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When I read the blurb for this book, I wasn't impressed - a story about city bankers and stocktraders, set in Londons business district did little to excite me. However Andersons style of writing had me laughing pretty quickly. He is frank, funny, at times crude, and tells it how it is no holds bared. The story is a odd cocktail of drink, drugs, sex, corpoate conspiracy, illegal activites of all sorts, and strangely above all, friendship. ..read more

Another detective case by Jonathan Kellerman, ‘Evidence', finds main characters psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis investigating the murder of eco-friendly architect Desmond Backer and his unknown female partner discovered in a half-built mansion in a glamorous part of L.A.

I can't help but feel a little... Disappointed!! The storyline jumps around far too often, is messy and her investigation seems sluggish and somewhat unlikely, she brings in intriguing ideas then doesn't follow them up and in parts is formulaic or a tad 'surprising'. Nadel' characters were dull/flat or contradictory, which was irritating. I wonder how a long time fan would have felt reading this? Maybe I really do need to read the 8 previous books in the series... BUT won't be after attempting this one book! Moving on... ..read more

Another chick-lit book from a very popular writer, this time covering the decision of a couple whether or not to have children.

One could take issue with many aspects of this book - the depiction of the male characters, inconsistency regarding communication between the pair, need for an explanation of why not to have children, Natalie's research of her past (why would this help !) but this is not meant to be a serious heavy tome on the subject.

This is an easy light-hearted well written read with enough plot twists and turns to keep it entertaining. Great for holidays !

The story is set in 1889 as the great powers of Europe are scrambling for territory in Africa. The last territory is the kingdom of Matabele and Mashonaland, ruled by the benevolent tyrant King Lobengula and policed by his 20,000 warriors, Cecil John Rhodes wants the land at any price in order t0 extend the British Empire.

The Magician in the title is a bit of a mis-nomer, this is more like Denis Wheatley set in the twelfth century.

The historical facts are interesting but the remainder is a bit boring. The hero drifts through the action, occasionally prodded into berserker activity, and the other characters are very flat. While the descriptions are good, it all gets a bit lost and the division into two separate sections just doesn't work.

The writing is clear but the whole may be better suited to a young adult audience.

A competent first novel concerning one of the lost Cossack gold stories and the effect its retrieval from the Bank of England vaults could have internationally, and particularly between the Ukraine and Russia.

I found it slightly confusing, perhaps because I kept forgetting to check the dates at the beginning of each chapter, moving as it does not only between people but also between times. There is a grey inevitability hanging around, compounded by getting to know characters then discovering they have been, or will be, eliminated.

I am a real fan of Jonathan Kellerman and over the years I think I've read all of his Alex Delaware novels. For those of you like me, the history of Alex, Milo, Robin and their French bulldogs Spike (now sadly deceased) and Blanche has been a continuous thread throughout the Delaware novels - giving us an insight as to why Milo is the way he is and how Alex and Robin have got to this point in their relationship. (I'm not convinced its going to last this time round, by the way!). ..read more

When a London journalist is dispatched to Dublin to do a feature on an old and almost forgotten form literary giant, she anticipates an easy task despite the old gentleman's affirmation that his story contains "lots of sex and some violence". However once she arrives she if gradually drawn into his reminiscences and into his current life. How much can she believe, is she being manipulated, what is the true state of affairs ? At the end, when she breaks free of them all and returns to London, the reader has some clues but the adventure was in the journey not the conclusion.

If you like Mills and Boon with some Patricia Cornwall thrown in, then this is a good read for you! Don't be put off by the Prologue which tries too hard to be mysterious - once I got into the first chapter, I couldn't put Karen's book down!