Bundu Reviews

This is a cracking little read from Harlan Coben.

If you like fast-paced crime fiction then this will definately tickle your fancy and it has a nifty little twist at the end of the tale!

The story line is good and reads a little something like this:

8 years ago David Beck and his wife were having a romantic getaway at a cabin in the woods when they were brutally assaulted. His wife’s body was discovered a few days after the assault, battered beyond recognition.

Fast forward 8 years and Beck is still battling to get on with his life and it isn’t helped when he receives a link to a street-cam which mysteriously features an image of his presumed dead wife. Suddenly Becks’ life is turned upside down as he begins to investigate the case again. However the deeper he digs the more people wind up dead or threatened.

The book rollicks along at a great pace and I’d finished reading it inside of two days – a real page turner (if you can use that term when you are reading something on the Kindle?)

Title: Tell no one

Author: Harlan Coben

ISBN: 978-0-440-24590-2

This is a cracking little read and I rated it a 4 out of 5 while my wife threw in her 2c and rated it 3 and a half.

You can buy the book online at Loot for R81 as a paperback.  It is definately worth it!

I was a little bit wary about reading a CSI book. I’ve always enjoyed CSI Las Vegas and the Gill Grissom character but was worried that a book would disappoint me.

Fortunately my concern was mis-placed and I really enjoyed reading CSI: The Killing Jar from Don Cortez.

Below is the write-up attached to the book:  

A teenager is found dead in his motel room, the cause of death: millipede poison…Now crime scene investigator Gil Grissom must aid CSI’s Nick Stokes and Riley Adams against a serial killer whose knowledge of entomology rivals his own — a brutal murderer who is not only using insects as the tools of destruction, but actually modeling the attacks after their behavior…. In the meantime, CSIs Catherine Willows and Greg Sanders must investigate a bizarre death, where the victim had gotten mixed up with two very different groups of people — one involved in using and dealing crystal meth, the other an avant-garde group of artists — a collision of subcultures where everyone is a suspect and nothing is as it seems…. 

The book made for a really good read and at no stage did you feel like it was going to under-deliver compared to a CSI episode. In fact, the only difference was that you got a bit more time for character development – it was a goodie.

Title: CSI: The Killing Jar

Author: Don Cortez

ISBN: 978-1439153703

You can buy the book online at Loot for R65.

A really enjoyable read – rated it 3 and a half out of 5.

As a parent to a 12-year old girl, one of the toughest tricks I find is buying books which will appeal to her whole “pre-teen” persona. It is helluva difficult trying to strike a balance between appealing to the little girl in her and a plot which is still “cool” to her age group.

One of the books which does seem to have met the criteria is “Empty Quarter” fr0m Julia Golding. The daughter enjoyed it and I even had a quick read of it this afternoon and found myself getting into the plot. It’s a nice little book.

As an adult you can see the “holes” in the story but if you are not looking at it overly critically you will find a nice story which appeals to kids who like things like drama, espionage, spys and protecting the troublesome daughter of the President of the United States.

You can buy the book online from Loot for R87 and it is definately not a bad little gift.

I didn’t actually believe this was a real book when I first read the book review on A Million Miles from Normal.

But sure enough I found it listed on Loot and you can buy it for R128.

Here is the write-up on Loot – otherwise check out the review:

Penguins. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Cute Industrial Complex, these waddling piles of adorable blubber have had a free ride for too long. F U, Penguin is about telling these brazen cute-mongers that they can’t stay on top forever.

They may think they have the world in the palm of their wing, but we can and will resist their powers. In recent years, people of all walks of life have been forced to confront animal cuteness wherever they go: in blockbuster films, on computer desktops and, as pets everywhere have become more and more emboldened, in their own homes. F U, Penguin is a cry for sanity in these mad times, when cute animals are no longer relegated to the seedy cultural belly of inspirational posters. But this campaign is not just about penguins, it’s about every animal that thinks we don’t know what they’re trying to do to us.

If we don’t do something about this epidemic right now, we could be tossing yarn with big-eyed kittens and bottle nursing baby pandas forever. And, really, can you think of anything more terrifying than that? Okay, so maybe cute animals aren’t that bad. But sometimes they seem that way, don’t they? The book will be a simple translation of the blog, with lots of new material, including a full section on penguins. Loaded with black and white photographs, colour illustrations and hilarious commentary, this book will have you laughing out loud.

It will also be packaged with the utmost style and attention to detail, making it the perfect gift this Christmas. It’s hard to describe what’s so funny about a verbal assault on impossibly cute animals, but something is! You can find the blog at http://www.fupenguin.com/.

It took me a while but I have finally finished the last in the Stieg Larsson trilogy and in a nutshell – Wow!

