BLOODSTOCK / SIMON ELLICE SERIES Blog Tour - Rod Humphris

I'm thrilled to be on the Blog Tour today for the Simon Ellice Series of books.

This review is going to cover all four books in the series. Bloodstock the latest release is out now. I'm going to start with the previous book in the series.

Description

Highly charged, action packed and intelligent, Go Fast is set in the vivid, exotic location of Morocco and is the first novel in the Simon Ellice series. On moonless nights Si runs hash from Morocco to Spain in his go-fast boat but soon discovers he's caught up in a tangle of illegal power and hidden love.

Review

I love a good action film, but when it comes to the book I've been let down by Bond and Bourne. Just couldn't get into them. Not this time though, Simon Ellice is my new hero. OK so he's technically not a good guy, as he's a drug smuggler, but I'd have him on my team any day.

We meet Simon and his beloved boat Nottambulo, which is super fast - the reference of the title of the book. I don't know anything about boats but thanks to the author's skilful story telling and the hints dropped here and there about boats, by the time I got near the end I knew exactly what he was talking about. So when the plot focussed on a manoeuvre I just knew what Simon was doing with the boat. 

I also liked that the book has strong female characters in Sam - the one woman army, and also Soumy his help. Soumy's has strengths not so obvious as those Sam displays, but nevertheless she is also a force to be reckoned with. 

Although it's a lengthy book I raced through it as I really wanted to find out how this was going to end. I also just loved reading about Simon - he's smart, self assured, takes everything in his stride and yet caring too. I've never read a book in which a criminal recovers a body so his family could bury him.

There is a lot of violence - as you might expect, but only in as far as those in the way get dispatched! What made the book for me was the way Simon second guessed his opponents moves, just genius.

Description

After what feels like a lifetime of mayhem, Simon Ellice returns to the Hampshire village where he grew up. He enjoys the solace and tranquillity of rural life, working on a farm and getting to know the lively locals, but suddenly Si walks right into a deadly mystery. Old friends are going missing and then turning up dead. Someone from the City is spreading their evil tentacles and Si dives into London's underworld to uncover a conspiracy of poisoning, murder and pagan ritual that threatens those closest to him. Written with Humphris' razor-sharp style, this is Simon Ellice's darkest and most challenging adventure yet, touching on themes of sacrifice and objectification, that threaten the very foundations of our civilised world.

Review

I got a feeling from the first book that Si reminded me of a character, and it was stronger in this book - it's Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps. They both share that innate ability to tackle anything in any situation and come out of it the other side in a reasonably intact state. Just like Buchan the writing is so atmospheric and gives a sense of action without detailing every single punch.

I loved this book just as much as the first one, but maybe because it was set in England I had an easier time picturing the places in London and the environs Si resides in this time.

Si now works (albeit loosely) for Whitehall now and so he has a few resources at his disposal that he previously didn't have, not that he's gone completely over to the other side! He still gets involved in some dealings that the shirt and tie brigade would rather he didn't. 

Young female aristos in London are developing drug habits, going missing and then turning up dead - but why? Is there a pattern to it? Si is asked to look into what's going on by an old friend who's concerned. What follows is a fantastic plot. It's hard not to give away spoilers, but I will say that when I finished it I kept thinking about it. Flashes came into my mind of "oh! that's why" and "of course, that was because of..." etc So many isolated threads coming together in my mind at last.

This is a lengthy book at 502 pages and it takes a good plot for me to invest that amount of time in a book.  Sometimes I might think that the book could be edited down, but in this instance I have to say every single page of it was worthwhile and needed.

I'm giving these books 5 out of 5 stars. 

There are two other books in the series, although they are more of a novella, each being considerably shorter than the two previous books I have reviewed.

Dead Ground  In the mountains and passes of Nuristan, British forces hunt the Taliban. Trouble is coming, that is certain. Only Lieutenant Simon Ellice, with a clarity born of grief and anger, can see what must be done. Dead Ground is a story of the impossibility of the task assigned to British soldiers in Afghanistan. A tale of the heroism, loyalty and individual responsibility in the chaos of war.

Review -  This is a prequel, we get to find out about Si's army career and is set in the Afghanistan war. It reads like a first hand real life experience with a lot of army slang for authenticity. There is a glossary at the back of the book - which I was very grateful for. Another book from this author that has a strong female character as one of the army officers. 

