Lucky Me!

I follow www.waterstones.com on Facebook and last week they wrote an entry saying they had a few copies of Beatrice and Virgil by the Booker Prize winner Yann Martel to give away providing it's read and then reviewed on their site. I apllied thinking I probably wouldn't receive one. Well, I was wrong and a copy turned up this morning! I am chuffed to bits. The book is a proof version as it's not on general release. Publishing date is April the 13th I believe.

This is what Goodreads have to say on the book.

Fate can take many forms. For Henry, a writer living in a foreign city, it arrives in the form of an envelope from a reader. Instead of the usual fan mail, the envelope contains a story by Flaubert, a scene from a play featuring two characters named Beatrice and Virgil, and a note asking for Henry’s help. The note is signed “Henry,” and the return address is not far from where Henry lives. When Henry walks his dog to hand-deliver his response, he is surprised to discover a taxidermist’s shop. Here, stunning specimens are poised on the brink of action, silent and preternaturally still, yet bursting with the palpable life of a lost, vibrant world. And when the mysterious, elderly taxidermist introduces his visitor to Beatrice and Virgil—a donkey and a howler monkey—Henry’s life is changed forever.

Yann Martel’s previous novel, Life of Pi, has become a modern classic. A fantastical tale about a boy and a tiger shipwrecked in the Pacific, it asked probing questions about belief and reality. Now Martel has written another story that uses animals to examine our humanity. In Beatrice and Virgil, he poses enduring questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity. Haunting and unforgettable, this is an extraordinary feat of storytelling.

Knife by R.J.Anderson

Knife by R.J. Anderson


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a lovely story. It tells of a fairy (Knife) who befriends a young man who is in a wheelchair and of how they help save 'Knifes' fairy folk in their tree in the young mans garden. Beautifully written, a must read for lovers of adult fairy tales.

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The Prophecy by Chris Kuzneski

The Prophecy by Chris Kuzneski


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book, a real page turner.
When the prophetic writings of sixteenth-century visionary Nostradamus begin to ring alarmingly true, Payne and Jones find themselves in a life-or-death race across the world to stop those who would use the French seer’s predictions for their own dark purposes.

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Starting over by Tony Parsons

Starting over by Tony Parsons


My rating:4 of 5 stars





This is my first read by Tony Parsons and I couldn't put the book down. It is the story of a man who has a heart transplant and the turmoil it brings upon his family when he is given a new lease of life. It is told from the man's point of view and is very compelling reading.

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Pilot Error by Bill Knox

Pilot Error by Bill Knox


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I had a lot of trouble getting into this book and nearly ditched it but I persevered with it. I'm not sure if it was the storyline or whether my fragmented reading of it made it hard to read. probably a bit of both.


Synopsis

A Thane and Moss mystery.Chief Inspector Colin Thane of Glasgow CID has a bad case of the Monday morning blues. Not only is he fighting a bout of flu, he’s also overwhelmed by departmental bureaucracy and the little matter of his latest assignment – the investigation of a private plane crash which has claimed the lives of two employees from a local travel agency.

And when a third employee of Eurobreak Vacations dies, and the wreckage of the aircraft is blown to smithereens, it seems likely to Thane that someone at Eurobreak is organising something rather more sinister than holidays.

So Thane and his trusted colleague Phil Moss retrace the final steps of the recently departed and take off for the Highlands on a little busman’s holiday of their own.

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The Gropes by Tom Sharpe

The Gropes by Tom Sharpe


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It's been a while since I read a Tom Sharpe and I thoroughly enjoyed his latest offering. The book is both witty and humourous. A must read for those who liked the Wilt series.

Synopsis

It is one of the more surprising facts about old England that one can still find families living in the same houses their ancestors built centuries before and on land that has belonged to them since before the Norman Conquest. The Gropes of Grope Hall are one such family.

A brilliantly funny novel about what happens when the women take charge. The Gropes are an old English family based in Northumberland, separated from the rest of society and as eccentric as they come. It is a line dominated by strong-willed and oversexed women, determined to produce more female heirs regardless of whether their desired partners are willing or not.

At the dawn of the new millennium, tired and gormless teenager Esmond is abducted and lured to Grope Hall by a descendant of the Gropes. Young Esmond is powerless to escape, and his kidnap sets in motion a stream of farcical events that will have readers laughing out loud.

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Chill Factor by Peter Turnbull

Chill Factor by Peter Turnbull


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the third Hennessey and Yellich Mystery book I read from Peter Turnbull. The detective work is superb and the characters are very believable. A must read for those you enjoy crime/mystery novels.

Synopsis

A corpse is discovered in the middle of the city of York. It is of a male; with no identification, shot, and tortured before his murder. It seems to be a professional hit, by the look of it. Gary "Hammer" Sledge turns out to be part of a large family well-known to the police, and most with previous form, and out for revenge at the killing of one of their own. Gradually people talk; hints are dropped; and trails appear - all leading to a man with no record and who has never been inside a police station. But the police know him - he's connected to another unexplained sudden death, and another, and a few more. Detective Chief Inspector George Hennessey and his stalwart assistant Sergeant Yellich need to find this Mr Big - who has a particularly chilling method of disposing of the human evidence...

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