From the Storm by Adrian J. Walker

Title: From the Storm
Author: Adrian J. Walker
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing
Release Date: 10th January 2017
Genre: Fiction, Thriller


Summary:The lives of several total strangers link together in a tale of mystery and espionage all because of one man

Review:

So, I read this book quite a while ago and have only gotten round to writing a review of it... partly because I have been super busy and partly because it was such a painful experience to read I did not want to think about it again! To be honest, it is mostly the second reason...

The book on the whole is extremely well written and in a easy to read writing style. The characters are well formed and the idea, on the whole, is quite interesting. However, the links between the characters (the most important bit) is confusing to understand... like really confusing unless you pay extremely close attention. To b e honest, I only really understood what was going on when I read the blurb.

The One by John Marrs

Title: The One
Author: John Marrs
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: 4th May 2015
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Sci-Fi

Summary:
What if a quick DNA test could find your soul mate? 

Would you trust it? Would you trust them?

Review:
I was initially intrigued to this book because the idea was so interesting and different. I mean, it would definitely be something I would do - would save a lot of hassle and heartbreak for sure! However, I was not sure what to expect or what direction the book would take. I was, nonetheless, pleasantly surprised and finished it in two days!

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

Title: The Bourne Identity
Author: Robert Ludlum
Publisher: Orion
Release Date: 24th March 2005
Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Summary:
A man is found floating in the sea. He is barely alive. With no name, no past all he has is a number of a bank account in Zurich.


Review:
I really, really, really, really hated this book and could not wait to finish it, so much so that I skim read most of it. I'll keep this short.

The characters were boring, predictable and there were waaaay too many french names to remember! 

If you like the film, do not read the book!


Rating: 1/10.

You can buy The Bourne Identity from Amazon here.

To Kill the President by Sam Bourne

Title: To Kill the President
Author: Sam Bourne
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 4th July 2017
Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Summary:
The people of the United States of America have elected an incompetent and sexist man as President. Under his rule, a number of conspirators plot his assassination amid unjustified declarations of war. 

Carrie by Stephen King

Title: Carrie
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 31st October 1991
Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Horror

Summary: 
The events surrounding the mystery of Carrie White have baffled specialists and experts for many years. The novel revels the events surrounding the fatal night in Chamberlain through personal accounts and news experts to uncover why she did what she did and how.

Review:
I honestly have not been motivated at all to read over the past few months. I have been busy applying for jobs, writing assignments and planning my dissertation in preparation for a full summer of writing all the while trying to make sure every aspect of my does not fall apart. It is so much fun doing a Masters...

Anyway, I bought Carrie in January and have finally found some time to read it - it is pretty important to give yourself breaks when writing a dissertation!

At first I wasn't too keen on the book, as I could briefly remember the film which I was not too fussed on! However, as with all Stephen King books - if you give it time and patience, it will soon pay off. Carrie, whilst slow at first, turned out to be a page-turner that I literally could not put down.

It was not as gory as I was expecting to be though. The details of the deaths within the book were, in my opinion, often overlooked and could have been given more attention - I did not know one character in particular was dead until it was explained ten pages later! This would have made the dramatic last fifty pages a bit more interesting and happen less quickly! 

I did, however, really enjoy the style that the book was written in using extracts from accounts and publications written from the different perspectives of the characters within the book. The mix of personal and somewhat onlooker accounts really added to the mystery of Carrie White and made you all the more intrigued. 

Now to wait another four months until I finish another book...

Rating: 8/10.

You can buy Carrie from Amazon here.

The Green Mile by Stephen King

Title: The Green Mile
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Penguin Street
Release Date: 1st September 1996
Genre: Thriller, Fiction

Summary:
It is a long walk down The Green Mile for the inmates of Cold Main Penitentiary. 

Life passes on as normal on death row until a quiet giant named John Coffey arrives and strange things and miracles start to happen. 

Review:
So, I FINALLY finished a book. Yay!

I don't really have much to say about this book apart from it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Go read it now. Stephen King is a genius and I was gripped throughout the story - that is, when I actually had time to sit down and read.

I absolutely loved the characters - both the good and the evil. It also kept you guessing if Coffey was innocent or guilty throughout so you are never really sure who this miracle man is and whether he can be trusted. When you do find out though - it is worth the wait.

