Bad Neanderthal: All He Wants is Justice by Glen Batchelor

With some holidays and fine beach weather I got a lot of reading done. Now I just have to write up the reviews. This one was a fun read, but the humour or satire was not too subtle. I think if you liked 80's series 'The Young Ones', this one will be for you. 4 stars and currently only 99p/c.

Even though this world has Neanderthals in it, we firmly recognise it as post-Margaret Thatcher Britain. It is a not so subtle satire of that area, when the miners’ strike was brutally suppressed by police with the full support of the conservative government. This police brutality is echoed in the character of Sergeant Alf Hucker, a bad tempered, Neanderthal hating paedophile. I like the character of   Zeezee as we see his ‘growth’ from docile Neanderthal, who is incapable of lying or violence. To a lying, murdering, well almost homo-sapien in behaviour. But we remain endeared by our Zeezee as his heart is in the right place and he has the welfare and liberation of his people in mind. This book has a lot of humour in it, and most of it is not too subtle either; for example the name of sex worker and Hucker’s daughter Lovely Cox-Hucker. I enjoyed reading this and there was enough plot to make this a well balanced mix of satire and crime.

Tambula by Susan Wüthrich

This is the second book I reviewed by Susan Wüthrich. I like the fact that this writer sets her stories of love and loss in unusual settings and periods. Be it post war Britain or 1970's Africa as in this case. Her heroes are ordinary men and women just trying to make ends meet. I gave this 5 stars.

This book is set in the early seventies which had me scratching my head as I recognised some of the places but not others. Tambula is a fictional country but a reviewer kindly pointed out it would be located in what is these days known as Eswatini and before 2018 as Swaziland. Also the Capital of Mozambique is these days known as Maputo. Maybe the writer could add some info about the locations used before the first part to set the scene. It doesn’t detract however from the touching story of a young couple in 1970’s Africa. What I liked was the fact that Liz and Dek are a very ordinary couple with a young son that are just struggling to make ends meet. This sets them apart from the other expats around them that are rich and their lives revolve around the club. The story of this couple and their unravelling marriage could have been set anywhere, but setting it in Africa adds another dimension and adds a few interesting subplots that test this couple to breaking point.

Well written and kept me interested to the last page.

The Legacy of the Rhino: First Resistance by John Williamson

I see with horror that my last review was about 3 months ago. I kind of got stuck on a book that was so dreadful that I could not force myself to read on. I did not finish so I wont review it. I don't believe in leaving one or two star reviews as the writer must have put their soul into writing it.
Anyway, I had a few weeks holiday and it was beach weather, so the reviews will be coming thick and fast for a while. Here is the first, which I enjoyed and was happy to give 5 stars. Click on the picture to take you to Amazon.

This book taps nicely into the current mood and our concern for the environment. It also echo’s the radicalisation and fanaticism of certain groups in our society. Here a group called the returners have taken their concern about the environment to an extreme level and have plunged Britain back into the dark ages. In this first book of the series we learn how the village of Dockling is coping with this new world where machines are prohibited and any descent is harshly dealt with by the returners. We meet Charlie, a former bus mechanic and a gruff no-nonsense character who is not willing to give up on common sense and the greater good. His decision to build a grain mill secures their survival for the winter but also plunges the village in a heap of trouble. The villagers make a stand against the cruel Returners and the first seeds of rebellion are sown.

I liked the character of Eliza. She plays rather cruel games with the local village boys. She knows men and uses her charms as a weapon. But she is also very courageous and seems to have the greater good at heart. Greg is the young lad falling under her spell. But as he finds his own courage, she begins to see him as more than an innocent boy to be toyed with. I look forwards to finding out more about this young romance and how the village of Dockling will fare. Well written and exciting start to a series.