Showing posts with label futuristic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label futuristic. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 November 2017

The Troubleshooter: New Haven Blues by Bard Constantine

I'm a sucker for a freebie and I'm so glad to have picked this one up when it was free. I'm a big fan of the film noir like the Maltese falcon and books by Raymond Chandler who wrote the Big Sleep amongst others. This writer has managed to capture that spirit, but has set it in a post apocalyptic world. The dialogue is sharp and very funny. I couldn't put this book down and it gets a deserved 5 star. I think you will see a few more Bard Constantine books coming past this blog.



I loved this book. The writer himself described it as a mix between Blade runner and Bogart and it is a pretty good description. Imagine Sam Spade being bundled in a time-machine but wakes up in a futuristic world called New Haven. He misses some of his memories and now goes by the name of Mick Trubble, but his instincts are as sharp as ever.  The dialogue and vocabulary oozes 1940 film noir and is sharp and witty. The plot was a real surprise to me (The item Mick has to retrieve had me giggling) and bit by bit we discover who Mick Trubble is and the secrets behind new haven. The action keeps coming at a furious pace but is interspersed with a good deal of humour and plot twists. This was a really entertaining read. There is a list at the back of New Haven speak, but I didn’t need it to know what the writer was on about. So listen up you cats, put on your Bogarts, get into your Wheelers and head over to Amazon. Take it from this broad who knows a thing or two about books.

Monday 24 April 2017

Mr Apocalypse (Future of London Book 2) by Mark Gillespie

This is the follow up to a book I reviewed a few weeks back; L-2011. It received 5 stars from me and is one of my favourite books of 2017. That is until I read the follow up; Mr Apocalypse which I liked even more. I do like that the writer has set the book 9 years after the first book ended and Mack Walker's world has completely changed. However, outside of London things are pretty much as cynical as before. I give this 5 stars.
Mr Apocalypse (Future of London Book2) on Amazon.co.uk

It’s not often I enjoy a book that much that I immediately buy the follow up. L-2011 (Future of London Book 1) was one such book, so Mr Apocalypse had a lot to live up to. Book 1 was set in an alternative past this book is set nine years on in 2020. It is a future which will probably not happen, and that is not the point. This is a sharply written satire mocking the present. Social media and our insatiable lust for reality TV are all mocked. But at the core is a really well written story and a very likeable character in Mack Walker; our Scottish (anti)hero from the first book. Did Mr Apocalypse live up to the first book? I think it certainly does. Darker and at time quite gruesome, this is as good a dystopian adventure as it is a satire. I even liked it better than the first. (Mind you, put a cat in a story and you’re half way on the road to getting my vote!) Recommended.

 


Thursday 19 May 2016

Nano Man by Dean C Moore

This was a well crafted book, but just not my genre. I'm not big on violent futuristic comic style books. One reviewer mentioned the film Sin City, which I hated for its style and violence, but if you loved said film; this will be the book for you. I gave it four stars as it was well written and I can imagine a fan of the genre loving it.
Nano Man by Dean C Moore on Amazon

Nano man is set in a cut-throat world where big business has taken over from the government. Ruthless companies will do anything to thwart the competition. Jane Macelvey is a bio chemist, struggling to keep her research secret. Then Mike comes into her life and he claims he wants to protect her. She injects him with her serum of Nano bots and Mike becomes something neither of them could have predicted. As the corporate foot soldiers close in on them, bodies start to pile up. Mike and Jane are now on everyone’s radar.
I did like the character of Mike, he is part hot blooded male, part robot. Even as the Nano-bots play havoc with his system, he can’t fail to wise crack. The banter between him and Jane provide a lot of the humour. This is an overblown futuristic comic book tale of greed and technology, but it is also a satire on our current times. I think fans of comic books and sci-fi will like this, especially if you don’t mind graphic violence. I understand this is part of the genre, but I found the at times sadistic violence somewhat hard to digest. But if you don’t mind a gang of red necks being flattened by their own truck, this is the book for you. Well written, original and action packed.