The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race.

Born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora dodges both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains, neither blind nor a priest.

A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected family of orphans “Gentlemen Bastards.”

Locke grows to lead, delightedly pulling off one outrageous trick after another, infamous as the Thorn of Camorr—no wealthy noble is safe from his sting.

But the Gray King is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld.

With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game—or die trying.

When at first we meet the wayward and precocious Locke Lamora he is just an orphan child, the novel starts off with evoking memories of Oliver Twist.

After causing a lot of trouble for his first gang’s master he is sold off to an eyeless priest, Chains, where Locke joins his new found family in conning the people of Camorr and becoming brilliant in his cons.

Scott Lynch weaves together an unbelievable story of conmen known as the “Gentlemen Bastards”, the cons range from using their skills to get themselves out of sticky situations to conning the elite of Camorr out of their entire fortunes.

Locke Lamora is a fantastic character and although he’s a criminal Lynch makes all of his Gentlemen Bastards likeable and perhaps even lovable. My favourite character in fact is not Locke but his adopted brother in crime Jean Tannen, the orphan of merchants, reader and muscle behind the Gentlemen Bastards.

We also meet the Sanzas, twins who are reminiscent of the Weasley twins, but who are a lot tougher and rougher. And dear old Bug, who fills the role of baby brother to the gang.

The structure of the story is also interesting as it alternates between the present Gentlemen Bastards and their years they were in training.

Of course, the switch between time lines is always on a cliff hanger and leaves you saying “Just one more chapter – and finally realizing you spent the entire evening with your nose firmly in your book.”

I would definitely recommend this for fantasy fans, however this is not an exceptionally fantasy-oriented novel and I think anyone would be able to enjoy it as their world is not that different from our own.

Lynch knows how to keep you glued to the page and after 700 + pages wondering what happens next. But fear not the sequel Red Seas Under Red Skies is already out.

Level 26: Dark Prophecy

We return to the world of Steve Dark and level 26 killers in Dark Prophecy, I found the storyline in this one much better and far better thought out than Dark Origins. However once you discover why the killer(s) in this book are doing what they do it comes as a bit of a disappointment, however one must keep in mind that this is from the creator from CSI so one can expect that kind of story line to follow through.

What interested me in this book in the series more so than the first one is that it has a foundation for why the killers are murdering and they also have a pattern, the first book seemed very mix-n-match.

Steve Dark has left Special Circs to move to California, raise his daughter and attempt to have a normal life.

However fate has other plans and Dark is thrown into a different kind of man-hunting game.

Again any fan of CSI or Criminal Minds will really enjoy this book, as I did.

Blurb

Steve Dark was once a lost soul, torn between his family and his one-of-a-kind talent for hunting and catching serial killers-especially those so-called “level 26” killers whose depravity exceeds law enforcement’s official scale of evil. In his reluctant pursuit of justice Dark once crossed the ultimate line, a line that might cause a lesser man to lose himself completely.

Not Dark. When the world took everything from him, when it destroyed the very thing Dark once lived for, it brought a moment of clarity that few before him have witnessed, and sparked a transformation that, several years later, is only just complete.

Dark is now a man on a mission. A mission that no longer requires law enforcement support. A mission unbound by authorities, moral or otherwise, and supported by a mysterious benefactor with unknown goals of her own. A mission that, at long last, allows him to embrace his destiny. Dark is finally ready- ready to take justice to the next level.

Level 26: Dark Origins

So after a year of mostly young-adult fantasy I decided this year would mostly be about crime fiction.

Now for fans of CSI everyone will remember the “Sqweegel” episode, the creepy contortionist who slept under the woman’s bed, and that horrible scene where he murders the lady in the car wash. Oh and the gimp suit. Gimp suits freak me out completely and I attribute much of this to American Horror Story, and this specific episode of CSI.

What few people know however is that the creator of CSI – Anthony E. Zuiker has co-authored a series of books called Level 26.

I bought the first book on kindle awhile ago, and eventually got around to reading it a couple of weeks ago, what we find in this story is not the world’s greatest plot but rather a pretty interesting lead character with some serious issues, as well as, a plot that most CSI fans would enjoy.

It’s it most definitely not up in the leagues of Cornwell and Reichs when it comes to story-telling but it manages to keep you hooked.

I don’t think this book is everyone’s cup of tea but for fans of crime fiction and the likes of Criminal Minds and CSI I would recommend it, because it follows the formula and does it pretty well.

Blurb

It is well known among law enforcement personnel that murderers can be categorized on a scale of twenty-five levels of evil, from the naive opportunists starting out at Level 1 to the organized, premeditated torture-murderers who inhabit Level 25.

