LISEY’S STORY By Stephen King

Published : 2006
Pages : 667
Overall Mark : 7/10

Lisey Landon is the widow of famed author Scott Landon, and deeply misses her dead husband. As she tries to cope with her husband’s death, she is confronted by a number of people who want to get their hands on his unpublished work, including a man named Dooley who threatens Lisey with violence if he is not given the remaining works, but as Lisey looks through Scott’s remaining works, she discovers some long forgotten secrets about him, including a dead brother and a fantasy world which is far more real than she first believed.

This is another of King’s weirder stories, slightly reminiscent of such works as "Secret Window, Secret Garden" and "From A Buick 8". The characters here are engaging and well thought out, and the seemingly simple scenario is stretched to near breaking point in it’s complexities, which just goes to show that King is getting back on track with some of his earlier works.

MEN OF TOMORROW By Gerard Jones

Published : 2004
Pages : 340
Overall Mark : 6/10

Starting in war time America, this book takes a look at the history of the modern comic book, with its history coming from such diverse areas as the Jewish science fiction writing community to the gangsters of the 20s and 30s. This looks at the differing levels of success had by many of the key figures in comic book history, from the creators of Superman and their struggle to retain creative control and ownership, right up to the inception of Marvel comics and their more fun loving approach to the business.

This was an interesting read, with lots of worrying aspects pointed out about the early life of the comic book maker. Much of the focus of this book is on the monetary gains and losses caused by comic books in their early years of manufacture, and the notion that people who follow their dream may find it soon turns into something of a nightmare.

DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER By Jeff Lindsay

Published : 2004
Pages : 275
Overall Mark : 9/10

Dexter Morgan works for the Miami police force as a lab technician, but in his spare time he harbours a dark secret. Dexter is a serial killer, specialising in torturing and murdering people who truly deserve to die, and he manages to cope with all the killings by distancing himself from other people by putting on a façade to hide his natural uncaring state. But when a new serial killer comes to town, one whose techniques Dexter finds attractive and fascinating, he realises that perhaps his murders have gone too far and that this new killer may actually be him acting without his own knowledge…

For a first novel, Jeff Lindsay does done an amazing job with the character of Dexter. By creating a truly likeable lead, despite his penchant for murder, Lindsay has given us a uniquely fascinating insight into the mind of a killer who is actually very likeable, and you’ll even find yourself routing for him at times.

I, ROBOT By Isaac Asimov

Published : 1950
Pages : 249
Overall Mark : 8.5/10

Dr Susan Calvin recounts some of her more memorable experiences with robots, largely focussing on the innate problems people are faced with by the three laws of robotics. Her stories span from tales of little girls and their pet robots, robots forming gangs or unions, robots choosing self preservation over that of a human, and their sometimes eventual conclusions that they know what’s best for society more than humanity does!

This is an interesting collection of short stories, in which Asimov has clearly thought through the relative merits and problems of his invented three laws. It seems to me that he genuinely believes that they would not work, and that any attempt to make them work would lead to anarchy. The writing is simple and entertaining, and Asimov at no point tries to blind the reader with science but instead leads them by the hand, explaining everything along the way.

ODD THOMAS By Dean Koontz

Published : 2004
Pages : 420
Overall Mark : 8/10

Odd Thomas lives in the little town of Pico Mundo, and possessed the uncanny ability to sense creatures called bodachs, spirits who hang around with those who are either soon to be dead or are soon to kill! When he sees a man named Robert Robertson, aka. "Fungus Man", being followed around town with his own entourage of bodachs, and is then threatened by the man, Odd decides to confide in the Chief of Police who keeps his house under careful watched. But when Fungus Man turns up dead in Odd’s bathtub, he realises that something worse than he could possibly imagine maybe about to happen!

This is possibly one of Koontz’s most original novels - although there is a slight underlying feeling of Stephen King’s The Dead Zone - and clearly this was popular as it has two sequels already. This book flows very quickly and very fluidly, with only one or two chapters that felt like filler, and it has a nice surprise double-bluff ending.

DEJA DEAD By Kathy Reichs

Published : 1998
Pages : 509
Overall Mark : 7/10

Dr Temperance Brennan, the Director of Forensic Anthropology for the province of Quebec, believes that she has a serial killer on her hands. A number of dead female bodies have turned up, mutilated with the hands chopped off and foreign objects inserted into them. Temperance’s belief that the killers are all the same person is refuted by her colleagues and the investigating detectives, particularly Detective Claudel, so she takes it upon herself to investigate the murders with startling results.

This is the first of Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan novels, and a fine first stab at the thriller genre. Although many of the characters don’t seem to possess more than one dimension, Temperance remains a likeable key person in the novel, though sometimes she veers off into sounding like a bit of a desperate case, which doesn’t really suit her character that much.

A HAT FULL OF SKY By Terry Pratchett

Published : 2004
Pages : 350
Overall Mark : 8/10

Tiffany Aching has left home is now preparing to become a fully fledged witch with her new teacher, Miss Level, who is fortunate enough to possess two bodies, but upon arriving at Miss Level’s cottage Tiffany starts to sense a strange presence which lurks in her room, tidying up after her. When she is then possessed by a creature called a Hiver, the Nac Mac Feegle return, with the help of Mistress Weatherwax, to try and rid Tiffany of the invasive presence which allows Tiffany to act without conscience and do things she wouldn’t ordinarily do, such as kill!