A couple of people commented that the third book – The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest – was weaker than the first two books in the series but I completely disagree. The third book in the series wraps up a brilliant story and provides such context for the characters that you find yourself completely immersed and turning the page wondering what other revelations are going to come out.

What starts with an oddball character in Lisbeth Salander rolls out to be a 20-year old government conspiracy which certain members of the Swedish secret police are keen to keep under wraps at all costs. Even murder.

The second book ends with Salander being rushed to hospital in critical condition after being shot in the head by her father – an ex-Russian spy. What then unravels is a variety of parties including the police, a rogue element of the Swedish intelligence community trying, and journalist Mikael Blomkvist trying to piece together the conspiracy.

It is not a quick book to read. It took me twice as long to read this book as it did either of the other two titles.

The style is also slightly different – unlike the other two which were more “action” type reads, the third book focuses on tying the story together. It’s methodical without being boring.

If you are serious about reading then this series is a must.

Title: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest
Author: Stieg Larsson
ISBN: 978-1-906694-17

Rated the book and a series a 5 out of 5. Awesome reads and worth every cent.

You can buy this book  at online retailer Loot for R167. Do yourself a favour and get it!

Matt Hunter was rebuilding his life. After nine years in jail after a fight which saw a young man killed, Hunter just wants to get on with his life.

Things seem to be going swimmingly and he is besotted with his pregnant wife Olivia. That is until he suddenly receives a video clip on his cellphone showing his wife in a seedy motel bedroom with a notorious underworld character.

Suddenly Hunter doesn’t know who to trust and he finds himself suddenly fighting to get out of an increasingly complex situation with the bodycount rising.

The Innocent is a good read. Not spectacular but its definately enjoyable and if you enjoy the Harlan Coben action writing then this will be right up your alley with some nice twists at the end.

Title: The Innocent

Author: Harlan Coben

ISBN: 978-1-4091-1703-2

There is nothing over the top about this book. It’s easy paced – you can read it over a weekend and you’ll finish up feeling sufficiently satisfied.

Rated 3 and a half out of 5.

You can buy the book online from retailer Loot for R94.

This is the follow-up to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and all I can say is “Wow what a read!”.

If the first book is a little slow to get into, this second book starts off on a flyer and doesn’t slow down for the next 560 odd pages.

The reader again meets up with do good journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the psychologically unstable but brilliant Lisbeth Salander.

Salanders bank balance is bulging and she’s been taking some time off as she tours the world before returning to Sweden to take stock of her life unaware that her court appoint guardian is planning some violent revenge.

Blomkvist is working with another young journalist and a researcher on a story about the Swedish sex-traffic problems that is likely to name and shame a number of high-profile people.

Suddenly the journalist and the researcher are shot and killed and Salanders prints are on the gun which killed them and she quickly becomes the most wanted woman in Sweden. But in typical Salander style she doesn’t take this lying down and she goes on the hunt for those who have framed her.

The more that her, Salander and the police dig into the story the more they find evidence of a cover-up which many people are prepared to kill for to keep quiet.

The book ends on an absolutely thrilling and spine-chilling climax and keeps the reader in absolute suspense and looking to get their hands on the final book in the trilogy.

Without a question it is a thrilling read and it ties a lot of the unanswered questions from the previous story together. You find a lot of interesting aspects of the characters starting to emerge and there are twists and turns where you least expect them.

Title: The Girl Who Played with Fire
Author: Stieg Larsson
ISBN-13: 978-1-906694-18-0  

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time and I can comfortably give it a 5 out of 5 rating – provided you had read the first in the series to give yourself the background info.

You can buy this book online from retailer Loot for R107 – well worth it!

Myron Bolitar is fast becoming one of my favourite characters. The more I read of Harlan Cobens “hero” the more I want to read.

I say “hero” because quite simply Bolitar can be a dork sometimes. His lame one-liners, his near death experiences and the way he responds to it and his internal struggles all make for a good read. He’s a character that you can’t help but believe in.

This is the fourth of the Myron Bolitar books I have read and the former basketball star turned FBI agent turned sports agent just grows on you.

In this story he is asked to represent the hottest thing in womens basketball. Her father has gone missing, the mob is involved and in between this Myron has to try and work out whether to blow it with his present girlfriend Jessica or chase after this would-be client.

In Myron’s case “represent” may have dual meanings.

Suffice to say you get run around on an action packed adventure that will keep you reading to the last page.

Title: One False Move
Author: Harlan Coben
ISBN: 978-1-4091-1710-0

Loved every minute of it and rated it a four out of five – it’s a goodie.

You can buy this book online at Loot for R110.