Friday, 30 August 2019
The Way Of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry
Paperback: Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder.
Will Raven is a medical student, apprenticing for the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson. Sarah Fisher is Simpson’s housemaid, and has all of Raven’s intelligence but none of his privileges.
As bodies begin to appear across the Old Town, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh’s underworld.
And if either of them are to make it out alive, they will have to work together to find out who’s responsible for the gruesome deaths.
The Way Of Flesh (2018) is the first book in the dynamic and stylishly written Will Raven and Sarah Fisher crime series set in 1840s Edinburgh, co-written by bestselling author Chris Brookmyre and consultant anaesthetist Dr Marisa Haetzman.
It is longlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of The Year.
The second book in this superb crime series, The Art Of Dying (2019), has just been published and is available in all bookshops now.
About the authors: Ambrose Parry is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. The couple are married and live in Scotland.
Chris Brookmyre is the international bestselling and multi-award-winning author of twenty-one novels, including Black Widow, winner of both the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year.
Dr Marisa Haetzman is a consultant anaesthetist of twenty years' experience, whose research for her Master's degree in the History of Medicine uncovered the material upon which this novel was based.
Rating: 5/5
Visits To The Blessed Sacrament And The Blessed Virgin Mary by St Alphonsus Liguori
Paperback: After she died, St Theresa of Avila appeared to one of her nuns and said: "There should be no difference, as far as purity and love are concerned, between the blessed in Heaven and the faithful on earth, though we are perfectly happy and you are suffering. What the Divine Essence is to us in Heaven, the Blessed Sacrament should be to you on earth."
"Here, then," says St. Alphonsus, "is our heaven on earth - the Most Blessed Sacrament."
Visits To The Blessed Sacrament And The Blessed Virgin Mary (2012) was conceived and written to help us grow in the knowledge and love of God and in appreciation for what He has done for us by giving us the Blessed Sacrament. For each of the 31 days of the month, St Alphonsus provides for us a "Visit to Our Lord" - which is a brief meditation on and a fervent prayer of love toward Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Each Visit to Our Lord is followed by a "Visit to Our Lady." The latter are short meditations on and prayers of great confidence in her powerful help - even for the most wretched and forsaken on sinners.
At each Visit, the reader is to make an "Act of Spiritual Communion," which will help enflame his heart with greater love of God.
Through this little book, St Alphonsus leads a person to appreciate Our Lord's great love for us in the Blessed Sacrament, to love Him in return, and to consecrate his life to Him.
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament by St Alphonsus Liguori is a perennial favourite among Catholic prayerbooks, as well as one of the most famous and best-loved Catholic books ever published. It is re-edited from the critical Italian edition and newly written into English (c 1952) by The Redemptorist Fathers.
About the Saint/author: St Alphonsus Liguori was born in 1696 to Neapolitan nobility at Marianella, Italy. He became a recognizable lawyer after going through law school at the age of sixteen, but later decided to leave law in favour of giving his salvation more attention. Alphonsus joined the Oratory of St Philip Neri as a seminarian and was ordained in 1726, when he was thirty. The homilies he gave had the special ability of converting those who had fallen away from the faith. He also founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and authored such works as The Glories of Mary, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Attaining Salvation, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Preparation for Death Abridged, What Will Hell Be Like?, The Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation, and The Way of the Cross.
After being a bishop for over a decade, St Alphonsus Liguori died on the first of August, 1787. He was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871. His feast is celebrated on 1 August.
Thursday, 29 August 2019
The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong
Hardback: The Good Son (2018) is inspired by a true story and is translated from the Korean by Chi-Young Kim.
Yu-jin is a good son, a model student and a successful athlete. But one day, he wakes up covered in blood. There is no sign of a break-in and there is a body downstairs. It is the body of someone who Yu-jin knows all too well.
Yu-jin struggles to piece together the fragments of what he can remember from the night before. He suffers from regular seizures and blackouts. He knows he will be accused if he reports the body, but what to do instead? Faced with an unthinkable choice, Yu-jin makes an unthinkable decision.
Through investigating the murder, reading diaries and looking at his own past and childhood, Yu-jin discovers what has happened. The police descend on the suburban South Korean district in which he lives. The body of a young woman is discovered. Yu-jin has to go back, right back, to remember what happened, back to the night he lost his father and brother, and even further than that.
