This is no Random read!

Random by Craig Robertson

Synopsis: Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed The Cutter. The murders have left the police baffled. There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason behind the killings; no kind of pattern or motive; an entirely different method of murder each time, and nothing that connects the victims except for the fact that the little fingers of their right hands have been severed.
If DS Rachel Narey could only work out the key to the seemingly random murders, how and why the killer selects his victims, she would be well on her way to catching him. But as the police, the press and a threatening figure from Glasgow's underworld begin to close in on The Cutter; his carefully-laid plans threaten to unravel - with horrifying consequences.

Review: This is not a book for the faint-hearted: not due to over-graphic descriptions but the whole idea of the reasons for the killings in the first place. The Cutter is our guide through his world of pain and death. We follow the Cutter through his thought-process as he makes the decision of who to kill next and, eventually, find out his reasons why he is killing. A twisted path of decision-making and how he handles his wife’s depression lead us to uncomfortably sympathise with him.

As Robertson is himself a journalist, the use of the written word here was pivotal to the Cutter’s work. Reading the newspapers ensuring his work was not missed and gave the Cutter a sense of how others perceived his work.

When asked how he came to write Random, Robertson said “I was fascinated by the idea of the perfect, motiveless crime and the problems that presents for those investigating it. I also wanted to toy with people's perceptions of right and wrong. Mostly wrong.” It is this feeling of ‘wrongness’ that left me feeling so unsettled. Not in an I-can’t-read-this kind of way, but more in a eurgh-how-could-he kind of way.

This is a gripping read that makes you affiliate with a serial killer in a way you will not think possible. A must read!

A handbook for the seriously stressed parent.

You know how every parent wishes they’d been handed an instruction manual when they head home with their first child? Well, this isn’t quite that but it’s as close as you’re going to get. No matter how long you’ve been a parent you can never stop learning about how to be a better one. Every day my children present me with new challenges and I’m always searching for the best solutions. I became a mum just under two years ago through the wonderful invention that is adoption. I immediately became a mum to a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. How I wish I had had Raising Happy Children for Dummies before we brought our children home.

I love the Dummies series of books and have joked about one being for parents. I didn’t realise there was already one available! For parents of babies to teenagers, this book has a section for every eventuality and every situation such as: discipline, being different and improving your basic parenting skills. To explain how the book works I’ll focus on the section that has helped me the most: Discipline.

It is set into three chapters:
1) Getting Down to Earth and Practical: Disciplining Your Kids
2) Choosing Different Strategies for Different Ages
3) When the Going Gets Tough: Handling Conflict

Each chapter is broken down even further into individual topics making it easy to turn quickly to the information you need at any moment. (This is especially useful when your toddler has just smeared your favourite lipstick all over your newly decorated wall.) There are symbols in the margins pointing you to tips, things to remember, warnings, words of wisdom and positive parenting hints.

It is important to remember that children of different ages have different behaviour traits. It says here that “one in five 2-year-olds is estimated to have a tantrum each day – but remember that means four out of five don’t”. Hmm, well my son must’ve had his share and the share of two other 2-year-olds for the first few weeks of us having him. No child fits the mould perfectly which is why this book is careful to remind us that one strategy that works with your 5-year-old first-born may not work with your 5-year-old second-born.

This is one of my favourite types of advice-giving books. It’s in plain English, no fancy, non-understandable terms used in universities. It is quick and easy to use in all situations, making this the ideal book for busy parents. With cartoons at the front of each section to make you chuckle, this book is an ideal present for parents with children of all-ages and perhaps a most welcome gift for new parents.

Vampires and Pirates - what more do you need?

Vampirates: Empire of Night by Justin Somper

Synopsis: Sidorio, fuelled by grief and revenge, is intent on becoming King of the Vampirates and building a new empire to bring terror to the oceans. He faces growing opposition from both the Pirate Federation, including Vampirate Assassin Cheng Li, and the Nocturnals - the more benign vampirate realm - led by Mosh Zu and Lorcan Furey. Both the pirates and the Nocturnals are forced to raise their game in response to the new and urgent threat from Sidorio and the renegade Vampirates.

