Last Light - Andy McNab

Ok, where do I start... Probably with the fact that it took me ages to read this book. And I really do mean ages! I started it back in October and I only finished reading it at the beginning of Feb. Shocking behaviour I know but I can't be held entirely responsible...

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Last Light I think is probably McNab's poorest effort in the series so far. I just couldn't get into it at all. It just seemed to drag on forever... and ever.... and ever... Probably not helped by the fact that it took me so long to get through which probably made it seem worse. For me there was just far too much description of things that as reader I really didn't give a monkeys about. Normally McNab's descriptions of the why, what and where are really interesting and help move the story along and give you insider knowledge as to all the goings-on. But this time around it just annoyed me. There seemed to be far too much of it and not enough raw action and the main point as to the story was a bit lost on me since I was getting a bit bored of wading through all the descriptive text. It may be that the format was beginning to get bit old also. It seemed to be the same as all the past books.

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However, you still do have to feel a bit sorry for Nick Stone. At the beginning of this story he is really down and out... proper style. He has nothing... which I admit did seem a bit odd since in Firewall the Russian Mafia Boss had given him the deeds to over a million pounds worth of property... so what happened to all that lot I have no idea. Maybe Stone spent it all on Kelly's treatment but he never mentions it which is strange. Therefore he takes a job he doesn't want to do in order to get the money he needs for Kelly's therapy. Needless to say, in an attack of conscience it goes all wrong and thus he has to head off to Panama to finish the job... and this is where the story begins to flag I'm afraid. For me anyway. I'm sure there are loads of other out there who loved it :).

But anyway, it hasn't put me off reading more of McNab's work... at the moment I'm half way through Liberation Day which has been pretty good so far... but from the other reviews I've read I get the impression something really really bad is going to happen a the end... eek!

Never Look Back - Lesley Pearse

I think I’ve been going through one of my book “lulls” of late since I haven’t managed to read anything since October. It happens. Next, I’ll probably go into one of my “read to the exclusion off everything else” phases. Anyway, I went to Los Angeles in January and it’s amazing what a 10+ hour flight each way can do in re-introducing the greatness of reading, lol.

I finished this book in Jan whilst I was away but just hadn’t got around to writing about it yet. It’s a pretty hefty book so I did well to read it within 10 days I reckon. The story focuses on the life of Matilda “Matty” Jennings and her epic journey as she leaves England to begin a new life in the States in the 1800’s (very appropriate for my trip then!), firstly in New York and then travelling across the country on a wagon train – alone and… pregnant! Not a good position for a woman to be in in those times of course.

The story is great. Poor old Matty has a great head on her shoulders and successfully turns her hand to anything she needs to in order to survive. But life never seems to run smoothly for her and you can’t help but hope as you turn the pages that surely she’s got to catch a break soon…? But alas, life is never that kind. She is a lovely character; kind, sensitive, wiley and canny, loved by everyone (except the bad guys) and although life gives her all the things she needs materialistically speaking, you sense there is always an emotional need that is never fulfilled for her. She spends most of her life trying to make lives better for those less fortunate and again, she does a great job. I think she dies happy. I guess I am an old romantic though and I really wanted her to get the guy and live happily every after. I know I might be giving a little away here so I do apologise, but to be honest when you read the story you know deep down that she’s not ever going to get the fairy-tale ending. But then, would our Matty have been any happier with that than the life she led otherwise…? Probably not :)

It’s a fab book; Lesley has done us proud again! I've released this book into the wild via http://www.bookcrossing.com/ and it's BCID is: 675-5135918. Enjoy it.

Till We Meet Again - Lesley Pearse

It looks like I might be back on the reading wagon again, having read this book in under a week :) But then again, it could just be that it has Lesley Pearse an the author - and Lesley never lets me down with a good story.

