All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris, No.7 (True Blood)
4 April 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: All Together Dead, Charlaine Harris
All Together Dead picks up from the last novel. Beware – this will contain spoilers so please do not read if you haven’t already read nos.1-6!!!
The Queen of Louisiana is accused of killing her husband and will stand trial at the Vampire Summit. As the sole witness to the murder, and also being on the payroll of the vampires, Sookie will have to attend the Summit. As will her ex, Bill, and the other complication in her life Eric.
This book is a great addition and moves the story forward and develops it further. The story is much more political this time around and Sookie and Barry the Bellboy (from Dallas with the telepathic skills) band together to help each other out. There is more intrigue and sub plots and sneaky underhanded double-dealing and back stabbing. You also get a bit more of a look into ‘real’ vampire politics as you watch them mete out their own justice to misdemeanours between their own kind – and the kid gloves are off.
Sookie really comes into her own in this book, she shows her intelligence, she stands up for herself and the people she is working for and she really helps humans, vamps and weres. She also starts to realise how very tentative her own situation is once the real extent of her talents is truly revealed.
I found this story different from the rest. Apart from the fact that Sookie if away from her own town and Merlots and the usual cast of characters she is finally thrown into the full world of vampires. Not just a few here and there and a couple of shapeshifters. The Summit is a massive event with very few humans present. It’s truly a new experience for Sookie and to be honest a little scary but she steps up and takes it on board. The final event is very fast moving and dramatic. At the culmination you can’t help feeling that the vampires are greatly indebted to Sookie and it remains to be seen if that will ever be acknowledged.
As I said there’s a lot of politcal intrigue in this book and a lot of characters. The romance elements take a definite backseat, there is a little interaction, but nothing major. Although Sookie came to the Summit as Quinn’s romantic interest I wasn’t really feeling it and it almost feels like a stepping stone as Sookie takes the next step. Personally I think Sookie really likes Eric (and why wouldn’t she??). Although all three of the men are really quite (very) likable – Quinn (loving the name Stripes), Bill (so old fashioned) and Eric (the Viking). I know which I prefer!! (And he’s tall and blond).
At least I don’t have to wait long to see what the next episode will bring and I’ll be moving straight on!
(Very minor criticism – considering events, not to mention their age and knowledge, the vampires have a deplorable lack of self preservation in this novel – at the end of the day they can be killed – and yet they seem to be terribly blase about everything – especially when you consider the number of royalty attending the Summit).
Next book: From Dead to Worse
Rating A
All Together Dead
Kiss of Death (Morganville Vampires) by Rachel Caine
1 April 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Kiss of Death, Morganville Vampires
Okay – first – if you haven’t read Nos.1-7 (why not) and also this will contain SPOILERS
Just finished reading book 8 of the Morganville Vampires series. I’m a bit behind and need to catch up – Ghost Town is just sat looking at me and waiting to be read!
Book 8 is a bit of a different tack than the other books. The book picks up from Fade Out with Claire and her friends owing a debt to Morley, one of the less than pleasant vampires (if there is such a thing as a pleasant vampire!) who wants Claire to obtain for him passes out of town. This task is not as easy as it sounds and the threat of what will happen if Claire fails looms over the four. Surprisingly, when the passes finally arrive all is not as it should be – the passes are actually, four ‘get out of town’ passes for Claire, Eve, Shane and Michael to go to Dallas and take part in a record demo for Michael. Whilst this presents a very welcome opportunity for them to get out of Morganville and away from the nasty Morley Vampire it also comes with the unexpected downside of Oliver accompanying them as chaperone.
Of course, as expected, nothing ever goes as well as you would wish with our gang of four and their little road trip quickly spirals into a bit of a disaster going from bad to worse and Oliver’s hidden agenda is doing nothing to help. I’m not going to give the plot away though!
Ironically being away from the crazy vampire town is no less fraught with danger in fact the humans they encounter along the way are quite scary in their own way and make you wish for them to be ‘home’! And, then the town they end up in is a total no go zone.
I think Claire has really started to come into her own in this book and become almost buffyesqu. You also start to see a different side to Oliver which was a surprise – in a good way (although whether that continues remains to be seen).
I guess I missed Morganville a little and there was obviously a gigantic gap left by the absence of Myrnin but, after a slowish start, this book manages to pull out a few shocks and quickly becomes the action packed adventure that you come to expect from RC.
Again, I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading No.10 soon.
You have to hand it to Rachel Caine, I did wonder if she would be able to pull another story out of the bag but she’s succeeded once again and managed to give us a new and refreshing ‘road trip’ story not to mention a few LOL moments. I particularly liked when the four were yet again facing a fight or flight situation and Eve asks Michael “what’s the plan”, Michael’s reply “don’t lose” – and Shane then jumps in with “It’s simple, yet effective. I like it”. (brilliant)
Rating -A
Kiss of Death
Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay
30 March 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Fear the Worst, Linwood Barclay
Fear the Worst starts with Tim Blake’s daughter, Syd, going missing. Sydney’s parents are divorced and each summer she stays with her dad and earns a bit of cash over the vacation by finding a job. This summer Syd is working in a hotel and things seem to be going okay. However, after being dropped off at work by her dad, following a bit of an argument, Syd fails to return home. Following Syd’s disappearance Tim starts to make enquiries, starting with the hotel – where all the staff deny having ever seen her!
I read this book as it was chosen by my book club. I have previously read No Time for Goodbye and probably wouldn’t have picked this up because I imagined it would be too similar and to a certain extent it was.
The plot thickens as Tim steps up his enquiries and starts to draw unwanted attention.
