Review - The Man Who Lives With Wolves by Shaun Ellis, Penny Junor

The Man Who Lives with Wolves by Shaun Ellis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 1.5 days

Blurb From Amazon

What would compel a man to place himself in constant danger in order to become a member of a wolf pack? To eat with them, putting his head into a carcass alongside the wolves' gnashing teeth? To play, hunt, and spar with them, suffering bruises and bites? To learn their language so his howl is indistinguishable from theirs? To give up a normal life of relationships and family so that he can devote himself completely to the protection of these wild animals?

In The Man Who Lives with Wolves, Shaun Ellis reveals how his life irrevocably changed the first time he set eyes on a wolf. In exhilarating prose, he takes us from his upbringing in the wilds of Norfolk, England, to his survival training with British Army Special Forces to the Nez Percé Indian lands in Idaho, where he first ran with a wolf pack for nearly two years.

Offering an extraordinary look into the lives of these threatened, misunderstood creatures, Ellis shares how he ate raw kill–and little else; washed rarely, and only in plain water; learned to bury his face into the carcasses of prey–and, when necessary, to defend his share of the kill; communicated with the pack by his howls and body language, which over time became seemingly identical to theirs; and observed from this unique vantage point how wolves give birth to and raise their young, and enforce order among the pack.

After years of living in the wild, Shaun Ellis was barely able to recognize the feral face that stared back at him from the mirror. And in The Man Who Lives with Wolves, we discover the life of a rare and fascinating man who abandoned civilization but never lost touch with his humanity.

My Review

If your looking for something real life and a bit different you have found it. Who in their right mind would walk away from their family to go live in the wild and try to integrate himself with a pack of wild wolves (and stay alive), that would be Mr Ellis.

The book starts with his childhood and every so often focus on him and his life but mostly it is about his love of animals and being with and around wolves. It is quite informative and really interesting to learn so much about these wonderful beasts and how they live, there are also some beautiful pictures of wolves featured in the middle of the book. Shaun has an interested and somewhat tested theory about some of the similar behaviors between dogs and wolves and how to use that when picking and training your own dog.

Some of the book is disturbing in that you are reading about a man who basically walks out on his family to pursue a life with wild animals, him eating some pretty disgusting things but you learn so much about the wolves way of life that you can get by the more unappealing parts. I really enjoyed it and find myself looking at wolves in a different light, 3/5 for me.

This book was recommended by Jodi Picoult at the end of her new book Lone Wolf, this is who she got a lot of her research from.

View all my reviews

Mays Pre-loved giveaway is How Could She by Dana Fowley

As always the competition runs until the end of the month. Enter using the contact form below and for an additional entry leave a comment here. The book is in almost perfect condition, it has a tiny wee lift on the front cover, otherwise no marks ans the spine is intact (no creases or breaks).


Blurb From Amazon

At just five years old, Dana learned that there was no one she could trust. Most devastating of all, even her own mother betrayed her and in the most unimaginable way. For years, Dana and her younger sister suffered at the hands of one of Britain's largest ever-known paedophile rings. And their mother did nothing to protect them
Only now is Dana's nightmare coming to an end as she crusades to put her abusers behind bars. In June 2007 the truth was finally exposed. Dana bravely testified against her own mother. The woman who had subjected Dana and her sister to a lifetime of horror was sentenced to twelve years in prison. It was one of the most traumatic ordeals Dana has ever experienced. But a shocked world was finally forced to open its eyes to what happened to Dana. This is her story of survival.

Click here to contact me via my email link

My review is here http://www.alwaysreading.net/2012/05/review-how-could-she-by-dana-fowley.html

Review - How Could She by Dana Fowley

How Could She? by Dana Fowley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 1 day

Blurb From Goodreads

At just five years old, Dana Fowley learned that there was no one she could trust and nowhere she could escape to. She and her younger sister endured years of terrible abuse, subjected day after day to unimaginable attacks, and not only did their own mother do nothing to protect them, she willingly helped. Dana’s lifelong suffering was at last revealed in a high-profile court case when she bravely faced her demons.

My Review

I have read a few of these true life survivor books and this one will stay with me for a long time. Two little girls used and abused horrifically by the one person in the world they should have been safe with and protect them. I think these books are always hard to read but this one more so (for me anyway) because the predator and enabler was the mother and that just is unthinkable.

Dana takes us through her childhood to adulthood and all the horrors she encounters, some of it is very hard to read and disturbing. A very powerful read taking you on a journey of how a little girl got through and survived horrors you can only imagine to being an adult and taking the offenders to court.

I think she was very brave to write this book, to expose what she went through in the hope of giving courage and make a path for others to come forward and show it isn't easy but you can do it and bring them to justice. 3/5 for me this time.