What almost no one knows – except for the elite unnamed investigations group assigned to hunt down the world’s most dangerous killers, a group of men and women accounted for in no official ledger, headed by the brilliant but reluctant operative Steve Dark – is that a new category of killer is in the process of being defined.

Only one man belongs to this group. His targets: Anyone. His methods: Unlimited. His alias: Sqweegel. His classification: Level 26

Water for Elephants

Upon hearing the movie was to be released I decided I was going to read the book before I watched the movie. Also at the time the book was only $5 on kindle, so it wasn’t going to break the piggy-bank. Water for Elephants isn’t the sort of book I usually read, romance, history, circus… well it just seemed like a good combination. Plus I have always been fascinated by The Great Depression which is when this book takes place.

Before I continue with my review here is the blurb:

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

So Water for Elephants for me is about a boy becoming a man and learning to love. Having lost his parents and being thrown into an unknown world entirely by coincidence it is either do or die for Jacob Jankowski. But the book is not only about the young Jacob but alternates with the boring, sterile and confined world of the retirement home Jacob lives in while he narrates the story of his youth. You feel sorry for the old Jacob in that the excitement of his youth has come to this. His life is dictated by nurses, he has to deal with other older people in the retirement home and he longs for food that actually tastes like food. Gruen ties together the present and past with this beautiful story about the adventures of the young Jacob and the longing for excitement by the older, retired Jacob. The characters are well constructed with the antagonist being well-rounded and the reader can understand that the man is not purely evil but it is something that goes far deeper. Marlena is what I imagine an unhappy wife in the 1920s to be like, the modern day woman might shout out, ‘leave him’ but where was she to go? Her husband and the circus were everything; she is a much stronger character than I think a lot of people give her credit for. And her growth can be seen as reflected by the star of the book, Rosie the elephant. The other characters are also enjoyable and well-rounded and add their parts to the story.

This book feels like a last will and testament of Jacob Jankowski, having lost his wife and his children are also old and have their own families to worry about he is again alone in the world. His message is clear, ‘life is the greatest show on earth’ and therefore shouldn’t be lived worrying about the daily problems but rather focussing on the bigger things in life and fighting for your beliefs.

P.S. I also recommend the movie starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz (who gives an amazing performance), beautifully filmed it is definitely worth watching.

Killing Kebble (Guest Review by Johann Pollard)

Guest Review by Johann Pollard

The shortened blurb:  In September 2005 one of South Africa’s most prominent mining magnates and businessmen Brett Kebble was killed on a quiet suburban street in Johannesburg. The top-level investigation into the case that followed was a tipping point for democratic South Africa, exposing the corrupt relationship between the country’s Chief of Police and Interpol President Jackie Selebi and suave Mafioso Glenn Agliotti. A lawless Johannesburg underbelly was revealed – dominated by drug lords, steroid-filled bouncers, an international smuggling syndicate, a shady security unit moonlighting for the police and sinister self-serving sleuths abusing state agencies.

This book is a true story, or at least based on the truth as lived by or agreed to by the killers of Brett Kebble.

Let’s get the basics out of the way. This is a book about bad guys. Kebble, Agliotti, Mikey, Nigel, Fazel, Selebi. All of them are Bad Guys. Hell, some of the police and Scorpions in the book come off as less than clean. Drugs, murder, embezzlement, assault, bribery, corruption, and incompetence. It’s all there in their gloriously gory details.

Most of what happens in here sounds like it is a plot for a movie. Millions stolen by the CEO of a few respected companies, huge drug busts a shoot-out or two, deals with the Police, infighting at the authorities. Planting and missing evidence, drive by assassinations. It is insane. It sounds like the screenplay of Bad Boys 3.

The story itself is surprisingly thorough, at least the back story of the shooters. Starting at the old rave clubs in the nineties up to the end of the trial. It’s a nice touch, since it adds some humanity to some unlikeable characters.

The story takes some time to absorb. It takes a bit of concentration. I won’t recommend this as easy Sunday afternoon reading. You have to remember who’s who, otherwise details will be missed.

Mandy Wiener as a first time writer did quite well. Each of the characters in the book has their own unique voice, their own presence in the book. She does not come to too many conclusions on her own accord; she allows the people tell their story. And the flow in the book works quite well.

I think each and every South African should read this book. Just to open your eyes to what is happening underneath our noses. You’ll be shocked.

Some stories are so stupid and insane to make up. This is one of them. A brilliant book.

Killing Kebble is available at all good book stores as well as on Kindle and other eBook formats. 

