Month: March 2020

The Walking Dead: Descent – Book Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

(THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Wow what utter garbage. Overly written if anything. I am a fan of the walking dead, but this book, just wow, give me a break. I’ll try to balance the pros and cons, but after reading it, I feel robbed and I got the book in a charitable shop!

A promising book cover, the title The Walking Dead: Descent and an intriguing blurb. As a reader and writer, when I come across series, I want to be able to jump in any book and be aware of the surroundings and situation, be able to connect with characters in a standalone story. This book was not a standalone, and felt like a filler, sealing the gap with fiction and television. The world of Woodbury, firstly had little to no description and so many characters I could not keep up, nor could I visualise who they were. The writing, the actual words…constructed in breath taking length and descriptions. The length of the book could have been halved if the author hadn’t rambled on and spent half the book getting to the presumed plot.

There is no plot as far as I am aware. (SPOILERS) a large horde and maniacal cult? They are no plot material, rather, side plots that could have been used alongside something else. As I said, half the book is spent talking about supply runs with no meaning and characters who sit around doing nothing. The text was small and a struggle to read as well. One character, Bob, was probably the most interesting person, even surpassing the protagonist, Lilly. Lilly does some very stupid, unexplained things, and we as readers will not know more than she takes pills. I skimmed the last thirty pages as the book really did ramble on

I want to say something positive about it. The location, Woodbury, could have been used much better than it was. A fantastic opportunity to explore the realms of it. I could not visualise past the race track gardens? If that is what they were. This novel is overly big, uses too many words, has a boring idea of a plot (an overused plot device of a cult) and drags on and on and on. It really seems like a novel that is feeding off the popularity of the show and as such, is written poorly with the intention of making money. The book is not a worthy of being in a series or standalone as it serves only one purpose: to latch onto the walking dead and hope that young people see past the faults so it can make money.

I see right through your money making scams: Overall score: 1/5

The Associate: John Grisham – Book Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Wow, what a tense and captivating read from a legal thriller master! This novel will keep you engrossed throughout, as I was. I even read it in 4 days which is extremely fast for me!

So, a newly qualified lawyer is on the job hunt looking around and hoping to follow his dad’s footsteps by working in a small, caring company. His hopes of this are crushed when the FBI apparently shows up, waves their badges and soon Kyle McAvoy is thrown into a world of blackmail and espionage.

He is shown a compromising video of he and his mates, during their college days, where they were accused of raping the girl in the video. These blackmailers want Kyle to work in one of the biggest law firms in the world in order to extract information about its upcoming major trial, worth billions to the winner. With little choice, Kyle embarks on a journey into the law firm, and this is where things heat up.

Straight away this novel was a slow build up and tense series of events leading up to Kyle working within the firm, then, another slow tense buildup to the finale. It is well written, captivating and certainly intriguing. There is enough thriller, revenge, conspiracy, espionage and murder to entertain die hard genre fans. The structure was suitable although at times I disliked the character switch within a chapter and thought perhaps it would be better not to switch.

The biggest downfall in this incredible book is the ending. I read it so fast, easily and enjoyably that I expected the ending to round that journey off. It didn’t, and left me wondering why I bothered to begin with. However, in hindsight, it was a great read. More character development within the firm and of some of the bad guys could have helped. They appeared relatively realistic. Kyle was stupid at times, plain stupid, incapable of comprehending the situation rather than accepting it. This leads to a slight side plot which I won’t detail, but felt it was not necessary.

Overall score: 4/5

Surviving The Evacuation: Frank Tayell Book Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

I read this book at the start of 2017 and have not had a chance to review it. This is a survival zombie horror book. Overall, it provides a claustrophobic fright and is relatively short for a novel.

The story focuses on Bill Wright, living in London. Bill breaks his leg and during the outbreak where the world is thrown in to chaos. He moans and survives and miraculously continues to use his laptop.

I found the story to be dry and lacking in any sort of character development. It redeemed itself slightly when Bill finally stopped moaning and left his apartment to wander the streets of infested London. Could the author have sped up the process, and kicked Bill out, with a broken leg, fighting for his life sooner? Yes he could. As a reader I don’t care about Bill’s boring existence unless something happens which is fundamentally exciting. I did not feel excited about this journey until he was out in the open and exposed to real danger.

Action was good and the text flowed well, but some chapters were so short that they would probably be better cut altogether.

There was an intriguing lead to another character, Bill’s contact Sholto. This was not explored enough to warrant reading another book. I feel the author has written a work intentionally unfulfilling many areas in order to make people buy subsequent books.

Writing is about passion and love of the genre, and most importantly writing self-contained stories even within a series and although Frank Tayell’s Surviving The Evacuation is apparently revered, I will not be reading any other books in it. The pricing point of book one, at the time £7.99, was overpriced for the short story that you get, essentially a glorified novella.

Overall, this was a let down and probably the reason I haven’t reviewed it until now. If you enjoy a story with no plot and a man moaning with a broken leg, who has no goals or motivation whatsoever, then this is the book series for you. It may get better…but book one does not provide a solid foundation.

Rating: 2/5