The Axeman’s Carnival
Catherine Chidgey (2022)

Tama is just a helpless Magpie chick who is rescued by Marnie.
‘If it keeps me awake,’ says Marnie’s husband Rob, ‘I’ll have to wring its neck.’ But with Tama come new possibilities for the couple’s future.

I only came across this due to an episode of The Detail podcast.

The author was lamenting how little writers are paid for their work. So on a whim I tried the sample. And it drew me into this strange land, Central Otago where a bird can talk to people. You can certainly feel the polish of an Author with 30 years of experience. And despite the reputed length of 150k works, I added a little to her income.

The experience shows just how much Kobo has improved over the years. The sample was replaced with the full text, preserving the current reading position.

As for the book, it proved to be entertaining due to the first person narrative of Tama. The magpie is naughty, silly, occasionally stupid. But he provides a unique perspective on humans. The book maintains this tone until an unnecessarily grim and dark ending.

Landslide
Desmond Bagley (1967)

Geologist Bob Boyd, who works in British Columbia timber country, has no memory of his past following a terrible accident.

Hired by the powerful Matterson Corporation to survey land before they build a great new dam, he begins to uncover the shaky foundations of the Matterson family and becomes a fly in their ointment.

This was the first Bagley book I could not complete. It just felt like all the bolts that keep a thriller together were missing. There is an extremely contrived backstory explaining why the protagonist would not be recognized by the locals. And his motivations are not clear, it just seems that he is out for revenge over an accident.

Trinity
Dave Bara (2021)

The Rim rebellion was glorious—and doomed from the start. Confederation Navy spaceship captain Jared Clement skuttled his career and professional life by joining the rebels against the overwhelming force of the 5 Suns Alliance. Ten years later, Clement regrets nothing, but would prefer to be left alone to his thoughts and drink.

Unfortunately for us, he will embark on a long and uneventful journey, humanities first faster than light travel. It’s off to another solar system, only to discover he is not alone.

This feels like a novella that could have been written by an author in the golden age of science fiction. But here it is a novel of almost 100k words. It could seriously do with some editing.

Along with the slow pace comes some strange decisions by Clement, who gets to decide the fate of a world’s population. There is a sequel, but I won’t be bothering.

Changeling
(Jade Ihara Adventures #2)
David Wood & Sean Ellis (2015)

While investigating the strange Paracas skulls—believed by some to be the remains of extraterrestrial explorers—archaeologist Jade Ihara receives an unexpected visit from an old foe seeking her help against entities he calls “Changelings” and their plot to manufacture a false chapter of human history.

Hounded by radical extremists led by Atash Shah—a man bent on becoming the Mahdi prophesied to unite the Islamic world—and haunted by the faceless puppet masters who secretly control the world, Jade must follow the trail of clues to uncover a deadly truth that has been erased from history.

I think I should erase this from memory. Not one of David Wood’s best. It could be the collaboration with Ellis, but it just limps along to a rather  uninspiring ending.

The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day
Christopher Edge (2018)

It’s Maisie’s birthday and she can’t wait to open her presents. She’s hoping for the things she needs to build her own nuclear reactor. But she wakes to an empty house and outside the front door is nothing but a terrifying, all-consuming blackness.

A rather strange short tale about a girl who alternates between reality and somewhere else. It concerns her sister, but how any why is not revealed to the very end.

Wyatt’s Hurricane
Desmond Bagley

David Wyatt, civilian weather expert, has developed a sixth sense about hurricanes and is convinced that the Caribbean hurricane Mabel will change course and strike the island of San Fernandez and its capital, St Pierre.

Scientific evidence is against him, the Commander of the U.S. Base refuses to evacuate, and Wyatt’s lone voice is overwhelmed when a rebellion against the dictator starts.

Without the first person narrative, this book lacks the focus and drive of other Bagley stories. With it’s switching between characters and heavy political plot line it just feels slow. It’s not until the hurricane hits that there is much in the way of action. And even then it just abruptly ends.

So not his best.

Dark Rite
David Wood (2013)

When his father’s death brings Grant Shipman to the Appalachian town of Wallen’s Gap, he believes his biggest problem will be dealing with the slow pace and odd townsfolk.

But something sinister is at work. A dark power rises, an echo of the town’s bloody past.

It’s not clear who wrote this book. It has a different feel to the David Wood books and it follows a fairly predictable narrative; lone man vs town of religious hicks. Confrontation when the sun goes down etc.

Just average.

Fear is the Key
Alistair MacLean (1961)

A sunken DC-3 lying on the Caribbean floor. Its cargo: ten million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in gold ingots, emeralds and uncut diamonds guarded by the remains of two men, one woman and a very small boy.

Regarded as on of his better books, this starts with a ruthless murderer escaping court. Told from his point of view in first person, it’s not clear what to think about him.

As the story evolves, it becomes clear that he is out for revenge.  But at what price and who gets to pay.

As usual it’s a tightly written thriller, however it does suffer from confusion at times as the author keeps the reader in the dark for most of the story.

Seawitch
Alistair MacLean (1977)

The massive oil-rig is the hub of a great empire, the pride of its billionaire owner.

Lord Worth, predatory and ruthless, has clawed his way to great wealth. Now, he cares for only two things – Seawitch and his two high-spirited daughters. One man knows this:

John Cronkite, trouble-shooter for the world’s top oilmen and Worth’s ex-victim, is spoiling for revenge.

At first it’s difficult to decide who the “heroes” are in this story. But it soon turns out that ex-military  civilians and friends of the daughters will be the ones that kill more than anyone else and save the girls. But not before a lot of mayhem.

This reads like a news-reel. There is little in the way of interesting characters. And as the following review explains, this is not one of his best books.

Review

Lair of the Swamp Witch
(A Bones Bonebrake Adventure)
David Wood (2023)

Treasure hunter and former Navy SEAL Bones Bonebrake gets lost in a swamp looking for lost teenagers.

OH NO, it’s a teen horror story !

Then things take a turn when he gets involved in a school parade. It’s beginning to look a lot like ‘Animal House’. Plus there is more humour in this than most of these “Thrillers”