Till We Meet Again doesn't disappoint at all. It's possibly not quite as hard-hittingly graphic as some of her others have been but this doesn't make her plotting and and story-telling any worse or better. It continues to be great. Pearse still writes a fantastically good story and once again makes the reader question things that maybe we take for granted.

The story opens immediately with a double murder. Susan Wright walks into a doctors surgery and kills the two people seemingly in cold blood. She then gives herself up, wishing to be punished for the crimes she has committed. In a cruel twist of fate her childhood friend Beth Powell is randomly appointed as her solicitor. And thus begins the unraveling of the past lives of these two characters and the events which lead them to this point in their lives. How circumstances and actions affect each other and how two seemingly very different women can have so much similarity at their core.

Once again, Pearse handles what are quite difficult subjects in a forthright but sensitive manner, always taking the time to explain clearly the motives which justify the actions of her characters. Her sensitive handling of Beth's traumatic past but without shying away from details enables the reader to really feel for Beth and to want to understand her more deeply. Similarly the way she leads the reader to develop their own sympathies for Susan's restrictive and manipulated childhood enables us to care so much about the characters and to want justice for them. It is fairly obvious to me why Lesley Pearse is one of our best-selling authors :) An engaging story-line and well thought out characters who you can't help but care deeply about.

I've released this book into the wild via www.bookcrossing.com and its BCID is 112-5135927 - enjoy!

Mr Commitment - Mike Gayle

Oh dear... my book reading time (or lack there of) has been shameful lately. Other things have just gotten in the way... and nothing particularly constructive either so I don't even have a proper excuse... bad Charlie :)

Anyway, I have finally read another book. But it's nothing to write home about really. It is one of those easy going, timid, everything-works-out-okay-in-the-end books of no substance that could probably even be given away free with a copy of Glamour magazine. Sorry to sound harsh. These types of books are great for an easy read on the beach or on a plane but they are just so full of nothing. No nitty-gritty with characters that mean something or have depth.

As these types of books go it was ok but you'll probably have heard the punchlines a billion times before. General storyline as follows: Boy loves girl, girl loves boy, girl wants to get married, boy scared of commitment, boy and girl have fight, boy and girl split up, boy pines after girl, boy realises boy can commit to girl, girl discovers she is pregnant, boy and girl get back together, boy and girl get married and live happily ever after, amen. Mike Gayle probably wrote it in his lunch hour :)

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling

I can't remember how long I've waited for this final book to come out... which I know is very sad for a 27 year old to admit! I totally wasn't into these books when they first came out figuring that they were just kids books really. But then the Book People came round at work and I bought a box set of the first four just so I could see what all the fuss was about... and I've been hooked ever since!
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It took me over month to read this final installment, just because I wanted to make it last as long as possible (much to the annoyance of my mates who couldn't talk about it in front of me until I finished it - sorry guys!). After all the hype and anticipation of the final book I was slightly worried that it wouldn't live up to expectations and that there would be questions left unanswered. Which way was Rowling going to take the ending? Does Voldemort get defeated? Can Snape still be trusted? Is Dumbledore really dead? Will Ron and Hermione get it on? And most importantly.... will Harry survive the end?
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I won't go into too many details regarding the actual story as I'm sure there are still some peeps out there who haven't read it and I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises. But surffice to say, it was totally worth the wait. Rowling has done an excellent job in finalising the story for us all and in a way which was both sympathetic and heroic. All the questions that I had were answered and there were no loose ends at the end of the book to worry about. It's just fantastic.
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My only criticism (and it's only a little one) is that the final chapter was a little too short for my liking. I wanted to know more about what happened immediately after the battle and in the days following. But to honest Rowling has probably got it spot on. If she had of gone into these details the book would have been twice as long no doubt. And in any case, leaving us to fill in the blanks with our own imagination helps to highlight the sense of daze, relief and dream-like quality the characters must have felt after things work out the way they do (no hints from me here!). It's kind of sad that it's all over. But at least I know I have seven books sitting on my shelf knowing that they will always be there should I want to re-read the whole story again. Which, I am sure, will happen several hundred times between now and the day I die, lol. Enjoy x

