A very refreshing debut novel from Tom Rob Smith, set in Stalinist Russia. The writing is very direct and to the point. It pulls the reader deeper and deeper into the contradiction that was a crime free Communist Russia and one mans quest to undercover a serial killer, that the State denies even exists. A great first novel and an author to look out for in the future.

Synopsis
MGB officer Leo is a man who never questions the Party Line. He arrests whomever he is told to arrest. He dismisses the horrific death of a young boy because he is told to, because he believes the Party stance that there can be no murder in Communist Russia. Leo is the perfect soldier of the regime. But suddenly his confidence that everything he does serves a great good is shaken. He is forced to watch a man he knows to be innocent be brutally tortured. And then he is told to arrest his own wife. Leo understands how the State works: Trust and check, but check particularly on those we trust. He faces a stark choice: his wife or his life. And still the killings of children continue…

For a computer book, this is very well written and easy to use. David Pogue adds little light hearted and funny touches making problem solving less of a pain in the butt. Of the mac books I’ve every own, this is by far the best written and the layout is easy to use.

The best bit of the book, is that being for an Apple Mac, it is not needed very often.

Published by Pogue Press

Product Description
With Leopard, Apple has unleashed the greatest version of Mac OS X yet, and David Pogue is back with another meticulous Missing Manual to cover the operating system with a wealth of detail. The new Mac OS X 10.5, better known as Leopard, is faster than its predecessors, but nothing’s too fast for Pogue and this Missing Manual. It’s just one of reasons this is the most popular computer book of all time. Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition is the authoritative book for Mac users of all technical levels and experience. If you’re new to the Mac, this book gives you a crystal-clear, jargon-free introduction to the Dock, the Mac OS X folder structure, and the Mail application. There are also mini-manuals on iLife applications such as iMovie, iDVD, and iPhoto, and a tutorial for Safari, Mac’s web browser. This Missing Manual book is amusing and fun to read, but Pogue doesn’t take his subject lightly. Which new Leopard features work well and which do not? What should you look for? What should you avoid? Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition offers an objective and straightforward instruction for using: Leopard’s totally revamped Finder Spaces to group your windows and organize your Mac tasks Quick Look to view files before you open them The Time Machine, Leopard’s new backup feature Spotlight to search for and find anything in your Mac Front Row, a new way to enjoy music, photos, and videos Enhanced Parental Controls that come with Leopard Quick tips for setting up and configuring your Mac to make it your own There’s something new on practically every page of this new edition, and David Pogue brings his celebrated wit and expertise to every one of them. Mac’s brought a new catto town and Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition is a great new way to tame it.

A corker of a crime novel. Fred Vargas unique style draws the reader into, an at times complex novel. There are lots of nice touches and interesting details in this novel, making it a real gem. If you enjoy crime novels, then this is a must for you.

Synopsis
On the outskirts of Paris, two men have been found with their throats cut. It is assumed that this is a drug-related incident of the kind so often uncovered in that area of town. But Adamsberg is convinced that there is more to it. Anxious to keep control of the case, he must call in a favour from the pathologist Ariane Lagarde, someone he had come up against twenty-three years previously. The trail also leads Adamsberg to a cemetery, where a grave has been disturbed with no apparent motive. Could this be the work of the elderly nurse - a serial killer caught by Adamsberg two years ago and recently escaped from prison? Meanwhile a new lieutenant has been assigned to the team. There is something disquieting about him, not least when it emerges that he is from a neighbouring village in the Pyrenees, known for its feuds with Adamsberg’s own childhood home. “This Night’s Foul Work” is another riveting case for that most engaging of contemporary detectives, Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, and another triumph from the redoubtable Fred Vargas.

This is a great detective yarn. I’ve only evey caught the odd few minutes of of the Dalziel and Pascoe T.V. series and have never read any previous Reginald Hill’s novels, so was a little concerned I would not have any idea of the characters, but I need not have feared, because the novel stands on its own. This is a well balanced who mystery novel with some nice modern touches. Placing it well in the 21 century, must to the ire of some regular Reginald Hill have, if some of the reviews online. I must say I enjoyed this novel a great deal and the writing style was a breathe of fresh air in this some what staid genre. An all in all good read.

Published by Harper Collins.

Synopsis
The highly anticipated return of Dalziel and Pascoe, the hugely popular police duo and stars of the long-running BBC TV series, in a new psychological thriller. Some say that Andy Dalziel wasn’t ready for God, others that God wasn’t ready for Dalziel. Either way, despite his recent proximity to a terrorist blast, the Superintendent remains firmly of this world. And, while Death may be the cure for all diseases, Dalziel is happy to settle for a few weeks’ care under a tender nurse. Convalescing in Sandytown, a quiet seaside resort devoted to healing, Dalziel befriends Charlotte Heywood, a fellow newcomer and psychologist, who is researching the benefits of alternative therapy. With much in common, the two soon find themselves in league when trouble comes to town. Sandytown’s principal landowners have grandiose plans for the resort — none of which they can agree on. One of them has to go, and when one of them does, in spectacularly gruesome fashion, DCI Peter Pascoe is called in to investigate — with Dalziel and Charlotte providing unwelcome support. But Pascoe finds dark forces at work in a place where medicine and holistic remedies are no match for the oldest cure of all!

A great mystery novel set in post war Berlin. The writing style is rich and fluid. Every page invokes the dread and hardship of Berlin in 1947-48. It is a dark journey. The story is narrated by British torturer/security agent many years after the events. He tries to piece together the past, almost one feels , to give meaning to his own existence. It reminds me a lot of Joseph Conrad. A great novel, with a fresh and invigorating style.

Book Description

Set during the winter of 1946–47, one of the coldest on record, Pavel & I unfolds against the tattered social fabric of postwar Berlin. Pavel Richter, a decommissioned GI, finds himself at odds with a rogue colonel in the British Armed Forces and a Soviet general when an American friend deposits a dead Russian spy in his frozen apartment. The race to take possession of the dead spy’s quarry soon begins threatening Pavel’s friendship with a street orphan named Anders and his budding love for his upstairs neighbor, Sonia. As the action hurtles toward catastrophe, the hunt merges with one for the truth about the novel’s protagonist: Who exactly is Pavel Richter? Peopled with pimps, prostitutes, spies, and a gang of child thieves, Pavel & I explores the power of storytelling to wrest meaning from the wreckage of civilization. An electrifyingly suspenseful novel played out among the first salvos of the Cold War, Pavel & I is a literary debut that introduces a writer of brilliant imagination and virtuosity.