Paul Lindsays First Novel
353292
For a first book it was a killer.  Lindsay was an FBI agent for 20 years, and he knew his subject very well.  He also can write.  I haven't found one of his books that I didn't enjoy.  I heartily recommend anything by this excellent author.  He also used the pen name Noah Boyd.
4024268
What an interesting book! I've never read anything like it. At first, I was worried that the author was going to be "rambly" when he jumped back and forth from the present to describing the birth and naming process of each child.  But I didn't have to worry too much: his style just worked for me. There were some aspects of the book that didn't really add anything to the story overall (what happened under the porch...what was the point of that?)  The novel puttered along nicely at a good pace. I would have liked to know a little more about what happened to Paul when he was an adult but otherwise it was an enjoyable read.
4488954
This is the first series that I have read of Lindsay's and when I finish I plan on choosing another to read.  Her writing, creativity and character development is  delightful and has an ease about it that makes you want to read one after the other!
3935841
A spy thriller for fans of Le Carre and Gerald Seymour, not Vince Flynn or Brad Thor.  The emphasis is on realism, which means no supermen. a slow, deliberate start and some tragedy.

The characters should be a little deeper and he should avoid the cliche of British thriller writers portraying all Americans as fools, but this is a solid first novel.
3123678
This is certainly an impressive debut from a talented young man. I hope to read more of his creations in the future. In many ways this book reminds me of another great debut novel - "A Secret History" by Donna Tartt, where this a murder mystery where we know who did it, we just don't know why.
The story is well crafted and the characters believable. Many of the other reviewers have criticised the novel for being too wordy, and Mr Manson is certainly infatuated with the English language, but I don't think this detracts too much from the work. The story becomes more and more predictable as it progresses, and again this has been a criticism, but I think it is more a deliberate plot device, slowly drawing the reader in. Whereas the ending is not a surprise by the time it arrives, it has a punch nonetheless.
If I have a criticism of the book, it is that I had some real issues in placing the story in any particular time. It almost reads as if it is set at the turn of the century, but it is clearly not. At one point I thought it was set in the 60s, but this does not add up when you consider how long the main character has been married. But it is a small criticism, and doesn't really distrct from the enjoyment of the book.
Yes, it is impressive. Wordy and predictable maybe, but still a very enjoyable read, and I do recommend it.
181708
Samantha Warwicl's debut novel is based on a real event that is not much remembered any longer:  the Wrigley Ocean Marathon swim of 1927, in which only one swimmer was able to complete the challenge.  This novel is not about the winner, but about a young woman who (in the fictional world that Warwick creates around that event) also participated.  I found the novel initially a little difficult to get into, although that may have just been due to my situation and not the fault of the novel.  Once I had gotten into the story, however, I was very strongly engaged by the character and her situation, and by the recapturing of an era (the 1920s) when swimmers took on challenges such as swimming the English Channel and their feats, when successful, were the subject of headlines and the inspiration for ticker tape parades.  In one sense, however, this is really a classic novel of a young woman growing to adulthood by taking on challenges and refusing to give up in the face of great difficulty - a bildungsroman, in other words - which is often the sort of novel that a young writer will create at the beginning of a writing career.  Warwick shows great promise with this engaging novel, inspired in part by her own experiences in competitive swimming.
1350779
Aaron's first ever book is an impressive start. Any good fantasy novel has a rich history before the story even starts and it's the reader's pleasure to start to learn that history as the story unfolds. And a good fantasy author gives the reader only bits and pieces at a time, leaving them wanting for more. Aaron does a nice job of that with The Hand of Andulain. He's created a land that is complex and characters that, while not quite at the depth of a Robert Jordan epic fantasy, are still detailed enough to catch your interest.

