Sleeping Giants (The Future of London Book 4) by Mark Gillespie

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm quite a fan of this writer, especially the future of London books. So when I saw book 4 was out I hot-footed it to Amazon. If you click on the picture, you can too. Again a 5 star read.

Discovering this Future of London series has been one of the reading highlights of the year. This is the fourth book in the series. And I’m delighted to report that book 4 continues to be a riveting read.

We have been on quite a journey with our hero Walker. We first met him when he was a rebellious young Scottish teenager and he started to fall in with ‘the wrong crowd’. Then in Mr Apocalypse we meet him again as a shell-shocked young man, living by himself and keeping out of harm’s way. In the Ghosts of London, he is forced to venture deeper into savage London and we see a bolder, harder Walker emerge. Here in The Sleeping Giants he is actively seeking danger.

There is quite a telling scene when Walker sees himself in the mirror; he too sees the changes in him. His eyes show a hardness that can only come with seeing things no-one should see. Even his physical appearance has changed, and gone is the ginger lad from Scotland and a dark haired battle hardened man takes his place. (Are we writing the film script Mr Gillespie? I think Hollywood should consider it.)

The Sleeping Giants could stand on its own as we meet a whole host of new characters with the Sleeping Giants gang, but it would help if you’ve read the other books. There is again some good cutting humour as the Londoners are given phones to chase Pokemons, erm sorry Magic Birds and we get the social media feedback from outside of the M25. If I had one quibble it would be the length of the book, with 203 pages it was over way too soon. The book has a very open ending so I’m sure Mr Gillespie is penning the fifth instalment. Even though I’m super eager to read it, I hope it will be a sizable book.

Murder In The Bush: The Tale of William McDonald by Carmel McMurdo Audsley

I love historical fiction and non fiction. This was based on a true story but it reads like an adventure story and it should appeal to a broad readership. As it deals with murder and rape it is not for the younger reader. Five stars.
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I read the undertaker by this writer, which I loved as it was set in Scotland and the historic background was meticulously researched. Apart from that, it was a great read so I was keen to read something by this writer again. I was not disappointed. It is clear the writer has a great love for Scotland and its history, as she has set the start of this story in the very north of Scotland. William’s journey from 1885 the north of Scotland all the way to Brisbane Australian is as harrowing (the conditions on board the ship) as it is fascinating.

William McDonald the hero of our story, we are told in the foreword was a real person that was murdered in the Australian outback. Both his story and the story of his murderer are chronicled.  Knowing the ending of a book is normally a big let-down when reading a book, but in this case the story was fascinating enough to not let it spoil my reading pleasure. It was a great window into 1880’s Australia and the dangers and hardships the early pioneers experienced. William McDonald died young, but is a perfect example of one of those pioneers that made Australia the place it is today; a modern prosperous country. Recommended.

Children Of The Future Kindle by Jane Suen

This one is strictly for the younger reader. I think children over the age of 10 might lose interest as the language is very simple. I gave this 4 stars as I wanted the ending to have a bit more substance.
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This is a nice little thriller for the younger reader. I can imagine a child being glued to the pages, following school bus driver Telly and pupil Billy as they try to find out what happened to the missing children from Billy’s school. The story is told in an easy flowing clear style. Even though this is quite a tense thriller it should not give your youngster nightmares as nothing more sinister is suggested apart from that the children are missing. One of the positive messages from this book is that a small community bands together to help find their missing children. However the book ends rather abruptly and I would have liked a bit more explanation about the people that did good, but went about it in a rather alarming way.

Silence Of Scandal (Unrivalled Regency Book 1) by Jackie Williams

I'm not a huge fan of romance as it often lacks in story and plot and it can descent into erotica. This one did have a great story and an unconventional heroine at it's heart. I give it 5 stars. Well written and edited too.
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I really enjoyed this regency romance. It had an unexpected heroine in the form of Elisabeth Hardacre who not only provided an attractive love interest but an endearing and vulnerable character. Alexander despite all his troubles and the wrongs that have been done to his family is a man to be admired as he deals with that and a marriage he’s been forced into. There are many lighter moments too and I had great fun discovering what was wrong with Alexander’s bride.

There are some racy moments but it never descends too far into erotica. Even though this romance is set in the regency period some of the themes like disability and sexual orientation feel modern. They are not but until more recently they were neatly swept under the carpet and I like how the writer has worked these themes into a historical romance. With the writing also being great, this romance is a cut above some of the other romances I have read. Would love to discover more of this writer.

Larkspur, or A Necromancer's Romance (The Larkspur Series vol. 1) (Stories of Clandestina) by V. M. Jaskiernia

This was quite a good read, but at 48 pages very short. It is in the Amazon shop for 99p so reasonable for a short. This is part 1 and the writer tells me that the follow up is in the final stages and will be released soon. Below my 4 star review.
This was a good read, but I also had a self published book which I could not finish. I'm not a native English speaker so for us it is doubly important to have a good editor. This writer didn't and most of the sentences were clumsy and didn't make sense. Shame as it had an interesting story as a starting point. I did contact the writer and I can only hope he will take my criticisms to heart, because at some point down the line it will bite you with a sarcastic one star review.
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This was a very short read, but it left me intrigued as much as uncomfortable. The world of Clandestina is an unusual world where humans, Fae, and magic exists. Pierre Salvador is a Duc and a newly qualified surgeon and this is the bit that made me uncomfortable; our romantic lead dabbles in necromancy, he not only communicates with Mora/Death but actually crosses briefly to her realm to gain healing powers. Taking a human life to heal himself was a bit of a gasping moment. (But death does not always means death in Clandestina, pfew!)  This book does take you to the dark side of magic, but I’m intrigued as to how it will develop. The romance between Lizzie and Pierre is just getting started and Larkspur is just a taster of what is to come. Judging by this morsel, I don’t mind ordering the 5 course meal.