cathymoore's review: "Like CSI but set in 12th century Britain, with an added dash of feminism. This was a great read, if a little gory and graphic in places. I will add Adelia to my list of favourite characters."Berkley Trade (2008), Edition: 0, Paperback, 420 pages
cathymoore's review: "This is a fast paced crime thriller, set in Brighton. The are three or four intriguing plot threads all brought together for a thrilling finale at Beachy Head. While I love the murder mystery element of the book and the detail that goes into the plotting, I'm getting a bit tired of the anti political correctness message. And I have also started to notice how all the female characters are described in terms of how good looking they are, which isn't great either."
cathymoore's review: "Jack Reacher thinks he has seen a suicide bomber on the New York subway. The choice he makes about how to act goes onto have far reaching consequences. What else can I say apart from it's a Jack Reacher book? It's a great story, well told. It doesn't aspire to be high brow literature, but it is clever and the plot is well executed. If you want a book you can plough through in a couple of days then look no further."
cathymoore's review: "Roman informer and dry wit personified, Marcus Didius Falco investigates the mystery of body parts left in the city's water supply. I found the mystery and seeking out of the criminal quite slow going. However, the character development in this one was great. We learn a lot about Falco's friend Petronius Longus and also a few snippets about Falco's nemesis Anacrites. All in all, good fun even though it's not a compulsive page turner."
cathymoore's review: "I'm sorry to say I found this desperately slow going. It took me weeks to get to within 50 pages of the end. By this point I was as desperate as the fictional detectives to get the murder solved, especially as nothing had really happened and they had no real suspect. The last 50 pages were quite good, if only the rest of the book could have been as well paced,"
cathymoore's review: "Jason Bourne book seven shows no sign of the pace slowing done, although I found the first half took a a bit of getting into. Character development in this book, particularly of Leonid Arkadin, added some real depth. Looking forward to the next one."
cathymoore's review: "A remarkably good re-telling of the story of Robin Hood from the perspective of the young Alan Dale. It's certainly not all merry men in Lincoln green, but it's exciting and well paced."
cathymoore's review: "I was warned in advance before reading this that there were some pretty unpleasant scenes. I was still shocked by the graphic violence though. And I consider myself pretty unshockable. The story itself is fairly generic, something has been dug up in the desert that indicates that world religion is built on a foundation of lies and deception and it's up to our unwitting hero, a journalist in this instance, to stop the world from finding out. If it wasn't for one or two frankly sickening scenes then I would have given this three stars for being a fairly interesting story. In honesty I only finished it out of sheer bloody mindedness."
cathymoore's review: "All action adventure in the post-Da Vinci Code genre. This is not bad at all. Chris Bronson is a likeable hero, the premise is interesting and the big reveal towards the end was breath-taking, if a touch far-fetched."
cathymoore's review: "Having read the first Isaac Bell book and really enjoyed it, but then given up on the second one having found it really boring, this was last chance saloon for this series. I really enjoyed it. It started off a bit slow but really picked up after the first hundred pages. Some suspension of disbelief is required as I am beginning to think Isaac Bell is utterly invincible! On the whole though, this was a nice easy read that didn't get too bogged down in the details and delivered plenty of punches per page."
cathymoore's review: "Invincible spy/assassin Shaw returns for more "wet work" except this time he gets more than he bargained for when if turns out another team of killers for hire has targeted the same person he has. A good easy to read thriller."
cathymoore's review: "This is a character study, set in London. Multiple characters, all very different. The story culminates at a millionaires dinner party. I found this a bit hard going in places but laugh out loud funny in others. My favourite characters were the female tube train driver, the reluctant teenage Islamic terrorist and the billionaire hedge fund manager who never laughs."
cathymoore's review: "This is a book based on the screenplay of the film starring Jennifer Lawrence. I can see how it would make for an entertaining film. However, it lacks the depth of characterisation and plot to be a good novel. If, at fewer than 200 pages, it qualifies as a novel."
cathymoore's review: "This is the fictional account of the life of a first division footballer from the 1970s. His rise to fame, adoration, adulation and subsequent demise via alcohol, extra-marital affairs and gambling could probably serve as a base template for any number of real-life footballers.
Funny yet deeply sad in places, you may not like Billy Parks very much but you still find yourself rooting for him all the same."
cathymoore's review: "I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this easy to read novel about a girl who works in a Waffle House, only to discover she has magical powers. The plot is a little thin and convoluted but what made it for me were the characters. Both the main protagonist and all the others were well rounded and well drawn. A real pleasure to read."
cathymoore's review: "This is the story of Sutter, a high school senior with a drink problem. And a taking life seriously problem. His voice is reminiscent of the catcher in the rye in places. In spite of its lack of originality, for how many times will we hear the story of boy meets geeky girl, geeky girl makes boy realise he can be a better person, this is a nice telling of the story and Sutter is an interesting, if incredibly self-absorbed, protagonist."
cathymoore's review: "Nina and Eddie search for the lost Inca city of El Dorado. On the way they blow a lot of stuff up and kill a lot of bad guys. Standard. Unusually this one has a bit of a cliff hanger ending and is also the first in the series of these funny, silly books that actually brought a tear to my eye."
cathymoore's review: "I read a lot because I enjoy it, I guess you could call it escapism. This is not escapism. This is thought provoking fiction that stays with you long after you have put it down. It took me nearly a month to get through it but boy, I'm glad I did. The ideas and themes laid down by Steinbeck still have so much relevance today and sadly, probably will continue to for years to come."
cathymoore's review: "Our intrepid detective M.Didius Falco is thrown into the murky world of the gladiator ring. There is the usually dry wit and wry commentary from our hero Falco and the ongoing character development which keeps this series fresh continues as we learn more about Falco's brother in law Quintus and his new business partner and ex arch enemy Anacrites.
As good, if not better than those previous in the series."
cathymoore's review: "Crime thriller featuring re-occurring character Roy Grace. These books are easy reads. They are becoming quite repetitive and it would be nice if some of the background characters were either fleshed out a bit or changed for new ones."
