1906 - Something is discovered by workers digging the Panama Canal. Something dormant. Sinister. Very much alive.
2009
- Project Samhain. A secret underground government installation begun
103 years ago in New Mexico. The best minds in the world have been
recruited to study the most amazing discovery in the history of mankind.
But the century of peaceful research is about to end.
Because it just woke up.
When linguist Andrew Dennison is yanked from his bed by the
Secret Service and taken to a top secret facility in the desert , he has
no idea he's been brought there to translate the words of an ancient
demon. He joins pretty but cold veterinarian Sun Jones,
eccentric molecular biologist Dr. Frank Belgium, and a hodge-podge of
religious, military, and science personnel to try and figure out if the
creature is, indeed, Satan. But things quickly go bad, and very soon Andy isn't just fighting for his life, but the lives of everyone on earth...
My Review:
Workers digging The Panama Canal in 1906 discover a buried capsule that seems to include a sleeping demon inside. President Theodore Roosevelt insists on it being moved to a secure facility for study and there it has stayed under guard. Now the demon has woken up and a linguist is summoned to join the team to try and communicate with it. But 'Bub' has his own agenda and is determined to escape not just his cell but the facility itself and unleash a new kind of Hell on Earth.
I did really like the character of General Race Murdoch, the man who is currently running the facility. He is there with his wife Helen who took ill and is being treated there. He was recruited because he accidently killed his friend in a fight. He is a man that gets on well with the others, runs the facility well and I liked his personality. When trouble comes to the facility he proves that he is also brave and willing to put his own life on the line to save his people. He is also devoted to his wife, which I liked. I wasn't greatly keen on the others. Obnoxious Dr Julie was recruited to the facility after kidnapping a child and she continues to nurse that obsession. Frank the biologist was a drug addict who blew up a lab with his stupidity and killed people.
I found Andrew, the tax cheat linguist, to be quite an annoying character, that idiot guy who tries to chat you up in a bar with dumb jokes and stupid cringeworthy lines. This is how he behaves from the minute he meets Sun, who killed a human patient once, cracking jokes about her name. When he discovers that she is from Vietnam and is an animal doctor, he thinks he is being clever by joking that she is a Vietnam Vet. To say I wanted to smack him was putting it mildly. He also thinks she will be impressed if he keeps showing off all the languages that he can speak. What the hell she sees in him is a mystery and I found the focus on their sporting competitions and dates to be a distraction that adds nothing to the story.
There is also the religious debate throughout with the ongoing conflict between Rabbi Shotzen and Father Thrist. They spend most of the book arguing about religion and both believing they are right and the other is wrong. It got really annoying for me. It went on about fallen angels, demons, prophets, fighting over who Jesus was...it was repetitive, irritating and I grew sick of all the bickering. Bub of course sees the opportunity to sow even more seeds of distrust when he starts talking to members of the team. But if I'm being honest, I was bored by the religious conflicts that dominated parts of this book and I switched off every time these guys starting fighting with each other.
I loved the idea of digging up a demon and studying it, and then trying to stop it from escaping. I was very excited by the ideas in the book. However I found this book to be incredibly boring and it took forever to actually get to where the action started. I went into the book looking for a scary horror tale and it takes a long time to actually get to that happening. It gets better when Bub starts manipulating the characters in exchange for favours from each person which gets him closer to escape. The problem is that most of the book is about studying and then communicating with Bub, religious arguments and a dumb romance with no chemistry. It is page 169 out of 283 before Bub gets his first chance to really harm someone. That was just way too long to wait to keep me fully interested in the plot.
When it gets to the actual meat of the plot when Bub puts his escape plan into operation, things do improve. The battles with the demon and his minions have the tension and horror that I was looking for, and I did like the final section of the book. My issue is that with it taking so long to get to the good bits, I certainly wouldn't want to read it again. I'm also in two minds about going on to read the sequel because if it is really slow again it would be a certain DNF from me. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. Overall, I am a bit disappointed by this book.
Read Aug 2019
2.5 stars.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to
feature some of those neglected
books sitting on your bookshelf. You might
be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Go to
Carole's blog and add your blog post link in to join in the fun! Hosted
by Carole at https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.co.uk/
This seems
like a fun feature and I have been planning to take part since Carole
launched this so at last, here we go! I have a TON of unread books to
choose from in various genres and I'm looking forward to sharing some of
them with everybody.
