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The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Jasper Fforde

July 19, 2001
Having read two of the Thursday Next books (and about to start my third), I'd just like to say that I agree with some of the points raised about characterisation being a little one-dimensional at times. However, I think that doesn't detract from the overall fun and flavour of the book(s) at all. I'm having a whale of a time in Jasper's world! The quirkiness is just right because there are enough real-world analogies to hang onto. Anyone know where I can get a re-engineered thylacine?

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Boy A

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Jonathan Trigell

October 25, 2007
i thought this was a really good book. Not what i expected to be honest as I didnt think i would warm to the character but you do. he is a different person from the child 11 years previously and you want him to have some kind of normality.

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Sawbones: 0 (Most Wanted)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Stuart MacBride

July 01, 2008
Firstly, this must not be taken too seriously or you won't enjoy it. I enjoyed it.

It has all the hallmarks of classic MacBride with his dark humour complimenting the nice'n'shocking depravation, gore and mutilation all quite colourfully described.

There's nothing wrong from departing from a successful theme for as much as I enjoy them, I would not want him to resent having to churn out Logan books along the same formula for ever and ever... I'm sure I'm not alone here.

It did give me Tarantino flashbacks though and I am loath to give more than three stars for what was essentially a short story, also not reflected in the price.

Thus, I would recommend the next departure from Aberdeen to be a collection of short ... Read More:

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Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Sanction

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Eric Van Lustbader

August 07, 2008

This is the third book written by Eric Van Lustbader about Jason Bourne. As I've commented before, this isn't the same Jason Bourne as Robert Ludlum wrote about. If you want that Jason Bourne, skip this book. It's also different from the wonderful ninja stories that Eric Van Lustbader is known for. So don't look for that either.

If you are interested in meeting and following a new Jason Bourne, read on. If you do decide to read The Bourne Sanction, I strongly suggest that you read The Bourne Betrayal first. The characters and the situation won't make much sense to you otherwise. I suspect that you will see this book as a one or two star effort.

As the book opens, there's a deadly secret being passed along to help foil a dangerous ... Read More:

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Dead Right

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Peter Robinson

September 07, 2001
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and is the author of a number of previous novels featuring Inspector Banks. He is the winner of numerous awards in the United States, Britain and Canada, and in 2002 he won the CWA Dagger in the Library. As I also come from Leeds the background to his stories is something that I have experienced first hand and because of this I have a special affection for his books. However they would be first class crime fiction wherever they were based.

Having said that I can understand to a degree why some readers may not like the books. Banks is a character that has grown over several books and the author is very comfortable not only with the character of Banks, but all the other character too. To me this makes the stories flow ... Read More:

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Playing for Pizza

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: John Grisham

June 05, 2008
This is the Worst Grisham book I have ever read. A nothing book. What a disappointment

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The Paper Moon (Montalbano 9)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Andrea Camilleri

June 06, 2008
Inspector Montalbano wakes this time not by his inner alarm clock but from one he now sets each night to wake him prompt each morning. His usual slapstick routine of starting the day had fallen by the wayside, irrelevant random thoughts had been plaguing his mind, with a touch of forgetfulness, tiredness and that feeling of age had suddenly creep upon him.

Within ten minutes of being at the station Montalbano is confronted by Signorina. Michela Pardo who cannot locate her brother Angelo, he may have been forty-two but had been missing for some forty eight hours and would always call when away. After a few questions and being won over by Michela's deep, violet lake eyes he was willing to check out her brother's apartment. Montalbano stumbles into a gruesome ... Read More:

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Death Message (Tom Thorne Novels)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Mark Billingham

May 29, 2008
I don't think DI Thorne is my favourite policeman these days. Maybe I just can't get into Mark Billingham's books. I read the earlier ones and found them to be slow going. This one is no different.

Certainly, the plot is intriguing and the police procedures are well up to scratch as far as the reader is concerned. Certainly, the book is well written, the dialogue entertaining and yet...

Some have likened Thorne to Rebus or Morse but he seems to lack the charisma of these two. I felt detached whereas with the other characters mentioned, one almost feels to be involved in what's taking place.

I'll probably read the next one but won't go back and catch up on the couple I appear to have missed.

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Tell No One

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Harlan Coben

January 07, 2002
This is the very first Harlan Coben novel I read. After reading it I've been hooked on this author. This is truly one of the great crime novels from one of the best crime writers in the business. It's a cliche in the book wrld, but I literally could not put this book down.

I'm currently reading my fourth Coben novel and have two more on the bookshelf waiting to be read. I've thoroughly enjoyed them all.

How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good

Real Life Dramas - Volume One: 1

Darren G. Burton

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World Without End

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Ken Follett

October 03, 2008
I have been waiting for this book for years.... and now when I have read it, I hope it was never written. IT does not at all live up the the Pillars of earth. Neither does it compare to some of the other good books Ken Follet has written. 150 pages less and it might have been ok. I try to end all the books I start, but this was heavy. The story line was light, some of the "histories" within the story are totally out of scope (like nuns in french war). I read 6 books in my vacation. This was the worst.