My GoodReads Review for Shakespeare's Cuthbert by Patrick Barrett - damn funny book

Shakespeare's Cuthbert by Patrick Barrett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This type of book is not my normal fare, not being YA, fantasy, or paranormal, but, I have to say, I loved it.

Set in 'the valley', Shakespeare's Cuthbert follows the life of farmer and local undertaker, Cuthbert; he's not 'real valley folk', he's a bit dim and a true accidental hero, and he is really fun to read.

The book is quite long and densely packed with chortles and asides (a la Terry Pratchet, only not at the bottom of the page) - be warned, until you get used to this, you may get a little lost as the story delves into an anecdote without warning, but it's normally worth the delve.

All the valley characters are as engaging as they are odd from Geraldine the somewhat cracked archaeologist to Percy 'the gardener', who seems to have a lot of strings to his rather bent bow. And close to my heart are the twins, they have no non-collective names, they are the valley mafia and ruthless, plus they like large bangs :).

At times this book made me smile, at others snigger and at others laugh so hard I had people coming in to see what I was laughing about. The best bits are the jokes that creep up on you and take you by surprise - all I will finish with is to say 'ninja sheep'. :D

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My GoodReads Review of BloodSucker Bay by Rachel M D'aigle - I wanted more plot

Bloodsucker Bay by Rachel M. D'aigle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I like the idea of this book more than the execution. I like the characters, I like the story, but it needs some editing and more writing to make me love it.

This feels more like the start of a story, rather than giving me a satisfying conclusion. I understand it is part of a series, but this just doesn't feel like a whole story to be published alone, but the first section in a longer work. And, even then, I think it needs some rewriting to expand the characters, take out the overwritten explanations and provide more show don't tell.

I think the author had certain scenes clearly in mind, but not all of the ideas get onto the page, which means the pace is far too quick for my taste. Any suspense is left between stories, not in this actual story, which, since it is being presented as a standalone work, left me dissatisfied. Everything is in question-answer pairs and the only answer to be given in this story comes far too quickly, even episodes of TV shows usually take longer to get to the point.

So, I gave this book a three star review for the ideas, but I'd have liked more plot.

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My GoodReads Review of The Woman In Black by Susan Hill - spooky, spooky!

The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this story: I have seen it adapted for TV and for stage and finally decided to read it.

It reads like a classic Victorian ghost story, full of description and reserved emotion, which give an eerie charm that I find some modern horror novels lack. I am truly a fan of the spooky side of horror, things that make my spine tingle, not that make me feel sick, and this book is a perfect fit for spook lovers.

Having said that, the beginning is a little long-winded as we are introduced to Arthur Kipps as an older man, looking back on his youth. I did find my eyes skipping large sections of description at this point, since it did not seem relevant to the plot at all, long descriptions of his current house, how he got his current house, all could have been done in a few lines - at times I am in favour of tell, don't show when the show would not be relevant to the plot.

However, after the slow start, Crythin Gifford looms into sight and the plot is afoot. Anyone who has read my reviews before knows that quite a few are me reading a book after having seen it on TV and I do like the contrast between media. The book has a slower pace to either of the other media I have experienced, an indulgence allowed because the book is first person POV and we are given a view on Arthur's thoughts and feelings. It is a little ponderous in places due to this, but the atmosphere that Susan Hill conjures makes up for this slow down. The drama from the book is very much in Arthur's head and his wavering emotions and determination are beautifully believable.

Every encounter with the woman in black made me nervous and I got a real sense of Arthur's isolation at these times. The only part that was truly shocking to me was the end, which is different in all three media, and, in the book, left me reeling. I won't say what happens, but it is shocking and abrupt.

Anyway, brilliant book.

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My GoodReads Review of Stalking Shadows by S A Hunter

Stalking Shadows by S.A. Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, this is a first for me, a sequel that is better than the original.

This book felt much more confidently written, the pace was better, the plot developed more dramatically, no sudden gear changes that didn't feel quite right (that is not to say there are no sudden gear changes, but they worked as dramatic devices) and the plot did not rely on High School clichés nearly as much. There were some interesting developments on the loose ends from the first book too, character development I wasn't expecting.

This plot was more original than the first and had me wondering as I was reading what was going to happen. It raised suspicions, then hinted in other directions, very good feints to keep the reader interested. The characters came into their own, rounding out from the originals in book one, Scary Mary, and settling into what I thought were much more real people.

