Catching up

So, I'm about 83 books behind on reviewing... OK, '3'... it just feels like 83. So I'd better get on with the task of catching up with some brief reviews.

First up, from September, The Ghost Slayers: Thrilling Tales of Occult Detection, edited by Mike Ashley. This was sent to me by The British library for review.

The theme of this anthology is occult detectives. I was very pleased to see that this was a Mike Ashley collection because I find his choices to be very reliable. And so it turned out to be, this is easily one of the best weird anthologies I've read from the British Library. There are nine stories in all which is less than usual but this is because many of the contributions are quite long. I had several favourites. The Story of the Moor Road by Kate and Hesketh Pritchard is a 'Flaxman Low' tale. He goes in to investigate when people report being attacked by something unseen on a lonely road on a moor. This was so atmospheric and the outcome very creepy. A Psychical Invasion by one of my favourites, Algernon Blackwood, concerns an author who makes his living writing humorous books. The wife goes to John Silence for help because her husband has suddenly lost his sense of humour and can't write. I loved the use of a cat and a dog in this one, used because they sense things humans cannot. Blackwood was clearly an animal lover. The Valley of the Veils of Death by Bertram Atkey is a 'Mesmer Milann' story. He can apparently project his soul from one place to another. The man needing help here has just walked across Australia from North to South. This is a bit of a ripping yarn story of something guarding jewels in a valley in the desert but it's also a very good study of human nature. So those were my favourite three stories in this collection but every story in it was very well written and very readable. Highly recommend and I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.

Next, and also from September, Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda. This is book one in the author's Jade Del Cameron series, set in the 1920s in different regions of the African continent. 

Jade Del Cameron is an American woman who drove ambulances in WW1. She lost someone very close her, David, a pilot, was there at his death in fact, and his dying words were to ask Jade to find his brother. In London the pilot's mother denies the existence of another brother so off Jade goes to the Kenya Colony to dig around and see what she can discover. There's quite a large ex-pat community around Nairobi and Jade makes friends quickly but none of them seem to be able to tell her much about David's father and who he might've had a child with. She soon realises someone knows though and that her life is very much in danger: it's a good job Jade can look after herself. Well, this is another ripping yarn, full of adventure and daring do. Jade is great character, fiesty and intelligent and not willing to bend to the will of anyone. The setting of Kenya just before it actually became Kenya is superby depicted and I very much felt I was there. A word of warning, attitudes to big game hunting back in the 1920s were 'very' different to what they are now. It's not overdone in this book but there are one or two scenes which might upset some. There are seven books in this series, the last one written in 2015 and I gather the author is not writing any more. I don't know why. I will definitely be reading all of the books that have been written though as I thought Mark of the Lion was a very promising start.

Lastly, A Time of Torment by John Connolly, book 14 in his Charlie Parker series.

Yes, book 14 and my love for this series never seems to wane. The minute I pick up one of John Connolly's books I am sucked in, hook, line and sinker. In this instalment an area called The Cut in the mountains of West Virginia comes to the attention of Charlie Parker. First though he has to work out the mystery concerning James Burnel who at first was a hero in a gas station robbery and then finds himself accused of being a paedophile and serving time in prison. Parker believes him to be innocent and that perhaps darker forces are at work. When Burnel disappears, this is confirmed but Parker, Louis and Angel have their work cut out discovering the source of the evil until one of the suspects let's something slip about The Dead King. To my mind John Connolly is the best horror/crime writer writing today. I suppose there's something about the way he writes that is perfect for me personally but how he manages to hit the spot with his Charlie Parker books, every single time, I do not know. But he does and every book is beautifully written, full of secrets to be discovered, excellent historical detail, and creepy enough to keep me happy. I have said before that this series is not for all, it is violent and has some strange ideas about it. But for my money, the longer Connolly keeps writing these books, the better.

So that's me up to date. I hope your autumn reading is going well and that you're finding some good books to read.