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Milleen (47 KP) rated You Me Everything in Books

Nov 14, 2018 (Updated Nov 14, 2018)

Anyone who needs a dose of warm sunshine will enjoy this novel set over a long hot summer in the French countryside. Jess and her ten-year-old son William set off to spend a summer in a chateau restored by Adam, his father and Jess' ex-partner. Jess wants William and Adam to form a closer bond and finds herself impressed with Adam's successful hotel venture. Friends arrive and the summer rolls on, secrets and stories unfold. This novel emerges you in the lavender scented warmth of France, the dynamics of family, old friends and new acquaintances and heart wrenching decisions. Isaac' scharacters are believable and pull you into their world. This could be equally appreciated on a sun-lounger or curled up by the fire.

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David McK (3600 KP) rated Micro in Books

Jan 30, 2019

Finished by Richard Preston, this is the novel that Michael Crichton was working on at the time of his death in 2008.

I have to say that, of late, I have actually been disappointed by most of Crichton's more recent novels, with the possible exception of Prey. Unfortunately, I was also pretty disappointed by this: I felt that I was never really engaged with any of the characters, so their plight never really had any impact on me - without giving too much away, and in a pretty superficial sense, I think this novel could be pretty much described as The Borrowers, set in nature.

For me, Jurassic Park (by far) still remains Crichton's seminal work.

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David McK (3600 KP) rated Blackout (Cal Leandros, #6) in Books

Jan 30, 2019

At the beginning of this novel, Cal Leandros wakes up on a deserted beach, surrounded by the carcasses of giant spiders, with no memory of who he is, how he got there, or where the spiders have come from. In other words, the novel goes down the good old amnesia route.

While, perhaps, this would have been a good opportunity for Rob Thurman to hit the 'reset' button on the world she's created, I have to say that I found this book to be a bit of a wasted opportunity - concentrating (in my opinion) far far too much on the brotherly bond between Cal and Niko (who, initialyy, he can't even remember) and nowhere near enough on the monsters or action scenes!

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David McK (3600 KP) rated Sword of Kings in Books

Oct 27, 2019

Sword of Kings

Bernard Cornwell | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

8.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

The latest (at the time of writing) in Bernard Cornwell's series of books about the making of England, and we're now a lifetime on from Alfred (the Great's) death, with Alfred himself being a key player in those earlier books.

However, Uhtred is still tied to Alfred's family by various oaths he has made over the years, with one such oath causing him to leave his (reclaimed) homeland of Northumbria, and in particular Bebbanburg, and travel south in an attempt to fulfil that oath.

With large portions of this novel set mainly in and around London (or Lundene), this felt to me somewhat like a bridging novel, setting up the future status quo and laying seeds from what is still to come (the unification of England)

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Gisell Middleton (189 KP) rated The Nearest Exit in Books

Jan 25, 2020

I enjoyed this novel much more than its predecessor for many reasons, not the least of which is the different narrator chosen for the audiobook. I wholeheartedly believe this narrator made the plot seems more interesting, the characters more vivid and the pace of the novel better than the previous one. The recurring characters, along with the multitude of new ones, really fleshed out the story which takes off running after the events of The Tourist and, although background is always recommended, works nicely as a stand-alone. The fact that this narrator was different from the first made me give this one a try; that the next has the same narrator as this makes me want to continue the series.