criminolly's reviews
2309 reviews

Canadian Crisis by Don Pendleton

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Mack Bolan in Canada fighting the Mafia with a French Canadian agent in tow. All the action you’d expect, but this time with occasional references to Quebecois separatists. Fun. 

A Dark and Subtle Light: Machiavelli The Immortal: Book One by Mark Hodder

adventurous tense medium-paced

4.0

This was a supremely enjoyable adventure. A kind of alternative history fantasy that sees an immortal Niccolo Machiavelli infiltrating a fascist commune in 19th century Europe. The presence of brain altering mind worms as well as proto-Nazis only adds to the fun. 
It's all somewhat bonkers in an infectiously fun way. Da Vinci makes an appearance (on the side of the heroes), as does Nietzsche (for the villains). There's a kickass female warrior, some great action, nicely handled humour and a fevered pulpy inventiveness to it all that I found completely addictive.  The bad guys are utterly despicable, making the twists and turns of the book even more compelling. It has a satisfying vintage feel to it, the page turning excitement of a 70s thriller, but also manages to feel current. 
The fact that Mark Hodder weaves a lot of historical reality into his fantastical tale is impressive and makes for an even more satisfying tale.
This was the first book I've read by him. I'm very confident it won't be the last.

Headhunters by Luis Paredes

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

‘Headhunters’ has a lot going for it. It’s inventive, fun, funny and moving. The book has a great found family unit at its heart, and they’re a delight to read. With hero Edgar, the ghost of his grandfather and his best friend and her aunt up against a bunch of demons. The fact that the demons have a family dynamic of their own also makes things fun. There’s action, magic and thrills throughout and the characters (human and demon) really shine. 
The challenge I had with the book is that it’s not really my kind of thing. At its heart it’s a well crafted dark fantasy tale that would suit a young audience well. As an older reader I found a lot to enjoy here, but didn’t really connect with the book as much as I’d have liked to. 
So maybe not a perfect choice for me, but if you’re a dark fantasy fan you may well love it. 

Sherlock Holmes: Zombies Over London by Stephen Mertz

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Stephen Mertz's Sherlock might not be the most faithful version of Conan-Doyle's detective, he feels more like James Bond at times, but this is still a wonderfully enjoyable adventure. It's fast-paced, funny and inventive. What it lacks in logical deduction it makes up for in sheer entertainment value. It has zombies, airships, Einstein, great set piece action sequences and an enormous sense of fun. Mertz has been writing this kind of thing for decades and it shows, he never puts a foot wrong and turns in a book that will leave you grinning ear to ear. 

Jack Carter's Law by Ted Lewis

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Although written later, this is a prequel to the excellent 'Jack's Return Home' (filmed as 'Get Carter'). I have to admit, I much preferred the other book, which has a much more interesting and emotionally involving plot. 'Jack Carter's Law' has Carter in London involved in gangland shenanigans. It's definitely action-packed, but I found it hard to get too involved with the story. 

The vibrant, under-represented northern setting of ‘Jack’s Return Home’ helps to make it, especially given Jack’s fish out of water status in his once familiar environment. By contrast, the London of ‘Jack Carter’s Law’ is so familiar from countless British gangster movies that it feels like a cliche.

That said, the prose is often great - a distinctly British style of hardboiled writing. I'll definitely read more Lewis, but my second outing with him was not as enjoyable as the first.

Nightmares And Geezenstacks by Fredric Brown

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A deliriously inventive and enjoyable collection of short stories first published in the 1960s. When I say short, I mean short, some of them are less than a page. And yet Fredric Brown manages to pack something satisfying into every single one. An idea, a twist and often a chuckle or two. There’s a range of genres here - SF, crime, horror and a kind of bawdy shaggy dog story, and they’re all fun, even if sometimes the fun comes from being creeped out, or having your imagination stretched rather than from a belly laugh. 

Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

'Rest Stop' is a gloriously tight piece of suspense/horror fiction that manages to cram more into it's 160 pages than many far longer books do. After a brief lead in, it grabs hold and absolutely refuses to let you go. The claustrophic "guy trapped in a small space and weird stuff starts happening" style story is almost unbearably tense, with a wonderfully mysterious and memorable villain. 
What's most impressive is that, as with his excellent novel 'Mary', Nat Cassidy manages to include so much interesting and reflective character detail. The main character is complex and there's as much interest to be had in learning more about him as there is learning what happens to him. 
The cherry on top is a really great epilogue. Oh, and the fact that the formatting of the book is amazing. Multiple cherries.
I now count myself as someone who will read anything Nat Cassidy puts out from this point on.

Death is Funny Sometimes by M.C. August

dark funny tense medium-paced

4.0

A pleasingly varied and very satisfying short story collection. Broadly speaking it's horror, but there is some crime and sci fi in here too. There's a definite movie theme to a number of the stories (one is about a middle aged giallo actress, another concerns snuff movies) and what struck me as the author's greatest strength was the characters' dialogue, which really is pretty great. 
As the title suggests, there is a string vein of black humour running through it all, which helps make the goings on seem not too horrible, even when they are pretty horrible.
All in all a very enjoyable set of shorts to sit down with. I particularly enjoyed the descriptively titled 'Dead Kid at a Sleepover'.  

Ten Low by Stark Holborn

4.0

Review of the Factus Sequence on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2TeNrXPa56E

Red Moon by Kerry Richardson

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

An enjoyable collection of short horror stories that I flew through. There are some interesting ideas here and a load of variety, with the stories ranging from Lovecraftian to supernatural revenge to creepy demons. The prose can be a little overly embellished at times, but the stories have energy and are clearly written by someone who loves the genre.