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Disclaimer. The views expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing. No payment or inducement was requested, offered or received in respect of this review and the reviewer purchased a copy of the book.   If you like your murder mysteries cozy, then “Death Comes To Marlow” by Robert Thorogood is probably just the book for you. For those of you who aren’t native Brits, Marlow is a small (and rather expensive) town about 35 miles west of London, sitting on the banks of the River Thames. I have been there several times and I can say that it is not the sort of place where you might expect a murder to happen – which is why it is such a great location for a cozy mystery. This is actually the second book in the series, the first being “The Marlow Murder Club”. I haven’t reviewed that because it has already been on TV as a drama in March of this year, so you can go and watch it for yourself on the U streaming service. But the real reason I’m reviewing the second book and not the first is that I think that this book is better in many ways. If you haven’t read the first book, or seen the TV series, it follows Judith (a senior citizen), Becks (the vicar’s wife) and Suzie (a dog walker) as they investigate a seemingly impenetrable murder, all the time getting under the feet of Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik of the Thames Valley Police. “Death Comes to Marlow” catches up with this trio the following winter when Sir Peter Blake is murdered on the eve of his wedding to a much younger bride. But wait, is it a coincidence that Judith, Becks and Suzie have all been invited to a cocktail party to celebrate the forthcoming nuptials and are present when the murder takes place? Of course it isn’t (but I can’t tell you why). Two out of the three amateur sleuths believe that the death, in bizarre circumstances and inside a locked room, is no accident. DS Tanika Malik takes some convincing, but eventually she decides the death is at least suspicious. Unfortunately, Tanika’s boss returns from sick leave at that point and he is dismissive of the idea of murder, Which leaves the three amateurs no option but to keep on investigating (with a little bit of inside help from Tanika). There are several suspects, and they all have seemingly cast iron alibis, so who could have committed the crime? And, perhaps more importantly, how could they have committed the murder inside a locked room and then made their escape? I can’t say any more about the plot without giving away spoilers, but lovers of Miss Marple, Murder She Wrote and other amateur sleuths in the cozy genre, will find this book entirely to their taste. It is well written, the characters are well developed and, importantly, the clues are all there so that you can try to solve the mystery for yourself. So, why only 4 stars? Well, it is all down to me really. I worked out the “who” of the whodunnit very early on and also the “why” for the murder. I even worked out a tiny bit of the “how” because the author used a plot device that I had seen used in other cosy mysteries. This made me feel that the author hadn’t quite fulfilled the promise of the “mystery”. After all, if I can solve the murder that quickly, so can anyone. All that remained was the rest of the “how” and that was far more challenging, and I had to wait until the end of the book to find out how the murder had been committed. So, the author really had created a mystery and my temptation to give the book 3 stars was dismissed and I upgraded it. But, as I said, the clues were there for me to interpret had I been a bit cleverer. Did I enjoy the book? Let me put it this way. I’m already reading book 3 of the series, “Queen Of Poisons” and I have book 4, “Murder On The Marlow Belle” on pre-order (at the time of writing. By the time you read this I may had finished reading them all). So, I recommend “Murder Comes To Marlow” to all lovers of the cosy mystery genre. To find out more about the book and the series, click the button. If you have enjoyed this book review, be sure not to miss out on future blogs by signing up for our newsletter. We’ll even give you a free ebook for doing so.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing. Neither Selfishgenie Publishing nor the reviewer received any remuneration or financial inducement to provide this review.   “Scars Of The Heart” by Bob Van Laerhoven is an unusual collection of short stories.
