Whispers of the Gone
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Fifteen-year-old adventurer, Selli, is the last remaining Samúð in Haltasia – the only living...
young adult
Winter Loon
4.0
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A haunting debut novel about family and sacrifice, Winter Loon reminds us of how great a burden the...
The Book of Luce
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Anyone who enjoyed David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas or was gripped by the film Inception will love this...
House + Amongst the Reeds: Two Plays
Somalia Seaton and Chino Odimba
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Two explosive plays about the need to be seen. Somalia Seaton's House is a play about family,...
Dead Writers in Rehab
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When literary reprobate Foster James wakes up in a strange country house, he assumes he's been...
The Gatekeeper on the Docks
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Nigel isn’t finding his work particularly fulfilling these days. Being a Gatekeeper to the dead...
Scrublands
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Winner of the 2019 CWA Dagger New Blood Award for Best First Crime Novel In an isolated country...
Merissa (11622 KP) rated Venus Trap (Hidden Portals Trilogy #1) in Books
Apr 13, 2019
Artemis is a Fae, Raphael is a vampire. We also meet with other Fae, Humans, Witches, Vampires, and Demons are mentioned. So right there, we have different species, all with their own history and thoughts, and pitted against each other. Who is telling the truth? Who will fight with who?
We find out more about Artemis' history as the story progresses, and the reasons she has for feeling the way she does. Raphael has distanced himself from the rest of his race, partly due to his friend, Claude, otherwise known as the mad king.
With intrigue, steam, action, wit, and a strong, sassy female paired with a strong, opinionated male, this book has something for everyone. There were no editing or grammatical errors I noticed, and I thoroughly enjoyed every word.
With an epic finishing line, this will definitely leave you wanting more. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Truth Seekers - Season 1 in TV
Nov 8, 2020
The series follows Gus Roberts (Nick Frost), the top installation engineer for network provider Smyle. He lives with his dad (Malcolm McDowell) and investigates paranormal activities in his spare time, running his own YouTube channel as ‘The Truth Seeker’. His boss Dave (Simon Pegg) pairs Gus with a new employee Elton John (Samson Kayo), and Truth Seekers follows the pair as they increasingly encounter paranormal and mysterious entities as they go about their daily work, including a haunted young woman called Astrid (Emma D’Arcy).
Truth Seekers starts off as a case by episode series, with a new spooky encounter every time (think Supernatural but very British) and then mid-way works into a bigger overall plot involving Julian Barratt’s Dr Peter Toynbee that seems to tie all the earlier elements together. As a supernatural horror show, this works really well. It doesn’t rely on typical jump scares, and instead uses well known horror situations to be as creepy as possible. Admittedly this is a tad cliched – think of all the known supernatural experiences you’d expect to see (psychiatric hospitals, hotels, demons and satanic books to name a few) and you’ll definitely find them here. However this doesn’t matter as they’re done well and in such a smart, creepy and very British way. Even the special effects are impressive for something that looks like it should be fairly low budget.
Whilst this is made out to be a horror comedy, it’s the comedy side that appears to be a little lacking. Don’t get me wrong, this has its’s funny and witty moments and seems to relish all of the pop culture references it throws in at every opportunity, however it doesn’t seem quite as edgy and quick witted as Frost and Pegg’s previous collaborations. Frost delivers his usual deadpan style well and is ably supported by Samson Kayo’s Elton as his rather adorable and unwitting partner. The standout though is unsurprisingly Malcolm McDowell as Gus’ dad Richard. Right from the first episode McDowell shines and is an absolute riot. Every scene he’s in gives rise to so many laughs and in particular there’s one scene featuring him going upstairs on a stair lift so slowly that nearly had me crying with laughter. But despite this the humour is maybe a little lacking from what we’d expect. I also felt like some of the pop culture references were a little forced and unnatural, which is a shame as there were also a lot that worked quite well – nods to Aliens and The Shawshank Redemption were particularly appreciated.
Truth Seekers may be lacking a little in humour, but what is there is adeptly delivered by a rather stellar cast. Pegg takes a backseat as boss Dave with an atrocious hairpiece and there are some small roles for Kelly MacDonald, Susie Wokoma and Julian Barratt, but everyone puts in a great performance no matter the screen time. McDowell undoubtedly steals the show, but the main trio of Frost, Kayo and D’Arcy carry the show well between them.
What surprised me the most about Truth Seekers is how short it was. A mere eight episodes running at 30 minutes each doesn’t seem like enough – by the end of the eighth episode I was shocked to see there wasn’t any more, although the final scenes do at least set this up for a second series that will hopefully come to fruition. I was a little concerned about the main plot involving Toynbee as it did get a little convoluted towards the end, and the final scenes do nothing but add to this and hint at a much bigger story going on. This could end up being rather good, but it could also turn what is by and large a very enjoyable British supernatural series into something rather crazy and confused. Only series two will tell.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Girl in the Ice (Erika Foster book 1) in Books
Mar 5, 2023
Book
The Girl in the Ice ( Detective Erica Foster # 1)
By Robert Bryndza
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Her eyes are wide open. Her lips parted as if to speak. Her dead body frozen in the ice…She is not the only one.
When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation.
The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London.
What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding?
As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika.
The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong… resulting in the death of her husband. With her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. But will she get to him before he strikes again?
I really enjoyed this! I was still guessing right up till the end it was fast paced and a really good read! I think Erica Foster is a character that has to grow on you but she did about half way through! Looking forward to reading more from this author.