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Desperation Road
Desperation Road
Michael Farris Smith | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Read my review here: https://bookbumzuky.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/review-desperation-road-by-michael-farris-smith/

<b><i>Now they loved different lives, different from what any of them probably imagined. How could you imagine the complexities of what might come?</b></i>

One night, eleven years ago, Russell did something stupid, made a terrible mistake - he drank and drove and ended up killing someone. Now he’s done his time in prison and he just wants to settle down into a normal life. On the same day as Russell’s release, troubled Maben, and her daughter, are trudging through the grass along the interstate. That night they end up in a motel with no money left and Maben decides there’s something she’s got to do to get them some cash. The night ends, instead, with a dead deputy and Maben pulling her daughter off running. The next day, Russell and Maben cross paths and Russell has to decide if it's his life, or theirs, that he’s going to save.

This is a story about revenge, redemption and acceptance. Quite a different novel to what I’m used to but I do like to step outside my comfort zone every once in awhile. I ended up really enjoying this book, even though, as the title suggests, it’s a little bit dark and depressing at times.

What I loved the most about this book was how realistic it was. There are millions of mystery thrillers out there, that I read on the daily, that are based around “normal” people;s lives but we know, could never be real. This story, on the other hand, is perfectly plausible to imagine in a bit of a down-and-out town. With inherently flawed but morally conscious people and others who are driven to madness and evil by their deep rooted emotions, this is the kind of novel that can really hit home.

Russell, although flawed in many ways, is one of the most likeable characters I’ve ever come across. He means no harm to anyone and does everything out of the good of his heart.

My only issue with this novel was the ending, that I felt could have been grown upon. It felt a bit dead-ended and cut off, but other than that, this was a beautiful story.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
  
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I was really drawn to this book from the blurb and was grateful to Legend Press via the Legend 100 Club for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this a really difficult book to review because on the one hand, the story was captivating and interesting despite it being about some pretty despicable crimes (infanticide, child and domestic abuse, stalking and violence) but on the other, the writing style made it really, really hard to read which spoiled it for me in a big way. There are a lot of characters and the story jumps around a bit; I normally don’t mind this if there’s a thread which connects them all but in this novel, there were different threads that crossed but weren’t necessarily linked so this made it difficult for me to keep track. I also have an issue with the main character, Natalie King. Again, she’s difficult to critique. On the one hand she’s a very strong, independent woman but on the other, I found her to be extremely unlikeable and I wasn’t able to warm to her at all.

Having said all that, it’s very clear that the author knows her stuff and despite the difficulties I had in reading this particular book, I would be tempted to read another written by her.

My blog: <a href="https://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/medeas-curse-by-anne-buist.html">Reading Stuff 'n' Things</a>
  
Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World
Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World
Clara Parkes | 2017 | Biography
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I normally don’t reading books like this nor have I read the author’s book The Yarn Whisperers, so I wasn’t surprised that this wasn’t to my taste. I requested it because I am a knitter, but unfortunately, this story had less to do about knitting and more about travel. The writing is simple enough, having the conversationalist tone of a blog writer trying to entice a reader; and I enjoyed her easy style. It did take me a while to power through it, however, as I found I didn’t particularly care about the subjects the author chose to write about. The most interesting part of the book, to me, was the opening where she describes her mom’s car being on fire. I didn’t know any of the people the author name dropped so I felt their significance in the story was lost on me.

I really wanted to like this book although I feel I should have known better. I learned my lesson, I guess. Also, my copy randomly had images of A’s in giant gray boxes periodically throughout the book. I am not sure what they were supposed to be but they were distracting. I imagine they were supposed to be images that just didn’t translate in my digital copy. If that’s the case, I am deeply sorry I wasn’t able to see them.
  
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Death of a Nurse (Hamish Macbeth, #31)
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
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Poor Hamish. He’s still as unlucky at love as he ever was. After spying an attractive nurse, Gloria, while out making rounds on his beat, he arranges to meet her for dinner. He’s stood up, and only finds out several days later that the nurse has been murdered.

Gloria’s employer, Mr. Harrison, soon has a new nurse, and it doesn’t take long before there is another body, and another murder for Hamish and his new constable Charlie to investigate. Instead of having to deal with Inspector Blair as usual, Hamish is at first pleased to find the case being handled by Inspector Fiona Hemming, but it becomes all too apparent that her interest is as much in Charlie as it is in solving the case, and she has little use for Hamish. The killer is no match for Hamish’s intuition and power of deduction, however. Luckily for Inspector Daviot Hamish is only interested in seeing justice served and getting back to his quiet highland existence, so he has no qualms about once again letting his superiors take credit for solving the case.

All of the usual suspects make an appearance, Dick and Anka, Elspeth, and of course Priscilla. This book was so typically Hamish, and I loved it. Fans of the series should really enjoy this one, but the mystery would work as a standalone as well.

NOTE: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
  
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