Why do I consider them so unusual? Because they are so dark, with so few redeeming features, that the stories make for uncomfortable reading. I’m not saying the stories are bad. In fact, overall, they are very good. It’s just that if you are looking for something uplifting and cheerful to read, you won’t find it here. But if you like dark stories with heavy psychological undertones, then this may be just the book for you. First, though, a few words about the author. He is Flemish-Belgian and has a lot of books under his belt published in his native tongue, He is a new author to me, but as I don’t speak Flemish or Dutch, that comes as no surprise. Some of his other books have been translated into English, so if you are a reader of psychological literary fiction you may have come across him elsewhere. As a freelance travel writer and, later, a charity worker Bob Van Laerhoven found himself in some of the worst trouble spots of the late 20th century. He witnessed horrific sights, and I believe these have influenced his stories more than a little. Because this is a translation I was unsure about some of the usage of vocabulary. In a number of cases I wondered whether the author used a word deliberately and I was unable to work out its context, or whether it was just a mistranslation. If you read the book, you’ll have to try to work that out for yourself. The author’s nationality gives some of the stories in this collection a connection to Belgium, but just as many have no connection. Some of the stories deal with characters who are either journalists or novelists but, again, some of them don’t. But all of the stories have darkness at their heart. Death and sexual assault are never far away, though the main thrust of the stories is the psychological impact of violence on the characters. Did I enjoy the book? Well, enjoyment may not be the right word, but I read it from cover to cover and never considered putting it to one side. This is why I have given it 4 stars. So why not 5 stars? I think it is the lack of any redeeming features amongst the characters and the lack of redemption for them. I feel that they don’t learn anything from their brushes with violence and death. It risks leaving the reader feeling as depressed as I think the author may be. I would have liked to have felt that there was more hope in the world and this collection does the opposite. It suggests that death is never far away from anyone, and we are wasting our time trying to avoid it. But, bleak as it may sound, this collection does absorb the reader into the author’s dark view of the world. I would hesitate to use the word “entertaining” about such dark subject matter, but it was certainly engaging at a very emotional level. If you would like to find out more about “Scars Of The Heart” by Bob Van Laerhoven, click here. If you have enjoyed this book review, be sure not to miss out on future blogs by signing up for our newsletter. We’ll even give you a free ebook for doing so.   Some readers of this blog may already have heard of David Gaughran. On YouTube he has a lot of “How To” videos on self-publishing and the marketing of self-published books. I’ll provide a link to one of them at the end of this review, because what he has to say is based on solid research and first hand experience. Which is why I have given “Amazon Decoded: A Marketing Guide To Kindle Store” 5 stars (hereafter referred to just as Amazon Decoded). Many of us feel that our books just aren’t getting a fair shake on Amazon. When we do incognito searches for them they appear so far down the search results that we know that no reader is ever going to scroll that far and discover our book. Which is the problem this book aims to rectify "turn an ad that yields 10 sales a day into an ad that yields 100 sales a day" Now, neither I nor David Gaughran would claim that this book will propel your book into the global best-seller category overnight. But what it will do is make your book more visible to readers and if it is more visible, there is a greater chance of the book being bought. When you couple that increased visibility with advertising, there is the potential to turn an ad that yields 10 sales a day into an ad that yields 100 sales a day (but please note the use of the word “potential” - nothing is guaranteed). But what is great about this book is that all the things David talks about doing are FREE. "the way Amazon can make your book visible to readers is as good as advertising it." That’s right. You can make your book more visible without having to pay a penny. In fact, you can get Amazon to do your advertising for you for FREE. Amazon doesn’t call it advertising, of course, but the way Amazon can make your book visible to readers is as good as advertising it. David refers to this as “Visibility Marketing”, because it is all about making your book more visible amongst the 8 million ebooks (and counting) that are on Amazon. First, a little bit about the author in order to establish his credentials for writing this book.  Author David Gaughran David Gaughran. has been in the business of self-publishing for several years and he writes fiction as well as this sort of non-fiction. But, importantly, he is a very successful self-published author because he understands the marketing side of the self-publishing equation. But David also used to work for Google, which means he has a lot of insider knowledge on how Google’s search engine works. This is crucial, because Amazon’s search engine works pretty much the same way because Jeff Bezos went to Google to ask them to show him how their search engine works – and Google showed him. You may think that the Amazon search engine just scans the search words that are typed in, looks for matching words in books' metadata and then lists what it finds. Of course it does that, but it then selects the order in which the results are displayed based on a whole lot of other factors. And equality rules on Amazon. Your book, if it meets the right criteria, can appear in the search results right below – or even above – those of the big name trad published authors. Yes, really.  Your book will also appear in “also bought” and “recommended for you” lists, which are a great way to sell books. That is what “Visibility Marketing” is all about. And making that happen is what this book is all about. Some of the things David talks about you may be familiar with already. For example, one section covers keywords and if you don’t know how important having the right keywords for your book is by now, then you must have been living on Mars. "Some of the things he suggests are so simple" Some of the things he suggests are so simple that it left me with my mouth hanging open thinking “Why haven’t I heard of this before?” (Answer: because I hadn’t read this book before) I don’t want to spoil David’s sales, but I’ll give you just one example, as a teaser. It relates to books that are set up as a series. When you link your book to Amazon from a non-Amazon ad (eg a Facebook ad), don’t use the link that takes the reader to the Amazon page for Book 1. Use the link that takes the reader to the Amazon page for the series. Why? Three reasons (but there may be more): 1. There is less competition on that page – it is reserved for the books in your