The early climbing years of Britain's greatest living mountaineer, from his schooldays to his ascent of the Eiger in 1962.
I CHOSE TO CLIMB, first published in 1966, was Chris Bonington's
first book. He was recognised then, as now, as one of the outstanding
members of a brilliant generation of mountaineers, which included such
personalities as Hamish MacInnes, Don Whillans and Ian Clough. Here he
describes his climbing beginnings as a teenager as well as successful
ascents all over the world: the first ascent of the Central Pillar of
Freney, the first British ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in 1962,
Annapurna II in 1960 and in an unhappy expedition in 1961, Nuptse, the
third peak of Everest. The first volume of Chris Bonington's
autobiography is written with a warmth and enthusiasm that he has made
his own. It tells of his climbing tastes and practice, and of family,
friends and partnerships cemented over many years.
I got interested in mountain climbing expeditions after reading my first ever book about Everest, Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and since then I've read lots of them. I have a lot of books by Chris Bonington, who was famous in Britain as I was a kid so I had heard of him years ago. Before I read the specific books about each expedition I want to read these general biographies about him. It had been on my TBR since September 2012!!!
With a plain face, Jane
Seymour has no suitors and few hopes. Then she is granted a position at
court as maid of honor to Queen Catherine. There, Henry VIII ignores
his aging wife, showering favor on the dark beauty Anne Boleyn, soon to
be his new queen. But he tires of stubborn Anne, and his wandering eye
falls on plain Jane. Although she cares for Henry, she must not let
herself be swept away by his attentions. For she intends to win not only
his heart but also the greatest prize of all--the crown.
My Review:
Jane has grown up with the knowledge that she is no great beauty and as the years go by, marriage offers are not coming her way, even when she is chosen to go into the service of Catherine of Aragon. It is a difficult time for faithful Jane as Henry VIII has turned his attention to flashy and bitchy Anne Boleyn, causing chaos at Court. After being chosen to serve Anne when she becomes Queen, Jane struggles with her lonely existance and sneers of Anne and her friends but finally catches the eye of Henry himself, giving her the chance to bring Queen Anne down.
Most Tudor books go their own way with plots and this one is no different. It focuses a lot on Jane's imagined life at home before going to Court. She suffers great pain at hearing her parents complain about how plain she is and her lack of prospects meaning being sent to a convent is a real possibility. In her escape from her sad life, she forms a friendship with the son of a local well connected family William Dormer, who is upset about the arranged marriage he is to be forced into. He sees a wedding to Jane as a way out of her lonely life and his misery, based on companionship rather than passion. Jane asks the King's favourite Sir Francis to help them but William's family are not interested in a Seymour bride. I thought it was an interesting plot because of the wonderful Sir Francis and his affection for Jane and her problems.
Jane gets the chance to go to Court but life doesn't improve greatly for her. While she is loyal to Queen Catherine, she does not stand out amongst the other women who also seek a husband. I liked the invention of her crush on Thomas Wyatt, the poet who is hopelessly in love with Anne Boleyn, the King's new interest. The way that Thomas plays with Jane's affection is cruel as are the jibes of him and Anne's group, who take delight in putting Jane down. I was smugly satisfied during this part of the book as I knew that they were all going to get paid back when Jane replaces Anne in the King's affections. I liked the action at Court as Henry's changing moods moved the Court through three totally different Queens. Anne is portayed as nasty as you would expect in a book written from the view of Jane and I liked seeing Jane take centre stage in a book about Tudor times.
Niggles. The plot opens with the imagined 'romance' of Jane and William and their attempts to get permission to marry yet later in the book when Jane's star is rising and William is married, he doesn't remember her at all? I found that somewhat strange. He seems to have no recall of wanting to avoid the arranged marriage, cheerfully telling Jane that he always loved his betrothed and wanted to marry her from when he first met her. He came to Jane's house to talk about marrying her at the time yet can't remember meeting her? I just found all this really annoying and pointless! Why bother inventing this romance to have William not even react to Jane's success? It seems like it was meant as another reminder from the author that Jane was so forgetable that William can't remember her, her name or her family, which is stupid.
