The Tiger and the Cauldron New Edition " Doquz had seen death and violence before but never had it filled her with such horror. Though Jahan had relaxed his hold, she was for a moment unable to move. Then something snapped inside her brain. Instead of fear and disgust, she was filled with terrible rage. …
Lose Face or Die?
Never by Ken Follett A Review What is the probability of nuclear war in the next five years - ten years - your lifetime? And what will be the consequences - hundreds of millions dead, cripples or poisoned - half of the habitable earth a wasteland? These are questions posed by Follett’s brilliant, apocalyptic and …
The Judge’s List
by John Grisham A Review 'After twelve years of investigating judges, Lacy considered herself immune from shock. She was also calloused and jaded enough to have serious doubts about Jeri's story.' For my second book to read over the Christmas period, I chose this thriller by John Grisham. Judges - as far as I know …
Science and Humanity
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli 'There are absolute masterpieces which move us imtensely: Mozart's Requiem; Homer's Odyssey; tha Sistine Chapel; King Lear.... Einstein's jewel, the general theory of relativity, is a masterpiece of this order.' Published around the same time as his book Reality is not what it seems, Seven Brief Lessons …
A World Without Books?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury A Review ' "There is nothing magical in [books] at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us." ' Guy Montag is a fireman. But he doesn't put out fires; he starts them! That is …
Adventure, Love and Legend (2)
Another little plug today for my paperback novel, The Gammadion. 'The envoy shivered. It was only a month till the solstice and, though no snow had fallen, the sharp mountain wind chilled his bones. It was true he had known colder winters, but the circumstances of this journey were exceptional. Fear played a part in …
1989
by Val McDermid A Review 'He unscrewed the jar and took out a capsule. They were dark green, he'd read, so they woudn't deteriorate in sunlight. From his pocket he took out a small vial of white powder ...... Then he replaced the vitamins with the white powder and reassembled the capsule ...... He didn't …
Adventure, Love and Legend
I hope readers will allow me today to give a boost to my most recently published historical novel. Entitled The Gammadion, it is a completely new and revised edition of an earlier book from 2002, and is a prequel to The Tiger and the Cauldron which I serialised here recently. The cover of the book …
Sisters at the Edge of the World
by Ailish Sinclair A Review 'Atunement. Living flesh, pulsing with the beat of life, touching stone that is also living and beating in another way. There is life within. And there is wisdom. And there is a throb of energy, gathered over time. And love. Yes, love.' The Roman historian Tacitus wrote of a great …
Dark Tides
by Philippa Gregory A Review 'He heard the clink of chains from the bones hanging at the gibbet .... and thought how hateful this place was. He hated Alys with a hot murderous fury, and for a moment, he even hated Alinor too. She had been his inferior in every way, his for the taking, …