Originally, the novel was split into six parts and I cannot understand how people could have waited to see what was going to happen. 

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

Title: I Am Pilgrim
Author: Terry Hayes
Publisher: Corgi Books
Release Date: 2nd August 2013
Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Crime

Summary:
Evil forces - long in the making - are about to descend on the United States of America. Pilgrim - a retired government security operative - must unravel years of international mystery, and find the thread that connects a series of random events, to stop one man killing millions.

Review:
I have been wanting to read I Am Pilgrim for a long time and finally took the plunge and I am so glad I did! Whilst it was a very long read - not the short crime, thriller I thought it was - it was so worth it as I could not put it down! I LOVED it.

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Title: The Andromeda Strain
Author: Michael Crichton
Publisher: Avon Books
Release Date: 1st September 1969
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi

Summary:
When a satellite lands in a sleepy town in Arizona, a state of emergency is called as the whole town mysteriously dies. It is up to five biophysicists to figure out what happened and to ensure it does not happen again.
Review:
I had heard a lot of good reviews about this book but none of them prepared me for how thrilling and gripping it is. I loved it. The characters. The plot. The possibility of the world ending. Perfect.

The Shining by Stephen King

Title: The Shining
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 1st July 1980
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Classic, Horror

Summary:
When his father becomes the Winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, young Danny Torrance does not know the danger that awaits him. Danny is blessed (or as some may say - cursed) with the shining and the mysterious forces inside the hotel want it badly...

Review:
I made a promise to myself to "try" and look after myself more with all my assignments and drama going on around me so, I thought I would take a stab at The Shining which I have tried to read about three times before.

The Martian by Andy Weir

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: 27th August 2015
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi

Summary:

After a NASA mission to Mars, goes horribly wrong Mark Watney is left stranded on the red-planet with no way to communicate with Earth. 

With limited food, water and threat of his life-support systems breaking down at any moment; Watney has to "science the shit out of" the situation to survive.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk
Release Date: 7th June 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Fantasy

Summary:
Jacob grew up surrounded by the weird and marvelous stories his grandfather told him of peculiar children with weird powers. However, when Jacob witnesses a monster murdering his grandfather - the stories he was told as a boy become a mysterious reality.

Clues lead Jacob to an island in Wales, where he discovers; a peculiar orphanage, his grandfather's past and the monstrous danger he was running from his whole life.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Title: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Author: Michael Crichton

Publisher: Arrow Books

Release Date: 1995

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Sci-fi

Summary:

Five years have passed since the disaster at Jurassic Park, and despite the authorities best efforts to keep the islands dangerous inhabitants existence a secret; a gingerbread trail of dinosaur remains are washing up on nearby beaches. Soon enough it attracts unwanted attention from both the good and the bad.

Ian Malcolm is soon back on the island to rescue his friend who has become an unwitting victim of the islands' allure despite still holding both emotional and physical scares from his previous visit. Can he survive a second time or is his time up?

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Title: Jurassic Park

Author: Michael Crichton

Publisher: Arrow Books

Publication Date: 1991

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Sci-fi

Summary:
John Hammond, a mad, eccentric billionaire, has done the impossible and brought history back to life on a remote island far off of the coast of Costa Rica. He calls it, Jurassic Park.

But his dream is riddled with flaws that, in an unfortunate and terrifying sequence of events, prove that man cannot play God and recreate nature and history.

Review:
I cannot rave about this book enough! It may be quite old and not well known (lets face it, who knew that Jurassic Park was a book before it was a film?) but I could not put this book down and finished it in four days!

Apart from the Harry Potter series, I have not felt so gripped and immersed by a book in a long time! I cannot exactly put my finger on why the plot is so thrilling. I think it is to do with the mix of life threatening danger, like the terrifying tyrannosaurus and velociraptors, and the scientific explanation.

So why would you read the book when you can just watch the film? Well, the book is immensely more detailed in the genetics and reasoning behind how the dinosaurs were recreated whereas the film just brushes over it and leaves unanswered questions. The same is with how a supposed colony of female dinosaurs are able to breed - the book explains this perfectly with a totally logical explanation that could be plausible.

