luke against a fundamentalist madman with dangerously powerful friends. Luke discovers connections between Oxford, London and the Old City of Jerusalem in a breathless chase to uncover a secret hidden in the eccentric ramblings of a mathematical genius; a secret that, in the wrong hands, could be used to spark the holy war to end all holy wars.

The Husband List - Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

A historical romance that evokes the glittering world of the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts. New York City, 1894. Caroline Maxwell would like nothing more than to join her brother, Eddie, and his friend, Jack Culhane, on their adventures. While they are off buying up businesses and building wildly successful careers, Caroline's stuck at home frightening off the men her mother hopes will ask for her hand, like the questionable Lord Bremerton. She longs for adventure, passion, love, and most of all, Jack, an Irish-American with new money and no title. But Caroline's dark hair, brilliant eyes and quick wit have Jack understanding just why it is people fall in love.

The Hunters - Chris Kuzneski
A team of renegades - an ex-military leader, a historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert and a thief - financed by a billionaire philanthropist are tasked with finding a vast treasure lost nearly a century ago. Fearing a German victory in World War I, the Romanians signed a deal with the Russians to safeguard their national treasures. In 1916 two trains full of gold and the most precious objects of the Romanian state - paintings, jewellery from the Royal family, ancient Dacien artifacts - were sent to the underground vaults in the Kremlin, only to be lost after the Russian Revolution. With a haul valued at over $3.5 billion, everyone wants to claim the vast treasure, but its location has remained a mystery - until now.

Ultimatum - Simon Kernick

8am: an explosion rocks a London cafe. Minutes later a call is made to a local radio station: 'We've just detonated a bomb. Another will explode shortly to prove what we are capable of.' The government has until midnight to meet all of the terrorist demands before a far greater attack takes place. Sixteen hours is all DC Tina Boyd and Mike Bolt have to find and stop the killers - before it's too late.







Bianca - Bertrice Small
Florentine silk merchant Giovanni Pietro d'Angelo and his wife want nothing more than to marry their daughters to wealthy men of distinction. But when their son's dangerous indiscretion implicates him in a tragic accident, it is their eldest daughter who must pay the price. Blackmailed by the powerful and debauched Sebastiano Rovere, the Pietro d'Angelos must give beautiful Bianca in marriage to Rovere to buy his silence. It is the shocking murder of her husband that allows her to find the possibility of love at last. But Florentine society would never approve of the man she's chosen: Prince Amir, grandson of Memhet the Conqueror. Two passionate lovers...two different cultures...two worlds determined to keep them apart.

Do enjoy, won't you?