Starlight Jamaica. Simon Ellice goes on a cocktail charged dally in Port Antonio. He brushes shoulders with the cloudy-eyed, over-sexed and deeply tranquillised Hollywood set. They become enamoured with him, and Si thus becomes embroiled when the ostensibly ostentatious wealth entices the exuberantly poor. Opportunistic thieves Stanley and Jason rattle Si's cage and go further than he was expecting. The question is, why?

Review - This book has mentions of Soumy who we met in Go Fast. This novella reads like it's set in the 1920s and with few mentions of technology I did wonder at first if it was. Si plays more of a Columbo role in this plot, although he is also ready with his armed combat skills at the first sign of trouble.

Both of these shorter books have wonderful black and white illustrations, some taking full pages. All four books have the most beautiful covers and are a joy to hold while reading.

My thanks to the author and publisher Rat's Tales for copies of the beautiful books for review and to Random Things Tours.

AUTHOR Rod Humphris is the author of a number of acclaimed thrillers. He is the happiest and most productive when travelling about in his battered old truck with a canoe in top and a dog in the back. He currently lives in Bath. Rod Humphris is the winner of N. N. Light Best Fiction Award 2016

Tales from the Cafe: Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Description

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time . . .

From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes Tales from the Cafe, a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer.

Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's previous novel, we will be introduced to:

The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago
The son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral
The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry
The old detective who never gave his wife that gift . . .

This beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?

Review

This is a follow on from the first book Before The Coffee Gets Cold which I previously reviewed.

The premise of the book is exactly the same as the first book, but this time we get to meet new people who want to travel back in time. We also get to know more about some of the characters from the first book too.

There is someone who wants to go forward into the future this time - it's trickier as you have to know that the person has visited the cafe and know when they are going to visit in the future - you could miss them by seconds!

I did love this book but because they have to repeat the rules of the time travel it got a little monotonous and of course I could remember what they were from reading the first book. As this book is a little shorter than the last one, there are fewer words and a lot of them repeated. I guess this also serves the purpose of making it a standalone book.  Around half way through there was a story that I became more engaged with and I was hooked into the book once again.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

Plant Magic - Dr Greg J. Kenicer @thebotanics @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours

Description

An informative and entertaining look at why plants have been used in magic and what that tells us about people and plants in a post-magic world.

With chapters on subjects as diverse as Witchcraft, Curses and Blessings, Divination, the Plants of Faery, Hallucinogens, Divine Plants in the Christian and Pagan traditions and a Plant Bestiary, Greg Kenicer’s book is an erudite and informative look at how and why various plants have had a role in Europe’s supernatural and magical traditions.

Individual entries look at particular plants combining botanical analysis with historical examples and anecdote to explain exactly why each plant came to be used in this way. Considerations of dangers and actual efficacy cast light on how modern science is now re-examining the uses of many of the plants and how the evolution of the plants themselves has been influenced by our use of them.

Whether Foxglove or Mandrake, Hawthorn or Aspen, Rowan or Oak, St. John’s Wort or Bird Cherry, Plant Magic  shines a bright and fascinating new light on dozens of familiar plants.

Review

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful and there are also some lovely illustrations of plants within its pages. Although the electronic copy of the book is obviously still factual, I think you miss out on the atmosphere the hardback would provide you with. A book to be dipped in and out of when you have a moment rather to sit and read through. There are so many interesting facts and things I had never heard of.

One of the sections that interested me most was the Doctrine of Signatures which dates back to the Ancient Egyptians. This is using a plant that looked like an organ or the condition that needed treating. Nature's way of guiding you to using the correct plant!

There is also referencing to literature and myths and legends in which plants feature. If you are interested in mythology you will find many links to the Gods through the plants featured providing a good cross over of knowledge. The book sets out an explanation of how it is organised and the parameters (and disclaimer) of it's contents. It's meant as an historical look at magic, not to be used as a book of modern day charms!

My thanks to Love Book Tours for the ARC of this book for review. 

Dr. Greg J Kenicer is the author of Plant Magic.  He is also a botanist and a lecturer at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He is an expert in the evolution and diversity of peas and beans but the fantastical relationship between plants and people is where his heart really lies.