The Good Son deals with the dark side of family life, and asks the question: how far will you go to protect your children from themselves? How well does a mother know her son?
About the author: You-jeong Jeong was born in Hampyeong, South Korea. She initially trained and worked as a nurse. She is now South Korea's leading writer of psychological crime and thriller fiction and is often compared to Stephen King and Raymond Chandler. You-jeong is the author of four novels including Seven Years of Darkness, which was named one of the top ten crime novels of 2015 by the German newspaper Die Zeit. Seven Years of Darkness is available in English on 7 May 2020!
Her work has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Thai and Vietnamese. The Good Son is the first of her books to be translated into English.
About the translator: Chi-Young Kim is the translator of the New York Times bestseller Please Look After Mother by Kyung-sook Shin, as well as fiction by Sun-mi Hwang, J M Lee and Young-ha Kim, among many others. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
Rating: 3/5
Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Tuesday, 27 August 2019
A Rising Man (Sam Wyndham Series) by Abir Mukherjee
Paperback: Captain Sam Wyndham, former Scotland Yard detective, is a new arrival to Calcutta. Desperately seeking a fresh start after his experiences during the Great War, Wyndham has been recruited to head up a new post in the police force. But with barely a moment to acclimatise to his new life or to deal with the ghosts which still haunt him, Wyndham is caught up in a murder investigation that will take him into the dark underbelly of the British Raj.
A senior official has been murdered, and a note left in his mouth warns the British to quit India: or else. With rising political dissent and the stability of the Raj under threat, Wyndham and his two new colleagues arrogant Inspector Digby and British-educated, but Indian-born Sergeant Banerjee, one of the few Indians to be recruited into the new CID embark on an investigation that will take them from the luxurious parlours of wealthy British traders to the seedy opium dens of the city.
A Rising Man (2016) is the start of an atmospheric and enticing new historical crime series set in Raj era India.
About the author: Abir Mukherjee is the Times bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj era India. His debut, A Rising Man, won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017 and was shortlisted for the MWA Edgar for best novel. His second novel, A Necessary Evil, won the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing and was a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. His third novel, Smoke and Ashes, was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 Best Crime & Thriller Novels since 1945.
Abir grew up in the West of Scotland and now lives in London with his wife and two sons. At the age of fifteen, his best friend made him read Gorky Park and he has been a fan of crime fiction ever since. A Rising Man, his debut novel, was inspired by a desire to learn more about this crucial period in Anglo-Indian history that seems to have been almost forgotten. It won the Harvill Secker/Daily Telegraph crime writing competition.
Rating: 5/5
Saturday, 24 August 2019
The Devil Hates Latin by Katharine Galgano
Paperback: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. - Albert Einstein, What I Believe (1930)
An African is elected Pope as the Barque of Peter encounters heavy seas. Everywhere, the Faith and the West are in decline. Ominously, occult practices have corrupted the elites, the media and powerful men in the Church.
The new pontiff faces this unprecedented challenge alone, until an embattled American Cardinal sends his best exorcist to Rome, a young Dominican priest with hard experience combating the Devil - in Latin - on America's mean streets.
Meanwhile, a US media mogul, an indifferent Catholic targeted for his politics, flees America with his family for the Eternal City. There, they find a despondent society where Italians no longer marry and have children. Indeed, all hope seems lost until a beautiful Roman girl takes a brave stance against the rising tide of despair.
Gritty, fascinating and impossible to forget, The Devil Hates Latin (2017) sweeps from New England to the Tiber, and ultimately to a Renaissance palazzo nestled in the green hills of Umbria, building to a shattering confrontation as Good summons the courage to face the menace of the gathering forces of Evil.
About the author: Katharine Galgano is the nom de plume of the author, who is an American expatriate living in Europe. She speaks four languages. This, her first novel, draws extensively on her Wall Street experience and on her Vatican contacts.
Genre: Catholic fiction
Friday, 23 August 2019
Thirteen (Eddie Flynn Series) by Steve Cavanagh
Paperback: Thirteen (2018) offers an original twist on the courtroom thriller from the author of The Defence (2015).
The serial killer is not on trial.
He is on the jury.
'To your knowledge, is there anything that would preclude you from serving on this jury?'
Murder was not the hard part. It was just the start of the game.
Joshua Kane has been preparing for this moment his whole life. He has done it before. But this is the big one. This is the murder trial of the century. And Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house.
