'Master and Commander'
6.0
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This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between...
Maritime Adventure
Vampire Mine (Love at Stake, #10)
8.0
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“Sparks skillfully infuses her writing with a deliciously sharp wit….Wickedly fun.” ...
David McK (3791 KP) rated Tides of Fire (Sigma Force #17) in Books
May 18, 2025
This time around, the members of Sigma Force - who I would probably best describe as scientists with guns - are in a race against time to understand, and stop, a chain of dormant volcanoes erupting off the coast of Australia: tsunami's, earthquakes, tidal waves, the lot ...
And it's all to do with something buried deep underwater ...
Enjoyable enough if, for me, not the best entry in the series.
Definite cliff-hanger for the next, though!
Merissa (14003 KP) created a post
Sep 23, 2025
Behind the Bastards
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There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only...
One to Die For (Les Petites Morts)
7.5
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formerly "Here's Blood In Your Eye" PARANORMAL EROTIC SHORT STORY (28 pages/8000 words) - Fame,...
Erotica Short Story Paranormal Romance
Yet I was aware he had also written a couple of other, more contemporaneous set, novels and mainly concerned with sailing.
I had never read any of those until recently (they held little appeal), when I came across Sea Lord on offer on Kindle, and decided to pick it up. I did feel it was not as good as his more 'usual' sort of novel; not as good as the Sharpe books or those of The Last Kingdom, for example.
So I wasn't really on the look out for any more of his so-called 'sailing thrillers'.
Having said that, when I came across this one - which I have since learnt was the first of his sailing thriller novels - also on sale, I never-the-less thought I would give this style of work another chance.
As before, I found that - while an enjoyable enough read - this does NOT live up to the standards set by the likes of the aforementioned Sharpe or Uhtred novels.
This is set in the I-assume-then-present 1980s, and follows Falklands hero Nick Sandman who, as the novel starts, is in hospital after having his spine shattered by a bullet. Whilst there, he makes himself a promise that, once better, he will sail his beloved boat Sycorax to the other side of the world, but finds that this will be easier said than done once he discharges himself from the hospital and finds that his ex-wife has sold his berth to TV personality Tony Bannister and left the boat to rot, who - in exchange for his help in refitting Sycorax - want Sandman to help navigate his own boat Wildtrack to victory in an ocean race. The rest of the novel then deals with the fallout from this devils bargain, especially as Bannister has powerful enemies of his own ...
So, yeah, enjoyable enough but not Cornwell's best.
Rhys (240 KP) rated The Outsider in Books
Jun 30, 2018 (Updated Jul 7, 2018)
Part three introduces Holly, a character from the Finders Keepers books (that I have not read at this time) and continues for most of the book. This part is heavily inspired by several vampire novels and series including ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Strain’ but keeps a distinct Stephen King feeling.
(Part four is epilogue, which ties up loose ends and ensures that the characters who survive, as well as some who do not, have a happy ending.)
Previous King novels can feel forced, or full of ‘fluff’ that exists only to pad out the time between gruesome murders and intense horror. In this novel, every piece of dialogue has a purpose, whether to build on a character’s.... character... or to make the world seem more real, ground the supernatural in reality.
Despite what is said on the ‘bad’ section, this novel works well as a stand alone. Holly, the character that connects this to previous works, is written as though it will be a reader’s first encounter with her. She is built up from scratch and goes through development at the same rate as the other characters (her previous appearances are described enough that a reader will know the gist, but do not give away anything from the ‘Mr. Mercedes’ trilogy other than that Bill Hodges at some point dies.)
(For context, I am not a regular reader of King’s novels, having tried ‘It’ and ‘Insomnia’ but quickly loosing interest in both.)
Why not full marks? Around half way through the novel there is a scene that simply does not fit in with the rest of the story. The character that will eventually become King’s equivalent of Renfield from ‘Dracula’ meets the Outsider in the bathroom, with said character appropriately terrified. Why is this such an odd scene? Throughout the tense conversation (in which the Outsider’s powers are shown in full) Jack is suffering from an upset stomach (and King seems strangely obsessed with describing.) Horrible, yes, but horror it is not.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to a fan of Stephen King or to someone who wants to get into his writing.
The Looking Glass House: A Fascinating Victorian-Set Novel Featuring the Inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Children's Classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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Oxford, 1862. Poor, plain Mary Prickett takes up her post as governess to the daughters of the Dean...