Close - Martina Cole

Man O man. I did not enjoy this book at all! A friend lent it to me and she only got half way through it before giving up because it didn't seem to be going anywhere. And boy was she right. I am one of those people who will persevere because I hate to give up on a book. Some of the best books are those where you don't have a clue where it's going and then right at the end with a flash of golden light, all becomes clear. Unfortunately Close is nothing like that which was disappointing since it meant a delay in starting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by a day to finish it (shock horror!).
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Anyway, Close as we have come to expect from Cole is gangster related and follows the Brodie family through their rise to, then fall from, and eventual rise back to power and control over London's gangster scene. And that's pretty much it. The beginning opens with Lily Brodie (the matriarch) lying on her death bed and we discover that one of her sons Patrick has killed his brother Lance. The rest of the story describes their life and how Lance is considered strange and bad from the day he was born and therefore his mothers love was held from him and he was taken in hand by his evil grandmother Annie. Call me mad but surely a mother openly withholding love from her son is going to make him feel unwanted and therefore turn wild? But what do I know. Anyway, the story culminates when we vaguely find out why Patrick kills Lance (other than that he's rubbish at helping to run the businesses) but here Cole merely hints at what he's done and leaves the reader to work it out for themselves. From what I can gather, what Lance did is pretty shocking by all accounts but I would have preferred something like that to be spelt out for me because now I am worrying if I have just got a dirty warped mind! And I don't like books that make me feel like that!
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So, sorry Martina. I loved Dangerous Lady and can't wait to read Maura's Game, but this one was a big let down for me I'm afraid.

Firewall - Andy McNab

I finally finished this book last Saturday. This wasn't the fault of the book though. I go through phases where I read and read to the exclusion of everything else. However, this phase ended just after I started the book so that's why it took me so long. I've read it before anyway and may also have had a bit of McNab overload so that probably contributed to my slow reading!
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Anyway, like McNab's other books Firewall is pretty good. The storyline is full of thrills and punch-ups and poor old Nick never seems to catch a break. If you ever had a bad day at work - trust me when I say he has had worse!
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This book follows Nick in his desperation to get some major finance together for Kelly's hospital treatment after she succums to post-traumatic stress disorder (read Remote Control for reasons why). Low on funds and with a wreck of a house for Kelly's home Nick will do anything - even for ROC (Russian Organised Crime). As always McNab seems to have his pulse on what is going on in the world and Firewall is about preventing commercial espionage by unsavory organisations who can not be allowed to have access to any governemnts secrets. Why Nick chooses to believe the Russians of all people is beyond me....! But I like I say, I guess he really needs the cash.
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The story follows Nick as he is seduced by the millions he is set to earn by stealing the Echelon program from an unsuspecting group of hackers and hand it over to the Russians. For this he needs his old mate Tom to crack the firewall and steal the program. Convincing Tom to do it is a challenge in itself. The two fly to Finland where the first attempt to steal the program goes completely wrong when another group intent on the same mission turn up and results in Tom's kidnap. The usual fight scenes ensue but all the while with McNab's descriptions bringing them to life so you feel the punches hit you with the same force as they do the characters. Nick goes on the hunt for Tom on Russian instructions to now destroy both the Echelon program and Tom. This takes him to Estonia where, with the help of his new buddy 'Eight' he gathers what he needs to blow the place sky-high and claim the cash. It is here during these descriptive parts when Nick is pulling together what he needs to get the job done that NcNab's field experience shines through. The way he explains it is dead easy to grasp and you can totally visualise what Nick is up to and his thought processes. More fight scenes and a brilliantly executed explosion later, Tom and Nick must navigate through devastaing weather conditions as they escape the compound to evade capture. Cold, hungry and tired and without any survival equipment they set off into the freezing cold.
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However, as always with Nick Stone's life, nothing is ever that simple...