series and if there are any “also bought” or “recommended for you” lists they will appear below all of your books. Which is probably well below the bottom of the screen where readers won’t see them unless they scroll down. 2. If someone is on the series page, they may buy not only book 1, but possibly book 2 as well. So, you get two sales for one ad click. You may get lucky and they buy book 3 as well. 3. Holy of holies, they may buy all the books in the series in one go (series readers love to binge), because that is an option on the page. "I’ll email you back a photo of me eating my hat." So, when I was saying that an ad that sells 10 books a day could sell 100 books a day, this is one of the ways that it might happen (if there are 10 books in the series). You see how simple that idea is, and how simple it is to implement. And it appears very early in the book, so you know there is a lot more to come. This book is full of stuff like that and if you don’t find something that you can implement straight away then email me and tell me and I’ll email you back a photo of me eating my hat. But that is the simple stuff. The real secrets are a lot more complicated. If I were to ask you what the difference is between best-seller lists and the popularity of your book, what would you answer? "it is the popularity of your book that decides how visible it is on Amazon" Obviously I can’t hear you, but I’m guessing you said “there is no difference”. You could not be more wrong. And it is the popularity of your book that decides how visible it is on Amazon, not the best seller rankings (or the book's sales rank). OK, the two things can be the same, but a lot of the time they aren’t. Popularity, rather than best-seller rankings, drives what Amazon puts into “also bought” and “recommended for you” lists which are crucial for selling without having to advertise. They also drive recommendations for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, which is something I covered in a last week’s blog (you see, all these things join up). I won’t try to explain the differences, because that is David Gaughran’s job. All I can say is that once you have read the book you’ll be wondering, as I was, how you didn’t know that before. (Answer: see above re not having read this book before). It is this insider knowledge and the intensive research into the subject that makes this book (a) worth the £3.99 you paid for it (UK price) and (b) a good investment because the purchase price will be repaid very quickly. And this concept comes before we’re even halfway through the book! David provides links to free resources on his website so that you don’t have to remember everything he says in the book. These resources will help you to implement some of the ideas within the book. Towards the end of the book, David also provides marketing plans that you can tailor to match your own needs and then implement. He is well aware that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to book marketing and therefore he understands the need for flexibility. There is some use of jargon within the book – the word “algorithm” is used a lot, for example. But if you aren’t technologically minded, you don’t have to understand how the guts of the Amazon search engine work. You only have to understand what you have to do to make it work for you, which is what this book is all about. As you can guess, I highly recommend “Amazon Decoded” by David Gaughran and if you want to find out more about the book, click here. If you want to take a look at David Gaughran’s videos on YouTube, I recommend you start with “How To Sell Books” but there are many others. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so. Note: The views expressed in this book review are those of the review's author, not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing. No payments or inducements were received for this review and the author purchased the book at his own expense.   In my book reviews I only award 5 stars to books that have had some profound effect on me, so you can tell immediately that “Operation Ark” by Pen Farthing (full name Paul Pen Farthing) had that sort of effect and not always in a good way. Well, It did have some uplifting parts and I’ll get to them later, but mainly I read this book with horror that a lack of foresight and planning could lead to such tragedy. Because this is the story of real events that took place almost exactly three years ago . It is not the job of this review to editorialise about who might be to blame for what happened. However, should you choose to read this book, I am confident that you will be drawn to the same conclusions as me. Not only were these events disastrous for the country of Afghanistan, but they also ruined the life of a man who was trying his hardest to make something good come out of the chaos he was witnessing around him. The story starts in 2020 when President Trump signed a treaty with the Taliban for the final withdrawal of American troops from that country. He did so without consulting either the existing Afghan government or his allies in the west. In 2021 his successor, President Biden, implemented that treaty and ordered the withdrawal of American troops. Only he didn’t tell anyone on what date that would happen. "but hundreds of people died trying to flee the country" Unprepared for events, Afghanistan descended into chaos. What happened is a matter of public record, but hundreds of people died trying to flee the country and more have died since because they were denied the opportunity to get out before the Taliban completed their takeover of Afghanistan. I am referring to the Afghans who had worked with the western allies and therefore would be targeted by the new regime. Twelve American marines also died while trying to police the crowds at Kabul airport, when a suicide bomber set off his device. Against this background a former Royal Marine turned charity worker decided that the animals he and his team had rescued would not fare well under the new regime and he must do whatever he could to get them out of the country. His staff of dedicated veterinarians and animal welfare workers had close ties to the western allies and so they were considered to be vulnerable and everything possible had to be done to help them leave the country as well This should have been a simple matter. 1. Apply for permission for the Afghan charity workers to enter a safe country, namely the United Kingdom, demonstrating why they were at risk. 2. Apply for import licences to the UK for the animals, providing medical certificates to prove they didn’t represent a health risk. 3. Arrange, at the charity’s expense, for a charter flight to land at Kabul airport to transport both the animals and the people. 