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Title: Body Count
Author: Shaun Hutson
Category: Adult
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Body Count starts with a man running for his life and maintains its break-neck pace throughout.
The plot bursts with adrenaline and is punctuated with generous doses of gore. I read this book in one sitting because the speed of the plot didn’t give me time to put it down!
It’s a different tale but with all the same ingredients from Huston’s previous books; mainly gore but also has a cop driven over the edge by what he sees on the job and a sense that you cannot rely on the law to provide justice.
If you want justice, or revenge, then you have to take matters into your own hands... |
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Title: The Luxe
Author: Anna Godbersen Category: Teen Fiction
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The Luxe is the first in a series set in 1899 New York. Celebrities, riches, decadence and love set in glamorous surrounds.
The story features the Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana; their lives, loves and friends. Intrigue and mystery catch them in a web of treachery and longing.
Parallel to this run the servants’ stories - how their lives intertwine with their employers. At a deeper level we are shown the charade of superficial day-to-day events covering a myriad of deceit.
All is not what it seems. Will the sisters ever find true love and be able to break free from the expectations of society? |
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Title: The Word Spy
Author: Ursula Dubosarsky
Category: Junior Fiction
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- Do you know what “Goose Feet” are? Or Hungarian ‘cats claws’?
- Do you know the name Oscar Wilde used when he got out of prison?
- Do you know who Miss Tickletoby really is?
The answers you seek are in a wonderful little book, classified as Junior Fiction, but also a most enjoyable and entertaining read for adults.
Scattered through the pages are puzzles and clues with charming illustrations by Tohby Riddle.
This is a book for those of us who love words and language. If you’ve forgotten what a pangram is or if you want to crack the kids’ text messages this is the book for you. |
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Title: Real Murders
Author: Charlaine Harris
Category: Adult
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I really enjoy reading any books by Charlaine Harris, who is probably best known for her Sookie Stackhouse series that has been turned into the TV series True Blood .
Real Murders is the start of an interesting mystery series featuring Aurora Teagarden, a southern woman who’s single, short and a librarian.
She’s a member of a club that meets once a month to study and analyse real life murders.
When people in her small town start dying - each murdered in a way that imitates a famous historical murder case - it’s clear to Aurora that one of the members of her club must be responsible and she’s curious enough to try to figure out which one. |
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Title: The 10PM Question
Author: Kate De Goldi
Category: Teen Fiction
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It is about an endearing 12 year-old boy, Frankie Parsons, who is beset with daily worries, but supported by a loving, if eccentric family, and two special friends - Sydney, a girl, and Gigs, a young boy.
The story is easy to read, fast-paced and both poignant and funny. There are the ‘everyday things’ at school - work experience, book projects, bus trips and the ‘home things’ like fights with siblings, shopping for his mother and visits by wonderfully memorable aunts.
The boys have invented their own language –eg. “ Gravitas plodney, malet tarlick weasels ” which equates to “Dark curses on useless parents.”
As the story progresses, a number of family secrets are partly-revealed and this creates the tension.
Each chapter finishes with Frankie’s ‘10pm Question;’ a nightly ritual in which he confides his concerns to his mother.
The male and female characters are both strong and Frankie’s issues are sensitively dealt with. It would be good for teen readers aged 14+, and for adults too - especially mums with sons. It is a most enjoyable read, and as it says on the cover it, “ will break your heart and make you wonder, marvel and laugh .” |
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Title: Just Macbeth!
Author: Andy Griffiths. illustrated by Terry Denton
Category: Junior Fiction
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Another take on the Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth, in palatable bite-sized pieces for children aged 8 plus.
Andy, Danny and Lisa - the Just trio, are together again creating a hilarious, dramatic and moving story of love.
There are, of course, witches, murder and madness as well as a Macbeth test on the back cover.
For more information about Just Macbeth! visit http://www.panmacmillan.com.au |