Twins Grace and Connor Tempest, still ricocheting from the recent discovery of their true parenthood and its explosive implications, are thrust deep into the heart of the conflict. Old foes and allies are thrown together in unexpected ways and, as the stakes rise higher than ever before, Grace and Connor find their alliances shifting in ways no-one could ever have possibly foreseen…

Review: this book begins with a significant development! Do not read further if you are worried about being spoiled! Short review: The book is fun and worth a read. (I pinched this sentence from Bookgeeks as I couldn’t have worded it better myself.)

The fifth book in the infamous Vampirates series is a fast-paced story moving swiftly on from Lady Lola’s beheading by her step-son, Connor, to see her up and about again, ready to cause more aggravation for the twins. Grace and Connor, still trying to come to terms with the fact that they are half-vampire, take on a dangerous mission and are forced to decide where their true loyalties lie. Stuckley and Johnny have more of a leading role in this novel and there’s at least one surprise death.

Somper’s talent for horror writing is ever more apparent in this part of the series, with one particularly gruesome scene. This is not unexpected, as vampires are blood-eaters after all, a fact that was not made obvious at first.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series then do so, immediately, then read book 5 and quickly! I don’t feel this can be read as a stand-alone due to the need to know the character’s history. A fantastic part in a brilliant series.

A must- read!

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Synopsis: Ty has lived under the ocean for his entire life. Following global warming and the rise of the seas, his family joined an underwater community in hopes of living in the new frontier of the ocean floor. But When Ty meets Gemma, a girl from "topside", who is searching the seas for her brother; she quickly makes his life very complicated. Together Ty and Gemma face dangerous sea creatures and venture into the frontier town's rough underworld as they search for her missing brother.

But the deeper they dig, the more attention they attract, and soon Ty and Gemma find themselves being hunted by a gang of outlaws who roam the underwater territories causing havoc, and who seem to have eerie abilities. But Ty has a secret of his own; living underwater for his entire life has meant he has also developed a "special" power. Can he keep it a secret from Gemma and his family or is it time for him to finally tell everyone the truth?

Review: Ty and Gemma’s friendship introduces them to each other’s worlds. Gemma’s is a world cramped and filled with noise. Ty’s is one of tranquillity. When their worlds collide it sets them on an adventure more dangerous than they both imagined. With underwater pirates attempting to sabotage the community, Ty has to use everything he has to help his new friend and protect his old ones.

All the way through this book, I kept turning to my husband saying, “They have to make this into a movie”. The descriptions of Ty’s world are so vivid I want to see them realised. My imagination isn’t enough. If nothing else, I want to see a picture of Ty’s jellyfish-like house. I also want to breathe underwater and see what it is like to never see sunlight.

A fantastic fantasy adventure story for teens which needs to be put on the big screen for all to see!

UPDATE: The Gotham Group, which helped bring The Spiderwick Chronicles to our screens, has bought up the rights to Kat Falls' adventure book Dark Life with an eye to turning it into a kid-friendly action movie. YES!

Does Perfect Chemistry pass the test?

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Synopsis: When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created "perfect" life is about to unravel before her eyes. Forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, Brittany finds herself having to protect everything she's worked so hard for - her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend and, most importantly, the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But the closer Alex and Brittany get to each other the more they realise that sometimes appearances can be deceptive and that you have to look beneath the surface to discover the truth.

Review: This is a story of love against conforms of society expectations. Meet Brittany Ellis – perfect cheerleader dating the captain of the football squad, achieving top grades but hiding secrets from her friends. Then meet Alex Fuentes, Latino bad boy with an eye for a pretty girl. In their own, individual worlds, they are the top, the respected, the successful. Together, they are complete opposites, deigned never to be the best of friends, never mind lovers.

However, this is something Alex insists they will be. Placing a bet with his friends, Alex sets out to woo Miss Prissy-Knickers. Hiding their feelings from themselves, like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, Alex and Brittany fight to hide their love, then fight to win acceptance from those around them. I’m not going to tell you if the ending follows Shakespeare’s tragic tale: you will have to read it to find out for yourself.

