I Spy: The Constantinople Caper by Graham Marks

The Blurb On The Back:

Trey can’t wait to go on a grand tour of Europe with his father – until he realizes it involves dusty museums and boring business meetings.

Then, out of the blue, everything changes and they’re boarding the Orient Express, destination: Constantinople. And he’s sure they’re being followed by a sinister man with a pencil mustache.

Who is this shadowy stranger?

Trey feels like his personal hero – star sleuth Trent ‘Pistol’ Gripp, from Black Ace magazine – with his own mystery to solve!

But it’s a mystery that’s about to turn deadly – when Trey finds himself on his own, and on the run, in a city that he soon discovers has a thousand hidden dangers ...

Welcome to 1927 and a world of spies, intrigue, guns and car chases – where nothing is what it seems and you can’t trust anybody ...

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Although the historical setting is interesting, the story’s quite old-fashioned and the plot didn’t hold together well enough for me while the stereotypical dialogue for the American and English characters grated. It’s an okay read, but I won’t be reading on with the series.

Thanks to Usbourne Books for the free copy of this book.

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Blurb On The Back:

In one week, Manhattan could be gone.

In four weeks, the country.

In eight weeks ... the world.

At New York’s JFK Airport an arriving Boeing 777 taxis along a runway and suddenly stops dead. All the blinds have been drawn, all communications channels have mysteriously gone quiet. Dr Ephraim Goodweather – head of a rapid-response team investigating biological threats – boards the darkened plane ... and what he finds makes his blood run cold.

Meanwhile, in a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, aged Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian knows that the war he has been dreading his entire life is finally here.

Before the next sundown Eph and Setrakian must undertake the ultimate fight for survival. A terrifying contagion has come to the unsuspecting city – hungry, merciless, lethal ... vampiric?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

There isn’t anything particularly new here with regard to vampirism, but it is good to see them cast as villains for a change. The characters are little more than stereotypes and there’s a lot of repetition with regard to portrayal of symptoms and transformation, but the action is fast moving and the book ends with an interesting scenario that makes me want to read the sequel. It’s not classic horror, but it’s entertaining enough for a few hours.