4. Leave the country. "That Pen Farthing succeeded at all must be regarded as something of a miracle." Over the next couple of hundred pages the story of what really happened is told by the author. That simple four step process took almost 2 months to organise against a backdrop of chaotic local conditions and the inept British government and public servants. The charity’s chartered aircraft was one of the last to leave the country. That Pen Farthing succeeded at all must be regarded as something of a miracle. In the end, while he was able to get the animals out by air, the charity’s staff had to undertake a lengthy and dangerous cross country journey to leave the country through the border with Pakistan, which led to several more weeks of suffering for them. "a lie will run around the world while the truth is still tying its boot laces." But the worst, perhaps, was about to come, at least for Pen Farthing. The British government needed a distraction from their own incompetence and Pen Farthing was to provide that. His name was dragged through the mud in the British and international media through a series of carefully managed leaks to the press, accusing him of putting animals before people, endangering the lives of both Afghans and British soldiers. The accusations were false but as the old saying goes, a lie will run around the world while the truth is still tying its boot laces. Pen Farthing’s reputation has still not recovered. And that is before you take into account the cost to his personal life. I have fact checked as much of this book as possible to ensure that what Pen Farthing has said stands up under scrutiny. It does. After reading this book I wonder if the country I live in is the country I thought it was. I wasn’t present in Afghanistan during the events described, but the emotions this book raised in me make me feel as though I might have been. It certainly made me very angry at times. So, what was the uplifting part of the book referred to at the start of this review? It is the way that Pen Farthing and his team, some operating from distant locations around the world, managed to save the lives of so many animals and people. Whether you like animals or not doesn’t matter, because there are human stories to celebrate as well. This book should be a set text for leadership and teamwork training, but sadly Pen Farthing’s undeservedly damaged reputation will prevent it ever becoming that. I cannot recommend Pen Farthing’s book “Operation Ark” highly enough. To find out more about it, click here. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so. Disclaimer: All views expressed in this review are the opinion of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing.   Dancing In the Ring, by Susan E Sage, is something of an oddity for me. It is part biography, part drama and part love story. The book tells the story of Robert (Bob) Sage and the woman he marries, Catherine (Kate) McIntosh. If you notice a similarity between the name of the author and the name of one of the characters, it is because Bob Sage was her great uncle, who she never met. This is the biographical part of the story, as the author tells what she knows of the life of her great uncle and his wife, pieced together from family stories and documentary evidence. Kate is less well documented, so much of her story is a dramatization. It means that a lot of the scenes in the book are imagined rather than real, and that tends to undermine the biographical basis for the book. On the other hand, the author can’t change what is known about the two characters, which undermines the drama and love story elements. Where a writer of romance or drama might put the characters on a different path, Susan E Sage is constrained by historical fact. Bob and Kate meet at law school where Kate is much the better student. However, the chauvinism of the age (the book is set in the 1920s and 30s) means that Kate can only ever dream of a lofty legal career, while the less academically able Bob is assured of an easier path. "the course of true love never did run smooth" To pay for his education Bob Sage enters the boxing ring, where he displays some talent. That, and the love of dancing of both characters, gives the book its title. Over the course of the first third of the book Bob and Kate’s romance is played out sensitively and with some well observed romantic highlights. It is after their marriage that the real drama starts. I can’t say too much because of the risk of spoiling the story for readers but, as Shakespeare said, the course of true love never did run smooth. The book is set in its real life location of Detroit, Michigan, against the background of first Prohibition and then the Depression. Both present problems for the lovers, who enjoy nothing more than a night out dancing and drinking. "The book is well observed and well written, and the author has a real feel for the period." The Depression then impacts on Kate’s career in particular. In the 21st century she could expect a glittering legal career, but a hundred years ago she was far more limited, and she spends a lot of her working life as a paralegal (as we would call it today) and doing pro-bono legal work for those who are unable to pay for legal advice. The book is well observed and well written, and the author has a real feel for the period. Having enjoyed reading the book overall, I have elected only to award four stars and there are reasons for that. The story is told in a very “matter of fact” style, which means that a lot of emotion is stifled, especially in the case of Kate’s feelings. I’ll give just one example. "Kate is clearly suffering from mental health issues" Kate’s father, Mickey, was physically abusive towards her mother, which Kate often observed and her distress at this is noted. Bob Sage does, sometimes, physically assault Kate and given her feelings about her mother’s abuse, you would expect highly emotional responses from her. However, that is not felt. The emotions of fear, distress, humiliation, anger and others just aren’t visible to the reader. Or to this reader anyway. Later in the book, when Kate is clearly suffering from mental health issues, no attempt is made to analyse the possible causes of those. At this distance after the events it would not be possible to make an accurate diagnosis, but some introspection and reflection on the part of Kate might help the reader to identify with her better and to understand why she is the way she is. Both characters come across as quite self-centred at times. As a young couple in love you might expect them to focus a lot of their time and emotional energy on making each other happy, but such behaviour is noticeably lacking in places. Bob, in particular, displays symptoms of narcissism, putting his own ego before that of everyone else, except perhaps his mother. Perhaps that was what they were really like, and the author is painting an accurate picture, but it means that the two central figures in the story aren’t always likeable, so the love story part of the book is less than successful. However, even after saying all that I still enjoyed the book and did become quite engrossed in Bob and Kate’s life. I recommend “Dancing In The Ring” by Susan E Sage to readers who want to understand life in the early part of the 20th century a little better, with a bit of romance and drama thrown in. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so. The views expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing. The author of the review was provided with a free copy of the book.   “But One Life” by Samantha Wilcoxson, is one of those books that has the potential to be significant but doesn’t allow itself to be. There is nothing wrong with the writing as such, but the effect after reading it is “meh”.
