Category Archives: blogging

Jan 15 2012

Magnificently Mesmerising MacBride

I’ve always loved the books of Stuart MacBride, I have every single Logan MacRae book, most of which have been delightfully defaced in someway by old Beardy Boy himself, along with Halfhead, Sawbones, and the Twelve days of Christmas collection. Yes, it would be fair to call me a fan, and so yes, as such I grabbed my copy of his latest standalone novel Birthdays for the Dead, as soon as it came out.

This is what I have to say.

With its immediate hook catching you, this is one book you won’t want to put down until you’re done. I didn’t think MacBride could get any better. I was wrong.

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Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret…

Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the first card arrived: homemade, with a Polaroid picture stuck to the front – Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified. Every year another card: each one worse than the last.

The tabloids call him The Birthday Boy. He’s been snatching girls for twelve years, always in the run-up to their thirteenth birthday, sending the families his homemade cards showing their daughters being slowly tortured to death.

But Ash hasn’t told anyone about Rebecca’s birthday cards – they all think she’s just run away from home – because if anyone finds out, he’ll be taken off the investigation. And he’s sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter’s killer gets what he deserves…

Result? :- WHOLE HEARTEDLY RECOMMENDED

Jan 10 2012

Blood – K J Wignall

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Finally the delightful Lord Kevin of Wignallshire, as he will always be to me, is getting some of the recognition he has deserved for some time.

This was my second “young adult” read for me recently and another in a series of books, although this was the first in a trilogy, as opposed to an open ended series of my previous read.

The Mercian Trilogy tells the tale of William, Earl of Mercia, and 800 year old teenage vampire.

But don’t let the fact that it’s a new vampire novel put you off, forget all your thoughts of those ‘other’ emphatically inferior vampire novels of which you may have heard (and which will *never* be spoken of here).

Blood re-writes the traditional rules of vampirism. Be prepared to turn everything you’ve thought on your head. Capturing the essential essences of adventure, love, history and destiny it’s a book everyone should read.

Go buy it now, you really should.

Jan 1 2012

New Year, New Blog

Well sort of anyway.

Don’t panic, I’m keeping this one, because as with all of my little corners of the blogosphere, it does have a particular place and purpose in my life even if you don’t understand it.

That said though, for those of you that missed this announcement last year, you will now also be able to find me over here

Have a great New Year everyone. May 2012 bring you all you wish for.

Nov 30 2011

Zazzle

I decided to set myself up with a Zazzle store this week, for no other particular reason than I got bored.

But you’ll soon be able to get cases for your iPad, iPod, iPhone, or Blackberry & Samsung phones featuring several of my favourite photographs, along with one or two other quirky items I may choose to add from time to time.

Head over here to have a look.

Nov 27 2011

Facing my fears

and being mercenary at the same time.

I am terrified of heights. So is my other half, and yet he still agreed to go on this ride with me on a cold and ridiculously windy Edinburgh day.

The look on his face as we stopped at the top was priceless. I just wish I’d been able to grab my camera to take a snapshot, but I was a tad too busy not looking down myself.

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