Buy Link 

rbgeshop.org

Come Again - Robert Webb

 

Description

Can you fall in love for the first time twice? A recently widowed women is about to find out when she wakes up and finds herself eighteen again in this "compelling" story of second chances (Mail On Sunday).

Kate’s husband Luke – the man she loved from the moment she met him twenty-eight years ago – died suddenly. Since then she has pushed away her friends, lost her job and everything is starting to fall apart.

One day, she wakes up in the wrong room and in the wrong body. She is eighteen again but remembers everything. This is her college room in 1992. This is the first day of Freshers' Week. And this was the day she first met Luke.

But he is not the man that she lost: he’s still a boy – the annoying nineteen-year-old English student she first met. Kate knows how he died and that he’s already ill. If they can fall in love again she might just be able to save him. She’s going to try to do everything exactly the same…

Review

I wasn't sure I was reading the right book when I began this story. It takes a while to get to the premise that is outlined in the description of the book. I stuck with it because it's a little like time travel, which I love the idea of.

When I got to the part where Kate is in 1992 I didn't really like it, something about it just didn't read right and I am not sure what. At this point in the book I actually wanted to get back to how the story had started out which was more of an espionage/IT plot.

Once we got back to the present day things at first didn't really improve, until there was a great scene as part of the espionage angle. I did really like this part as it was an unusual concept, just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.

I'm giving this book 2 out of 5 stars. My thanks to my local library and borrowbox for a copy to read.

Cows Can't Jump - Philip Bowne

I'm so pleased to be on the Blog Tour today for this book.

Description

17-year-old Billy has just left school with no A levels and he's desperate to escape middle England. As a grave-digger, he’s working the ultimate dead-end job. Billy’s home life isn’t any better. In the evenings, he observes his dysfunctional family: his Grandad’s engaged to a woman half his age, his xenophobic Dad’s become obsessed with boxing, and he suspects his deeply religious Mum is having an affair. 

All the while, celebrities are dropping like flies and Britain is waiting for the EU referendum. Everything is changing, and Billy hates it.

Meeting Eva, though, changes everything. She’s Swiss, passionate about Russian literature, Gary Numan, windfarms and chai tea, and Billy gambles everything for a chance to be with her.

When things start to go wrong, Billy’s journey across Europe involves hitch-hiking with truckers, walking with refugees, and an encounter with suicidal cows. But the further he goes, the harder it is to be sure what he’s chasing – and what he’s running from.

Review

I've really enjoyed reading this book, it certainly kept me entertained and wondering what on earth would happen next.

We meet Billy as he is wondering what to do now he's left school. His Mum finds him a job through the Church and she sends him off to the local cemetery. Where it turns out he's going to be a grave digger! It's here we learn how naïve and unworldly Billy really is and this led me to I fear for him from this point on and throughout the whole book. 

Billy gets another job and meets Eva. They have a whirlwind romance and eventually she returns home to Switzerland. As can happen with long distance relationships it's not going too well and Billy wants to join her in Switzerland. With no money and no job that's not going to be easy though.

Whilst Billy is naïve (he borrows and looses 3k!) he's very resourceful and through one means or another he scrapes enough together to set out for Switzerland. Although when he gets there the lovely Eva (not so sure she is that lovely in my eyes) has gone to Slovenia and asks him to meet her there. This is when Billy's education (and mine) really begins as he makes his way across Europe. 

It's this part of the book that had me gripped. Who was he going to meet next, what was going to become of him? It all reads so true to life, that I wonder if the author hasn't experienced at least some of these same life events. Meanwhile back at home his Grandad is engaged to a woman half his age, his Father is obsessed with boxing and his Mum is having an affair!

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. Brilliantly written with fantastic humour. I feel like I've been on a journey (in more ways than one) with Billy and it was great one too. My thanks to the author and Random Tours for a copy of the book for review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Instagram @ philipbowne Twitter @chumpybloke https://philipbowne.com/

Philip Bowne lives in London and works as a writer for The Wombles, a children’s entertainment brand.  Like his protagonist, Billy, Phil attended a failing and severely under-resourced school in Bicester, Oxfordshire. However, unlike Billy, Phil ended up studying English Literature and Creative Writing at university. While studying, Phil published short stories in literary magazines and anthologies in the UK, US, Canada and Germany. After graduating, Phil spent time in Europe and the US, working and volunteering in various roles and settings: repairing boats at Lake Como, housekeeping at a mountain lodge in California and working with charity Care4Calais in the former Calais ‘jungle’ refugee camp. Cows Can’t Jump is Phil’s debut novel, which he worked on while managing a bar in London. As well as a writer for The Wombles, Phil also works on a number of independent writing projects, including a musical set in 1970’s Soho and a sitcom set in a failing leisure centre.