The book tells the story of Nathan Hale, who was executed by the British in 1776 for spying during the early days of the American War of Independence. It follows his progress from the time he starts college at Yale through to his demise 7 years later. The story is told through Hale’s own eyes. For those that have never heard of Nathan Hale, it is he who is alleged to have given us the quote “I regret I have but one life to give for my country”, from which the book’s title is taken. Had it not been for his execution Hale would probably have lived and died as an obscure schoolteacher. The fact that he is remembered is probably more to do with America needing a hero in early days of the War of Independence and Hale dying conveniently at the right time. The book is probably best described as a dramatized biography, in as much as it is based on the known facts about Hale’s life but imagines most of the conversations and many of the meetings in which the character participates. This, for me, is the source of its problems as a book. It simply isn’t dramatic enough. Not once during my reading of it was my pulse rate raised or my jaw made to drop. Indeed, on more than one occasion, I’m sorry to say that I fell asleep while reading it. Two thirds of the book is taken up with the progress of Hale through college and at the start of his teaching career. This is an important part of his life because it is when he would have encountered the ideas that gave him his revolutionary zeal. However, I saw nothing that told me how Hale became so inspired, so passionate, about the cause of American Independence that he was prepared to give his life for it. Most of the narrative was taken up with the mundanities of college life and life as a small town schoolteacher. As such it wasn’t very enthralling. We are told that Hale was an active participant in the Linonian Society, a debating club at Yale, which is where he would have encountered many of the ideas underpinning the revolutionary movement in the American Colonies. But we weren’t exposed to any of those ideas ourselves. I felt no passion for the cause that Hale would embrace because I wasn’t shown how Hale became passionate about it. The nature of the debates were so mundane that had they been on TV, I would have changed channels. While the iniquities of the British Crown were mentioned frequently, I wasn’t shown how those iniquities were converted to a desire to be free of them that could, and eventually would, lead to war. Later, when Hale decides to join the militia, it felt as though he was doing it more for companionship than out of any desire to rid his country of British rule. This is important because we are told it caused an irreparable rift between him and the object of his affections, Betsey Adams. The lack of emotional turmoil in making that decision resulted in it feeling bland. The decision should have been tearing Hale apart, but I felt none of his anguish. It is this lack of visible emotions on the part of Hale that makes the whole story so flat and uninteresting. If I can’t feel his emotions, how am I supposed to engage with them? This theme extends into the story of Hale’s active participation in the War of Independence. We are told of two actions in which he participated that are described in such an unexciting manner that the story of a journey to buy milk sounds more interesting by comparison. This was war. War is a terrifying experience. Hale could die a horrible death at any moment. But it sounded less exciting than Hale’s earlier story of smashing the dining room windows at Yale during a drunken evening out with friends. The finale of the story, Hale’s betrayal and execution as a spy, which is all that made him famous, is told with an equal lack of emotional trauma. The scene depicting his betrayal was undramatic to say the least, but what followed was even less so. A man about to die would be living in terror of what was to come. But Hale seems mainly concerned about how his family would take the news. Once again the scene is narrated with a flatness that evokes no sympathy or emotional response. We don’t even get a suitably evil depiction of the British soldiers who carried out the execution. The story that is told is, at best, one of a likeable and competent teacher and at worst an incompetent spy who is lionised for his failure. In a war that took the life of thousands of young American men the fact that his name lives on while theirs are forgotten is a puzzle to me and this book does nothing to unravel that puzzle. But I have awarded three stars, so there must be something positive to say about this book. That is that it is impeccably researched. I have no doubt about the accuracy of the detail surrounding the historical events that are described. But, sadly, historical accuracy is not enough to make a story exciting enough to want to read it. To find out more about “But One Life” by Samantha Wilcoxon, click here. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so.   For fans of World War II fiction, military fiction, historical fiction or just good old fashioned action adventure, “Sinner’s Cross” by Miles Watson is a must read book. And, as the research for it is so good, it may appeal to amateur military historians too.
