Tuesday 12 July 2016

The English Sombrero: Nothing to do but run by Doug Goddard and Anthony Randall

Unfortunately my running days are behind me. My Achilles tendons start to protest after a mere 5 min. Like the main character in this book I struggled with my weight (But nothing like the main character Don Simmonds!) What started out as a chore to lose weight became an enjoyable pass time and I found some determination and will power I didn't know I had. It led to a number of 10k, Half-Marathons and even a full marathon. I found this book hugely entertaining and it brought back a few fond and not so fond memories. Well writen in an easy conversational style; I give it 5 stars.
The English Sombrero:Nothing to do but run on Amazon.com

Don Simmonds is a man you’d love to hate. A brash, arrogant used car sales man who overindulges at every opportunity. At 26 stone he can barely walk from the carpark to the pub. One Sunday after getting held up in traffic by a half marathon and therefore missing out on a car deal, Don vents his anger in the pub. Surrounded by his regular drinking buddies he thinks nothing of insulting the runners; calling them a “bunch of wankers.”
An old gentleman confronts him and demands an apology on behalf of his marathon running grandson. Bolstered by alcohol and the knowledge that few people have his kind of money; he makes the gentleman a bet of quarter of a million pounds that he will run the half marathon in a year’s time in under an hour and a half. He is more than a little surprised when he gets taken up on his bet.
This is a great story that has the feel of an old style Ealing comedy about it. Mind you the actor who would play Don would have an impossible task as he has to go from 26 stone to a sensible running weight. An inspirational tale of one mans will and determination.
I liked the book from the first chapter and enjoyed going on the journey with Don. I loved experiencing new things with him and meeting some great Spanish characters along the way. The book is written with a lot of love for Catalonia and its people. We see the character of Don grow throughout the book and he becomes a genuinely nice bloke you end up cheering for. Having run a few half marathons myself I thought the book was spot on, but going from 26stone to running anything is quite a challenge! I could have done without the subplot of the Russian gangsters, but it did show yet another facet to Dons character.
Enjoyable and inspirational read, I recommend it.

Tuesday 5 July 2016

The Photograph by Grant Leishman

Summer here is in full swing and it is hard to concentrate when the temperature hits 32°C. I also have the excuse of the combined distractions of the European cup and friends wanting to meet up for drinks, beach parties or a gossip and a swim. Luckily I get a bit of reading done on my lunch break. This book was a real treat; a good original story and some well developed characters that were closer to my own age and I could relate to. I would like to read more of this writer as I like his sense of humour. A great supernatural thriller which I gave 5 stars.
The Photograph by Grant Leishman on Amazon

When Tony Logan finds a roll of undeveloped film clearing out his house, a nagging feeling in the back of his head tells him not to develop it. His sister Marie however urges him to print some photos when he tells her they were taken at their mother’s funeral many years ago. What they discover on the photos is something that shocks them to the core. Tony and his sisters; Marie and Cheryl embark on a quest to find out the truth about their mothers death and abandonment by their father. It leads them into the dangerous world of the occult. This is a well written supernatural thriller with a twist at every turn. Although it deals with the occult and there are a few nail-biting and gruesome moments it has enough humour and warmth to steer away from full out horror. This is what I liked best about this book, the depth of the characters. Before any spooky happenings, we get to know Tony Logan very well. He is not your usual hero; middle aged, down on his luck and recently divorced from the love of his life. He struggles with getting back on his feet again. I had great empathy with Tony and I understood his actions, despite willing him to leave the past well alone. The interactions between Tony, his estranged sisters and husbands, provide some of the comedy moments. But as they argue we feel that they still care for each other and that in the end blood is thicker than water. I enjoyed reading this book and was surprised and delighted by its originality and unexpected plot turns. The book is mostly written in the first person and we share Tony’s views and insights. Later in the book it turns to 3rd person narration as we follow his brother in law’s antics. I thought this was a good change of pace and worked with that particular plot line. This is my first book by this author but I’m hoping to discover more. Maybe the follow up to this book as the ending is left temptingly open.

Friday 24 June 2016

Primed By The Past: Introducing Detective Annie Macpherson by Barbara Fagan Speake

As I'm still reeling from the Brexit vote, I'm trying to take my mind of it by reading and writing. I wonder what Detective Annie MacPherson would have made of it all. She and my husband are Scottish and I lived there for 20 years. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain, but will now see it selves being dragged out of Europe. Worrying times ahead for all of them. The Annie MacPherson is the heroine of the novel I'm reviewing and it was a great work. Full of surprises and a 5 star read.