There was too much of the day to day drudgery that Jane had to endure at home before going to Court and those pages could have been used to focus instead on her short time as Queen. Having proved everyone wrong and risen so high against the odds, I just wanted to see more of her success. I wanted to see the women who sneered at her having to obey her, courtiers begging for her favour, her family grovelling...I wanted that total win for her in the short time she had left. I just felt that there wasn't enough of her life with Henry. My other complaint is that we were told way too often how plain and unattractive she was. It seemed that every page had another put down for Jane and it did get a bit wearing as the book progressed. I felt I didn't need to be reminded so often about how plain she was!
It was a decent read, certainly better than the Anne Boleyn book by the author/authors-there is some debate about whether this is a pen name for one author or several authors working together. However there are better Tudor novels out there.
Read Aug 2019
3 stars.
What if the next generation of reality show had your life as the prize?
The
island is the largest man made structure ever constructed. Within its
two hundred foot high steel walls are savage dinosaurs created for one
purpose. To hunt man. In addition, of those who are chosen to enter the
island, only one can leave and claim the prize. As television screens
around the world tune in to watch, the six contestants form an uneasy
alliance as they battle nightmarish beasts beyond comprehension. When a
secret is uncovered which could bring down the entire Lomar Corporation,
the contestants find that some men are worse than monsters, and some
corporations will stop at nothing to protect that which they tried so
desperately to hide.
My Review:
For several years, a secret game show took place on a mysterious island, and a mortality rate of 100%. Now the game has been resurrected to entertain a television audience and offer more desperate people the chance to win whatever prize they dream of. Chase is well aware that without medical help his daughter Elsie is going to die of cancer and he has no money to buy the cure. Hearing about The Island, Chase decides that this is the only chance for his family and signs up along with five strangers who all have their own prize in sight. What none of them are prepared for is the reality of what lives on The Island, the deadly dinosaurs that they have to get by to get to the exit. But soon they realise that in order to win, the other five need to die and a moral dilemma starts to eat at Chase. What is he prepared to do for his daughter's life?
Back in 2018, Damien came up with the idea of an extravagant nature reserve for rich tourists to enjoy on a special island but his father, who ran the company refused to entertain the idea. Now in 2043, Damien is in charge. He built his island but turned it into a game zone with deadly dinosaurs, offering a prize to anyone who could survive and escape. After three full seasons, everyone taking part had died and it was decided to shut down the island. but Damien is back with a new plan-open up the island and offer desperate people another chance at the prize of their choice, but this time instead of the game and the island being shrouded in secrecy, he plans to televise the whole event to the general public. Call me twisted, but this is exactly the kind of thing I could watch on a Saturday night!
The other characters were interesting. There is Moses, a former hired killer who wanted to start a new life but his past keeps catching up with him. He is here to get his past forgiven so that he can finally move on. Perrie doesn't believe the hype or the mortality figures for the show. She is obsessed with being famous and has no clue what she has signed up to as she never bothered to read the contract. Alex is the calmest person in the group which makes the others wary and he seems to know what they are about to face. Ryder has a family of tough military men to live up to and he wants to prove to his father that he is the best of them, even if it means killing all of the competition. My one confusion about him is that he is introduced to the others as former Special Forces yet talks about how he is unsure if he can actually kill someone. I found that a bit puzzling. It then mentions that his dad rubs his nose in the fact that he and his other sons are all military. It left me confused if Ryder is military or not.
The first night where a huge roar is heard deep in the jungle unnerves the group, who decide to stick together to begin with until they see what they are facing. They approach a water hole which looks like the ideal place to rest, relax, drink and swim-but the group are about to get a lesson in what lives on The Island and the terrible danger that they are in. there are lots of dinosaurs on The Island to enjoy and a few very dangerous encounters with them. There is also a lot of interesting terrain to get through which requires teamwork, and everyone is painfully aware that there can only be one winner in this game. It leads to that moral dilemma of what you would do to win, something Chase is struggling with as his daughter's life depends on him winning. Others may not be as reluctant to do what needs to be done so everyone is very much having to watch their backs.
