Speaking as someone who cannot find much interest or enthusiasm for the currently popular Twilight/Vampire phenonomen, it seems strange that I found myself reading this new novel about a family of vampires by Matt Haig and perhaps stranger still was the fact that I actually enjoyed reading it!

Meet The Radleys

Peter, Helen and their teenage children, Rowan and Clara, live in an English town. They are an everyday family. Averagely dysfunctional and averagely content. But as Rowan and Clara have yet to find out, the Radleys have a devastating secret…

Matt Haig, Vampires

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Susanna is quite a secretive child, who upon hitting her teenage years, becomes increasingly distanced from life at home with her mother, sister and mother’s boyfriend. She becomes obsessed with her real father whom she has never known and determined to track him down, she finally discovers his address and observes him from a distance, unsure how to approach him. Then when a chance meeting in a pub gives Susanna the chance to finally meet her father, instead of announcing herself as his daughter, Susanna conceals her identity and begins an illicit affair that can only end in disaster.

Ann Peile

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Although Shoedog has recently been published this year as a ‘Serpent’s Tail Classics’ book, it was actually written a good few years ago by the author George Pelecanos, who is also one of the writers on the hit TV series ‘The Wire’.

In Shoedog, we are introduced to Constantine. Brought up in Washington DC, his life has led him to become a drifter with many miles behind him, following his father’s disappointment at him joining the Marine Corps. In the years that followed, Constantine has travelled a lot and had various jobs which never showed up on anyone’s books.

George Pelecanos

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The Twelfth Day Of July was the first in a series of books which became known as the ‘Kevin and Sadie’ stories, as each one followed the lives of Kevin and Sadie as they grew up in Northern Ireland and became adults with children of their own. The quintet set of books are each a riveting read, realistically telling of the difficulties between Protestants and Catholics in Belfast, at a time where soldiers walk the streets and shootings and bombings are a regular occurrence.

Joan Lingard, Northern Ireland

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I recently won a copy of this book and although it is not my usual ‘genre’ it did sound appealing. The words : “You can live your whole life not realising that what you’re looking for is right in front of you” boldly standing out on the back cover got my interest. Also the book begins on a graduation night in Edinburgh in the late 80′s. I was a student at this time, so thought I may be able to relate to the book because of this. It is written by the author of ‘Starter For Ten’ and cites commendations from authors Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons. I figured that if you like those authors, then you may be interested in this book, and after reading it I believe my initial thoughts are correct.

The story begins on 15th July 1988. Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew (Em and Dex) are celebrating the night of their graduation in Edinburgh.

David Nichols

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Gwenni Morgan is not quite like any other girl in her small Welsh town in the 1950′s. Aged 12, she is inquisitive, bookish and full of spirit. She can also fly in her sleep and loves playing detective. So when a neighbour mysteriously vanishes and no one seems to be asking the right questions, Gwenni decides to conduct her own investigation to try and find out what has happened to him. She begins questioning the villagers and records everything she sees and hears: but are her deductions correct? What is the real truth? And what will be the consequences of finding out?

Whilst this is not usually the type of book I would choose to read, I did find it held a strange kind of appeal after I read the blurb on the cover. I quickly realised at the beginning of the book that the author, Mari Strachan has managed to enter the mindset of a 12 year old girl in a very convincing manner.

Mari Strachan

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Non Omnis Moriar, which translates as “I shall not altogether die.” These words are at the centre of this thriller written by Peter James.

A young boy watches his mother die in a truly horrific accident. Drunk students mess around with a Ouija board in a dark cellar. A sadistic man dies in agony.

Frannie couldn’t be happier when a chance meeting at a train station leads to romance. The fact that her new relationship seems marred by tragedies, she dismissess as coincidence. Feeling happy and in love, Frannie is somewhat blinded to the often gruesome accidents that are happening around her. Eventually however, she is forced to face the reality that these tragedies appear to be linked and that she herself is somehow connected.

Peter James

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One night stand…
One dead girl…
One bad day…

The above words on the front cover of this thriller by Simon Kernick were enough to make me pick up this book and take a closer look. It certainly sounded promising enough, so I began to read. Tyler wakes up one morning and finds himself in a strange room on a strange bed. He hasn’t a clue where he is or how he got there. The only thing that isn’t strange to him is his girlfriend lying next to him. The only problem is, the bed is covered in blood and his girlfriend is dead. What is confusing, as well as sickening, is his discovery that she has been decapitated and her head is missing.

Simon Kernick

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Isserley spends much of her time driving up and down the A9 in Scotland in her old Toyota Corrolla, looking for male hitchhikers. After driving past a hitchhiker two or three times looking to see if he is well built and alone, she stops and offers them a ride.
Why does she do this?

All the reader is told about this book is that Isserley picks up well-built male hitchhikers. Of course this is not something you come across every day and it did sound intriguing. Along with the words ‘macabre mystery’ on the cover, it was enough to make me want to find out more.

Right from the first page I was drawn into this book which is quite possibly the strangest book I have ever read!

Michel Faber

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A glance to her left was all it took. If she had kept her eyes straight ahead, or looked to the right instead, she might never have become involved. She might have been spared…

There was a dead man in the street.

On a cold January morning in a small Sussex village, a man goes on a killing spree, shooting anyone in his path, as well as entering houses and buildings shooting anyone he happens to come across before eventually taking his own life, or at least that’s what everyone thinks.

Julia Trent however, knows otherwise. Having survived despite being shot at and badly injured, she knows there was a second man involved. A second man who fled the scene.

Tom Bale

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Harlan Coben is one of my favourite authors. I took this book on on holiday with me and read it in two days. I would have read it in a day if I had been at home, as I found it hard to put down. The only problem was, by reading it so quickly I had nothing left to read for the rest of my holiday!

The story centres around Grace Lawson. Happily married to husband Jack, and mum to their two children, her contented world is thrown into turmoil when she collects a set of photographs she had taken to be developed. Ignoring friends teasing that she should ‘get with it’ and enjoy the digital age, by using a digital camera, selecting and printing photo’s of your choice etc, Grace still prefers to take a film into the shop to be developed. Enjoying the anticipation and element of surprise on opening up your packet of prints.

Harlan Coben

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