I read two books this week; one was really enjoyable and the other, well… read on to find out my verdict!

All By Myself, Alone by Mary Higgins Clark

My first book of the week was All By Myself, Alone by Mary Higgins Clark. Here is the blurb:

Fleeing a disastrous and humiliating arrest of her husband-to-be on the eve of their wedding, Celia Kilbride, a gems and jewelry expert, hopes to escape from public attention by lecturing on a brand-new cruise ship—the Queen Charlotte.

On board she meets eighty-six-year-old Lady Emily Haywood, “Lady Em,” as she is known throughout the world. Immensely wealthy, Lady Em is the owner of a priceless emerald necklace that she intends to leave to the Smithsonian after the cruise.

Three days out to sea Lady Em is found dead—and the necklace is missing. Is it the work of her apparently devoted assistant, Brenda Martin, or her lawyer-executor, Roger Pearson, and his wife, Yvonne, both of whom she had invited to join them on the cruise? Or is it Professor Henry Longworth, an acclaimed Shakespeare scholar who is lecturing on board? Or Alan Davidson, a guest on the ship who is planning to spread his wife’s ashes at sea? The list of suspects is large and growing.

Celia, with the help of her new friends Willy and Alvirah Meehan, who are celebrating their forty-fifth wedding anniversary, sets out to find the killer, not realizing that she has put herself in mortal danger before the ship reaches its final destination.

I decided to read something light and easy, which sounds an odd description of a murder-mystery! My review on Goodreads may shed some light:

Well, I have classified this as a mystery as I thought that the author probably intended it to be, but I guessed the “baddie” after a few pages! The only reason I bothered to finish this book was because it was light reading and I wasn’t well. This is simply a very badly written book, full of stereotypes and lazy plotting. My recommendation is: don’t bother.

Yes, I only gave this book one star!

The Painted Man by Peter V Brett

My second read of the week was much more successful. This is the blurb for Peter V Brett’s The Painted Man, #01 in his Demon Cycle series:

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.

Oh, I really enjoy a rollicking read like this one! I gave it four stars and wrote the following review:

I really love the kind of book which immerses the reader so far into a fantasy world that the real world fades into the background. This is just that kind of book, for me. The kind of book where you simply shed any disbelief and join in the adventure.

The tale follows three main characters as they grow up and develop into young adults along the way. Fearsome demons visit their world at night, causing terror, mayhem and death to the people, who fight or cower away according to their strength of character. The world building in this book is excellent and many of the secondary characters are well drawn too. There are some plot holes and logic flaws, but I enjoyed engaging in the story.

Since I finished the book, I have put in several requests at the library for the rest of the series. The next book is already awaiting collection 😀.

The rest of the books in my to-read pile seem to be very thick, for some reason. Years ago, my parents used to choose books for me according to their thickness as I read so fast, even as a child. Anyway, my next read will be Echo City by Tim Lebbon and I will give you my verdict next week.

Happy Reading to you all!

Best wishes,

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