View all my reviews

ARC - Zombie by J.R. Angelella

Zombie by J.R. Angelella
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 6 *long* hours

Blurb From Goodreads

Fourteen-year-old Jeremy Barker is obsessed with zombie movies. He attends an all-boys Catholic High School where roving gangs in plaid make his days a living hell. His mother is an absentee pillhead, his older brother a self-diagnosed sex-addict, and his father an ex-Marine realtor who disappears night after night without explanation. Jeremy navigates it all with a code cobbled together from Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, Planet Terror, Zombieland and Dawn of the Dead:

• Avoid Contact
• Keep Quiet
• Forget the Past
• Lock-and-load
• Fight to Survive

The code is put to the test when he discovers in his father’s closet a bizarre homemade video of a man strapped to a bed, being prepped for some sort of surgical procedure. As Jeremy—troubled but ever-optimistic—attempts to trace the origin of the video, this remarkable debut moves from its sharp, precocious beginnings to a climax of almost unthinkable violence, testing him to the core.


My Review

I clearly thought with the title this was about zombies, there are references to zombie survival rules that Jeremy uses to survive his existence with the bullies at school, the shambles of his family life and every other situation he encounters. His mother is a pill popper, his brother is a sex addict and his father he suspects of being involved in something dark and dangerous as he disappears every night.

Oh dear this book was a struggle for me. Not only was the format only available to read on the computer which in itself was a nightmare (I have emailed the publisher about this), just about every line had a swear word or something crude. I have no problem reading bad language but this was just overkill, swearing for the sake of swearing. It was constantly following Jeremys life at school and the bullying and interaction with the other kids so teenage boys can and do swear but this was all the time.

Once you wade through all the bad language it is a tale of teenage angst, following a young boy through the trials and issues most teenage boys have likely experienced. The only thing I didn't mind was his zombie fixation and the snippets of tales about his favourite zombie movies. Maybe this will be a hit with teen boys as they might feel they can relate to the main character but I can't honestly say of all the readers I know (and thats a lot!) none of them would enjoy or relate to this. Had it not been a review book I would have given up a chapter or two in, 1/5 for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for providing me with a review copy, release date 5th of June 2012, published by Soho Press.

View all my reviews

PRR - Now You See Me by S.J Bolton

Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 6 days (on and off)

Blurb From Goodreads

Lacey Flint is a London policewoman with a secret past, a morbid fascination with serial killers and a curiously empty flat. On the job she's quiet and plainly dressed. At night she has an unusual social life.

When Lacey returns to her car one evening to find a woman fatally stabbed right by it, she is taken in for questioning, but then a hand-delivered letter suggests the killer has a special interest in Lacey herself.

Suddenly she is at the centre of a terrifying murder hunt, working with the smart but damaged DI Dana Tulloch and the hostile DI Mark Joesbury, another person who seems curiously fascinated with Lacey.

Is Joesbury's interest in Lacey personal or professional? Will Lacey cope as the case pushes her into the limelight? And does the team have the skill to outwit one of the nastiest serial killers Londoners have fallen prey to since the killer's infamous role model... Jack the Ripper.

My Review

Lacey Flint is our main character, a police officer with a murky past and a fascination with serial killers. She keeps herself to herself and blows off some steam with some questionable after hour activities. Lacey finds herself in the middle of a serial killer investigation when she comes across a woman brutalized and dying at her car. Soon the police realize the have a jack the ripper copycat on their hands and an obsession with officer Flint.

This is my first encounter with this author and whilst I loved the jack the ripper style theme and pace I am not too sure about the first person narrative (whether it is how this author has done it or maybe it has just been too long since I read a book done in this style). The killers are pretty gruesome and descriptive so not for the faint hearted I have to say. I found myself having to go back and re read some of it as it jumps around a fair bit. To the past, comparing the present killings with the ripper victims and at one point someone just declaring they are the murderer (to you the reader) and it isn't until the end you get the full picture and understand it but it was confusing for a while and I hate when that happens.

It had been a while since I read or seen anything Jack the ripper so I did enjoy the refresher on that. I really disliked Lacey for the most of the story and only warmed to her near the very end, for an intelligent well trained police officer she done she pretty stupid and very dangerous things. Either way it will be a while before I forget this story, 3/5 for me and I would read this author again.

Thanks so much to Transworld publishers for providing me with a copy of this to review and introducing me to another new author.

View all my reviews

Small Update

To the winners of World Book night book (and April's pre-loved giveaway), I still have the books here to post out. Due to my shifts and some other things that have come up I am way behind. The same for the May's pre-loved giveaway. I will post the books out tomorrow first class and I will get the pre-loved giveaway for May sorted very soon. Thanks for understanding.

April's Pre-Loved Giveaway winner is.........

Paul Maxwell (no website given), the winner has been notified. Thanks so much to everyone who took part. May's Pre-loved giveaway will be listed in the next few days. Thanks again everyone.