Books By George - Page 8 of 60 -

■ REVIEW: Bad Blood
Thriller with the good, the bad and the ugly

For years the “Kentucky Killer” managed to elude the FBI, leaving a trail of victims with terrible injuries that haunted the agents looking for him. With a method of highly specialised method of torture secretly developed during the Vietnam War, the Kentucky Killer had an easily recognised signature when it came to killing. And the […]

■ REVIEW: Bad Blood
Thriller with the good, the bad and the ugly Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Ulva Island: A Visitor's Guide,
Ulva Island a hidden treasure

NZ books, Places

There’s no doubt we live in a beautiful part of the world, but even a born-and-bred Southlander like me can be taken aback at times by just how beautiful it is. Drive for 20 minutes or so in any direction and you’ll find yourself admiring anything from a rural landscape to a rugged cliff. However,

■ REVIEW: Ulva Island: A Visitor's Guide,
Ulva Island a hidden treasure Read Post »

■ REVIEW: The Son
Family secret unleashes punishment

Mysteries & thrillers

Set in sunny summertime Oslo, a prison-cell confession to a fellow inmate reveals a hidden secret about his father and spirals Sonny Lofthaus’ life out of control. For years Sonny had been taking punishment as a professional scapegoat. Now this revelation has unleashed a need to punish the wrongdoers who have fed off his despair.

■ REVIEW: The Son
Family secret unleashes punishment Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Hack Attack
Revelations rocked newspaper industry

General non-fiction

While the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal might not have been the huge news here that it was in the northern hemisphere, there’s no doubting the fact that what happened has had a global impact. The arrest of a private investigator and a News of the World journalist back in 2006 for what – at

■ REVIEW: Hack Attack
Revelations rocked newspaper industry Read Post »

On the bookshelves: February 2016

New releases

New releases coming in February. FICTION My Own Dear Brother, by Holly Müller: An unforgettable, nightmarish coming-of-age story set in rural Austria towards the end of the Second World War (Bloomsbury Circus, RRP $33). I’ll See You in Paris, by Michelle Gabl: A story that winds together the lives of three women born generations apart, but who

On the bookshelves: February 2016 Read Post »

■ REVIEWS: Cloudboy | Essential New Zealand Poems
New Zealand poetry collections show depth

NZ books, Poetry

Siobhan Harvey is an internationally recognised poet who has been critically acclaimed through receiving or being shortlisted for many awards. She won the Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award 2013 for her Cloudboy collection. These poems share what life is like with an autistic son. The point of view is Cloudmother’s, and she first compares her son

■ REVIEWS: Cloudboy | Essential New Zealand Poems
New Zealand poetry collections show depth Read Post »

■ REVIEW: You are Dead
Latest Roy Grace book a good read

Mysteries & thrillers

Best-selling author Peter James is back with the 11th book in his Roy Grace crime series. Nick Walton’s fiance Logan has just driven into the underground car park of the building in Brighton where they live when she calls him on her cellphone. She is very obviously terrified and as Nick struggles to comprehend what

■ REVIEW: You are Dead
Latest Roy Grace book a good read Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Empty Mansions
Fairy-tale life that turned sad

General non-fiction, People

It’s human nature that we have a fascination with the lives of the rich and famous, but sometimes the lives of the incredibly wealthy are also incredibly sad. Reclusive heiress Huguette Clark died in 2011 at the age of 104. On the surface, you could assume she had lived a fabulous life, having been born

■ REVIEW: Empty Mansions
Fairy-tale life that turned sad Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Rod Laver A Memoir
Aussie tennis ace Laver deemed the best of the best

People, Sport

Who would dare question tennis icon Roger Federer’s assessment of the greatest players of the sport in his time? Federer’s plumping for Laver as “the greatest champion our sport has known” will be widely accepted wherever the game is played. Federer, after all, has been dubbed the greatest player and game’s traditionalist of the modern

■ REVIEW: Rod Laver A Memoir
Aussie tennis ace Laver deemed the best of the best Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Gone
Patterson provides good holiday reading

Mysteries & thrillers

James Patterson is always a good option for holiday reading and the sixth novel in the best-selling Michael Bennett crime thriller series is – as always – easy to read and packed with action. No surprises there I suppose: Patterson might turn out a gazillion books every year but (fortunately) for the most part they

■ REVIEW: Gone
Patterson provides good holiday reading Read Post »