Book Review: Copper by Ceri Bladen

Copper is an interesting story set in 1950s Wales, centering its story around Ria (Victoria) and Morgan. Ria's family isn't exactly the wealthiesy family, but Morgan was born into the stuff, so it fits that from a financial point of view, marrying him would be a very good move, and certain to please Ria's father.

Whilst not exactly a love triangle, the author has weaved in another character - John, who may derail the future Morgan has mapped out for himself. Ria is all he wants, and he s not backwards in coming forwards when it comes to telling her so.

I have to admit that in the first half of the book, I found Ria to be annoying, often indecisive, and capable of turning on the spin of a coin. I felt Morgan's exasperation with her (at times, not always) and wondered why a man of his position would chase her the way he does.

As the story progresses, Ria's character grows, with the negative sides to her diminishing as she finds she really does care about Morgan. That said, she holds a candle for John too, but perhaps not in the way Morgan would appreciate. 

Then, a critical event happens that could split a happy future apart. This was actually the best written part of the book, along with the intriguing explanation of the story title (which could have many interpretations). 

Ultimately, Copper is a pleasing and very well written historical romance. The references to Wales are very well placed, and as the reader you can feel carried along with the story. It is a light, enjoyable read, solidly written and with a satisfying end.

This is the third book I have completed reading by this author, and I think if you give her a try, the author Ceri Bladen will soon be amongst your favourites!

Book Review: Resistance (The Institute, #2) by Kayla Howarth

Resistance is the long awaited follow-up to The Institute. Oh - hang on, didn't I read The Institute just a few weeks ago?

Luckily for us readers, this second installment was released recently, and the third installment is on its way.

Can I start with a small caveat first?

Having set everything up beautifully in The Institute, I expected Book Two to start with a bang. I have to admit to finding both books a little on the slow side at the start.

But often the best part of your food is in the middle, am I right? And it's not long before Resistance is hitting the heady heights of its predecessor.

I think our MC is much more engaging in this follow-up. She's ballsy without being an overtly annoying kick-ass heroine. If she was...she would be just another Katniss cut-out.

Fortunately, we are saved from any repetitive girl on fire by someone who is not actually on fire, but is at boiling point all the same.

Now part of the 'inside', Allira continues her resistance against the state but with echoes of not really knowing who to trust.

There are some fascinating scenes in the book - Brookfield's interrogation of her was genuinely chilling and it seems that as the book progressed, we were being led up to one big bang, then another, then another.

Resistance is brilliant once it gets going. Perhaps the slowish-start is my view only, and not anyone else's. This is fine, as the storytelling is pure quality and yes..the dialogue is far better too.

There was one real humdinger of a scene in the book, and it happens about two thirds in. It's so good, that even if you predicted it, just watch it unfold and excite you as Allira and everyone around her must deal with its consequences.

Put simply, this is shaping up to be the best dystopian trilogy I have read in a while...since, ooh, I don't know....The Hunger Games.

Praise indeed, but praise deserved.

Now stop what you are doing and get a hold of this series.

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Book Review: Jordan's Brains (A Zombie Evolution) by J Cornell Michel

Jordan's Brains has been on my read list for too long, far too long, but like most things we apply patience to, they turn out to be well worth the wait. I hadn't read a zombie tale in about a year, and the trend seemed to be all very samey. Fortunately, the author has stayed away from the old zombie cliches, whilst giving us some rip roaring funny moments, that quite honestly, I never expected.

J Cornell Michel has a real talent for surprise. There are many twists and turns in this story, and like I have said (without giving anything away which would spoil it) this is a fun zombie read with a heart - one which may be handed to you.

It's also rather scary in parts, with 'Resident Evil' type jumps thrown in aplenty. That doesn't mean we really get used to them - the author weaves quite a bit of suspense into the tale and again, if you can see it coming, you're better than me.

Whilst the story itself is good - and the sheer number of reviews on here have covered that already in depth, for me, the real star was the dialogue. It was funny on many occasions, always interesting, and always going somewhere.

"Do you remember anything about being a zombie?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it."