But there is someone on his tail, ex-conman turned trial attorney Eddie Flynn and he alone suspects that the killer is not the man on trial.
For Kane, time is running out - all he needs is to get to the conviction without being discovered and for Eddie, it is a race against time to get to the killer before the wrong man takes the fall.
Thirteen (2018) is the fourth instalment in the original and ingenious Eddie Flynn legal series and also, the winner of the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2019.
About the author: Steve Cavanagh was born and raised in Belfast before leaving for Dublin at the age of eighteen to study Law. He currently practices civil rights law and has been involved in several high profile cases; in 2010, he represented a factory worker who suffered racial abuse in the workplace and won the largest award of damages for race discrimination in Northern Ireland legal history. He holds a certificate in Advanced Advocacy and lectures on various legal subjects (but really he just likes to tell jokes).
Follow Steve on twitter @SSCav or on his website at www.stevecavanaghbooks.com
Rating: 5/5
Thursday, 22 August 2019
Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Dragon Games (Rising Dragon Series) by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Paperback: Hong Kong. American journalist Paul and his Chinese girlfriend face a crisis. A troubling letter arrives from mainland China from Christine's long lost brother and they feel compelled to come to his rescue. There they find a village in turmoil and her brother's life in disarray.
Their dangerous quest for justice begins in twenty-first century China beset by corrupt politicians and ruthless business interests, where citizens, still in the long shadow of the Cultural Revolution have few rights in the face of an all-powerful system.
Sendker's world is rich and intense: his books weave together love story and crime thriller, the wisdom of Confucius and the thoughts of Mao, between the emotive West and the fatalistic, philosophical East. In short, a penetrating look into contemporary China.
And above all, a sense of deep, honest faith in the human spirit.
Dragon Games (2016) is the second book in the Rising Dragon series featuring Paul, an American journalist and expat in China.
Dragon Games is translated from the German by Christine Lo.
About the author: Jan-Philipp Sendker, born in Hamburg in 1960, and, longing to travel the world, became the American correspondent for Stern from 1990 to 1995, and its Asian correspondent from 1995 to 1999. In 2000, he published Cracks in the Great Wall, a nonfiction book about China. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is his first novel, and since then, he has written 3 further novels, including a sequel to The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, A Well-Tempered Heart. In 2013, he received The Indies Choice Honour Award in the category Adult Fiction for The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, which became an international bestseller.
He lives in Potsdam with his family and has recently released his third instalment in his China-trilogy, The Far Side of the Night (2019).
About the translator: Christine Lo is an editor in book publishing in London. She has also worked as a translator in Frankfurt and translated books by Juli Zeh and Senait Mehari from German into English. Her most recent translation is Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky. She serves as one of the judges of the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German translation.
Rating: 5/5
Tuesday, 20 August 2019
Monday, 19 August 2019
David Hume (1711-1776), Scottish Enlightenment Philosopher, Historian, Economist, and Essayist
(Picture by Choose and Book: National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland)
Sunday, 18 August 2019
The Central Park Five: The Untold Story Behind One Of New York City's Most Infamous Crimes (True Crime) by Sarah Burns
Paperback: I think that everybody here - maybe across the nation - will look at this case to see how the criminal justice system works. This is, I think, putting the criminal justice system on trial. - Mayor Ed Koch, 21 April 1989
In this spellbinding account of the real facts of the Central Park jogger case, Sarah Burns powerfully reexamines one of New York City’s most notorious crimes and its aftermath.
On 20 April 1989, two passersby discovered the body of the “Central Park jogger” crumpled in a ravine. She had been raped and severely beaten.
Within days five black and Latino teenagers were apprehended, all five confessing to the crime.
The staggering torrent of media coverage that ensued, coupled with fierce public outcry, exposed the deep-seated race and class divisions in New York City at the time.
The minors were tried and convicted as adults despite no evidence linking them to the victim.
Over a decade later, when DNA tests connected serial rapist Matias Reyes to the crime, the government, law enforcement, social institutions and media of New York were exposed as having undermined the individuals they were designed to protect.
Here, doumentary filmmaker Sarah Burns recounts this historic case for the first time in The Central Park Five (2019), since the young men’s convictions were overturned, telling, at last, the full story of one of New York’s most legendary crimes.
