The Book Plank

Best Detective books of 2014 Next to the reading more of the Horror genre I have tried to delve more into the Detective genre as well. When you think of a fictional detective you will most likely firstly answer Sherlock Holmes. I found out this year that there is much more than Sherlock. What also struck me is that there are many fantasy/detective mix stories out there instead of focusing only on an current day murder case. This former case fitted nicely into my current reading regime. Murder by Sarah Pinborough already made it on my Best Horror list but next to giving a great scare it is also a very solid detective. The story is narrated very strongly, and what Sarah Pinborough does with the main protagonist Thomas Bond... well that is for you to find out! The Curse of the House of Foskett is the direct follow up of MRC Kasasian's debut The Mangled Street Murders , this series takes place in the same timeframe as Sherlock Holmes. Following the footsteps of the most interesting...

Best Horror books of 2014 Who doesn't like a good scare once and a while? My reading has been mostly focused on the true fantasy genres like Epic and Urban fantasy. I had taken to saying to myself to read more outside the box and venture amongst others in the horror genre. Well what can I say,it has proven very fruitful. I think I have just discovered a new tip of the iceberg, the horror stories currently are very diverse not solely focusing on one big scary thing but you often see that writer play into the small fears, something supernatural that isn't explainable or the even smaller, things that can hardly be seen by the naked eye. Yes microbes like bacteria, viruses and fungi, nature can be just as cruel or even crueler. This brings my to my first pick, The Girl with all the Gifts , this shows just how cruel nature can be. In the big picture it's zombie fiction but not cause by a virus, but something different... and in the heart of this story lies a very emotional dr...

Review Round-up April  1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, Tor/Gollancz Ever since The Way of Kings was published back in 2010 I wanted to read it but due to so many other books I never gotten around to sit down and read it. Such a book deserves not to be rushed and should be read without interuptions. SO finally last month I sat down and tackled this tome and WOW. Brandon Sanderson has really outdone himself with this one. I have been a big fan of his Mistborn series, but with The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson has really stepped up his game. The story that he introduces to the reader is full of cool idea's. Epic Fantasy usually follows the same direction, the underlying thread of The Way of Kings does show it but there is so much more going on with the ideas that are used to liven up the story. From the beginning of the prologue right down til the ending of the book I was hooked and had to abandon all my other plans just because I NEEDED to finish The Way of Kings ....

Murder by Sarah Pinbourough, Mayhem #2  Dr. Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from the event of the previous year when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London - and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible. But now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames... and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy. One of the first titles that I received for reviewing last year from Jo Fletcher was Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough. Before this I had read a few detectives, most of them Sherlock Holmes, I find the detective books set in victorian London a real treat to read. But when I picked up Mayhem I was in for quite a surprise (meaning it in a very positive way!), the type of story that Sarah Pinborough managed to write was dark, darker than your average detective story. This along with the elegant an...