Tag Archives: Book review

Review: ‘Pendle Fire’, by Paul Southern

Paul Southern - Pendle Fire_cover_high res.jpg

Published By: Bloodhound Books

Publication Date: 4th January 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781912604098

Format: Kindle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Social worker Johnny Malkin is battling a crippling workload and a hostile local community. That’s on a good day: things are about to get a whole lot worse.

Two fourteen-year-old girls are found wandering Aitken Wood on the slopes of Pendle Hill, claiming to have been raped by a gang of men. With no female social workers available, Johnny is assigned to their case. But what, at first, looks like yet another incident of child exploitation takes a sinister turn when the girls start speaking of a forthcoming apocalypse.

When Johnny interviews one of the girls, Jenna Dunham, her story starts to unravel. His investigation draws him into a tight-knit village community in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where whispers of witchcraft and child abuse go back to the Middle Ages.

One name recurs: The Hobbledy Man. Is he responsible for the outbreaks of violence sweeping across the country?

Is he more than just myth?

www.paulsouthern.org

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Bonus Review #1: ‘Bad Girls from History: Wicked or Misunderstood?’, by Dee Gordon

Bad Girls from HistoryPublished By: Pen & Sword History 

Published: 3rd October 2017

ISBN: 9781473862821

Format: Paperback

Price: £12.99

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

You wont be familiar with every one of the huge array of women featured in these pages, but all, familiar or not, leave unanswered questions behind them. The range is extensive, as was the research, with its insight into the lives and minds of women in different centuries, different countries, with diverse cultures and backgrounds, from the poverty stricken to royalty. Mistresses, murderers, smugglers, pirates, prostitutes and fanatics with hearts and souls that feature every shade of black (and grey!). From Cleopatra to Ruth Ellis, from Boudicca to Bonnie Parker, from Lady Caroline Lamb to Moll Cutpurse, from Jezebel to Ava Gardner.

Less familiar names include Mary Jeffries, the Victorian brothel-keeper, Belle Starr, the American gambler and horse thief, La Voisin, the seventeenth-century Queen of all Witches in France but these are random names, to illustrate the variety of the content in store for all those interested in women who defy law and order, for whatever reason.

The risque, the adventurous and the outrageous, the downright nasty and the downright desperate all human (female!) life is here. From the lower strata of society to the aristocracy, class is not a common denominator. Wicked? Misunderstood? Naive? Foolish? Predatory? Manipulative? Or just out of their time? Read and decide.

Continue reading “Bonus Review #1: ‘Bad Girls from History: Wicked or Misunderstood?’, by Dee Gordon”

Bonus review #2: ‘Odin: Meeting the Norse Allfather’, by Morgan Daimler

I haven’t been reviewing many books outside of my scheduled reviews this month, but yesterday a package of books arrived from Moon Books. The first of those that I’ve chosen to review is this book, since today is official publication day.

Continue reading “Bonus review #2: ‘Odin: Meeting the Norse Allfather’, by Morgan Daimler”

Review: ‘Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind’, by John V. Wylie, M.D.

36668818Published By: BookBaby

Publication Date: 1st January 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781543919370

Format: Paperback

Price: £11.62

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind is a personal memoir by a psychiatrist who gradually discovers from his patient’s descriptions of their mental illnesses that human motivations have been evolved over millions of years for productive engagement rather than competitive fitness. A new uplifting and spiritual view of human nature emerges that is not only consistent with the science of human evolution, but also opens up a simple explanation for such ancient mysteries as self-awareness, reflective thought, and the vast complexity of language.
All other books about the evolution of emotion approach it from the “outside” as an object; this book is about the biological evolution of the “inside” experience of emotion-and-motivation, which can only be known empathetically.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind’, by John V. Wylie, M.D.”

Review: ‘When I Grow Up’, by Patricia Asedegbega

When I Grow Up

 

 

 

 

Blurb

“You need a plan B,” said Alicia’s mother when at five years old she told her what she wanted to be when she grew up. Thirty odd years later, Alicia is on plan D: sharing a flat, no tangible savings, and working for hateful Julia, whose sole purpose in life is to make her existence utterly miserable. Good thing she has Oscar and the girls to make the long hours at work bearable. But when a series of events tears the close-knit group apart, putting friendships and motives under suspicion, will Alicia be able to restore balance and set things right? More importantly, will she ever be able to upgrade her life to at least plan C?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Author of I stand corrected, When I grow up…, Rewind, Balou uncensored, Bienvenidos a gatos anónimos, Pasarse cuatro Pueblos and Sesenta segundos dan para mucho, Patricia Asedegbega Nieto was born to a Spanish mother and a Nigerian father in Madrid. As a child, she relocated with her family to Nigeria and later returned to Spain, where she acquired her BSc and master´s degree. She is currently living near Madrid with her family and her very stubborn cat, Merlin Mojito.

http://www.patriciascorner.co.uk/

Twitter @Patricias_Place 

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Review: ‘How to write & publish a bestselling book’, by Richard McMunn

RichardMcMunn_BookCover

Published By: How2Become Ltd 

Publication Date: 26th February 2018

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9781912370115

Price: £9.99 

 

 

 

 

 

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Review: ‘I Know Where You Live’, By Pat Young

I know where you live FINAL correct (1)

Published By: Bloodhound

Publication Date: 1st March 2018

Format: ebook

Price: $2.99

I.S.B.N.: 9781912604012

Blurb

Penny seizes the chance of a new life for her family when her husband is offered a job in Europe.
Penny believes she’s being watched. Yet no one should know where she lives.