I have to issue a “trigger warning” however. The scenes of combat and bloodshed depicted in the book are not for people with a weak stomach. The descriptions are quite graphic in parts. I’m sure the author would make no apology for that because, let’s face it, war is not pretty and not for the faint hearted. However, in terms of its storytelling, this book earns the five stars I have awarded. To be honest, I almost feel like breaking with tradition and awarding six stars. The story is set against the backdrop of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which took place between 19th September 1944 and 16th December 1944. It should be a battle that is far better remembered but was somewhat overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge which started on the day the Battle of Hürtgen Forest officially ended. The Battle of Hürtgen Forest cost the lives of around 33,000 American soldiers, with another 55,000 wounded and it also took the lives of 20,000 German soldiers. There are also political implications to the battle which may be why it isn’t so well remembered. The battlefield was of very limited strategic value, certainly not enough to warrant the death toll, but it somehow became an obsession for the American generals to capture this obscure bit of forest, which lies to the east of the Belgian/German border and the German city of Aachen. Aachen was the first German city to fall to the Allies, which may have exaggerated the importance of the nearby forest. The story is told in three parts, with each part being seen through the eyes of a different protagonist. First we have Sergeant Edward T Halleck, a hard bitten former cowboy from Texas who has been in almost constant combat since the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942. His war weariness is such that he hardly bothers to memorise the names of the men sent to replace the casualties from his platoon, because he knows their chances of survival make it barely worth his while. The second point of view (POV) is from one of those replacements, “butter bar” 2nd Lieutenant Robert Breese. Breese believes he shouldn’t be in the Army and, if he must be, then his talents would be best used making Army recruitment films back in New York. He has no idea what he is doing in the Hürtgen Forest and even less idea of what he is supposed to do now that he is there. The final POV is from the German side of the battle. Major Martin “Zengy” Zengen is a veteran paratrooper who has fought in every engagement in which the fallschirmjäger have taken part since 1940. He has lost count of how many friends he has lost to the war but, until now, his dedication to duty has been unquestioning. His epiphany, when it comes, takes an unusual form (which I won’t reveal) but it is so deeply moving for him that it completely reshapes his thinking. Each part of the book stands alone, so there is no switching back and forth between POVs, but characters from one part do pop up in the others, so that some of the consequences of some of their actions can be observed. What makes this book so enthralling isn’t the characters, though they are well drawn, it is the story telling as a whole. I found myself living and breathing the combat almost as though I was there. The reader feels every explosion, hears every bullet cracking past their ear and smells the smoke and blood of battle. It is quite unnerving at times just how deeply it is possible to get drawn into this story – hence the trigger warning issued above. The historical detail is exemplary and Miles Watson is obviously a keen scholar of World War II history. He pays attention to the minutest detail, but at no point does he ever cross the line into geekiness. There is a sequel to Sinner’s Cross (the title comes from the scene of much of the action) called The Very Dead of Winter. I have to confess that I read that before Sinner’s Cross (see review in the blog archive) which is why I came back to read the first book. Knowing which characters survive to reappear in the later book, however, made this book no less enjoyable. I can only hope that Miles Watson finds time to write a third book for the series. I cannot recommend “Sinner’s Cross” by Miles Watson, highly enough. To find out more, click here. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so. Disclaimer: No financial incentives were sought or offered for this book review. The reviewer purchased their copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing.   It occurred to me over the Christmas period that I had rather neglected my reading of Nick Spalding’s books.
