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Tag Archives: 8 Stars
The Passage
Before she became the Girl from Nowhere-the One Who Walked In, the First and Last and Only, who lived a thousand years-she was just a little girl in Iowa, named Amy.
Usually in my reviews I tend to start off with a quick plot summary. But any sort of recap would risk spoiling aspects of the story, so I’ll instead start off with an introduction. The Passage begins with the story of Amy Harper Bellafonte. Harper because her mother’s favourite book was To Kill a Mockingbird. Amy’s mother is a waitress, her father a businessman who drifted through, left and, some time later returned. To the detriment of all. In the end Amy is left at a convent with a nun. And the next chapter tells us, through a series of emails, about an expedition to discover how to end death.
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, dystopias, end of the world, immortality, medical experiments, The Passage, US author, vampires
6 Comments
Inception
Hmmm, how to review a film where you really don’t want to talk about the plot because you might give stuff away… First off all I guess I say, don’t try and find out about this film before you go … Continue reading
Do butlers burgle banks?
Charlie Yost, the Chicago gunman, called on Horace Appleby one morning in June as he chatted with Basher Evans before going off to the Wellingford races.
Horace Appleby is a criminal, specialising in “inside jobs”, his modus operandi is to secure the position of butler in a respectably well-off establishment and then arrange the details whereby his companions carry out the actual burglary. But he is not too happy with the American, Mr. Yost, and Yost’s blatant disregard for Appleby’s most important rule, never carry a gun. So he refuses to pay Yost his cut, as you can imagine, Yost is not too happy about this. Not wanting to overly provoke a man who carries a gun Appleby things that maybe a job down the country might be just the thing.
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, bank heist, boy meets girl, British author, crime, Do butlers burgle banks?, enjoyable, humour, quick read, US author
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Unseen academicals
It was midnight in Ankh-Morpork’s Royal Museum.
In the back streets of Ankh-Morpork football is king. And those “Faces” in the shove, or crowd, are just as important as the players. After all, no one really ever sees the game itself, apart from the odd and fleeting glimpse. And in the shove Trev Likely is a name people know, he is Dave Likely’s son after all, Dave Likely the man who scored four goals! and ended up kicked to death in a game. Trev has promised his mum he won’t ever play the game. But now Vetinari is taking an interest. Football has always been frowned on, but now it is being updated and modernised. And wizards of the Unseen University are taking centre stage. Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, Discworld, Football, humour, Orcs, prejudice, Unseen University, wizards
8 Comments
The Strain
A plane lands at JFK airport and almost instantly it descends into darkness. Air traffic control get no response. It stopped dead on the runway. There are no lights, no engine noises, and no sounds. Response units break in and find a dead body. Instantly people’s thoughts turn to terrorism; is this some sort of gas attack? Or a biological agent?
Abraham Setrakian, the owner of a small downtown pawnshop is one of the few who knows the truth about the horror to come.
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, creepy, Mexican author, The Strain, The strain trilogy, US author, vampires, virus
5 Comments
The trumpet of the swan
Author: E. B. White ; Ills. Edward Frascino
Sam Beaver is eleven years old when out exploring a Canadian swamp he comes across a bird’s nest, a Trumpeter Swan’s nest to be specific, and in it are 5 eggs. Sam is delighted; he loves nature and keeps a careful watch being careful not to upset the swans. He even saves the nest from a fox attack. And when the eggs hatch he is even more entranced by the cygnets. But one of them has a problem, Louis has been born without a voice, and so Sam decides to help him out. He takes him to school and helps him learn to read and write, now he can communicate through a slate & chalk. Then his father gets him a trumpet and Louis learns to play it, so he can win the love of Serena. Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, animal POV, coming of age, Edward Fracino, nostalgia, swans, The trumpet of the swan, US author
4 Comments
Rupture
by Simon Lelic
I wasn’t there. I didn’t see it. Me and Banks were down by the ponds, pissing about with this Sainsbury’s trolley we found on the common.
This is the story of a school shooting. A teacher walks into assembly and kills three people. Two students and a teacher. Lucia May is the police officer who is supposed to “wrap up” the investigation and file it under psycho teacher, terrible tragedy, nothing anyone could have done. But instead she finds herself returning again and again to the school, and trying to figure out why it happened. How this mild-mannered history teacher could have had so much violence in him. Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, A thousand cuts, breakdown, British author, bullying, multiple narrators, murder, Rupture, school shooting
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Victory of eagles
Author: Naomi Novik
Temeraire series #5
I hesitated before starting this book, wondering if I should reread the others in the series, it has been a while after all. But I have so many books waiting to be read that I decided to jump straight in and hope that it would all come back to me. And it did, almost the second I started reading the first page the whole world of Temeraire came back to me and I remember just how enjoyable these books are.
For those of you who have never read any of these books the first thing you need to know is that they are set in Napoleonic Europe, England. And have dragons. It is like Sharp meets Pern. Only better.
Burn me deadly
Author Alex Bledsoe
An Eddie LaCrosse novel #2
This book takes place around a year, maybe more I can’t recall, after the first one, The sword-edged blonde and since then Eddie and Liz have become a couple. Apart from that nothing much has changed for Eddie. He is still a sword-jockey for hire, and returning one night from a job he almost runs over a blonde woman who is about to mess up his life.
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, 813.6, Eddie LaCrosse, feminism, fun read, murder, sword and sourcery
6 Comments
The sword-edged blonde
Author: Alex Bledsoe
An Eddie LaCrosse novel #1
Eddie LaCrosse is a sword jockey, or private detectives in this fantasy world. He is also a man with a past. And that past is coming back to haunt him. I really loved parts of this book Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged 8 Stars, Eddie LaCrosse, feminism, first person narrator, fun read, The Sword-edged blonde
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