The Librain……retired

Welcome to this week’s post. I must apologise because this is going to be as unsatisfactory as last week’s! Unfortunately, I have been very ill and have really struggled to read books. In addition, I have made some poor choices. I don’t think that my low mood has affected my response to these books, but perhaps it has.

I managed to finish one, but the other has been put aside after I read a third of the book and I may return to it later. Here is the first cover:

This is the book that I finished: To Make Them Pay by M A Comley, #03 DI Sam Cobbs series. The blurb seemed to be interesting enough…

“A Lake District thriller.

A twisted mind can be deadly…

When Brian Coltman is murdered after a night out with a friend, DI Sam Cobbs and her team need to find the motive behind the gruesome crime.

Intrigue and false starts threaten the investigation until a second body is found.

With her husband on the missing list, does Sam have what it takes to find the killer before they choose another victim, with one intention… to make them pay.”

I wrote a very short response on Goodreads. OK, I wasn’t feeling well!

After this, I was so pleased when I found a book by one of my favourite authors, Adrian Tchaikovsky: 

This stand alone book, Cage of Souls, sounded really interesting…

“The sun is bloated, diseased, dying perhaps. Beneath its baneful light, Shadrapar, last of all cities, harbours fewer than 100,000 human souls. Built on the ruins of countless civilisations, Shadrapar is a museum, a midden, an asylum, a prison on a world that is ever more alien to humanity.

Bearing witness to the desperate struggle for existence between life old and new is Stefan Advani: rebel, outlaw, prisoner, survivor. This is his testament, an account of the journey that took him into the blazing desolation of the western deserts; that transported him east down the river and imprisoned him in the verdant hell of the jungle’s darkest heart; that led him deep into the labyrinths and caverns of the underworld. He will meet with monsters, madman, mutants.

The question is, which one of them will inherit this Earth?”

Just my kind of book, I thought. Well, I managed around 30%, but really struggled to even reach that point. Anyway, I have decided to set it aside for a while (perhaps forever) and look for something that will hold my interest whilst I am struggling so much. I haven’t written a response on Goodreads because I thought it would not be fair.

So, can you wish me luck?

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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So, we are already in the second half of the year and I hope everyone is enjoying their reading. I had a bit of a 👍 and a 👎 kind of week, in that one of my two books was brilliant and the other, well, 👎👎👎👎👎!!!

Here is the first…

Yes, I have been enjoying The Riyria Chronicles by Michael J Sullivan so much that I had to read the third book in the series: The Death of Dulgath.

This is the blurb…

“Three times they tried to kill her. Then a professional was hired. So was Riyria.
When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria is hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and the cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start life as rogues-for-hire. Things have gone well enough until they’re asked to help prevent a murder. Now they must venture into an ancient corner of the world to save a mysterious woman who knows more about Royce than is safe and cares less about herself than is sane.

From the best-selling author of The Riyria Revelations comes the third installment of The Riyria Chronicles. Although part of a series, it’s designed to thrill both new readers looking for fun, fast-paced fantasy and Riyria veterans wishing to reunite with old friends.”

For me, this was the best book in the series so far and worth the full five stars on Goodreads. Here is my response from that site:

After that I thought that I would take a short break from the series and try something new…

My chosen book was The Cold Call Killer by Emmy Ellis, #01 DI Bethany Smith. Let’s have the blurb…

““Hello?”
“Good afternoon. I’m calling from Bishway Solutions, and I’d like to offer you a free trial for justice served—”
“Haven’t you got anything better to do than phone people up, bugging them to—”
“Haven’t you got anything better to do than having an affair?”
“Who the hell is this?”
“You need to watch your back.”

The line goes dead.

Detective Bethany Smith is called out to 21 Bladen Avenue, the home of Jason and Georgia Holt.

It’s one of the worst murder scenes she’s ever seen.

In the middle of the living room, Jason lies motionless in front of the fireplace. He’s been opened up like a can of tuna. His innards have been removed. His face is pulp.

Jason’s wife found him. No one should ever have to see their spouse like that.

Days later, in another home across the city, a young woman answers the “How does it feel to have killed someone while you’re in the process of removing their baby?”

It’s the last call she’ll take.

An exhilarating crime thriller with a shocking ending you won’t see coming.”

I thought that seemed interesting and readers had rated it as 4.16 stars on Goodreads, so I downloaded it to my iPad’s Kindle app. Now I am going to write my response here as I don’t want to put it on Goodreads:

”To be quite honest, this is one of the worst crime books that I have ever read. Judging by online reviews and ratings, I am in a minority, but I can see that there are some people who agree with me. The writing is clunky and basic, the main characters are not well described, and the plot is illogical and over the top. The murders are gruesome and almost ridiculous. So much is piled on and on that I, as the poor reader, felt overwhelmed. There is no mystery in the book because we know who the murderer is from the beginning.

Why did I waste my precious reading time with this? I have no idea!”

No, I won’t be reading more books in the series!

For my next read I have chosen a book recommended by a Facebook fantasy readers group. I hope this one is worth my time. I will let you know in next week’s post.

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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