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The Doomsday Prophecy - Scott Mariani
by SWSt
The Doomsday Prophecy is the latest in a long line of "hidden mystery" thrillers and the latest to feature ex-Marine Ben Hope.
Following the tragic events of The Mozart Conspiracy, Hope has retired from the hostage rescue business and is looking to resume his theological studies at Oxford University. When the ... wayward daughter of his professor goes missing and an old army colleague is murdered, Hope comes out of retirement to investigate.
Although technically billed "lost secret" book in the style of the Da Vinci Code, this only really forms a small part of the plot. Traditional books in this genre tend to rely on the protagonist moving from exotic location to exotic location and uncovering clues at a breathless pace; the focus here is more on Hope's hunt for the kidnap victim. The artefact McGuffin only becomes more significant fairly late in the book, which at least helps to distinguish it from all the other Da Vinci Code wannabes out there.
One of the book's greatest assets is that it is very readable. I read this on a day when I was making two very long and boring train journeys and it kept me going for most of the trip. In a way, it was the perfect book for such a long journey: it kept me occupied, but I didn't have to concentrate on it too much. When I finally arrived home, I had ploughed my way through about three quarters of the book.
The Doomsday Prophecy is Muzak for the eyes. It's fun in a limited way, mindless and - providing you are willing to suspend all sense of reality - a perfectly adequate time-waster. The pace crackles along, barely pausing for breath; chapters are deliberately kept short to aid readability (a "long" chapter is about 6 pages) and its filled with fun, but shallow characters.
Like many books in this genre, it does rely heavily on extremely unlikely co-incidences, lucky breaks, chance conversations or meetings and sudden flashes of intuition or inspiration. That's why you need to suspend your sense of disbelief. If you stop and think about it for just 5 seconds, the whole thing collapses under the weight of its own preposterousness. Treat it for what it is -a bit of harmless hokum - and its entertaining enough.
It's a definite step up from The Mozart Conspiracy (the previous Ben Hope adventure) which left me cold. The tone of that book was much darker and clashed horribly with the Hope from the first book. Whilst I would normally welcome a darker, more calculating central character, it felt wrong for this book. With The Doomsday Prophecy, Mariani has got the balance right. Hope still has a detached streak and does not hesitate to kill when needed, but he also has a lighter, more likeable side. This rescues him from becoming the unsympathetic character he was in the previous book.
Although I found The Doomsday Prophecy enjoyable enough (in a disposable way), there is a danger that the series might become rather formulaic. Mariani seems to be churning them out at the rate of two a year and the ones I have read all follow a similar pattern: Hope retires from the hostage rescue business, someone known to Hope is kidnapped, Hope tracks them down and rescues them, Hope discovers some long-lost secret in the process in the process. Despite this stunning lack of originality, The Doomsday Prophecy shows there's still life left in the series, although Mariani needs to give some idea to where he is planning on taking the character - this pattern can't hold for ever
I'm hesitant to say "if you like this sort of thing, then this is the sort of thing you'll like" That's a really wishy-washy conclusion... but it also happens to be the truth. The book delivers exactly what you would expect: a slick, undemanding thriller that is readable. It does nothing innovative, it's never going to win any awards for literary merit, but it entertains.
The book costs around £6 in paperback format (new), although the Kindle version is a more reasonable £3. It sometimes crops up in Kindle flash sales for as little as 99p, so it's worth waiting. Like most books of this nature, it's a title you'll only read once, so the less you pay, the better.
Basic information
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The Doomsday Prophecy
Scott Mariani
Avon, 2011
(c) copyright SWSt 2013
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Seven Years to Sin - Sylvia Day
by quissue
Well as always Sylvia Day delivers a story that is bold sexy and a damn good read. This is a story is about two sisters, the story set in a time of landed gentry and ladies who were obiedient noble creatures, and as such these two girls, were neither of these things, in fact Jess was quite the opposite to those women. Very unlike this ... statement says in the beginning ( as this book is set in the days of yore when knights were bold and the women were meek and mild bubbling inferno's waiting to explode). She was far from the meek exterior she portraid, and her sister Hester tries to become meek and mild milksoppish wife only to find herself in a situation that needs sterner stuff. So in the end you have two very strong women in times that demanded more genteel none demanding ones.
