Review - Flu by Wayne Simmons

Flu by Wayne Simmons

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Blurb from Goodreads

There's a nasty flu going round. An epidemic, they call it. The posters say to cover your mouth when you sneeze, and throw away the tissue. But such simple measures won't stop this flu. Because when you catch the flu, armed police come and lock you in your house to die alone. When you catch this flu, it kills you in days. And when you catch this flu, two hours after it's killed you, your eyelids snap open again..."Flu" is a pacey, terrifying, frighteningly real zombie horror story.

My review

Well it is a zombie book with a difference in that it starts off with a flu so you have your starting cause but not the how or why the flu came about. The story splits between 3 small gatherings of survivors, 2 cops, an ex IRA man and religious young woman and 2 men who had frequent brushes with the law. As well as them we dip in and out of the goverments army men in command and divide between them with.

I didn't mind how the story started out but for me it got really silly with big inconsistancies and stupid behaviour. For example the virus is airborn yet when they are killing the zombies they are covered in gore and blood yet not getting the infection however if they bite you thats it. The army or soldiers turning on each other and the idiocy of one of them whilst carrying out his work was just insane. There are lots more but to tell you would be spoiling it.

The ending, well as with most of these books you never really get complete closure but the way this ended was just pointless unless the author is planning another in the series which explains all of the things brought up but not addressed or explored in this book. As a stand alone it gets 2/5 however if another book came out and explained more about it I might re evaluate my scoring.



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Review - Royal Flush by Lynda LaPlante

Royal Flush by Lynda La Plante

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Blurb from goodreads

High adventure, furious plotting, blackmail and betrayal...'The Colonel' is rumoured to have masterminded several of the most successful robberies in the UK over the last forty years. But who is he? Edward de Jersey, now a wealthy man, owns a very successful racing yard and stud farm and his pride and joy is his horse, Royal Flush, who he has always dreamed will one day win the Derby. But de Jersey's luck runs out when his trusted financial advisor invests his fortune in a fledgling internet company which goes bust, leaving de Jersey with no capital and mounting debts. In danger of losing everything, De Jersey resurrects his criminal past, turning to the internet to find a team of specialists who will help him pull off the most audacious heist in history.

My Review

The book starts by introducing us to Edward de Jersey (the main character) at the Royal Ascot and builds up our character who loves, lives and breaths for his horses. He has a huge racing yard and stud farm which houses his prized horse Royal Flush. In one fail swoop Edwards world is threatened when he faces financial ruin and everything he has achieved he is about to loose. There is nothing else for it but to go back to his criminal roots for one last job to get back in the black.

I didn't think I was going to like this book too much as there is quite a bit of focus on the horse aspect of it but once it got going I loved it. I felt it lagged a wee bit but picked up and became a page turner.

Once it got to a quarter to the end and the big finale had happened I thought it had nowhere else to go but I loved it right up to the last line. Really good read 4/5 for me.



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