An enjoyable read.
243438
For a long time I've avoided reading anything by Martin Amis after having picked up one of his more recent books and finding it incredibly wordy. However, with all the recent hype about his autobiographical book  'Experience', I thought I'd find out how he started out so read his DEBUT  novel 'The Rachel Papers'. It was much easier to read than I had expected.  Lively and energetic it held my interest and was a swift read.  I did not  however challenge me.  I find myself comparing it to the remarkable recent  debut novel of Zadie Smith 'White Teeth' and find it offers so little by  comparison.  Zadie Smith offers us so many themes, characters,  perspectives.  Martin Amis' first effort is very full of itself.  It is  very funny, it is very well-written but it the content does not offer much.  Deeper themes are hinted at around the edges, but Amis does not appear to  want to take them up.  He would rather concentrate on his egotistical first  person narrator, who takes us through his last months as a teenager.  Preparing to go and study at Oxford University, the narrator is full of his  literary knowledge, his command of women and skills in the bedroom. Amis  may well have written much more solid books since, and I will certainly  give him another chance, but this book did not leave me with any lasting  impressions, other than wandering (worrying!) about the extent to which  Amis is being ironic in his depiction of the narrator. It is a fun read to  take on a long flight, and is very accessible, but offers little else. If  you want a good read with humour AND some issues to think about go for  Zadie Smith's WHITE TEETH - a far superior debut novel set in London.
1603227
It was a read, and a great first attempt at scifi by Lindsay. I love what I've been able to read of her other several series. I still have a bit of a problem with her main character where she seems pretty much a chatch-all of traits where she's pretty good at anything she doesn't have a specific companion who specializes or a male with a dark and mysterious past to protect her. I know not everyone who reads this series will also read her other books, but she's basically scifi pilot Amaranth.
1051697
Michael Cole has written an intriguing first novel.  It was interesting how he introduced his characters who seem to be completely unrelated right at the beginning of the book.  He then reintroduced them, showing cleverly how all their lives were connected.  It was an engrossing read.  I hope he continues "dreaming" so that he can write more books for us to enjoy.
2183961
Norman Lindsay is one of Australia's best writers - though few in Australia think so.  While most Australian reviewers are too intent on Australians mimicking Europeans, USers, and Latin Americans, Lindsay is a truly Australian writer, glibly throwing off line after line of larickinism.

He's one of the world's most gifted painters and he's a natural writer.  He writes small, comic novels.  A Curate in Bohemia follows the path of a young man considering the priesthood, who instead spends his time and money on alcohol and food with some artists.

This isn't a book that one reads for the plot.  Lindsay has that rare ability to use words originally and properly.  He has D.H. Lawrence's spirit, with an earthy sensuality.  He also has a laconic, larikin, dry sense of humour.

He has written better books than this one - Redheap is his classic - but they are not all on the website.  If you get a chance, read it.  He's the modern Mark Twain and the only original novelist Australia has probably produced.
1216288
This is a solid debut for Fraser. The plot, in brief: A frigid matriarch and her henpecked husband live in the Canadian countryside. The couple are well-off, with one daughter who is a successful novelist, and another daughter with a penchant for religious fundamentalism, the latter of whom disappeared a couple of years back.

Enter Detective Sam McNamara, a tough female P.I., who is freshly returned from a headline-grabbing case involving a serial killer called "Incubus." She is hired by the father of the disappeared girl (and she is likewise despised by his wife), and her investigation leads her down a dark path, to a foreboding sanctuary where bodies and secrets are buried in abundance.

This is a deftly plotted novel that kept me reading and guessing until the end. My only gripe (and it's a minor one) is that the cast is a smidgen too large, especially re: a subplot about a suicidal musician. That's an ecumenical complaint, however, and, without giving anything more away, I was excited to discover at the end of the novel that a sequel is almost certainly assured.
1299987
INCENDIARY is the debut novel from best-selling author CHRIS CLEAVE, best-known for his sophomore book LITTLE BEE. INCENDIARY, much like its title, is explosive in parts, with a bang-up first half and ending, with a middle that fizzles out like a soggy firecracker. This British novel is written as a woman's letter to Osama Bin Laden, who has sent suicide bombers into an Arsenal-Chelsea football match, killing 1,000 people, including her husband and four-year-old son, in an explosion termed May Day (fictitious, obviously, but brave for a book published only four years after 9/11). Cleave has an amazing approach to class distinctions in London, as typified by our narrator's relationship with her more "posh" neighbors on Barnet Grove Road in the East End. The book has horrific and yet somewhat beautiful imagery, especially in the display of the balloon barrages (which I had to look up - had not heard of them though after the visual I had seen them culturally - a haunting reminder of war). Cleave assumes you have a working knowledge of British slang and the geography of London, though if you don't the book becomes a learning experience (I had no idea trainers were tennis shoes). The book is divided into four seasons, and Summer and Autumn are busts - the pacing slows down, the characters react in unconvincing ways and the narrative spirals downward, though it does end with a shocking twist and an incredible action sequence. It still garners four stars for the incredible first half and the tight, economical writing, but, like I said, the middle is a fizzle.
3299892
It's hard to believe this is John Schulian's debut novel, though he has had a long and notable career as a sportswriter and television writer. "A Better Goodbye delivers a wallop, and not just because a protagonist is an ex-boxer who once killed a man in the ring. "Goodbye" is a searing examination of lost souls, wrong turns, and forgotten dreams. Its a collision between the haves and have-nots, the has-beens, the wannabes, and the never-will-bes. Set in the sex trade that straddles the worlds of entertainment and crime, the novel is L.A. noir at its most keenly observed. Think Michael Connelly meets Elmore Leonard for a Metro ride from Universal City to Compton. Settle back, enjoy the view and listen to the sizzling dialogue. In Schulians world, nearly everyone has an angle in the hopelessly misnamed City of Angels. A confident, well-paced debut that will make you yearn for Schulians next novel.
3360725
BLOOD TIES is Lori Armstrong's debut mystery and I liked it overall.  This novel was recently nominated for a Shamus award (for best PI book), so I thought it was worth a read.  This is the first novel in a series, with the second book coming out later this year.

