Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (My Goodreads Review)

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ouch, I hate to say this BUT...

A very hard hitting and exceptionally violent murder story. OK, that will draw the reader in straight away. It is set in Sothern Sweden and the year is 1990. Inspector Wallander of Ystad Police Department must find the savage murderers of an old age couple on their isolated farm. The whole thing is very compelling.

As Wallander digs deep into the mystery we go on all sorts of twists and turns. It is splendidly written and I would advise anyone to read these Wallander stories.

I do, however, have one big axe to grind with this particular story. I obviously can’t say too much because of spoilers. The writer Henning Mankell focuses on a very emotive and much-discussed subject. It is commendable and brave to do this. However, I also wished the plot was not watered down by a counterplot of the opposite angle. It always happens that this type of subject must have a compulsory or secondary issue. It has to be brought in. It spoilt the story for me. I felt it was trying to appease the PC brigade. It is just a personal opinion of what was a rather well-written story. That is why I only gave an average mark despite the superior writing ability of Mankell's very good stories.

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The Crown for Castlewood Manor: My American Almost-Royal Cousin Series by Veronica Cline Barton (My Goodreads Review)

The Crown for Castlewood Manor: My American Almost-Royal Cousin Series by Veronica Cline Barton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A young American woman named Gemma Alexandra Lancaster Philips decides to visit her ancestors in Britain. One of her distant and late aunts had married into the British aristocracy back in the 1930s. Her related Brit family estate is competing for the rights to have a new and hopefully popular TV saga filmed on location at their grounds. Such a project would increase revenue for running the vast family mansion and grounds. With TV revenue and an increase in visitor attraction, such a win would be a lucrative deal and set the estate’s financial balance in good order for the foreseeable future.

The estate is known as Castlewood Manor. This is the first story of my American Almost Royal Cousin Series. Gemma is persuaded by her actor mother to go over to Britain and help her aristocratic cousins win the competition. She leaves behind her Malibu house and cheating boyfriend and begins a new adventure with her dashing cousins, Kyle and Evan to win the important TV competition.

The problem is, there are other aristocratic estates participating in the competition too. And there is a complete lack of British sportsmanship about the whole affair. The dirty tricks are being pulled out of the bag in the most ghastly of ways. The coveted prize knows no bounds. For even the diabolical murder of participants is entertained.

Gemma and her cousins must walk a tight line as the competition progresses. Even when the Queen and other members of the Royal family attended functions, foul play is still lurking for the participants. We have the typical English cad and the rude obnoxious Brit rich bitch all thrown into the mix.

If you enjoy Cluedo board game style Murder Mystery or Hercule Poirot etc, I think you will enjoy this. One of the things we all do is to try and see if we can guess the murderer. Then when we find out, we all think ‘Oh blast!’

Well, I never see the end coming the way it did. I don’t think you will either. A very enjoyable read.

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The Patmos Enigma by Ken Fry (My Goodreads Review)

The Patmos Enigma by Ken Fry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A splendid biblical thriller entwined with religious myth and celestial occurrences etc. An archaeological team in Israel discover an ancient ossuary. It contains six of the famous Seven Seals. The main characters of the archaeological team are Simon Rockwell, Rachel Carver, Joshua Agar and Julian Gallo.

The discovery has diabolical consequences as ancient and hidden Christian orders are awakened. The Keepers or AWC will go to any lengths to acquire the religious seals. They will do vile murders to gain the coveted prize. When the reader is introduced to the Grand Keeper and what he stands for, there is a complete wow moment!

In competition against the Keepers are the Guardians. Father Luke is the champion of this secret movement. He is aided by a splendid computer programme called Earthworm. It gives the Guardians their edge.

The missing seventh seal is all to play for. All seem to know the caves where a rough estimation of the seventh seal is to be discovered. The archaeological team are being watched by both sides as the religious quest is allowed to continue. But which side will snatch the final seal to complete the Seven Seals?

1. The dark Keepers who will destroy the Holy Roman church to start a new super divine world order?

2. Or will the Guardians’ order win and protect the Status Quo?

It is all up for grabs with hidden groups in the corridors of power, deep inside the Vatican. So secret that even the Pope is unaware of the existence of these strange Christian orders.

I like the way the reader is drip-fed the archaeological find at the beginning with the various consequences and cameo flashbacks to characters of ancient times. Then the Pandora’s Box of paranormal and underground forces suddenly begin to bloom as the story progresses. Everything comes to a very dramatic climax. A very enjoyable read.