About the author: Sarah Burns graduated from Yale University in 2004 with a degree in American studies and went on to work for Moore & Goodman, a small civil rights law firm based in New York. She is also the co-producer and director for the documentary film The Central Park Five which she co-produced and directed with her husband David McMahon and her father Ken Burns. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Sarah Burns is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please contact Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com or visit www.prhspeakers.com.
Friday, 16 August 2019
The Gifts Of Near-Death Experiences: You Don't Have to Die to Experience Your True Home by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn
Paperback: Near-death experiences (NDEs) are common, well-documented, and similar across cultures throughout the world. Current estimates are that between 4 and 15 percent of the world's population have had an NDE. Some of the fascination with NDEs comes from the fact that they often result in great leaps in personal growth. These leaps are characterized by the loss of the fear of death, the healing of deep hurts, an increase in self-esteem and compassion for others, a sense of union with all things, and a clearer sense of how to fulfil one's purpose in life.
This is a book that teaches readers how to reap the benefits of NDEs without having to experience trauma. In the course of their many workshops around the world, the authors have discovered that when one immerses oneself in accounts of NDEs, one can experience love, hope, healing, and a sense of purpose.
This is the only book that systematically encourages the reader to create a spiritual and psychological healing practice based on NDEs. Each chapter includes an account of a fascinating NDE, followed by a series of questions, meditations, exercises, and video links. The reader is encouraged to contemplate these stories and their own lives.
The Gifts of Near-Death Experiences (2016) is truly a profound guide to both living and dying.
About the authors: Linn Ministries includes the retreats and conferences given by Dennis, Sheila and Matt Linn in the United States and around the world, and our books and tapes. Sheila Fabricant Linn, Dennis and Matt Linn work together as a team, integrating physical, emotional and spiritual wholeness. They have taught courses on processes for healing around the world. They are the authors of 23 books, including 2 books for children and those who care for them. These books have sold over a million copies in English and have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Blood Oath (Alexandra Cooper Series) by Linda Fairstein
Hardback: New York Times bestselling author Linda Fairstein explores the depths of Manhattan’s secretive Rockefeller University in this timely, captivating thriller about the deep - and often deadly - reverberations of past sins.
Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit is finally back at work following a leave of absence, and not a moment too soon. With more women feeling empowered to name their abusers, Alex is eager to return to the courtroom to do what she does best.
But even she cannot anticipate the complexity of her first case when she meets Lucy, a young woman who testified years earlier at a landmark federal trial, and now reveals that she was sexually assaulted by a prominent official during that time.
Yet Lucy’s is not the only secret Alex must uncover, with rumours swirling about one colleague’s abusive conduct behind closed doors and another’s violent, mysterious collapse.
As the seemingly disparate cases of her client, adversary, and friend start to intertwine, Alex, along with NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, finds herself in uncharted territory within Manhattan’s Rockefeller University, a premier research institute, hospital, and cornerstone of higher learning. But not even the greatest minds in the city can help her when unearthed secrets begin to collide in dangerous ways, and unless she can uncover the truth, the life-saving facility just may become her grave.
Blood Oath (2019) is the twentieth and latest instalment in the excellent Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper legal thriller series set in New York.
P/S Blood Oath might be the author's last book as she has been dropped by her publishers - Dutton (US) and Little Brown (UK) - due to the fallout with regards to her former role as chief of the Manhattan district attorney’s sex crimes unit in relation to the wrongful conviction of five teens in the 1989 rape and beating of a female jogger. Fairstein had already resigned from at least two not-for-profit boards as backlash intensified and a #CancelLindaFairstein movement spread on social media. Last year, the Mystery Writers of America took the rare step of withdrawing a lifetime achievement after other authors protested, citing Fairstein’s role in the Central Park case.
About the author: Linda Fairstein (born 1947) is one of America's foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. She served as head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's office from 1976 until 2002 and is the author of a series of novels featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper.
This year, Fairstein will debut a new series for Middle Grade readers - 8-12 years old. Her kid sleuth, Devlin Quick, appears in Into The Lion's Den in November, 2016. The series is an homage to Nancy Drew, whose books inspired Linda's two careers - in crime fiction and in the law.
Ms Fairstein is an honours graduate of Vassar College (1969) and the University of Virginia School of Law (1972). She joined the Manhattan District Attorney's office in 1972 as an Assistant District Attorney. She was promoted to the head of the sex crimes unit in 1976. During her tenure, she prosecuted several highly publicized cases, including the "Preppy Murder" case against Robert Chambers in 1986.