There is added drama in the form of Damien himself. He is not above trying to manipulate the game for his own personal interests. He takes an interest in Chase and why he is taking part in the game, and gives him a boost before the action starts. However as the plot develops, we start to see what has previously been going on on The Island, what secrets it holds and the lengths that Damien will go to in order to keep his secrets. I found that it added another interesting strand to the plot, with the people on The Island being more of a danger to each other than some of the dinosaurs are. It also looks at morality and what desperate people can do as well as exploring how some people are willing to lose their humanity to win while others strive to hang onto theirs.
I'm a sucker for a good dinosaur drama especially in the form of a game show like this. I love the idea of man and woman testing themselves against dinosaurs and each other. The dinosaur action is a lot of scary fun as you would expect, with death and near misses to keep the reader entertained. The added element of how human nature develops under the circumstances was certainly interesting. It dipped just a little for me with a bit of a messy ending but I have to say that overall I found it a lot of fun to read. I'll be looking at more by the author for sure.
Read July 2019
4 stars.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish
in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of
2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to
bring bookish friends together. http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/
NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by
Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave
comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my
profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.
This week is about books outside my comfort zone that I ended up loving though I was a bit reluctant to try them initially. I tend to love horror, apocalypse and urban fantasy so these books were outside of what I normally read.
1) Martha Wells-The Murderbot Diaries
Social anxiety in a robot who just wants to be left alone to watch favourite drama series is something I can really relate to! I'm not big on robots or AI or evil corporations and space conspiracy but it was reviews about the great MC and the humour that made me want to read this one.
2) Philippa Gregory-The Other Boleyn Girl
Despite reading romances as a young teen, I actively disliked romance as I became an older reader. In fact I try to avoid it. It was reviews from friends that got me curious about it and that it was based on real events ie Henry VIII affair with both Boleyn sisters. This book got me interested in The Tudors and I've read a ton of them since!
3) George RR Martin-A Game Of Thrones
I don't read much fantasy at all and huge books scare me so I had no plans to read this series. That changed when I binge-watched the first six seasons of Game on Thrones on TV and loved it. I then became curious about the books and devoured them too. Now, like many others, I wait for The Winds of Winter!
4) JK Rowling-Harry Potter
A friend at work wanted me to read the books but kids books no longer interested me. It was over a year later that I picked them up through a book club and binge-read the first four books in a few days. I loved the humour, the incredible world-building and clever plots. Now Harry is one of my favourite ever series!
5) Jon Krakauer-Into Thin Air
I was in the Seasonal Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and had to read a book about mountains. I wasn't greatly excited but this one was recommended. I was hooked as soon as I started reading it and it has led to a great love of reading true mountain expedition books about the highest mountains, the death and dangers and the triumphs.
6) Ernest Cline-Ready Player One
I'm not a gamer or much into YA dystopian at the moment but I read a lot of great reviews of it. As a child of the eighties, I knew I'd get the music and film references and of course I knew that the film was coming out. I've yet to watch the film but I really enjoyed the book including the challenges, the retro feel and a shared love of the old days playing Pac-Man!
7) Jung Chang-Wild Swans
When I was active on Bookcrossing years ago, I loved the idea of book boxes where you posted a box of themed books to another reader who took out what they wanted to read and put others into the box before sending it on. I joined the Asian box on a whim. I don't recall the first one I gained from the box but I developed a great love for this type of non fiction for several years.
8) LD Goffigan-The Beast of London
I'm not a fan of books in the era of Victorian England. I don't like the society stuff or how women had to behave. I did love the cover of this one and it sounded like an interesting twist on the Dracula story so I read it anyway. I really enjoyed it and have now bought other books in the series!
9) Michael Korda-The Immortals
This is the fictional sory of the alleged affairs that Marilyn Monroe had with Jack and Bobby Kennedy. I picked this up totally on a whim despite not being into anything with romance. I found the whole book fascinating to read and was glad I had taken the risk. It helps that I have always been interested in the Kennedy family, though mostly the assassination events.
10) Matthew Quick-The Silver Linings Playbook
I don't read contemporary at all but I wanted to take a look at this film because of the big cast and decided it would be a good idea to read the book first. I usually like to see what the author wanted before seeing changes in the film. I'm glad I did as it turned out to be very good. I also very much enjoyed the film which I watched recently.