So You Had to Build A Time Machine - Jason Offutt Narrated by Emily O'Brien

 

Description

Skid doesn’t believe in ghosts or time travel or any of that nonsense. A circus runaway-turned-bouncer, she believes in hard work, self-defense, and good, strong coffee. Then, one day, an annoying theoretical physicist named Dave pops into the seat next to her at her least favorite Kansas City bar and disappears into thin air when she punches him (he totally deserved it).

Now, street names are changing, Skid’s favorite muffins are swapping frosting flavors, and Dave keeps reappearing in odd places like the old Sanderson murder house.

And that’s only the start of her problems. Something in the world has gone wrong. Terribly wrong. Absolutely f--ked up.

Someone has the nastiest versions of every conceivable reality at their fingertips, and they're not afraid to smash them together. With the help of a smooth-talking haunted-house owner and a linebacker-sized Dungeons and Dragons-loving baker, Skid and Dave set out to save the world from whatever scientific experiment has sent them all dimension-hopping against their will.

Review

I love time travel novels and I am currently really into listening into audio books so this appealed to me straightaway. I did listen to a preview first just to make sure I was going to like the narrator - and I did on the short sound burst. Seven hours or so later I felt a little worn out by this fast talking Americian narrator, it can be a little harsh for UK ears.

This is certainly a different approach to time travel. Usually nothing bad really happens in a time travel novel and you wonder how people get to fit into an alternate reality - what about their clothes, money etc. Well in this time travel world sh*t really hits the fan big time. Sort of how it would really happen if you could time travel. When people appear in a different time line it fits perfectly into the ghost tours at the old Sanderson murder house - a genius plot device.

There was a lot of humour and it made me laugh out loud it was so good. As I was listening to the audio and multi tasking there were times I got a little confused about what was happening and in which time period. If I had been reading the book I would probably have referred back, but I just carried on listening and really as it was so off the wall it was easier to just go with it and eventually all became clear again.

I enjoyed this audio on the whole. I couldn't listen to a lot of it at one time. I going to give it 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the audio book to review.

The Truants - Kate Weinberg

Description

People disappear when they most want to be seen. 

Jess Walker, middle child of a middle class family, has perfected the art of vanishing in plain sight. But when she arrives at a concrete university campus under flat, grey, East Anglian skies, her world flares with colour.

Drawn into a tightly-knit group of rule breakers – led by their maverick teacher, Lorna Clay – Jess begins to experiment with a new version of herself. But the dynamic between the friends begins to darken as they share secrets, lovers and finally a tragedy. Soon Jess is thrown up against the question she fears most: what is the true cost of an extraordinary life?

'In the vein of Agatha Christie herself. Startling'
Irish Times

Review

I think I was drawn to this book because of the Agatha Christie links. A little like a Christie novel the book darted here and there and then revealed something you could never have guessed. 

I wasn't too keen on the book. It started slow with a college life I wasn't too interested in reading about, at times it felt like it was set in 1920 rather than 2020. With privileged young things at Uni and a woman who only checked her mobile phone once a day. Once the lecturer Lorna began her Agatha Christie lectures my interest piqued and I couldn't wait to get back to the book, only to find it was a short lived interest and I began to get a little bored.

Lorna is an enigmatic character and throws out red herrings and veiled clues to her students. She's very knowledgeable about Agatha Christie and that really was the parts that kept me reading. Soon things moved on from the Uni life and Lorna becomes more than a tutor to a few of her students. But can they trust her?

At about 75% through the book there is suddenly a glimpse of a Christie type plot emerging and again I was gripped. Finally I thought - I'm glad I stayed with the book. Only for this to fizzle out and a long slow ending ensued.

I think this book could have been a lot better edited, as there were some great ideas in it. The long drawn out cat and mouse antics just got boring after a while, as did reading about the bright young things and their problems.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.