Nick Spalding is the sort of author you read when you just want to relax and forget about the cares of the world. Instead, you become immersed in someone else’s problems for a while. These aren’t the great problems of the world. There are no epic quests, no fights against dragons, whether real or metaphorical. There may be some fights against metaphorical demons, but they threaten the individual, not the world as a whole. In other words, you don’t need to keep looking out of the window to assess how close the world’s problems are getting. The problems Spalding’s characters face are the sorts of things we may all face in our lives at some point. Sometimes they are 21st century issues, created by our modern world and modern lifestyles, but often they are timeless. So it is with “Old Boys” which is the book I review here. As with all Nick Spalding books, it is written in a light-hearted style. Because this book deals with quite deep emotions, there are darker moments, but generally speaking it is what you might call a gentle comedy. It isn’t meant to keep you either laughing out loud or wide awake at night for fear of what might lurk beneath the bed. But it may make you stop and think a little bit about your own life and the choices you have made. And there is nothing wrong with that. The story is a familiar one. Will Fairweather is feeling depressed after the loss of his mother. It may have been 4 years earlier, but it is still hurting him deeply and affecting the way he lives his life. Frustrated by this his younger wife, Audrey, asks that they separate for a while to give Will a chance to sort himself out. It felt a little heartless to me, which is why I have only given this book 4 stars. I’m not sure that extreme action like that would be the first thing a loving spouse would suggest when their marriage is in trouble, but I guess it was necessary for the rest of the plot to work. There is another reason for only giving the book 4 stars and it is that at several points I felt like giving Will a good slap, because his wallowing in his grief is self-indulgent in the extreme. Perhaps that was why Audrey asked him to move out, as a way of giving him a metaphorical slap. Anyway, needing somewhere to go, Will ends up moving in with his estranged father, who has had no contact with Will for more than 3 decades. Will’s father, Red Fairweather, is the drummer with a prog rock band by the name of Holy Moly who were big in the 70s and 80s, though they are pretty much retired at the time of this story. Those readers who remember the likes of Keith Moon and John Bonham will be familiar with the stereotype drummer that Nick Spalding creates for Red. Spalding even points out the similarities. Several well known rock bands of that era and later are given name checks in the book, though they play only a peripheral part in the actual plot. I suspect that Nick Spalding may be a fan. I think it is safe to say that Red Fairweather doesn’t so much need a family as a combined nanny and psychiatric nurse. He takes it upon himself to try to help Will mend his marriage by “bringing him out of himself” through a series of bizarre adventures. As Red is now in his 70s the scale and danger of these activities is limited, but they are still enough to scare the highly risk averse Will before he has even tried them out. The book progresses along this amiable path, but things take a much more emotional turn in the second half. Here the home truths start to emerge, the family history, the cause of Red’s break up with Will’s mother and a whole lot more. Keep a box of tissues handy because you will need them. There is an underlying message in the book if you care to listen to it. I won’t reveal what it said to me, but it is a strong one and one which, perhaps, we should all remind ourselves of from time to time. If you have planned your summer holidays for this year this is exactly the sort of book you might like to take along to read by the swimming pool. It may not be high drama, but it will leave you with things to think about. You can find out more about “Old Boys” by Nick Spalding by clicking this link or the book’s cover image. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so.  Disclaimer: No financial inducement was offered or requested for this review and no payment was received. The reviewer was provided with a free review copy of the book. The views expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and are not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing.  Exiles, by Miles Watson, is a novella, but it could almost stand as a full length novel.
The book serves as an introduction to “The Magnus Chronicles”, a series of dystopian novels set in a world that could be Earth in either the past or future. That is not clear from the story. Is it an alternative history or a possible future? I think the reader must decide. There is some modern technology, but it is limited by “The Order”, the body that rules over most of Europe. However, there is also a lot of 19th century technology still in use, though that might be because so much modern technology is banned. This little book actually tells two stories in one. The first is told by Marguerite Bain, the Captain of a smuggling ship. Smuggling is an organised, if dangerous, profession with its own ruling Guild. Marguerite gained her command under the tutelage of a senior Captain who now serves as one of the Guild’s governors. While smuggling is illegal, a blind eye is turned for the most part. Bribery and corruption play a large part in that unofficial tolerance, as it does in most of life under The Order. Marguerite has had a hard life, not one to be envied by any woman. Now, as skipper of her own ship, she has to show that she is ready to kill anyone who challenges her position and the only way she has been able to prove that is to do it. Now an uneasy truce lies between her and her crew, though she knows that if she shows any sign of weakness they would kill her, after taking their pleasure first, of course. The Sea Dragon, her ship, is contracted to deliver supplies to the eponymous exile on his remote and barren island. It is a task she is unable to refuse because it has been brokered by the Guild and such a contract can’t be broken. Her orders are strict. Deliver the supplies and leave the island. Do not make any attempt to communicate with the exile. The previous contractor forgot those rules and now he is no longer alive. But Marguerite is curious and can’t resist finding out about the exile, so she secretes a notebook and pencil in the supplies, asking him to tell his story. Which is the second story in the book. Enitan Champoleon is a name that is notorious as an opponent of The Order, an organiser of the resistance. He is almost mythical, a sort of Scarlet Pimpernel figure. But if the Order captured him they