You could take that as funny, or poignant, but the book is choc-full of dialogue like this.

"If somebody wants cigarettes during the zombie apocalypse, then I should be the one to help."

With more zombie action than you can possibly take a spade to, I recommend you give this book a try. I loved it. In fact, I would go as far as to say it is the best zombie-themed book I have ever read. Pop culture references that seem so forced in some other books I have read are brilliantly placed in this one. I saw Night of the Living Dead on tv - that was enough to scare me. I can't imagine seeing it on a big screen cinema!

I'm off to find a blue t-shirt with 'This is What A Zombie Looks Like". Then I think I'll re-read this book. In short, if anyone recommends this book or indeed this author to you, get it and read it quick. I absolutely loved it.

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Book Review: Persona by Ceri Bladen

Synopsis: (from the Author): Actor, Daniel Spittle is confident, arrogant and a womaniser… Well, that is what the public see. Only family and Eric, his friend, are allowed to see past this public persona. 

Journalist, Ella Hender is confident and slightly aloof… A professional mask that she uses to hide her feelings of inadequacy. With her personal life in a mess, she struggles with her growing feelings for Daniel. 

When they are forced together through work, the attraction is instant, but fraught with complications. But, there is someone else who is hiding their real personality behind a persona. And this person has the ability to destroy….

Review:  Persona could be viewed as a light read for a Sunday afternoon, and in many ways, it's easy to see why. The story centres around Daniel, who is a model, an actor, a celebrity - and the object of many a woman's affections. Not all of these affections are well meaning, and as the story develops, some of these ladies mean to hurt Daniel and the one he really cares for, namely Ella.

The story bounces around gently for the first few chapters. If you don't stick with it, you'll miss a surprising and very welcome change about a third into the book, where things take a rather sinister and nasty turn. You kind of expect one person to upset the nice future Daniel and Ella appear to have for themselves, only for something completely unexpected to happen.

From there until the end, the story turns from light romance to a rather taut and smart thriller. The kind of I would have seen Ashley Judd in one of the roles.

Persona is made great because of a key thing - the STORY. The characters in the early stages didn't add quite enough to it for me, but as the story grew, my interest in one character - Eric - grew too - for me, he was the best in the entire story.

The amount of newspaper column inches, magazines, not to mention the internet coverage of certain 'celebs' is a bore for me. Daniel is a 'celeb' of sorts and the rather slippery yet exotic Scarlett does add a lot of weight to this tale. In the end, Persona is worth reading because the author has once again shown her talent for holding the reader's attention. It's arguably better than her other notable work - Isca. But having read both, I suggest you do too.

Highly enjoyable, and definitely recommended.

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Cover Reveal: The Ghost of Normandy Road (Haunted Minds Book One)

Synopsis:

Three Legends. One True Horror.

An old house stands on Normandy Road, uncared for and uninhabited for years, until one day, believing an urban legend that no-one dares to live there, a young boy decides to cross its threshold.

Yet the house is far from empty - within its walls, a terrible evil has been disturbed. 

It will take one brave soul three of the longest nights of his life to unlock its secrets, but will he live to tell the tale?

***

Although told as a work of fiction, this tale really is based on a true story.

Wait. True story, you say?

Yes. Well. Sort of. You see, there really is a Normandy Road, and there is a red-brick house that stands on its own there too. When I was a kid, it was a bit run down, so I could go into the house, even though I wasn't supposed to. The house certainly had something eerie about it. I only wish I could have shown you what it looked like back then. It has since been done up. It looks like this now.

On the upstairs landing, there was a room and I dared to enter it. There was a wardrobe in one of the rooms, and one of the double doors was ajar. I didn't look into it, the first time I went inside, but I was braver the second time.

What was inside? A bloody corpse. A skeleton. The carcasses of a family piled on top of each other.

No. Nothing so dramatic as that. But there was something odd. The wardrobe had lots of clothes in them - and the period...you'll have to forgive me, but it was a long time ago and I really have think hard to work out the details. The wardrobe had clothes in it. That's all - but they were maybe from the 1950s and 1960s, and when you think I first went into the place in the early to mid 1980s...that means the house was probably empty for all that time.