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A Spy by Nature by Charles Cumming (My Goodreads Review)

A Spy by Nature by Charles Cumming

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read another Charles Cumming story that I enjoyed. That was a Thomas Kell novel. This one, (A Spy by Nature) is about a character called Alec Milius. It is in the first person singular. As much as I enjoyed the other story with Thomas Kell, I found this one to be even more enjoyable. It got down to the nitty gritty more and gave an insight into recruitment and the depths that a spy might go to in order to infiltrate other organisations. This story was clever and involved industrial espionage at a corporate level. I liked the Alec Milius character. He is flawed in many ways but he is also creative and a very good liar. The entire plot is cleverly contrived as Milius presents himself as a disillusioned young man who is bitter and resentful at being unrecognised for his talents. He is bait for foreign CIA operatives - he is prey secretly hunting the hunters. It is not overly complex for the reader. Yet it is wonderfully devious as we see the groundwork laid out. It is also strange because the competitors are the Americans who are our allies in many areas of security. I will definitely read the second Alec Milius story after this one. If you like a good espionage story or John le Carre, then I would highly recommend this spy novel - splendid stuff.

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A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming (My Goodreads Review)

A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fast-paced spy thriller with all the ingredients. It moved quickly and the reader discovers the many intricacies of the plot through Thomas Kell. A disgraced former agent brought in from the cold to investigate something on an ad-hoc basis for British SIS. I don't want to say what it is, but one thing leads to another with further intrigue and then counter intrigue. It all makes for a stunning climatic conclusion. This was a good story with just one flaw in my opinion. The enemy intrigue, that is peddled, would never have got over the first hurdle in today's high tech world. That is my humble opinion. But despite this, it still makes for a grand story. I would have given a five star except for that one BIG plot flaw.

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A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré. (My Goodreads Review)

A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve always loved the Cold War stories written by John le Carré. Especially the Cambridge Circus related ones. This particular novel – A Legacy of Spies was set in modern times with the new Secret Service building looking out over the River Thames. The old Soviet v West conflict is over. However, there are two people who want to sue the British security service for past deeds. The story needs to go back to the late 50s and early sixties. Everyone involved in the espionage of this day is dead. All except for Peter Guillam. He is living out his retirement in Brittany France. On the family farm that he has inherited from his Breton Mother’s side of the family.

Guillam is summoned politely to return to the new modern spy HQ. The secret service is in a fluster over the two people bringing charges and a parliamentary investigation over the mishandling of the mission where agent Alec Lemus was killed in 1962. One of the people causing problems is Alec Lemus' German-born, son. The other is the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Gold.

John le Carré fans will know of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold title. Well, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy as Peter Guillam is forced to delve into old files and reports. Some tape recordings of Alec Lemus telling his unique story of a 1959 mission. In many ways, this is like a prequel and the reader sees Alec Lemus trying to smuggle an East German Lady out of the Communist bloc just before the Berlin Wall goes up. This was a real peach of a read. All the old favourites are resurrected. We see how Hans Dieter Mundt is recruited and learn of so many other consequences that would lead us to future Smiley stories of Karla etc. It is a fabulous blast from the past. Most enjoyable.

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The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre (My Goodreads Review)

The Looking Glass War: A George Smiley Novel by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another Cold War story from John Le Carre. It takes place just after his Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It is now 1965 and there is another British Intelligence department gathering dust and virtually inactive since its heydey during the war. They are resentful of the Circus where George Smiley and Control seem to get all the action against the Communist block countries. This other obscure intelligence gathering office is simply known as The Department. They are eager to get into the tussle of the Cold War and win some results of their own. Since the Second World War, they have been cut back and lack any clear direction. Some of the senior administrators have been there since the last war and long for the good old days.

While scratching about, they uncover some information or rumours of Soviet ballistic missiles being set up in East Germany close to the West German border. They employ a foreign airline pilot to stray off course and try to obtain photographs of the area. These photos are passed on but due to an accident in Finland, the photos do not get back to The Department. Anxious to continue with this fact finding mission they get the support of a senior political minister to grant them the right to send an agent into East Germany.

They need advice from the bigger organisation (The Circus) where the notorious and polite George Smiley works. The Department wants to keep the operation strictly under their control. The Circus readily agree and offer what support is required.

So the Department set up a team under the guise of a training exercise. The head of this is Leclerc and he chooses two men from his group to supervise the mission. One is Haldane the other is called Avery.

Haldane is a well-polished man from the war days about the mid to late forties while Avery is relatively new to the Department. He is thirty-two years of age.

They recruit a Polish man who was with the Department back in the war days. He is on the books but has not been contacted since the end of the war in 1945. Twenty years later he is tracked down and asked to do the mission for the Department. The Pole has no idea that the Department is run on a shoe string budget and is kidded up that is still as big and grand as it used to be.

I particularly enjoyed the character of Haldane in this story. He starts off as a very articulate yet negative man with a dislike for most around him. When he speaks he is precise and clear yet he is negative towards his work colleagues. As though he does not have much faith in them. Despite my dislike of Haldane at first, there is a certain reliability about the man. It is not necessary to like him. However, as the story develops and the mission preparations get under way, I think every reader would come to rather like the gloomy Haldane. There is a dependability about him and an honesty.

George Smiley has appearances like in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, but his coming and going is important to the plot. If you like good old Cold War Spy stories, then I would highly recommend this splendid John Le Carre novel.

