'Tis at last finished.

I've finally managed to finish reading The Stolen by Jason Pinter. I found out it's actually a pre-release copy which makes me feel flattered that The Book Bag would actually trust me to review one of their new deliveries. I'm not going to go into details about it on here because my review is for them but I will post a link to it when it's done. All I can say is that I will never judge a crime/thriller book in a negative way again. I've only ever read one other crime novel and that was The Know by Martina Cole in 2005. I read it all on a journey from Paris to South Wales because I'd finished the Flowers in the Attic series I'd brought along with me. I enjoyed that but knew that crime wasn't really for me.

However, if there's one book that would make me turn back to crime it would be The Stolen. Consider it my action blockbuster for the summer (because we all know I avoid those films like the plague!). It has all the elements you want to keep you entertained, though I do find it frustrating when authors let the reader know what is happening before the characters. (I remember being taught that technique in university as a 'clever ploy' to make your reader feel smart. It just annoys me!) Even though The Stolen is the third in a series of 'Henry Parker' books (a series I have not read), I enjoyed it five times more than I expected. I even debated trying to find the first two books and reading those! I can't wait to review it properly.

I'm still working my way through my father's beaten up copy of Necroscope by Brian Lumley. A hundred pages in and it finally starts getting quite eery. The main Russian character, Dragosani, insists on talking to a strange 'undead' creature for five chapters straight and I can't stop myself from hearing the creature's voice as the possessed Regan MacNeil, which means that I will never let the boyfriend leave me alone in the house for the next couple of weeks!

To balance it out, I'm also reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - one of two Austen novels I have yet to read but quickly turning into one of my favourites. Isn't Miss Austen simply devine? I cannot fault her. And I cannot attempt to write like her too. Erg.