Seven Princes by John R. Fultz

The Blurb On The Back:

Seven princes

A sorcerer slaughters the King and his entire court in front of the disbelieving eyes of a young Prince D’zan. From that moment, D’zan is driven by one thought – the need to regain his father’s stolen throne.

Seven destinies

The lives of six foreign Princes are tied to D’zan’s fate, as he seeks allies for his cause. In a land where Men and Giants battle side by side against ancient monsters and chilling sorcery, only one thing is certain – war is coming. Kingdoms will clash and blood will run.

All will be legend

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

John R. Fultz’s debut fantasy novel (the first in a trilogy) is a traditional sword and sorcery tale with a wide cast of characters where the villains are cackling evil-doers and the heroes noble do-gooders. The plot unfurls at a reasonable pace but there are no twists and turns here – developments are all signposted well in advance and the characters are not particularly sophisticated and at times are somewhat two dimensional – particularly Fangodrel who has a simplistic character arc and D’zan who’s little more than an observer to events determined by others. I wasn’t particularly struck by the four female characters either – mainly because with the exception of the sorceress, Sharadza, they do not have a point of view about the events and are primarily there to support their men. There’s nothing inherently objectionable here, but there was nothing that really set my imagination on fire either and as such, I’m not going to rush to read the sequel.

The Hunted by Charlie Higson

The Blurb On The Back:

”You don’t even know where she’s gone, do you?”
“I’ll find her.”
“You’ll probably find her body … It’s sicko central out there.”

The sickness struck everyone over fourteen.

First it twisted their minds.
Next it ravaged their bodies.
Now they roam the streets – crazed and hungry.

The others told Ella that the countryside would be safer than the city. They were wrong. Now Ed wants to assemble a crew and find her, though he has no idea who – or what – they’ll meet out there. Or if Ella is even alive …

But the sickos are moving as one towards the capital as if being called – and will kill anyone who stands in their way.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The sixth in Charlie Higson’s THE ENEMY SERIES is another slickly plotted, fast-paced and violent affair that advances the overall story arc while also giving more background on what’s caused the sickness. I enjoyed the way Higson brings back some old faces from THE ENEMY and the focus on Ella, who grows as a character while still being a believable scared little girl. I also enjoyed the interaction between Ed and Brooke, which shows how they have both grown over the course of the books and been shaped by their experiences. Having been raised in Slough, I was less thrilled with Higson’s depiction of the Slough kids as a mix of losers and psychos and I would have liked to have seen more of how the Bracknell, Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot crews were organised (although that would have doubled the length of the book). Once again, Higson closes events with another massive cliffhanger and I will definitely buy the next book to find out what happens.

The Necessary Death Of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay

The Blurb On The Back:

Never rush it.

A twenty-nine-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings, a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them.

He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organization wants more?

A meeting at a club. An offer. A brief. A target: Lewis Winter.

It’s easy to kill a man. It’s hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Malcolm Mackay’s debut crime thriller is a tightly written, taut Tartan noir tale of hit men and crime syndicates in Glasgow. I loved the clipped, efficient writing style and the way Mackay swaps between the different characters to flesh out the seedy, violent world in which they operate. The plot itself is slim – it’s all about the hit and the aftermath – but the psychologies at play and the way the characters make decisions based on the information available to them kept me gripped. These are not nice people and Mackay is quick to strip away the supposed glamour of their sordid lives but at the same time, it’s very easy to empathise with their dilemmas, particularly Callum, a cold, emotionless loner who knows the perils of getting too close to an organisation. All in all, I thought this was a great book that kept me hooked from beginning to end and I will definitely be reading the sequel.