This follow up to Pratchett’s 2003 novel The Wee Free Men is every bit as good, with the characters having actually progressed and grown over the two year gap in narration. Pratchett is in no way slowing down as he gets older, and in many cases his books are going from strength to strength, with this one – though primarily aimed at children – showing he is not growing short of ideas.

MARY MARY By James Patterson

Published : 2005
Pages : 435
Overall Mark : 7/10

Alex Cross is called in to help investigate the mysterious serial killer known as Mary Smith, who is apparently murdering random A-List celebrities whose only seeming connection is that they are all young women and good parents. As he becomes more and more involved in the case, his personal life takes a beating as his one time partner and mother of his youngest child fights him for custody, whilst all the while the FBI find themselves having to contend with a very secretive LAPD.

Almost from the very first page Patterson manages to confuse the reader by filling this novel with red herrings and misdirection. A number of the characters are there simply to lead the reader away from discovering who the real killer is, and it’s interesting in hind sight that the killer is introduced reasonably early on without it being entirely obvious who they are.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS By J K Rowling

Published : 2007
Pages : 607
Overall Mark : 8/10

Harry Potter finds himself on the run from the Ministry Of Magic and the evil Death Eater’s of Lord Voldemort. Along with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, they go in search of the horcruxes which Voldemort has used to store pieces of his soul in the vain hope of destroying him once and for all, but when they discover along the way that some of the horcruxes are far more than they first appear to be.

This is the last Harry Potter novel, apparently, and I’m actually quite glad it’s finally come to an end. Some series of books outstay their welcome, but thankfully this has ended on a high, following a rather poor fifth instalment, and a very good sixth! JK Rowling will no doubt either come up with a new character who will in no way be as good as Potter and his friends, but she won’t care because she’s made more than enough money already. Overall this book was a little too slow paced for my liking, with the ending feeling a bit too rushed for my liking, but it’s still one of the best children’s books out there at the moment, and has managed to achieve the unthinkable; crossing over into adult fiction.

CELL By Stephen King

Published : 2006
Pages : 473
Overall Mark : 7/10

While in Boston on a business trip to try and sell his new comic book, Clayton Riddell finds himself one of the few people in the USA not to be affected by a telephone pulse which has been sent through the phone networks, transforming anyone who used the phone into a seemingly mindless zombie. Realising that his family might be at risk, Clay decides to try to make the journey home, little realising that his home state of Maine could well be where the pulse originated from.

This novel was extremely similar to King’s earlier novel, The Stand, which in turn takes a lot from Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. King’s usual originality is missing here, instead he seems to be taking elements from his other works and mixing them around in the hope that he’ll come up with something new. Despite the feeling of being there before when I read this, I still found it to be an enjoyable read, and hope that King can keep up the good, though now not that original, work.

I AM LEGEND By Richard Matheson

Published : 1954
Pages : 160
Overall Mark : 9/10

Robert Neville is the last human alive on Earth. The rest of humanity, and indeed the animal kingdom, has succumbed to a terrible disease which transforms them into vampire-like creatures of the night. Finding himself scared and alone, Neville barricades himself in his house and prepares for an inevitable future of non-stop terror and alertness, trying to protect himself from the creatures who were once his friends and neighbours. But when he meets a young woman who appears, like himself, to be free of the illness, things start to look up for Robert Neville.

I was surprised at how modern this book felt. Richard Matheson manages to make this book feel contemporary even by today’s standards and, as this is supposed to be set in the late 70s, that’s not an easy task! This novel has been imitated by many, most recently in Stephen King’s Cell, but will always remain one of the original and the best of the modern vampire novels, up there with the likes of Dracula!

CROSS By James Patterson

Published : 2006
Pages : 436
Overall Mark : 7.5/10

When a series of sexual attacks take place throughout Washington, Alex Cross finds himself having to come out of retirement from the FBI to help investigate the terrible crimes. He is asked to use his skills as a psychologist to try to get any of the victims to describe their attacker, and to explain why all the victims are so afraid to talk to the police about the assaults. Alex soon finds that there are mob connections to the attacks and a possible link to the unsolved murder of his own wife many years before…

I do enjoy James Patterson’s books – the chapters are so short they make the perfect light-read on the way to and from work. Once again Patterson has managed to keep me engrossed until the final page, and this time around he’s really gone all out with the violence, something he usually would keep to a psychological level. Probably not as good as some of his previous offerings, such as Kiss The Girls, but far better than The Big Bad Wolf.

THE RUINS By Scott Smith

Published : 2007
Pages : 528
Overall Mark : 7/10

While on holiday in Cancun, four American tourists, Eric, Jeff, Amy and Stacy meet some Greek and German tourists. The German tourist, Mathias, invites them to help find his brother who has gone missing while investigating some ancient ruins. The Americans and one of the Greeks agree to join him in his search but, once they arrive at the ruins, they find themselves being held prisoner by the local Mayan tribe, who refuse to let them leave the hill where the ruins lie. As they discover that the previous visitors have all been killed, seemingly by the tribe, they slowly begin to fear for their lives!

Although this starts off very slowly, I stuck with it at the recommendation of a friend, and I'm glad I did. Although predominently a downbeat piece with everything really going from bad to worse for the characters, I found myself chuckling about many of the scenarios, even using the terms "nazi.. boyscout" in everyday conversation. This is definitely not the best book I've ever read, but it does have a lot going for it in terms of entertainment value.