2016 roundup: kindle

Time for the Kindle part of my 2016 roundup

I won't list absolutely everything i read on kindle in 2016 as we'd be here all bloody day so I’ve picked a few.

1: Strip Jack by Ian Rankin

The fourth book in the Rebus series and my first, I’ve already reviewed it so I won't go into any detail about the plot. Rebus turns 30 this year so congratulations to Ian for that.

 http://bookebloke.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/book-review-strip-jack-by-ian-rankin.html

Verdict : Good

2: The Defence By Steve Cavanagh

Thriller that follows burnt out lawyer and ex con man Eddie Flynn as he tries to save his daughter form crazed kidnappers.

http://bookebloke.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/book-review-defence-by-steve-cavanagh.html

 Verdict; Good

The Killing Season by Mason Cross

The first in the Carter Blake series by Mason Cross features Blake and FBI agent Elaine Banner on a cross country man hunt to find a deranged serial killer .

You can find my review of the book here http://bookebloke.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/book-review-killing-season-by-mason.html

Verdict: Cracker

3. Small Wars by Lee Child

A   Jack Reacher short story about a young lieutenant colonel shot in cold blood in the woods in Georgia. Small wars takes place back when Reacher was still in the army and features old favourites like Frances Neagley and Reacher's brother Joe .Who *spoiler alert* is the one who shot the young woman in the woods (she was selling secrets) . It's decent enough as a short story, it would have been too much of a stretch to turn this into a full length novel, even for a genius like Lee Child. But it's wrapped up nice and neatly and doesn’t leave anything overhanging.

Verdict: Good

4. Clarkson's Troubles: From Biplane to Spaceship

By Martin T Hart

Some of you may know that I'm a Clarkson defender and i know that he's not everyone's cup of tea. This is a very interesting chronological account of the ups and downs of Clarkson’s career. Well researched and very funny – and it’s filled with stuff I didn’t already know about him. It also includes the stunts he actually got away with - but probably shouldn’t and also the truth about his mood before punch-gate , which when you read about it , it makes the whole thing more understandable.

 Verdict : good

5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

This one might be controversial but I absolutely HATED this. I have never enjoyed Shakespeare but I must admit that I enjoyed reading the whole thing slightly more than just extracts and I think it helped me understand the story a bit more. So basically I’ve gone from loathing Billy Bard to just hating him. Well, it's a start.

Verdict : Average

 6. Dance with the Enemy by Rob Sinclair

The first in the Carl Logan series (bonus points for the choice of first name).  Dance with the Enemy follows Logan as he goes on the hunt for one of the world's most wanted terrorists Youssef Selim the man that kidnapped, tortured and left him for dead.

Verdict: Cracker

7.

My Interesting Emails to People

By Daniel Drummond Harvey

Yep. Someone managed to get their email inbox published as a book. I've seen it all now. To be fair though some of these emails are quite interesting and funny, the one he sent to President Flatulence is particularly worth reading. He didn’t get a reply though.

8.

Strange Affair by Peter Robinson

   The 15th novel in the rather addictive DCI Banks series, I've already reviewed it so I’ll stick a link in below. The TV adaptation is also worth watching.

http://bookebloke.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/book-review-strange-affair-by-peter.html

Book Review : The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

Just before christmas a mate lent me the entire series of cherub books , they're the same sort of thing as the Young Bond and  Alex Rider books but that's no bad thing because those series are both brilliant.

Plot :
A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place. The terrorist doesn't know that one of these kids has bugged every room in her house, made copies of all her computer files and stolen her address book. The kid works for CHERUB.
CHERUB agents are aged between ten and seventeen. They live in the real world, slipping under adult radar and getting information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail.
For official purposes, these children do not exist.


The recruit starts with James Choke , who following beating up a girl in his class and being thrown out of school also ahs to cope with the death of his mother . He ends up in a sort of care home where he is befreinded by Kyle who unkown to James is working as a sort of talent scout for CHERUB - an organisation that hires and trains young kids to act as spies and gather information in places where adult agents would stick out like Jack Reacher in a room full of midgets .

We follow James through basic training at chereb as well as a trip to Malaysia and then it's on to the first mission where James paired up with older agent Amy must pretend to be traveller kids in order to stop a chemical attack on an oil industry conference .

Will they manage it ? Well you'll have to read the book to find out .

The Recruit is a bit slow to start with but then that does give you time to get to know James and the other characters  before turning up the wick on the action before the end . 

Verdict : Good.

2016 Roundup : Audiobooks

First of all : Happy New Year .

I promised a round up of what i read in 2016, starting with Audiobooks.
I'm not doing this in any  particular order and i'll split the books into four catagouries: Poor,Average,Good , Cracker .

First up:

A Necessary End by Peter Robinson 

The third DCI Banks novel and I honestly think it's my least favourite , the storyline itself was okay but I felt it was slightly let down by average narration.

Verdict : Average . 

As You Do By Richard Hammond 

Richard Hammond narrates the second part of his autobiography As You Do , the sequel to the brilliant On The Edge , which remains the best autobiography i've ever read . This one isn't quite as good but it's still a good listen ,with wry, honest , interesting and sometimes VERY funny stories about his life and what goes on behind the scenes on Top Gear . 

Verdict: Good

The Man In The White Suit by Ben Collins

Yep. The Stig wrote a book. But Stiggy is only a small part of Ben's story and the book details his career from karting all the way to the 24 hour Le mans race via Top Gear and training for the SAS. Like Hammond's book it's honest , interesting and extremely funny .

Verdict : Good

In A Dry Season By Peter Robinson 

The book that Peter Robinson regards as his best work and i'm inclined to agree , the plot , the writing the narration are all just about perfect. 

Verdict: Cracker.

Goldfinger By Ian Fleming
If you don't know the plot of Goldfinger either the book or the movie (they're remarkably close) then where the bloody hell have you been?

Confession time: I've never read Goldfinger, i've seen the movie christ knows how many times but the book had eluded me , so when the audiobook came up on audible I decided to give it a whirl . It's narrated by Hugh Bonneville who does a brilliant job of bringiing all the characters to life and it made gym sessions much less tedious.

Verdict : Cracker


The House Of Silk By Anthony Horrowitz

My first Sherlock Holmes novel , narrated by the brilliant Sir Derek Jackobi  , like Hugh Bonneville with goldfinger he really brought the charcters and the storyline to life.

Verdict :Cracker

Octopussy And The Living Daylights And Other Stories by Ian Fleming

Tom Hiddleston and Lucy Fleming narrate this collection of Fleming's short stories . The stories themselves i would rate as good but the narration by Hiddleston and Fleming is second to none .

Verdict : Cracker