February 28, 2016

"Broken Promise" by Linwood Barclay - Child of Mystery

Broken Promise by Linwood Barclay (Book cover)
No matter how settled we may get in any given city through all our years of moving around, there's nothing out there that will ever come close to replicating the sensation our childhood homes can bring.

For most of us, the places we grew up as children serve as the starting point, the zeroth coordinate of our existence, the safe haven we can always retreat to when things go sour in life.

February 19, 2016

"Ex-Isle" by Peter Clines - The Other Survivors

Ex-Isle by Peter Clines (Book cover)
At the forefront of a new wave of science-fiction novels, Peter Clines decided to push the boundaries of the current prevalent tropes in a very simple way: combining genres.

More specifically, he decided to make a crossover of the zombie and superhero genres, which gave birth to the Ex-Heroes series. The original premise in it was very simple: what would it be like for low-powered heroes to try and rebuild society once the dead rise from below?

February 15, 2016

“The Rosie Effect” by Graeme Simsion - Change of Rules

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (Book cover)
In his previous novel, The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion introduced us to Don and Rosie and the hilariously charming adventures that finally brought them together. Needless to say, there are two stages in the lives of such couples: before and after marriage.

Now that they are living together as husband and wife, in a different city, with different jobs, things have started to take on a different meaning... especially when Don learns that Rosie is pregnant.

February 7, 2016

“The Virgin of the Wind Rose” by Glen Craney – The Brotherhood's Vigil

The Virgin of the Wind Rose by Glen Craney (Book cover)
The deep-buried past of which we can only catch glimpses has forever been a point of fascination for people; where there are blanks to fill, possibilities for the fantastic, grandiose and even surreal arise.

We like to think that the closer we get, in terms of history, to the beginning of our society, the more meaningful and far-reaching are the intentions and actions of people.

February 5, 2016

“The Road to Little Dribbling” by Bill Bryson – Twenty Years Later

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson (Book cover)
Time may be the one thing that will best us all in the end, but while we're here it could also be heralded as the one thing that prevents stagnation and boredom. With time things, places and people tend to change in one way or another, creating new experiences that keep things interesting.

A lot can change in a country during a period of twenty years, and so Bill Bryson decided to revisit the United Kingdom two decades after his travels that ultimately led him to write Notes from a Small Island.

February 2, 2016

“The Patriot Threat” by Steve Berry - Built on Lies

The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry (Book cover)
The many laws and economic systems we have in place today are, in a certain sense, taken granted by most of us... at least in the sense that we trust them to have been developed properly and legally a long time ago when our country was founded.

The idea of finding evidence that would prove a country has been built on illegalities and lies is one that could certainly hurt anyone, and that's precisely the kind of scenario Cotton Malone faces in Steve Berry's The Patriot Threat.