Lets face it though, you probably could not recreate dinosaurs from scratch through the method described by Crichton in the book but it does make you think...

I also liked the foreboding through the constant references to the Chaos Theory. If you watched the film, this keeps you on the edge of your seat as you are constantly wondering when everything is going to go crazy!

Rating: 10/10. I bet you cannot read it without imagining Sam Neill as Dr Grant...

You can buy Jurassic Park from Amazon here.

The Walking Dead Compendium: Volume Two by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Tony Moore & Cliff Rathburn

Title: The Walking Dead Compendium: Volume Two
Authors & Illustrators: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Tony Moore & Cliff Rathburn
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: 19th May 2009
Genre: Horror, Comics

Summary:
Collect issue #49 - 96 of the popular comic series The Walking
Dead. I could not resist...

Review:
After I read the first compendium of this series (you can read my review here), I have been dying to sink my teeth into the next batch of comics in this series!

I may have just used loads of zombie-related puns but words cannot describe how good these comics are! Once you get into the story line and the format of reading comics, you just want more and more and it will take you no time at all to get through the 1,068 pages of gore, horror and grizzly deaths.

The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga

Title: The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
Author: Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date: 21st October 2011
Genre: Horror

Summary: 
The entire human race is under threat - and Philip Blake is on the front line.

After escaping from their small hometown the Blake brothers, and their childhood friends, are on the run from the zombie swarms closing in on them. But apparently their is a safe zone. The problem? It is hundreds of miles away in Atlanta.

Can they survive this mammoth trek and find their safe haven? Or will the challenges of this new, dangerous world be too much?

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R. R. Martin
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: 1st September 2011
Genre: Dark Fantasy

Summary:
War is coming as five nobles stake their claim for the most coveted chair in Westeros - the Iron Thorne - a prize is so sought after it turns family into foe, and friends into enemies.

Review:
It may have taken me two weeks, but I have finally finished reading the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series! Running a book blog and working full-time on a placement year, is not as easy as I thought it was going to be...

Anyway, whilst it did take me ages to finish it - I enjoyed every page of the book and cannot wait to read the rest of the series!

Echoes of the Past by Deborah Mailer

Title: Echoes of the Past
Author: Deborah Mailer
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Release Date: 30th January 2014
Genre: Crime, Thriller

Summary:
Tom Hunter has been in the police-force all his life, dedicating his life to solving crimes and catching criminals. After a serious heart attack and the death of his wife, he moves to the small, unassuming village of Coppersfield along with his daughter, Jess.

However, when Hunter looks into a series of unsolved disappearances; their haven is soon disturbed by creepy goings-on and supernatural beings.

Review:
When I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a simple, crime/thriller. Oh no no, how I was wrong... Instead of being a simple crime novel, the plot incorporates ghosts too...

Earthly Powers by David Anderson

Title: Earthly Powers
Author: David Anderson
Release Date: 10th June 2014
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Genre: Thriller

Summary:
In 1945, just before the end of the war, a German U-boat transported a deathly secret away from the ruins of Berlin.

Hidden on Arcadia Island, on the outskirts of British Columbia, it was safely stored away to make sure it did not fall into the wrong hands.

However, many years later it is about to be rediscovered by the islands latest resident, Terri Stark.

But when Lucius Stringer and his eco-group, Earth Power, move onto the island; strange, and deadly, things start ruin Terri’s peaceful haven.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Title: A Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 23rd December 2010
Genre: Dark Fantasy

Summary: 
In the Land of Westeros Winter is coming and the struggle for the Iron Thorne has begun.

Review:
I was not sure what I was expecting when I was persuaded to start reading this series but I did not think it was going to be as good as it actually is.

It is awesome and it is easy to see why it has become so popular.

Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson

Title: Before I Go to Sleep
Author: S. J. Watson
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: 2nd January 2012
Genre: Thriller, Crime

Summary: 
Imagine waking up everyday and not knowing who or where you are. You do not recognise the people around you; even your own family! Just when they start to help you remember... it is time to go back to sleep!

This is the life of Christine.

Review:
There are some books which, after you've read them, leave you speechless. This, however, is not one; as, in my opinion, there is nothing remotely remarkable about this book. I mean, I can barely remember what happened in it... (kind of ironic, ey?).