Annie MacPherson is a Scottish detective on an exchange program to the Westford Police department in the USA. She has broken off her engagement to her fiancee and is hoping to forget her heartbreak with a fresh start in a new country; a chance to learn and become a better Detective too. Her first case comes with some guilt: The victim who was beaten nearly to death had come to seek her help only a week before. As they delve into victim’s life, a number of suspects are questioned, but Annie feels there is a deeper, but yet unknown motive for the brutal attack. As the book goes on we discovering more and more information; I was hooked and on the edge of my seat by the time of the nail biting finish. This first book in the Annie MacPherson detective series is a promising start indeed. Gripped from start to finish I followed Annie about as she got to grips with her first case during her secondment. I think what makes her so likeable is that she is an ordinary woman; someone I could totally relate to. She has a few problems back at home. She is affected by them, but dedication to her work drives her on. Meticulous police work and trusting her instincts make her extraordinary. She is also a real woman, someone that cannot help herself from falling for the victim’s brother and feeling jealous when he grows close to the victim’s best friend. I feel I got to know this woman well and I want to find out where her work and love life will take her next. Bring on the follow up Programmed to Kill.

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Work in progress a preview



I'm working on a bundle of short stories. They are going to be in the form of a journalist interviewing characters. Traveling always gets the creative juices flowing and my recent trip to New York compelled me to write a little satire about the airline industry. I'm not saying we had to stand on our way back, but I felt a bit herded and prodded. Enjoy.

