Nobody True by James Herbert

Nobody True by James Herbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - On and off over 3 days

Pages - 373

Publisher - Tor Books

Source - Bought from Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

James True was not there when he died.

He returned from an out-of-body experience to find that he'd been murdered and mutilated. He had no body to go back to.

But who murdered him? The serial killer terrorizing the city--or someone closer? True had no enemies, at least none that he knew of.

To discover the truth, James True must track down his killer. The initial horror of True's experience is followed by an even greater terror . . . . his family are the murderer's next targets.

Without a body, True has no substance and no real power. No one can see him, no one can hear him, and no one except his murderer even knows his spirit still exists.

How can he save his family?




My Review

James "Jim" True has OBE (Out Of Body) experiences, astro projection, can leave his body behind and head out and about. This is exactly what he is doing when he is brutally murdered, fitting the killing of a serial murdered. Jim is still around, trying to figure out why he hasn't passed on and why he is drawn to the serial killers layer and whats more is the killer aware of him?

This has a lot to this book, we have a serial on the loose, Jim's ability to OBE at will and a look back and when it all came about. His job, his life and then we look into the killer, as Jim follows the killer and experiences his life through his eyes. How can he stop a killer, keep his family safe when no one can see him, he can't physically manifest and still needs to figure out why he is left behind, what is his purpose?

The thing I loved about this book is, anytime I read a ghost story I always think Ghost, mediums, all the avenues you would try to be seen and heard. Herbert examines these and more and explains why they would or would not work. He takes you on the emotive journey of not only a murder victim, a good guy, a family man but someone trying to work out how to fix things being in a horrendous predicament. You have no idea where the story is going to go and had I not been ill I would have sank this in one sitting. 4/5 for me this time, I have read Herbert before and I absolutely will read him again!

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Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson

Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 3 days

Pages - 512

Publisher - Arrow

Source - Book shop

Blurb from Goodreads

There are three killers loose and Alex Cross is on the case for them all, with a family crisis at home things are looking bad for Alex, more so when he becomes the target of a hate campaign. Alex may be a fabulous man of the law but he is human and when pushed so far even Alex will react.

This is a busy wee book, we see Alex facing clever criminals as we have come to expect over the series and some family issues. The newest looks to threaten his family circle, the media are watching, the public are following the smear campaign and the killers are getting blood thirsty.

We know who the killers are, the pair working together are sadists, sexual aspects to the crime and getting more risky. To be honest there were, for me, quite a few questions about these guys and I think with there being so many aspects and different angles to the story something would be left overlooked. It is a busy tale and as always keeps the readers interest, I do hate being left questioning things though I am sure many will be happy with how things are tied up.

I have read Patterson before and will read him again, I enjoy the short chapters which allow for dipping in and out of as time allows. If you enjoy Patterson's previous Cross books I am sure you will enjoy this one, I have loved his previous offerings and feel for me, this one wasn't quite as strong as the others, 3/5 for me this time.

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You by Caroline Kepnes

You by Caroline Kepnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - less than 1 day

Pages - 422

Publisher - Simon Schuster

Source - Book shop

Blurb from Goodreads

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.


My Review

Meet Joe Goldberg, Joe is working in a bookstore when sees her, from the first sentence we see Beck through Joe's eyes. Cataloging her dress, her expression, her book choice, her interaction with him we see how it all kicks off. Joe stalks Beck and starts sculpting himself to be her perfect man. Page by page we are drawn further into Joe's world and watch as he goes to deprived lengths to get exactly what he wants, Beck.

This book is absolutely not for the faint hearted or easily offended. There is a lot of sex, masturbation, depravity, the C word which many find offensive as well as other derogatory words for the female anatomy, some of which feature within the first 14 pages! I think it is to show just how dark, depraved and creepy Joe actually is and as the tale unfolds it he gets darker and creepier. His obsession with Beck knows no limits and nothing and no one will get in his way.

It isn't too often we get a book where we see the tale from within the psychopaths perspective particularly as Joe thinks his behaviour and actions are completely normal for someone "in love". There isn't a rapid decent into madness it is just a constant stream of interactions, actions and situations and how Joe reacts to them. Some of it is disgusting and horrifying particularly as Joe deems it all as normal. Whilst you want to put the book down and go give your eyes, brain and soul a shower you can't help but turning page after page to see what comes next. Apparently there is another book after this one, I can't imagine where the book will go but I think I have to read it to find out what comes next, 4/5 for me this time. This was my first encounter with this author, with themes of a strong sexual nature, stalking, violence, murder and very disturbing "acts of love" this is to be approached with caution.

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After She's Gone by Sheryl Browne

After she's Gone by Sheryl Browne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days on and off

Publisher - Choc Lit

Pages -

Blurb from Goodreads

He’s killed your child and kidnapped your wife. What would YOU do?
There’s evil and then there’s Patrick Sullivan. A drug dealer, pimp and murderer, there are no depths to which Patrick would not sink, and Detective Inspector Matthew Adams has found this out in the most devastating way imaginable.
When Patrick’s brother is shot dead in a drug bust gone wrong, the bitter battle between the two men intensifies, and Matthew finds it increasingly difficult to hold the moral high ground. All he wants is to make the pimping scum suffer the way he did … the way Lily did.

But being at war with such a depraved individual means that it’s not just Matthew who’s in danger. Patrick has taken a lot from Matthew, but he hasn’t taken everything – and now he wants everything.


My Review

DI Matthew Adams was bullied as a kid, by none other than Patrick Sullivan who is now a top dog pimp, drug runner, murderer and psycho. Their bad blood has gone on all these years and worse still, blood has been shed. When Patrick loses one of his own his retribution is swift, deadly and sets the ball rolling for more bloodshed, anger and vengeance.

Ugh it is never a good thing when a child dies and one of the earlier scenes really hits the reader hard, how can it not when a child is involved. It sets the precedent for everything that follows and cements a long running feud with innocent bystanders set to suffer. We learn about Adams family and introduced to his niece whose "invisible friend" takes the story on a different spin. I would have loved to have heard a lot more about her and seen this aspect of the story explored in a lot more detail, I hold out hope for it in the next installment.

The book is fast paced, we fire in to some disturbing scenes and history between the two main characters. Both have a very negative affect on each other and we see the characters spiral down a dark path. Patrick is a psychopath, as the story goes on we see just how cracked and depraved one person can be and how a balanced individual can destruct when pushed to the limit. The story covers many topics, family, loss, grief, death of a child, abuse, sexual depravity, murder, drugs and prostitution to name just a few. Not for the feint hearted, a good start to a new series, if you haven't read Browne before this is a great place to start. 4/5 fr me this time, thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.

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