Last Days by Adam Nevill

Synopsis :

When guerrilla documentary maker, Kyle Freeman, is asked to shoot a film on the notorious cult known as the Temple of the Last Days, it appears his prayers have been answered. The cult became a worldwide phenomenon in 1975 when there was a massacre including the death of its infamous leader, Sister Katherine. Kyle's brief is to explore the paranormal myths surrounding an organization that became a testament to paranoia, murderous rage, and occult rituals. 

The shoot's locations take him to the cult's first temple in London, an abandoned farm in France, and a derelict copper mine in the Arizonan desert where The Temple of the Last Days met its bloody end. But when he interviews those involved in the case, those who haven't broken silence in decades, a series of uncanny events plague the shoots. Troubling out-of-body experiences, nocturnal visitations, the sudden demise of their interviewees and the discovery of ghastly artifacts in their room make Kyle question what exactly it is the cult managed to awaken - and what is its interest in him?


This.is.one.creepy.book.

It has been a very long time since I read anything so scary.  This really takes the cake.

I was at the local library with the princess when I came across a couple of titles by Adam Nevill. Although I have never read anything by this author, I was quite intrigue as I came across his name before that he's the king of horror...hang on! I thought that title belongs to Stephen King.  Well, no more it seems...Adam Nevill certainly lives up to that title if all his books are like Last Days.

Right from early on in the book, the suspense and horror builds up.  The ending wasn't really as expected and I thought it was kinda too neat and tidy but I still have no complains as generally it has enough horror to scare the bejesus out of me.

for those looking for a horror book, look no further. Just pick up Last Days from your local bookstores. You can be sure I will be keeping my eye open on other titles by this author from now onwards!








 
 

Heirs Of Ravenscar by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Synopsis :

As the First World War draws to a close, all seems golden for Edward Deravenel, charismatic head of the house of Deravenel. His wife and young family are safe, ensconced in the family seat of Ravenscar, and his business empire has survived.

Yet beneath the surface lies discord.  Elizabeth Deravenel, his beautiful society wife, is jealous of his mistress.  Her lies and gossip begin to damage the family name.  But worse still is Edward's brother George.  His reckless behaviour and treachery lead to blackmail and betrayal.

The furtunes of the house of Deravenel suffer a terrible reversal as one disaster follows another, and tragedy strikes.  It is Edward's daughter and her son Harry, who must rebuild Deravenels to greatness - whatever it takes. 

It has taken me quite a long time to complete this book.  I read it, put it aside, picked it up again, put it down again and the process just repeats itself until I am pretty tired of Edward Deravenel and everyone else in the book.  It is very disjointed and not what I would expect from such a great storyteller such as Barbara Taylor Bradford whose A Woman Of Substance is hailed as a great saga.

Unfortunately Heirs of Ravenscar has not much substance.  I didn't enjoy it.  Maybe I am just not into such genre anymore but it was pretty much a chore to complete this book.  It is just not for me.

I won't be picking up a Barbara Taylor Bradford for a long time to come.

Ellie Andrews Has Second Thoughts by Ruth Saberton

Synopsis : 

Ellie Andrews is finally getting married..or she will be if her wedding dress still fits and she drinks enough champagne to pluck up the courage to walk down the aisle.  The problem is Ellie's never felt more distant from the man she's supposed to love.

to reassure herself, Ellie reflects on her old flames...there's Rupert - adoring, perfect but dull, Jay - the teenage crush; Marcus - sexy but very bad; and Xander - a real friend.

As the sun rises and the ceremony looms ever closer, only one question remains - who will be waiting for her at the alter?

The is a typical chic lite...however, it's written in a rather clever way and quite different from the norm.  The story is about Ellie who's getting ready for her wedding and the story flashed back to the past and to the boyfriends of the past. 

The uniqueness is that the person whom Ellie is getting married to is not revealed right up the last last few words  in the book.  Readers are kept in the dark on who she is marrying and if you are like you, you would attempt to guess and eliminate potential husband-to-be from the way the story progresses but I was quite correct in my guess.

And that's the way the author intended for it to be so and that's to me, is the uniqueness of this book.