A cut above the rest
‘It’s a new airline, it’s low cost but they claim to do things a bit different from the rest,’ said Sander Forrester handing his journalist Michael the booking confirmation.
Michael took the note somewhat surprised; he thought he was to work on his series of remarkable people from Edinburgh for the supplement.
‘The CEO of this company is from Edinburgh; you’ll have a meeting with him once you get off the plane,’ added his editor if reading his thoughts.
A few days later Michael was trying to check into his flight online. The procedure was mostly in-line with other low cost airlines he had flown with, until he came to the part where he expected to print off his boarding card. A message came up saying they were a paper free airline and he was just to turn up at the counter with his identity papers.
Michael duly turned up for his flight at Edinburgh airport and found the counter for Prime Airlines. He didn’t like that the counter and the uniforms of the staff were all white, somehow the clinical look didn’t fit with the image he had of a low cost airline. He would have preferred some weird colour of green or orange.
‘Good morning Mr Barnes, how are we today?’ asked the smiling agent after he had handed over his passport.
‘Very well, and are you excited about your company’s first flight?’
‘Yes I am, I think we are going to be bigger than Easyjet,’
He smiled at the agent’s enthusiasm and wondered if a few weeks from now she would still be this perky.
‘Now could you lean forward so we can get you boarding.’
‘excuse me?’ asked Michael surprised.
‘Could you please put your head over the counter,’
Expecting some camera on the other side that would take a picture for a boarding card, he stuck his head forwards. A sharp pain in his neck made him jerk back.
‘What the hell?’ he barked rubbing his neck.
‘We do things differently here at Prime, we’ve inserted a chip so the next time you fly you can use our handy app, scan your chip and all your information is already there. It is also better for the environment,’ she added smiling brightly and wished him a good flight.
Michael felt very unnerved by having a chip inserted under his skin and wondered what other uses the airline had in mind for it.
The normally long queues at security were even longer as a separate queue handled the Prime airline customers.
‘Blood scanners didn’t arrive in time,’ grumbled the guard, trying to get the normally stationary boarding card scanner to line up with Michael’s neck. A beep indicated the system had found the chip and he was let through after his belt, wallet, bag, shoes and laptop had gone through the x-ray machine.
He found the gate and a seat and waited for boarding while checking his emails.
‘Passengers traveling on Prime can now upgrade to Prime cuts for ten pounds only. Speedy boarding, seats and views are some of the many benefits,’ Michael heard announce over the Tannoy. He wasn’t at first sure whether he had heard all the information correctly until the female agent made the same announcement again. He went to find her and questioned her about some of the things he’d heard.
‘Am I correct in stating that I’m not guaranteed a place on this plane unless I upgrade to Prime cuts.’
‘No sir, everyone who is waiting for this flight will get on, but we have grades of traveling. Standing, standing with a view or seated,’ explained the agent.
‘But I thought non seated flying wasn’t safe and illegal?’
‘We at Prime Airlines have put a lot of research into new harness technology and its safety in case of a crash; we’ve been cleared by the civil aviation authority.’
‘Ok,’ said Michael rather stunned, having to stand during his flight to London was not what he had expected. He left the agent to set up some barriers to make sure that boarding would proceed in an orderly fashion.
‘Boarding flight PA0346 to London Gatwick will now commence at gate A4, we now call all Prime cut passengers to board first.’
Michael got up and watched as some passengers moved to the front, had their necks scanned and disappeared through gate A4. He had to admit it was very quick and efficient and soon it was his turn to make his way onto the plane.
The safety card in the pocket of the panel in front of him told him that he was on board a Boeing 737-400 series, but it wasn’t like any plane he had been on before. He hoisted himself into the uncomfortable 5 point harness that held his body against a rigid partition wall. There was barely enough space to hold a magazine to read in front of his face. He had counted several rows like this when he came in and just a few rows of seats at the front of the plane. He anxiously waited for take-off and hoped there weren’t any delays.
An hour and twenty later, the plane touched down in London and Michael freed himself from his uncomfortable harness. He moved his limbs as much as he could and waited to get off.
‘Dean Smyth,’ introduced the man who Michael had spotted with a sign saying his name in the arrivals hall.
‘I didn’t expect the CEO of Prime Airlines to meet me in person.’
‘Well I’m very involved with every aspect of the company, including public relations. I make sure I have a look at all aspects of the business. I’m not someone that runs the company from behind the desk,’ he suddenly laughed raucously and winked, ‘I don’t mind getting my hands dirty!’
Michael didn’t find this all that amusing but he laughed politely anyway. He observed the man as he led them to his office. He was tall and dressed in a smart suit, but something shouted country dweller. Maybe it was his ruddy red complexion or his brusque way of moving but Michael could tell that Dean Smyth was not from the city.
‘So Mr Smyth have you worked in the airline industry for long?’ started Michael his interview soon after they’d sat down in Dean’s comfortable office and his assistant had brought in some coffee.
‘Not at all, I used to manage an abattoir outside of Edinburgh,’ Dean answered grinning at the shocked expression on the journalists face.
‘Quite a departure from air travel slaughtering animals.’
‘No disrespect to our customers, but getting animals from farm to shop is a lot like getting passengers from A to B.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course our customers are willingly going from A to B, but in the end it is about getting there at the lowest cost in the most efficient manner. Getting a nervous crowd fast and safely on a flight is remarkably like getting cattle into an abattoir.’
For a moment Michael was speechless and when he remembered the name of their customer priority plan, his stomach churned.
‘It is a bit tasteless calling your priority plan Prime Cuts, knowing your history in meat processing.’
‘Oh god I never thought! The boys in marketing thought the amalgam of Prime Airlines and cutting lines was a good idea,’ said Dean rather worried, he was aware of the potential PR disaster this could be. Michael wondered if the boys in PR were having a laugh at their bosses’ expense. He asked Dean some more questions about his fleet of aircraft and what destinations he was planning to fly to. When he had enough information for his article he thanked Dean Smyth and promised to contact him when the article would be in the paper. He was not looking forwards to his return flight to Edinburgh and debated upgrading to Prime cuts. He decided it was against the spirit of low cost flying and suffered his standing place back to Edinburgh.
‘So winner or loser,’ asked Sander on his return.
‘Winner, the tickets are half the price of the competition,’
‘But standing during a plane ride?’ asked Sander scepticaly.
‘I think as passengers we have learned to put up with a lot for our desire to travel the world at a minimal cost. I think the days of luxury air travel and sterling service are long gone. Even regular airlines only treat their first class passengers with some service beyond the expected,’ Michael sighed, ‘face it, low cost, economy, you might as well call it cattle class. Standing room was always only going to be a matter of time.’

Tuesday 14 June 2016

Fairy tales

I lived my own fairy tale last week as my husband and I finally got to visit New York. What a fibrant beautiful place it is. It had been on our bucket list for a long time and I'm glad it lived up to our expectations. I was sure a visit to New York would inspire me and I've got some great short story ideas. (One will be a satire on the airline industry as I was not impressed by their practice of overbooking flights!) Needless to say, being in a city like that didn't give me much time for reading. I did manage to finish this very naughty fairy tale and rated it five stars.
Sleeping Beauty (Flirtatious Fairytales) (Volume 2) by Jess James

Hell has no fury but a woman scorned. A king finds this out to his cost as he casts aside a woman to marry another who is of royal blood. The scorned woman we know as Mistress M very patiently works on a plan to corrupt the Kings only daughter; a plan that takes nearly nineteen years until the innocent princess starts to blossom into adulthood. This is a wickedly funny and modern take on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. It is well written and sexy. I recommend this to anyone who likes their romance and fairy tales with a little more spice. Definitely not for children.