Reading List Update - Celebrity Gulag finished & reviewed - A Life Removed by Jason Parent next

You can check out my indie review for Celebrity Gulag here - it was a surprisingly good read from a fellow Brit. It has some British eccentricities, which seems to be putting some Americans off if the reviews are anything to go by, but why I don't know. If you're a reader, by default you have an open mind in my book, willing to experience new and different things - that's half the point! Anyway, it's definitely worth a read.

I'm a few chapters into A Life Removed by Jason Parent now, something completely different; a detective novel with some gruesome murders to solve. Very tightly written so far with some compelling characters!

Added to the list are two interesting titles: My Dead World by Jacqueline Druga, a novel about a dangerous virus in India; and The Dead Silence by Jane B, about the dark side of motherhood.

Currently reading

A Life Removed by Jason Parent

Detectives Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette have put plenty of criminals behind bars. But a new terror is stalking their city. The killer’s violent crimes are ritualistic but seemingly indiscriminate. As the death toll rises, the detectives must track a murderer without motive. The next kill could be anyone… maybe even one of their own.

Officer Aaron Pimental sees no hope for himself or humanity. His girlfriend is pulling away, and his best friend has found religion. When Aaron is thrust into the heart of the investigation, he must choose who he will become, the hero or the villain.
If Aaron doesn’t decide soon, the choice will be made for him.

Reading list

Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary Ballard

Artemis Bridge is the know-who, go-to guy, the amoral fixer in 2028 Los Angeles with the connection for any illicit desire no matter how depraved. You need it, he can get it without questions or judgment. He prides himself on staying detached from the depravity, untouched by the filth, untouchable by the law. When a young hacker is assassinated before his eyes, he is burdened with a scandalous video of the mayor on the eve of the city's most important election of the century. With digital assassins and murderous thugs dogging his every step, he has only days before the corrupt mayor is re-elected, handing the Chronosoft Corporation complete control of the city. Unable to sell the video, he is forced further into a complex conspiracy.



Indigo by DL Young

For over twenty years, Indigo Cruz has worked the markets of the Texas wastelands, hustling wares, cutting deals, and earning a hard-won reputation as a tough, shrewd trader. In a dangerous, brutal world, she's managed to carve out a comfortable, safe existence...

...until the day the Fundamentalist Church of Divine Wrath shows up on her turf, throwing her world into chaos.
Forced by the violent cult's leader to serve as a guide for a mysterious mission, Indigo finds herself trapped between factions warring for control of the Republic. But when she crosses paths with the runaway mind-reader Soledad Paz, will their chance meeting be the key to Indigo's survival or the final nail in her coffin?




The Method by Duncan Ralston

How hard would you fight for the one you love?

Frank and Linda's marriage is falling apart. When old friends tell them about an "unconventional therapy retreat" called The Method, they jump at the chance to attend.

Dr. Kaspar's Lone Loon Lodge is a secluded resort deep in the Montana wilds. The staff is friendly. The other couple joining them is intense. But when a death occurs events quickly spiral out of control, leaving Linda and Frank unable to trust anyone but each other.

Nothing is what it seems, and only one thing is certain: Love Is Pain.

Humanity's Hope by Pembroke Sinclair

Caleb, a 17-year-old boy, survived the zombie uprising, but he didn’t come out of the ordeal unscathed. He’s been scarred—both mentally and physically. The rest of humanity is trying to rebuild, to make the world normal again. Caleb is trying to return to a normal life also, but after all he’s seen, after the loss of his family and friends, the transition is difficult. The darkness that led him down a path of self-doubt and self-harm keeps trying to creep back into his mind.
Things only become worse when he discovers he’s immune to whatever makes a zombie a zombie. Fighting zombies was predictable. He knew what to expect. Fighting humans is volatile. They are malicious and treacherous. They won’t stop to get what they want, and Caleb has to figure out exactly what that is.

Rarity from the Hollow by Robert Eggleton

Lacy Dawn's father relives the Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. But she has one advantage -- an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It's up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first. Rarity from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy and satire.





The Mask of Sanity by Jacob M Appel


On the outside, Dr. Jeremy Balint is a pillar of the community: the youngest division chief at his hospital, a model son to his elderly parents, fiercely devoted to his wife and two young daughters. On the inside, Dr. Jeremy Balint is a high-functioning sociopath--a man who truly believes himself to stand above the ethical norms of society. As long as life treats him well, Balint has no cause to harm others. When life treats him poorly, he reveals the depths of his cold-blooded depravity.

My Dead World by Jacqueline Druga

Since childhood, Nila Carter is made to spend every weekend at the family cabin. In her teenage years she believes it to be a prison, as an adult it becomes her sanctuary and means to survive. When a mysterious outbreak occurs in India, Nila’s brother, Bobby, a virologist with the CDC, places the family on a precautionary alert to be ready to bug out. Unlike anything he’s ever seen, the rabies like virus is not just deadly, it causes extreme violent behavior in those infected. Following her brother’s advice, Nila begins to stockpile. After months of preparing, just as it seems the virus is over, everything implodes and Bobby informs his family to leave the city. With her family, Nila heads to the mountains and to her father’s isolated land.

The Dead Silence by Jane B

The book explores the complex psychological issues relating to the dark side of motherhood. Its subject is rarely written or discussed even in the protected privacy of a psychiatrist’s care. People prefer to keep it deep inside and don`t dare to speak it aloud.

But there are those who are not able to say a single word even if they wanted to. Those who were deprived not only of childhood, but sometimes their life itself. They are destined to the silent suffering, trying to survive in the chilling embrace of the "dead" mother.