At the airport they meet charming Sophie, fluent in French and looking for work as an au pair.

Penny, struggling to cope in France, offers Sophie a job and she soon becomes an important part of the family’s life. But Sophie is hiding something.

Then Penny’s toddler son, Ethan, is abducted and an international hunt for the child begins.
The police beg Penny and her husband to take part in a television appeal but the couple refuse. Unknown to the police, Penny and Seth have new identities and are determined to lay low and protect them. But it may be too late for that.

Who has taken Ethan and why?

Are the couple’s true identities linked to the abduction?

And who has been watching them?

To save her son Penny may have to put her own life on the line.

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Review: ‘An Unquiet Ghost’, by Linda Stratmann

An Unquiet Ghost

Published By: Sapere Books

Publication Date: 1st March 2018

Format: Kindle

Price: 99p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Brighton, 1871

Mina Scarletti, writer of horror stories but supernatural sceptic at heart, is becoming well known for unmasking those who fraudulently claim to be able to communicate with the dead. So it is no surprise to her when a young couple write to her seeking her advice.

They are George Fernwood and Mary Clifton, betrothed distant cousins with a family secret that is preventing them from getting married. Twenty years ago their alcoholic grandfather died in his bed. Though the official verdict was accidental poisoning rumours have been circulating that someone in the family murdered him.

If the murderer is one of their relations George and Mary are afraid they might pass on the ‘corrupted’ gene to their children. Desperate to find out the truth, they have decided to seek out a medium to communicate with their dead relation on their behalf, and they want Mina to help them find one who is genuine.

Though she is not a believer in ghosts, Mina is intrigued by the family mystery and decides to help them in any way she can. Could one of the new mediums advertising in Brighton really be genuine? Will they help George and Mary find the answers they are looking for?

Soon Mina finds herself caught up in a web of deception and intrigue that leads to one of her most fascinating discoveries yet …

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Review: ‘So I Might Be A Vampire’, by Rodney V. Smith

So I Might Be a Vampire Published By: Lost Bajan Publishing

Publication Date: 13th February 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781775007210

Format: Paperback

Price: £13.99

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Nobody expects to get turned into a vampire, especially a guy like Bob. Everybody hopes that if they somehow get transformed into a vampire, they will instantly become some kind of superhero vampire out of the movies. Bad news guys: not gonna happen. More likely than not, you’re gonna be one of the poor clueless bastards hanging out on Thursday nights with Bob in his vampire support group.

You may think you know what being a vampire is supposed to be like, but Bob is here to set you straight. He’s made it his personal mission to get answers about the reality of being a vampire. He’s been shot, stabbed, thrown off rooftops, survived bad coffee and endured crippling boredom – all in the name of answering the eternal question of what it means to be a vampire.

If you think you might be a vampire, this is the book for you.

Continue reading “Review: ‘So I Might Be A Vampire’, by Rodney V. Smith”

Bonus Review #4: ‘A Georgian Heroine’, by Joanne Major & Sarah Murden

A Georgian Heroine

Published By: Pen & Sword History

Publication Date: 27th November 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781473863460

Format: Hardback

Price: £19.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs lived an incredible life, one which proved that fact is often much stranger than fiction. As a young woman she endured a tortured existence at the hands of a male tormentor, but emerged from that to reinvent herself as a playwright and author; a political pamphleteer and a spy, working for the British Government and later singlehandedly organising George III’s jubilee celebrations. Trapped in France during the revolutionary years of 1792-95, she published an anonymous account of her adventures. However, was everything as it seemed? The extraordinary Mrs Biggs lived life upon her own terms in an age when it was a man’s world, using politicians as her mouthpiece in the Houses of Parliament and corresponding with the greatest men of the day. Throughout it all though, she held on to the ideal of her one youthful true love, a man who abandoned her to her fate and spent his entire adult life in India. Who was this amazing lady?

In A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, we delve into her life to reveal her accomplishments and lay bare Mrs Biggs’ continued re-invention of herself. This is the bizarre but true story of an astounding woman persevering in a man’s world.

Continue reading “Bonus Review #4: ‘A Georgian Heroine’, by Joanne Major & Sarah Murden”