I love Mary: she is prickly and speaks her mind a little too often, but you can see the defensiveness that comes from, but she can also apologise. Rachel is also a fun character: the plucky sidekick, but with a bit more depth than that I am glad to say. Cy and Kyle were a surprise in this story, I won't say why. The only character I wasn't sure of was Gran, she was acting at extremes and I didn't quite get her justification for the way she was pushing Mary, but maybe that was just me.

All in all, a very good read. This is exactly what it says on the tin, a romping good paranormal YA. Don't expect deep sub-plots, or daring challenges to the status quo, that's not this book's aim, just a nice quick, distracting read. I eagerly await number 3.

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My Goodreads Review of Scary Mary by S.A. Hunter

Scary Mary by S.A. Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I didn't expect to finish this all in one day, but it was a really good book. Mary is a great character, typical 'individual' teenager from YA, but the interesting bit is that she hears ghosts. Cool start for me, because I love a good ghost story and the whole clairaudient thang is well handled in the prose.

It's a high school story, with evil cheerleaders and jocks as expected, but something about Mary and her friend, Rachel, kept me reading and I am all for a good cliche if it is written well, and these are.

The pace is slightly off for me at the end, it goes from a few bubbles to full-on boil in a heartbeat and the action at the end made me wonder how it all got covered up, but it was such a fun read that I'll forgive it the Poltergeist-like chaos at the end.

S.A. Hunter, good writer, left a few 'romantic' loose ends for the sequel, which actually I am tempted to go buy!

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My GoodReads Review for Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, I spent an extra 15 mins this morning finishing this off, because you can't interrupt a good Christie denouement!

I haven't read that many Christies, I pick one up every so often and make my way through it. And of the ones I have read, this comes near the top. It has good pace, economical description, giving us enough to understand the characters, but it does not dwell too long on anything - Ms Christie makes every word count.

I love her colourful characters, the Otterbournes, Cordelia, even Jacqueline de Belfour herself - the background characters have just enough to them to stop short of being caricatures and Agatha has a soft spot for the young women, because they have more depth than all the others.

I've seen several adaptations of this book on TV, one which was fairly faithful and another that was missing characters. I have to say, though, apart from the denouement, which doesn't actually happen in one go the book, I prefer the book, but I think the TV improved on the drama, if not the realism of the thing with an all in one accusation fest - let's face it, with Christie, no-one is looking for realism!

All in all, a good mystery (if I hadn't known already what had happened, I would not have got there the same time Poirot did, it is a fairly devious plot) and it is an easy read. It would make an excellent airport/flight book, easily finished during a transatlantic flight by any moderate reader (I'm not hugely fast).

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My GoodRead's Review of Salem's Lot

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, this is an up and down sort of book. I didn't think I was going to like it at first: King's observational style is cynical, cold and the whole first part takes a long while to get going. I don't give many writers 100 pages to get their story started. However, I persisted with King and at times I was greatly rewarded. His skill with description is second to none, a long as it is horror and suspense he's describing. He had me on the edge of my seat at times. However, at others, he had me wondering if I should bother finishing the book. That's why my review is 4 not 5 stars. Sometimes, I felt the story lacked pace/momentum, mainly in the bits between the horror. For example, one of my status reports, which was towards the end, when everything was galloping towards the climax, wondered if I'd read the best of the story, because I hit a lull. I've seen both TV adaptations on the story and I'd actually forgotten that the point I was at was a false climax, however, I got the feeling with hindsight, that King, when he wrote that bit had that idea too much in his mind. The tension should have been as great as it was in the real climax, but it just wasn't, and I can't blame knowing what was coming for that feeling.

This book goes out to observe the horrors of small town life as well as the horrors of vampires, and it does manage both, but I would have liked slightly less of the cynical observations on small-town America. King is clearly very well read, a scholar, and he has a keen eye for observation, but if he's going to observe ordinary life as well as horror, then, for me, he needs to be less severe. I think I would have cared more for the town and what was happening if that were so.

Still, I couldn't put it down at the end there, I had to finish it, sitting on my exercise bike way after the half-hour program had finished, just so I could get to the end. It was funny, after all the dawdling on the way there, the epilogue I found rather throwaway, a bit too fast paced, but, hey, it was a good read, when I ignored my doubt and pushed through the slow bits.

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