Linda Fairstein left the District Attorney's office in 2002, and has continued to consult, write, lecture and serve as a sex crimes expert for a wide variety of print and television media outlets, including the major networks, CNN, MSNBC among others. Ms Fairstein is often called to provide her opinion on high profile prosecutions including: Michael Jackson's molestation charges in 2004, Kobe Bryant's sexual assault charges, and Scott Peterson's trial. She is also a frequent speaker on issues surrounding domestic abuse.
Ms Fairstein lives in Manhattan and on Martha's Vineyard with her husband, Michael Goldberg. Her novels draw on Ms Fairstein's legal expertise as well as her knowledge of and affection for the rich history of the city of New York.
Rating: 5/5
Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Lethal White (Cormoran Strike Series) by Robert Galbraith
Paperback: When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled.
While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic.
Trying to get to the bottom of Billy's story, Strike and Robin Ellacott - once his assistant, now a partner in the agency-set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.
And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike's own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been - Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much trickier than that.
The most epic Robert Galbraith novel yet, Lethal White (2018) is both a gripping mystery and a page-turning fourth and latest instalment in the ongoing story of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott set in London.
About the author: Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym of J K Rowling. After Harry Potter, the author chose crime fiction for her next books, a genre she has always loved as a reader. She wanted to write a contemporary whodunit, with a credible back story.
Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series is classic contemporary crime fiction from a master story-teller, rich in plot, characterisation and detail. Galbraith’s debut into crime fiction garnered acclaim amongst critics and crime fans alike. The first four novels The Cuckoo’s Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015) and Lethal White (2018) all topped the national and international bestseller lists. The first three books in the Strike series have been adapted for television, produced by Brontë Film and Television.
J K Rowling’s original intention for writing as Robert Galbraith was for the books to be judged on their own merit, and to establish Galbraith as a well-regarded name in crime in its own right.
Now Robert Galbraith’s true identity is widely known, J K Rowling continues to write the crime series under the Galbraith pseudonym to keep the distinction from her other writing and so people will know what to expect from a Cormoran Strike novel.
Rating: 5/5
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Sunday, 11 August 2019
The Devil in the City of Angels: My Encounters With the Diabolical by Jesse Romero
Hardback: “I went from an indifferent apathetic Sunday Mass attending Catholic Christian to an on fire Catholic Christian in a few short years. What reignited my faith? The many encounters I had with the occult and diabolical.” So says renowned Catholic apologist and retired veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Jesse Romero.
Now for the first time in print, Romero reveals the harrowing details of his experiences with the demonic while working for the LASD.
Discover the true stories of spiritual warfare being waged in the streets and alleys of L.A., including:
Romero’s encounters with Richard Ramirez, the infamous “Night Stalker”
How the Rosary drove out a demon that had taken hold of a young man
What happened when inmates involved in the occult would try to say “Jesus is Lord”
How a young man who had committed suicide returned to beg his parents for prayers to release him from the pains of Purgatory
…and much more.
The Devil in the City of Angels (2019) is much more than a catalog of strange and terrifying events. It exposes Satan as the Father of Lies so we can see how he works, and how to defeat him. Drawing on his own experiences as well as the most authoritative sources, Romero offers the reader numerous cautionary tales, but also that hope that is only found in Jesus Christ and his Church.
About the author: Jesse Romero is a long-time Catholic evangelist and a retired veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He holds an undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts from Mount St Mary's College in Los Angeles and a graduate degree in Catholic Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He speaks frequently around the country and is the popular host of two radio shows. To learn more about Jesse and his mission, visit his website.
Saturday, 10 August 2019
Hungry Souls: Supernatural Visits, Messages, and Warnings from Purgatory by Gerard J M van den Aardweg
Paperback: Vanity it is: to be only mindful of the present life, and not fix one's eyes on the future. Thomas à Kempis, Imitatio Christi
After a week of hearing ghostly noises, a man is visited in his home by the spirit of his mother, dead for three decades. She reproaches him for his dissolute life and begs him to have Masses said in her name. Then she lays her hand on his sleeve, leaving an indelible burn mark, and departs.