The Black and Tan Summer: Ireland's Turbulent Year of 1920


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The Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters (My Goodreads Review)

The Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my favourite Minette Walters story. I could not put the book down and liked the main character who decides to get to the bottom of a murder she witnessed many years ago. This story had it all. I was thinking I had worked out the murderer, but wow! I was wrong. Smashing story and would highly recommend.

The book had me hooked from the start. I kept turning the pages wanting to know what happens next - a compelling mystery. What I like about Minette Walters is that she hides the riddle in full view of the reader from start to finish. You think you know who the culprit is. You continue to work out your own theory and then wallop! You are thrown along a different course.

The Day of the Jackal by Fredrick Forsyth (My Goodreads Review)

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The year is 1963 and things are going badly for France as she is retreating from her colonial past, kicking and thrashing all the way. Algeria has gained independence and many French people are angry and bitter about the situation for French people who lived inside the North African nation. Now there is a new underground movement that wants to rid France of President de Gaulle's rule. The movement is known as the OAS. They decide to hire a contract killer to assassinate the head of state (de Gaulle) because of the Algeria crises.

To perform such a task, the OAS decide to hire a mercenary. A freelance killer that comes at a price, but is a thorough professional. A suave cold and merciless killer. Intricate in planning and careful to cover his steps as he prepares to do the mission. Thus the anonymous Englishman is hired.

No one knows who he is, except that he is Anglo-Saxon and all police forces keep finding are cold dead end trails, fake identities discarded for another and dead bodies. This is a real page turning cat and mouse chase to stop an assignation attempt by a cold-blooded killer.

Through Interpol, the British police and intelligence services are racing against time to help their French counterparts who desperately need to stop the assassin before he makes that killing shot upon President de Gaulle at any number of public functions.

Some of the tricks are mind-blowing as the assassin adopts all sorts of personas and disguises with French security always just out of reach. This is one of the best thrillers I have ever read and all set in 1963 retro France. Superb reading.

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The Lazarus Succession by Ken Fry (My Goodreads Review)

The Lazarus Succession by Ken Fry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Biblical and historical events and a long departed artist’s painting bring about a divine and then lost masterpiece. The search of which leads to a gripping celestial thriller in the present day. The lost picture is believed to have divine powers going back beyond the sixteenth century and to the time of Christ when the Lazarus miracle took place. There are flashbacks in time. We see how the much coveted and lost painting becomes a truly visionary work of art and why through the ages there are various depictions of the same biblical subject.

In this day, we follow a Spanish aristocratic lady who enlists the help of a ruthless and disgraced former British judge. Also, a dynamic duo of freelance treasure hunters who seek out lost masterpieces around the world. No one except the Spanish Condesa believes in the celestial power of the lost painting, but all are certain it has been hidden somewhere in secret by guardians of a lost and past order. As the thrilling search begins, the realisation of the lost picture’s divine power begins to unfold. The ruthless ex-judge will stop at nothing to gain wealth from such a find and soon we are treated to a fast-paced page-turner of cat and mouse intrigue. A very exciting story indeed, which kept me on my toes right up until the end with twists and turns all of the ways.

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The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré (My Goodread Reviews)

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Our burnt out operative is called Alec Lemus and an unglamorous alcove of British intelligence wants him for a mission. In order to be convincing, he must sink low down in British society. A violent drunk sacked from employment and sent to the benefits office in search of a new job. This scruff is useless and on the scrap heap. This is just prep work. He drinks and attacks a store owner. It's still prep work. He befriends a librarian who is an idealistic young girl. It's just prep work. He is sent to prison for assault. It's all prep work.

Then from the shadows of the underworld, he hopes to lure communist field agents who come posing as social workers who care. Then the mission can really begin.

Set in 1964 during Britain's struggle with the communist bloc nations. This is not James Bond stuff. It's low down, seedy and dirty. Our hero is a burnt out field agent and his betters seem to operate out of seedy little office apartments in Oxford Circus. He knows the game and he thinks he's seen it all. Or has he?

Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant!



C.A. Powell
The Black and Tan Summer: Ireland's Turbulent Year of 1920


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Harry's Game - A Gritty Thriller (set in Northern Ireland during the mid seventies.) by Gerald Seymour

Gritty story set during the mid 1970s in Northern Ireland during the height of the IRA conflict. A high profile British government worker is targeted and killed by the Provisional IRA outside his home in London. The British Government cannot allow such an act to go by without a response - a severe response. In the corridors of power, ministers sanction the intellegence services to formulate a robust and hard hitting response. The British decide to target the very IRA assassin in his own area of believed safety - the Ardoyne area of Republican Belfast. 

A pro-Britsih, Northern Irish army officer, serving in the British army is sent under cover to locate and terminate the IRA assassin. Gradually the under cover oprative weaves his way around the streets of the Ardoyne and begins to blend in with the local population. 

Very pacey thriller that keeps one turning the pages, especially when the local IRA Brigade commander learns that a suspected British agent is within the no go zones of Republican Belfast. Can the Brit be found? Can the Brit home in on his prized kill - the IRA assasin?

Smashing read. Give it a go!