Like Brittany, I first was annoyed and frustrated by Alex’s behaviour but grew to love him and fear for his safety. Brittany was so pompous and unlikeable as well, but when you saw what went on at home and the loyalty she had to her sister, you realise how likeable she is. A tale of love across the greatest divide and a moral of not judging by appearances, this is a book you cannot judge by its cover. A modern romance told sensitively for readers of all ages.

If I Grow Up. Shouldn't that be when?

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser

Synopsis: In the Frederick Douglass Project where DeShawn lives, daily life is ruled by drugs and gang violence. Dropping out of school and joining a gang is the norm and every kid knows someone who’s died. Gunshots ring out on a regular basis.

DeShawn is smart enough to know he should stay in school and keep away from the gangs. But while his friends have drug money to buy anything they want, DeShawn’s family can barely afford food for the month. How can he stick to his principles when his family is hungry?

In this gritty novel about growing up in the inner-city projects, award-winning author Todd Strasser opens a window into the life of a teenager struggling with right and wrong under the ever-present show of gangs.

Review: I am going to be brutally honest with my review of this book. At first reading, I couldn’t stand it. The first chapter was so brutal in its description of the dead gang-banger. Now, not brutal for an adult novel, but this is aimed at young teens and I found this difficult to grasp. The descriptions were depicting a harsh world, one I don’t want my children to see. One I don’t want them to know of... or do I?

DeShawn’s world could not be further from that of my own upbringing. I lived with my parents – DeShawn with his grandmother. I knew nothing of gang culture or death by violent means whereas for DeShawn, this is an everyday occurrence. DeShawn has decisions to make at the age of 12 that I still don’t have to make aged 33.

This book is not an easy read. It is uncomfortable reading if you remember this is based on situations that happen for young boys in the US (and in the UK and all over the world) every day. Though if you’re not happy with feeling uncomfortable then just forget the realities of life and enjoy the story. However, if you do this, I think you may have missed the point.

I started off by saying I couldn’t stand this book. By the end I couldn’t let go of DeShawn. I wanted to go into his life and haul him out of it. I wanted to hold him, shake him and give him a way out. But for most DeShawns of this world, there is no way out. This is a gripping read for all age groups. Most importantly, get your children to read this. Teach them that gangs are dangerous. Teach them what life is like for some of their peers. Don’t let them learn the hard way.

I want to read this!!!

Shattered


Quinn Rafferty is working as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman in St. Louis when a new neighbor catches his eye. He’s tempted by her beauty—but he knows from experience that anyone desperate enough to live in his building is damaged goods. Besides, he has his own soul to mend before he can worry about anyone else.

Desperate


Sara Davis is on the run, but not for the usual reasons a woman goes on the lam. She’s not an abused wife, and she’s not a criminal. But she does have a plan for her future. And as much as she finds herself attracted to her gruff, tough neighbor, she can’t risk telling him the secrets she’s hiding. There’s just too much at stake.

Driven to desire…


But Quinn must get closer to Sara when she turns out to be the target of his new missing persons case, and he discovers that there is something more complex and dangerous to her than he thought. Now, both Quinn and Sara will have to expose their true feelings—as well as their fragile hearts—if they hope their love will survive…
EXCERPT

He opened the door—

And stopped dead in his tracks as somebody all but fell into his arms. Somebody…a woman. And not Theresa.

He caught her just above her elbows, automatically steadying her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice soft and low.

Then she lifted her face and Quinn found himself gazing into the biggest, brownest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Feeling a little dazed, he studied her face while she stammered out another apology.

Quinn barely heard it.

He was too busy staring at her mouth. A very pretty mouth, a cupid’s bow mouth slicked with deep, vibrant red. Under his hands, he could feel silken smooth skin and unable to resist, he stroked a thumb along her inner arm.

Her skin was soft, soft and warm. He was also pretty sure she had the creamiest, most flawless skin imaginable. Her shoulder-length hair was a shade caught between blonde and brown, nondescript, but for some reason, he found himself thinking about tangling his fingers in that hair and holding her head still while he kissed that red-slicked mouth.

Well, hello…

You have to go here to find out more - meet you there!