I never had the 'GET OUT' moment that happens in 'Amityville' but there definitely was a presence there. But there's no more to the story....except that I believe I saw the ghost of a girl in the window. My imagination has always been vivid...but not that good! 

So yes, I would say the place was definitely haunted. I wonder do the current inhabitants know?  

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Book Review: Oxford Marmalade by Lesley Hayes

Synopsis: From the author - Oxford: A place where liaisons are made and hearts are broken. There's Dinah and her second husband Piers, happily married for 15 years, or are they? Then there's Dinah's son Kit, involved with Poppy, whose husband only realizes he loves her when it's too late...

Review: After reading a number of longish stories, it was nice to get back to a short story style, and in the case of Oxford Marmalade, we have several short stories to sample on.

From the cover, it's virtually impossible to tell what is contained within its pages, but from page one, we can understand the author's extremely creative approach to writing. The beauty of this book is that it's possible to read one story, feel you have completed something and understood it, before going about your usual routine. 

However, in many cases the stories are linked through the characters and it is here that I think Oxford Marmalade elevates itself from a potential nice and okay set of stories, to something far greater.

There are eight tales in all, good value for a short collection of stories, and predictably opens up with the title story. Focussing on a rather strange marriage (not that there are many normal marriages!) where husband and wife have grown apart after fifteen years together, instead of strengthening the bond that living together, winning and losing battles together, looking out for each other, should duly involve.

Piers is a man with certain standards, likes things 'just so' and his wife Dinah needs to go along with it. Not that Piers is a control freak - he just appears like someone best not to mess with his order of the universe.

He seems the polar opposite of Dinah's first husband, an American she was with for seven glorious and wild years. Seven wild years that produced one son, called Kit.

The marriage with oh-so-British Piers seems to have become a bit too sedate for Dinah. He would begin by saying things like (paraphrased) 'pass the marmalade, old thing...'

Truly, I can see where Dinah's coming from. I may be older than some people, but certainly younger than others. Once Piers refers to his wife like this, he's saying 'Oh, you're comfortable for me...I can say things like this to you and they really are terms of endearment. You're not really an old thing. Now pass me my super special marmalade.'

How about drowning Saville Row suit-wearing Piers in the stuff?

His snobbish ways are the opposite of Kit's slow drawled father. Perhaps Dinah was missing him, and we are perhaps all guilty on occasion of thinking of our former loves, no matter how well our current relationship is going.

Dinah's problem with Piers, if it could be confined to just one, was that he was a throwback to another time, perhaps one that exists in his mind only.  He would be pleasant without being exciting, promoting a facade of decency rather than being true to himself.

That said, I could understand Piers' revulsion when Dinah would speak with ex-husband Hubbard. It seemed that time - or the predictable marriage in which she now found herself had tempered her feelings somewhat. During phone conversations, the Dinah that Piers expected her to be was rather different with her ex.

The battle that became a war of two losers, ultimately became resolved by time and other factors. Could I see Piers and Dinah - post THIS marriage, acting in this way? I'm not sure I could.

There's all sorts of fascinating angles at play here. Normally, marriage stories would be a no-no for me. Coronation Street, EastEnders and so on are a permanent non-fixture in my home, because there is only so many times you can recycle a story. You know where it's going before it has ended. There is no surprise, no wonder, one dimensional characters that you basically would not care to have living anywhere near you.

Kit is a reminder of what Dinah once had, and Piers naturally has a rocky relationship with him because of it. 

Through later stories, we understand Kit's seething hatred for Piers, but 'good old chap' Piers doesn't bite the bait, even in one of my favourite scenes in the entire book. 

So why should you read this book? Well, Oxford Marmalade is a collection of stories that are cleverly written, often with a prose that made me feel a lot more educated as a result. Sometimes I read books and feel like I have lost brain cells in the battle to care about the characters the author created to light up the page.