A Lutheran minister, no believer in Purgatory, is the puzzled recipient of repeated visitations from "demons" who come to him seeking prayer, consolation, and refuge in his little German church. But pity for the poor spirits overcomes the man's skepticism, and he marvels at what kind of departed souls could belong to Christ and yet suffer still.
Hungry Souls (2009) recounts these stories and many others trustworthy, Church-verified accounts of earthly visitations from the dead in Purgatory. Accompanying these accounts are images from the "Museum of Purgatory" in Rome, which contains relics of encounters with the Holy Souls, including numerous evidences of hand prints burned into clothing and books; burn marks that cannot be explained by natural means or duplicated by artificial ones.
More than just a collection of "Catholic ghost stories," Hungry Souls also discerns from these accounts important truths about the afterlife, about God's mercy, and ultimately, about the urgent necessity to pray and perform suffrages for our brothers and sisters in Purgatory and to reform our lives so as to shorten our own stay in that place of real and awful suffering.
About the author: Gerard J M van den Aardweg, PhD is a Dutch psychotherapist in private practice. In addition to his work in parapsychology - writing and speaking about near-death experiences and paranormal events, such as those detailed in Hungry Souls, Dr van den Aardweg has written extensively on pro-life and pro-family subjects. His previous books include Education for Life, The Saint of the Ordinary (about the life of JosemarÃa Escrivá), and On the Origins and Treatment of Homosexuality. He lives in the Netherlands with his wife, with whom he has seven children and seventeen grandchildren.
Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike Series) by Robert Galbraith
Paperback: When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible - and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men.
But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them.
Career of Evil (2015) is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, it is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives.
Career of Evil was one of the six novels nominated for the title of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the winner of the Audie Award for Mystery in 2016.
About the author: Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym of J K Rowling. After Harry Potter, the author chose crime fiction for her next books, a genre she has always loved as a reader. She wanted to write a contemporary whodunit, with a credible back story.
Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series is classic contemporary crime fiction from a master story-teller, rich in plot, characterisation and detail. Galbraith’s debut into crime fiction garnered acclaim amongst critics and crime fans alike. The first four novels The Cuckoo’s Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015) and Lethal White (2018) all topped the national and international bestseller lists. The first three books in the Strike series have been adapted for television, produced by Brontë Film and Television.
J K Rowling’s original intention for writing as Robert Galbraith was for the books to be judged on their own merit, and to establish Galbraith as a well-regarded name in crime in its own right.
Now Robert Galbraith’s true identity is widely known, J K Rowling continues to write the crime series under the Galbraith pseudonym to keep the distinction from her other writing and so people will know what to expect from a Cormoran Strike novel.
Rating: 5/5
Friday, 9 August 2019
Thursday, 8 August 2019
Thursday, 1 August 2019
Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache Series) by Louise Penny
Paperback: As the early morning mist clears on Thanksgiving Sunday, the homes of Three Pines come to life - all except one.
To locals, the village is a safe haven. So they are bewildered when a well-loved member of the community is found lying dead in the maple woods. Surely it was an accident - a hunter's arrow gone astray.
Who could want Jane Neal dead?
In a long and distinguished career with the Sûreté du Quebec, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has learned to look for snakes in Eden. Gamache knows something dark is lurking behind the white picket fences, and if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will begin to give up its secrets.
Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.
Still Life (2005) is the first instalment in the worldwide phenomenon Chief Inspector Gamache series and the winner of the CWA John Creasey Dagger, New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.
Rating: 5/5
Healing The Purpose Of Your Life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn
Paperback: The authors offer ways to help readers discover their special purpose in life - through love, life circumstances, other people and faults - that essence which underlies all decisions and activities.
Each of us comes into this world carrying with us a special purpose, what Agnes Sanford called our "sealed orders." When we follow our sealed orders, we become fully alive, resolve midlife crises and avoid burnout. This book is to help us discover our sealed orders and heal the obstacles to living them out.
Healing The Purpose Of Your Life (1999) comes with full-colour illustrations by Francisco Miranda.
About the authors: Linn Ministries includes the retreats and conferences given by Dennis, Sheila and Matt Linn in the United States and around the world, and our books and tapes. Sheila Fabricant Linn, Dennis and Matt Linn work together as a team, integrating physical, emotional and spiritual wholeness. They have taught courses on processes for healing around the world. They are the authors of 23 books, including 2 books for children and those who care for them. These books have sold over a million copies in English and have been translated into more than 20 languages.
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