The two girls were casually watching their future playmates grovelling in the grass with each other showing off of course their male prowess. The girls trying of course not to look as if they were in the least bit interest, which of course they were.
Hester the younger sister will at some stage marry and the man she was to ogle after will at some stage come to her rescue. Why well you will need to read the book to find out and as this story is unfolded towards the end of the book I can at last leave you to wonder what happens to her and why does she need to be rescued from the man she marries.
What was the reason for his anger and who sets this man off on a rampage that would kill his son.?
Her sister Jess marries a nice man who looks after her for many years in a style to which she becomes very much accustomed to, but before she marries him she stumbles on a man and woman in a very compromising situation and she blanches when she finds out it is the very man she was staring so intently at while the two sisters where idly chatting on that long summers day when the men were play fighting in the grass.
He is none other than Alistair Lucius Caulfield the man it becomes clear will figure greatly in her life several years down the line. Hence the title of the book.
Like I said she marries a respectable gentleman called Benedict, who treats her well and gives her a short but happy married life, but alas no children. He soon dies and leaves her a plantation and all his wealth.
She then sets sail to apparently go to inspect her new found wealth and plantation and has to do this by ship, which of course is where Alistair Caulfield comes in. He being the Captain and owner of said ship.
She falls under his charms and the book takes off on a whole new level this story is about two sisters who have to face their own demons and sexual tensions, they have to come to terms with finding love in strange and unmitigating circumstances and they have to fight for their respectability all the way through.
It is a good yarn one which I really enjoyed reading and loved the way Sylvia Day portrayed the heroine of this story making it a good lazy summer time read.
Having said that it follows the vein of book that Fifty shades developed into best sellers and with this sets the book industry on fire with lust and carnal desire from both the hero's perspective and the heroines too.
This book is hot and as the tile would suggest it has a lot to offer on the sexual front. Sylvia Day goes into quite graphic detail and you are left in no disillusion as to what the two love birds are getting up too.
This book was a really good read and I liked the way the story unfolded for both sisters interlacing them throughout the book so you are kept up to speed with their stories. Although Jess and Alistair are the two main characters in this book it lends itself to the other character well and you do not feel cheated by their omission.
Well worth the read.
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Fifty Shades of Grey - E L James
by Twinkle_86
Like many people, I'll admit that I read this book purely to see what all the fuss was about and after reading all three, I have very mixed feelings about these books. I'll start with the positives: firstly, the story was mildly entertaining. No matter how much you might cringe at some of the language (more on this later) it was a fairly ... pleasant way to spend a rainy day. Secondly, this book isn't exactly taxing to read, so if you are looking for something that gives your brain a bit of a rest, you can't go far wrong with Fifty Shades.
Now for the negatives: Fifty Shades began as Twilight fan fiction and this is very evident in the text - there are many parallels between the two stories, the most concerning of which for me is the clearly abusive relationship between the two main characters. I teach teenagers and although this book isn't necessarily aimed at them, you can be sure that they are reading it and the relationship described in this book isn't one that impressionable people (or anyone) should see as normal. Christian repeatedly stalks Ana and prevents her going out and seeing the people she wants to see (not to mention the weird, violent and sometimes upsetting sex) - something she seems to find strangely attractive! Secondly, the language. Basically, to write your very own version of this story, take a very 'twitchy palm' add some lip biting, many repeated visits from Ana's 'inner goddess' (cringe!), throw in a 'shattering orgasm' every 30 seconds and you have yourself a book! That brings me on to my final point - realism. Ana somehow goes from a naive virgin to a full blown sex goddess who has orgasms left, right and centre, all in the space of about 2 minutes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems a tad unrealistic!!
In summary, if you have nothing better to do (or have some girlfriends over for a few glasses of wine) give it a whirl, but if you can't look past the laughable plot and atrocious writing, maybe give it a miss!
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