Oxford Marmalade has an impressive cast of characters that all have their own motivations. The reveals are something you will see coming, or you won't. That's the author's power - Miss Hayes gives you a set of believable circumstances  (especially in the collection's second tale, Under the Circumstances), that makes you believe everything is Piers-like...in other words, just so.

It's hard for me to categorise this book. Suffice to say, this is a different, engaging, brilliantly written tale (or tales, but you will see the link between them all) of people at different stages of their lives. Different stages, wants, desires, ambitions, and needs.

Some of the lines, depending on where you are in your life, really do hit home with amazing clarity. It's so great when an author can do this, but as I said, her ability is obvious from page one.

"You don't like Americans on principle....you've never forgiven them because one got to screw my mother before you, and turned her into a package deal that included me."

"The beast with two backs." (I've kept that very short...if you know what it means, great...if not, you really do need to read this collection!).

"He turned from prince to frog and croaked his slimy way back through the forest into the bloodied heart of the dying sunset."

Poetic, written with authority, and always engaging, Oxford Marmalade should not just be on your to-read list, it should be on your to-read-TODAY- list.

Enjoy.

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Book Review: Darkly Wood by Max Power

"The Wicked Witch of the West was the bad one." Heather Donahue

"Then we should go West." Michael Williams.

- The Blair Witch Project, 1999

Having been on my read list since February, through creating works of my own I have read a number of books in that time. Darkly Wood, by author Max Power, has affected me more than most, and even though I have finished it today, I think I will be thinking about this book for a long, long time.

Darkly Wood has a run time of almost 400 pages, and each page contains magic, mystery, and a dark compelling tale that, like the film I quoted at the top of this review, has no gratuitous scenes and just a few violent segments that are purely in context.

When I was a young kid, I read stories by Ruth Manning-Sanders. She collected many stories, often from the Baltic European states, placing them in book collections like Ghost and Goblins, Witches and Wizards, and so on. Each story was compelling, different, and utterly unforgettable. I still have those books, and many more by Ruth Manning-Sanders, more than 30 years on.

Having completed the book, I scanned through some of the other reviews, and mentions are made to Edgar Allan Poe, and I can understand the comparison.

When the heroine of the story, the plucky and able Daisy May first happens across a book by J S Toner, The Tales of Darkly Wood, and she begins to read the stories contained within, every segment focusses on a single character, and over the next few pages, we are introduced to the character's story, motivations, and back story. Then, as they typically do, their life literally unravels before our eyes. Then the chapter has ended, and we are back with Daisy, who, against her better judgement, seems unable to stay from visiting the Darkly Wood of the title.

I recently read 'Forsaken', a clever story within a story about a writer, and a witch that he would have appeared to have created, now inexplicably able to attack his family in the real world. I never thought, on reading Darkly Wood, that this clever story within a story ultimately brings us, along with Daisy May, to the awful terror that resides within Darkly Wood.

We've all heard those tales. And it was never so expertly summed up than by one uncredited man in The Blair Witch Project when he said "Damn fool kids'll never listen."

Only Daisy May doesn't seek confrontation with the beast. But in line with the boy she cares about, there seems to be only one way to unravel its dark secrets - and enter the cursed place.

The author is from Ireland and the Emerald Isle is famous for its scary places. Indeed, the best horror writers are from Ireland in my view - Bram Stoker, and Sheridan le Fanu to name but two.

In Darkly Wood, each chapter creates a dream like state that really makes you think. I really don't know how the author has created this work - it is a hugely ambitious tale that is woven absolutely superbly.

I was utterly engrossed in the tale, but had to leave it after a few chapters to try and absorb them. On their own, each could have been expanded into a story on their own.

The characters, once introduced, are not ones you will forget. The names are clever - unusual - but very clever, and I could not disagree more with one review that said this story used flowery language. I have read many books that were heading for a strong three or four star rating (or better) only to spoil it with pretentious fluffy words that just killed what could have been a great story.

This story has NONE of that. It's perhaps too clever for anyone who wants blood and guts, endless sex scenes, and a story without a soul. What a soul this book has!

This story is without peer for me. I loved it, absolutely loved it. 

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