would just kill him, not exile him on a barren rock. So, who has placed Champoleon in this living hell? All becomes clear by the end of the story. But through this dialogue Marguerite starts to feel a bizarre kinship with the exile. The story's point of view switches back and forth between Marguerite and Enitan but at all times it is clear who is narrating. The style of language is fitting for the ambivalent chronological setting of the book. In many ways it is Victorian, but interspersed with more modern phrases and idiom. Either of the two stories are capable of engaging the reader fully, but the two of them together become compelling and the book is a real page turner. For lovers of fantasy or sci-fi it is a very good read. This reviewer is now a convert and will soon be embarking on reading The Magnus Chronicles in full. The ebook can be purchased from Amazon for £3.95 or can be downloaded on KindleUnlimited for free. The paperback version is £4.74 (all prices correct at time of posting). I recommend “Exiles” by Miles Watson and to find out more, click here If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this book review are those of the review's author and are not necessarily those of Selfishgenie Publishing.   “The Trial” is Rob Rinder’s first foray into fiction and it’s one that will keep you guessing all the way to the big reveal. For those outside the UK who are unfamiliar with Rob Rinder, he is our equivalent to “Judge Judy”. As a successful barrister (trial lawyer for our overseas readers) he was well known in legal circles before venturing onto our TV screens. Now he appears in a variety of shows in different formats, including documentaries. With this foray into fiction, he becomes not only Britain’s Judge Judy, but also Britain’s John Grisham. The story is basically a courtroom drama, but one with a strong human element. Unusually, it doesn’t follow the exploits of an experienced lawyer plying his trade against all odds, but instead the protagonist is a novice, stumbling through the foothills of the legal mountain range as he learns his trade while flirting with the ruination of his career before it even gets started. Adam Green is a law graduate from Oxford University who is the second 6 month of his yearlong pupillage – the basic training for a barrister where he is supposed to be mentored by a King’s Counsel in a prestigious “chambers”, as legal businesses are called in the UK. If Adam performs well he will be offered a “tenancy”, which is basically a full time job in the firm. But there is only one position available at the end of the year and he has a rival with whom he must compete, the attractive and outgoing Georgina. Adam is very much an introvert to Georgina’s extrovert, and she isn’t afraid to use her gender to charm her male colleagues. Adam, while being a very likeable person, usually comes across as socially inept, which is very much a disadvantage in the British legal profession. I frequently found myself wondering how much of Rob Rinder there was in the character of Adam. For the uninitiated (like me) there is a lot of arcane terminology to get your head around that has nothing to do with the law itself, but everything to do with the ancient traditions of the legal profession as practised in the UK. Several hundred years of custom and practice have created a world that is closed to the outsider, but for which Rob Rinder raises a corner of a curtain to allow us to peek inside. "a national hero who once saved the life of the Queen." For example, did you know that barristers never shake hands with other barristers? No, nor did I. It has something to do with barristers trusting each other and not needing to shake hands in order to prove their hands are empty of weapons. Who knew? Stag Chambers, the place where Adam is a pupil, is asked to defend a man accused of murdering a police officer. Not just any police officer, however, a national hero who once saved the life of the Queen. "a deeply unlikeable person who has little time for young whippersnappers like Adam" It is an open and shut case, to all intents and purposes and Jonathon Taylor-Cameron, Adam’s pupil-master (mentor) considered it beneath him to attempt to mount a defence. But legal traditions dictate that he can’t turn the case down and Adam is assigned as his “junior”, or assistant. Which means Adam does the hard work of preparing the case while Jonathon does the grandstanding on the courtroom floor. Needless to say, Taylor-Cameron is painted as a deeply unlikeable person who has little time for young whippersnappers like Adam, creating a major source of conflict within the plot. "A reasonable doubt is all that is required to obtain an acquittal." Adam soon starts to believe that their client, Jimmy Knight, is innocent but the evidence is stacked against him. The big question throughout the book is whether Adam can find the evidence that will get their client acquitted, or at least cast doubt on the evidence provided by the prosecution, so that a reasonable doubt is created in the minds of the jury. A reasonable doubt is all that is required to obtain an acquittal. Obviously, I can’t say much more than that, because it would spoil the book. But I can say that there are so many secrets to be exposed that Adam has his work cut out to make sense of it all. And just to add a bit of extra drama, if he doesn’t make a good job of the defence, it is unlikely that he will be offered the permanent position at Stag Chambers.  Author Robert Rinder Rinder’s writing style is easy to read, and he makes some complex subjects easy to understand. His knowledge of the British legal system is obvious, and he does his best to make sure that readers can understand it as well.
I found myself turning the pages in anticipation of the next twist the plot might take and what new secrets would be exposed. There are red herrings aplenty, but the truth is there to be discovered if you can pick up on the subtle clues that Rinder drops into the narrative. But there are also a few lessons to be learned about the morality of the legal system and it becomes quite clear that justice is often not what is done, but what is seen to be done. You would think the legal system is there to establish guilt or innocence, but those concepts seem to slip between the cracks when it comes to what can be proved and what can’t. If you like legal dramas, then I highly recommend you give this one a go. “The Trial” by Rob Rinder is an absorbing read which left me wanting to read Rinder’s next book (assuming there is one) straight away. If you have enjoyed this blog, or found it informative, then make sure you don’t miss future editions. Just click on the button below to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll even send you a free ebook for doing so. |
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