Nineteen Eighty-Four

This week marked the book birthday of Nineteen Eighty-Four, it was first published in 1949, on 8 June. This book, like The Hobbit, is one of those you have to read. It is like a civic duty to literature. It was about a year ago when I read it. It is not one of those books that leave you with a fuzzy feeling inside; it is a dark vision of the future written from Orwell’s perspective. Has the world become this? I don’t think so; however we have become closer to Orwell’s version of dystopia. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a person who is constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for Big Brother to catch me. However I am wary of governments, like my own, who are trying to control what we read and see in the media. I’m not a fear-mongerer but I call a spade a spade.

Anyway back to Nineteen Eighty-Four, it is a fantastic book. I am a huge fan of dystopia and this is the father of all dystopia. If you have not read it, you cannot understand the fear instilled in you that Winston could be caught at any minute. Orwell weaves a story and a vision of our universe that is so complete that you can actually believe that the world could end up like that. Winston is a wonderful character, and so is Julia. Orwell’s writing is well-knit and although there are points that are difficult to get through, it is probably because he wants it to be difficult. This is a story for all generations (which has been proven) and I think it helps to keep us all a little bit more human.

So do your civic duty, and read Nineteen Eighty-Four!

(Is that too ‘Big Brother’ for you?)

Synopsis: Novel by George Orwell, published in 1949 as a warning about the menaces of totalitarianism. The novel is set in an imaginary future world that is dominated by three perpetually warring totalitarian police states. The book’s hero, Winston Smith, is a minor party functionary in one of these states. His longing for truth and decency leads him to secretly rebel against the government. Smith has a love affair with a like-minded woman, but they are both arrested by the Thought Police. The ensuing imprisonment, torture, and reeducation of Smith are intended not merely to break him physically or make him submit but to root out his independent mental existence and his spiritual dignity. Orwell’s warning of the dangers of totalitarianism made a deep impression on his contemporaries and upon subsequent readers, and the book’s title and many of its coinages, such as NEWSPEAK, became bywords for modern political abuses. — The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

The Hunger Games Trilogy

Dystopia seems to be the alternate choice of young adult readers when wanting something other than werewolves, vampire or angels. Let’s all admit those have been done to death, apparently this summer (or winter) a whole lot of mermaid YA fiction are due to be released. Not quite sure if I’m excited or not about this, not really a fan of mermaids or dwarves… but that’s a story for another time.

Anyway getting back to dystopia, I’m a huge fan, especially when it comes to movies. Think Christian Bale in Equilibrium. Also I read 1984 last year, and loved it. So when I heard about The Hunger Games I had to read it. Cue summer holiday, December 2010. Just finished Neverwhere and decided to give The Hunger Games a try. I emerged a week later having read all the books and telling everyone else they should read them too.

But what exactly did I like so much about these books? I’ll be completely honest it was Katniss, she is just so different to every other Bella-like character in YA fiction these days. Also Collins writing is superb, and well for everyone who didn’t like the ending to the trilogy: read 1984 and then you will see that this is how dystopia ends. That’s why it’s called dystopia. A couple of the characters were quite annoying in the beginning but in the end you learn to love them, which keeps in with the themes the series covers.

I don’t like to give anything away from books in case somebody stumbles upon my blog and has the series ruined for them. I will tell you this though, I highly recommend this series. I absolutely loved, and in my opinion it is currently the best series YA fiction.

So read the blurb for the first book below, and go and read it if you haven’t already. Also they are busy making the movies, and you’ll want to read the books before the movie comes out, so go forth and read The Hunger Games!

Blurb: In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

PS. For those of you who have read the books, what do you think of the casting? I can’t believe Lenny Kravitz has crawled out of the wood-work and is playing Cinna, and Woody Harrelson is Haymitch. Not quite sure about the protagonists’ casting… but we’ll see.

Switched – Amanda Hocking

Synopsis: When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn’t until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed – a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy’s not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Amanda Hocking has been in press a lot lately, having been signed on as an author at Pan MacMillan this self-published author has done quite well for herself. Having self-published 17 books already and made over $1 million from book sales, she must be doing something right.

But what about the book? Well the book is alright, a friend of mine recommended it as light reading. It is probably on the same literary level as any other young adult novel out there. You know… girl meets boy, one of them is a vampire/werewolf/angel blah blah blah a saga is born. However, despite the fact that I’m secretly (or not) a fan of young adult lit I was quite intrigued by this Trylle story (pretty versions of trolls – not the Billy Goat Gruff kind). It’s a different kind of story, has the same themes except that there is a lot more depth to the character than your usual heroine in YA lit. I especially liked the male characters in the book.

Despite the fact that there were some spelling and grammatical errors, the book was okay. I think when Hocking has an editor to help her with her books she will be writing fantastic work.

I’m sure if I was still the target market for this book I would have enjoyed it immensely. So if you want something quick to read and not looking for an awesome story but something a bit different from all the other YA lit out there then give it a go. It won’t blow your mind but it will entertain you.