On the whole this doesn’t make for a bad read, it didn’t feel like a chore to read and I guess it was intriguing enough in parts. However I don’t think I ever really cared about any of the people. Tim seems okay and he certainly put in a lot of time and effort to find his daughter. Her mother was a bit more unrealistic in that respect and seemed to contribute very little – but I suppose it’s Tim’s story after all.
What is surprising about the book is the amount of people who were mixed up in wrong doings – there seemed to end up being very few people who were genuine, likable or just plain innocent. I think there is a message here about how well you know the people surrounding you and what they’re really getting up to.
On the whole this was an interesting read but not one that I would particularly rave about. It could probably have been shortened slightly as some elements were a bit drawn out and I think the story lost tension because of that. There were quite a few twists, but again, some a little bit too contrived and the ending was a bit rushed (not to mention Tim became a bit of a super hero overnight!)
Probably seems a bit negative which I don’t really intend. I think this is quite a good read, probably good for taking on the beach.
Rating C
**SPOILER ALERT**
I can’t help feeling that one of the basic premises for the whole story was the fact that Syd had said she had worked in a hotel but then all the staff denied this. As it turned out, she had been working at the hotel but not officially (cash in hand) – I don’t understand how Syd could have been working in this hotel, front of house, and yet nobody else local had seen her. After all she’s supposed to be really quite good looking. Her father was handing out pictures of her everywhere so how is it that nobody local came forward and said they’d seen her at the hotel?? Deliveries, post, people renting the rooms, local diners – nothing.
Fear the Worst
Outside In by Maria V Snyder
Outside In picks up the story from Inside Out with a nice introduction that provides a recap from the previous book. If you haven’t read Inside Out then please don’t read this review as it will contain spoilers.
At the start of this story Trella and the rest of the inhabitants of Inside are trying to establish a new order following the overthrow of the Travas and the Pop Cops. Unfortunately this causes a lot of disagreement and settling upon any way forward is not easy, particularly as the uppers and the lowers still have a lot of mutual mistrust and resentment. Strangely enough at the beginning of the book it’s almost as though one system of tyranny as simply been replaced with another. Previously we had the Travas ruling everybody and running the entire system ruthlessly using the Pop Cops to enforce their law. Now we have the Committee and the Mop Cops. Granted they’re not as bad as the previous system but they’re definitely not getting things right and the general populace are becoming discontent. They’ve had their rebellion but nothing has changed.
Really Trella needs to step up and help to change things but she is scared of the responsibility and afraid that she will make mistakes so she resigns herself as advisor to the Committee and returns to what she knows best. Exploring.
This is when everything really begings to go wrong. Somebody is sneaking around planting bombs and succeeding in causing extensive damage to Inside. Trella doesn’t know who to trust any more and something is trying to get Inside.
I thought the story was very fast paced and constantly changing. This is a really gripping book and Trella is such an excellent character. She’s strong and capable and doesn’t shirk from doing what’s necessary. Maria Snyder has managed to throw into this a good deal of intrigue, a little romance, adventure and a lot of twists in the plot.
The Outsiders were sufficiently creepy and a bit of a surprise.
In terms of the ending – I thought the final few pages wrapped up the story very nicely if a little rushed and there are still a few questions unanswered but perhaps there’s going to be a third book?
Criticisms – nothing really major, I have enjoyed all of Maria Snyder’s stories. She’s a wonderful writer who creates likable characters and new worlds that are rich in detail. The only thing I felt a bit lacking in this novel was the absence of the population on the whole. It felt a little bit as though it was just Trella and a few other named individuals almost acting in a bubble without a real feeling for any of the other people from either the upper or lower sections. Apart from that I think this is a very enjoyable read and anybody who likes fast paced stories with plenty of action and intrigue can’t fail to like this book.
Rating A
Outside In
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
25 March 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Books Going to Film, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
This story is about Liz Gilbert, who having divorced her husband and being fresh out of a romance on the rebound decides to take a year out and have some ‘me’ time. The book is split into three because Liz visits three places. Italy – to eat, India – to pray and Indonesia to love (or be healed).
To be honest this book wasn’t really for me. I guess I should have thought about it a bit more beforehand really, it’s an autobiography after all and you can’t really expect to read such a book without reading a lot about the person writing it. I think I was expecting or hoping for a lot more interaction with the people from these three places and to learn a little bit more from them about their culture and I never felt like this happened.
Clearly Liz Gilbert is a very intelligent woman. She writes really well and obviously undertakes a lot of research because she really knows her ‘stuff’. She is also witty and obviously likable (as she seems to have no problem making friends no matter where she goes). So, why isn’t this for me?? I don’t know really. I think I found it overly self-indulgent and, in fact self pitying. Here you have Liz, she is clearly an attractive and successful young woman, she has just gone through a divorce BUT, in fairness, this was her own decision followed by a passionate yet doomed relationship on the rebound. Okay, going through a divorce and a failed romance is stressful and I totally appreciate that fact however I just felt that Liz never really tried to move on. She sort of wallowed about in misery and in fact seemed to enjoy being overly dramatic. It just reached a point where it all seemed a bit like attention seeking. She then has the luxury to be able to take a full year out travelling to three amazing places. Most people will never have the chance to be able to do something so exciting or life changing and yet I felt that Liz never seemed happy or to appreciate what she had. I guess I just found it difficult to relate to her and I was really disappointed to not have more information about the places involved. Italy was my most favourite part of the book and after that the rest felt a bit too much like a chore.
However, I can see why this has been such a popular story and as I say Liz Gilbert definitely has a way with words. I have no doubt that a lot of people will greatly enjoy this book (and obviously have already done so as it’s sold millions of copies and been made into a film!) but for me it was a bit of a struggle. That said, I would still check out other novels by this author.
Rating C
Eat Pray Love
Books and travelling with Lynn 