Recommended to all chic lite fans out there.
 

New books - September 2015

Because I have been busy and have not really had the time to read, I thought it would be a change to end the month by sharing with you some news books that I bought recently.  I just realized that this made it the third 'new books' posts for the month of September and I have not started on any of the books yet!

Anyway, these are titles by totally new authors to me but it was during a book fair and it was mark down so why not give it a try.

First there's The Broken Man by Josephine Cox.  Seems pretty exciting from the synopsis.

Next, there's Take a Look at Me Now by Miranda Dickson - a lite chic and one can never have too many of those for that girly moment.

Nothing To Lose by Lee Child

Synopsis :

Two small towns in the middle of nowhere : Hope and Despair.  Between them, nothing but twelve miles of empty road.  Jack Reacher can't find a ride, so he walks.  All he wants is a cup of coffee.  What he gets are four hostile locals, a vagrancy charge and an order to move on.

They're picking on the wrong guy.

Reacher is a hard man. No job, no address, no baggage.  Nothing at all, except hardheaded curiosity.  What are the secrets that Despair seems so desperate to hide?  With just one ally - a mysterious woman cop from Hope - and many enemies, Reacher goes up against a whole town, hunting the rich man at its core, cracking open his terrifying agenda, asking the question : Who has the edge - a man with everything to gain, or a man with nothing to lose?

I am not really a fan of Jack Reacher.  I don't really understand this character.  Having first read his book a few years ago, I didn't really seek out any of his book since then.  I must have bought this quite long ago too as I found it recently in my collection.

Anyway, with nothing to lose, except time, I gave it a try as the book I was reading wasn't very appealing and if not anything, at least Nothing To Lose was pretty thrilling although I am rather flabbergasted by it too.  I really don't know why Reacher did the things he did.  Along the way,  I think he also regretted some of his actions.  In this case, I think he regretted his on inflexibility and his steadfast hold onto some of his ways and principles which doesn't really make sense.

As a whole, the book entertains me when I have to sit for endless hours in the hospital but at the same time I was quite happy to finish it too.

Ironically, Reacher was between two towns, Hope and Despair and you can say at this point of life, I am quite in between these two feelings as well...and while I want to choose to have hope, I can see how easy it is to feel despair and many times, that feeling is just so overwhelming....however I still choose hope because Jeremiah 29 :11 promises me so and I am claiming that.

New Books - Durian Runtuh 2

Sorry, to say I really do not have much time to read what more to do a review as a lot is happening right now with families and not all are good.  I really missed my read and my posts so the best I can do at this point is to share with you some new books that I received recently.

It was in year 2013 that I posted about my 'windfall' when someone I know left me boxes of her books as she and family moved back to Singapore.

This time round, another friend is moving away back to her home country as well and asked if I want some of her collections as she's bringing some back and leaving some behind.  I was happy to inherit whatever that she left behind.

Anyway, here's the whole lot in no particular arrangement or order. I really do not have time to look through them but I do see a couple of PD James and some authors I an not that familiar with other than Toni Morrison and Ken Follett.

When I have the time only would I look through them. Until then, I just have to put them aside and be grateful for this blessing.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson

 

 Synopsis :

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally best-selling trilogy.

Lisbeth Salander - the heart of Larsson's two previous novels - lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.


The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest started off very excitingly as it continues immediately from where The Girl Who Played With Fire left off.  I actually did not own a copy of this title so when I saw it at the local library, I just borrowed it as I just want to complete this trilogy.

I can say that I very much preferred this final book compared to the earlier two starting with first title,  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  I just felt that everything came together and Lisbeth seems to be more mellow and matured compared to her much earlier self.

I am also glad to see the people who care for her coming together to her aid in her times of needs and the unique situation is that Mikael and Lisbeth did not meet face to face throughout the book and only did so at the end of it.

All in all, it is a great ending to a trilogy by Steig Larsson.  While I am aware that there is a new title in the market to continue with Lisbeth and Steig's story, The Girl in The Spider's Web is written by another author, David Lagercrantz, alittle-known Swedish writer entrusted with the task of picking up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo franchise from its deceased author.