The 34-year old heroine of BLOOD TIES, Julie Collins, works for Bear Butte County Sheriff's Office.  She works there in the hopes of finding the person who killed her half-brother Ben Stalking Elk (all of this is explained as background). Over the last five years five Native Americans like Ben have been murdered, but another body of a 16-year old girl has been discovered.  Julie teams up with her friend, private detective Kevin Wells, to find out the girl's killer.  Along the way, she uncovers a lot more than she bargains for.

The main plot of this book is just okay.  This is a standard serial killer mystery, where the identity of the killer isn't revealed until the end.  There are a lot of characters in this novel, and it was hard for me to keep track of all the different names and relationships.  Next time, I hope Armstrong does a better job of streamlining the plot.

The real attraction of BLOOD TIES is the characterization.  The main character, Julie Collins, is a very likable person, and I found myself rooting for her.  Julie is no angel -- she likes to swear, drink, smoke, and get laid.  But she is a very compassionate person at heart, and it's hard not to fall in love with her crusading spirit.

Armstrong is a good writer.  There is a subplot in this novel involving a neglected child that was just heartbreaking to read.  She also does a good job of describing the day-to-day life in Sioux City, South Dakota, a small city that I would probably never get to know if it wasn't for this novel.  Be warned though -- this book has a fair amount of graphic violence, sex, and profanity.  Not the type of book to give to your grandmother (at least mine, anyway).

Overall, this book was a fun read and I look forward to the next in the series.  Armstrong certainly has talent, and I hope she makes the jump to a larger publisher in the near future.
1439698
Many thanks to the author Vicki Fitzgerald for the opportunity to review this book.
Briguella is the debut novel from crime journalist Vicki Fitzgerald. Her experiences working on crime scenes, attending conferences and speaking with the victims of serious crime are what inspired her to write this story. Vicki's past experiences shine through on this novel and help to paint a vivid picture of what it may be like to be a journalist working "the case".
Briguella starts as it means to continue, with a horrific attack on a female victim. One of our viewpoint characters, DCI Beckley, has arrived on the scene of a brutal murder. The scenes here are quite chilling and really drive home how hard hitting it would be to arrive on a scene such as this. This does not let up throughout, remaining very graphic, and it quickly becomes apparent that we are dealing with a serial killer.
Our author takes us through the story from two main view points, DCI Beckley, who is desperately trying not to mess up this case have done so in the past, and Kate, a journalist who is always trying to get the next scoop while also suffering from a dying relationship at home. The two eventually cross paths and a plan is hatched that the police may be able to use Kate to help catch our serial killer. We see glimpses of our serial killer throughout the book giving us a little insight into why they are committing these awful crimes.
The story here is excellent. A hard hitting crime thriller that I couldn't get enough of. While it takes a while for the story to really "get going" I think the build up was entirely necessary and added a great depth to the characters. This book certainly deserves more attention and I would recommend it to all lovers of crime fiction. It could use a little polish here and there, but make no mistake, it is a striking debut from the author and I will certainly look forward to reading more from her in the future.
4/5
2111321
One of my favorite novels of the last few years was Stuart Neville's brilliant debut novel, The Ghosts of Belfast, a dark, violent and moody tale of life in Northern Ireland in the wake of "The Troubles." This sequel picks up the tale a bit down the road, but many of the same characters appear and issues raised in the first book are still playing out here.

Although the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland may be officially over, there's certainly no such thing as peace in the land. Violent men still have scores to settle and innocent people are still getting caught in the crossfire.

At the center of this novel is Detective Inspector Jack Lennon of the Ulster police force. Lennon, a Catholic, was disowned by his family after joining the force even though he made what many would think was a compelling argument for doing so: How could the Catholics continue to complain that they were being persecuted by the police unless and until at least some of them were willing to join the force and attempt to moderate it?

Two people central to Jack's life get caught up in the effort by a number of vicious men to settle old scores. Jack is determined to protect them at any cost, even if it means defying his bosses, perhaps losing his job and maybe even sacrificing his own life. Beyond that, it's very difficult to say much more about the plot because it would spoil the suspense of this book and would convey too much information about The Ghosts of Belfast for those who haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet.

Suffice it to say that this is an excellent book that should appeal to any fan of crime fiction who likes his or her action in the noirish vein and who might be looking for a book placed in an excellently-rendered setting. Neville obviously knows the landscape very well, both physically and psychologically. These are great characters in a well-told story, but I would encourage anyone thinking about reading it to read Ghosts first. After reading this one, you will almost certainly want to, and reading the two in order will save you from knowing a lot of spoilers.