Stalin’s Hammer: Rome – John Birmingham

Continuing on from the epic Axis of Time trilogy,  John returns us to the world he established but a few years later. The year is now 1955 and the world has changed. The Allies won world war 2 (again) but with different outcomes, German cities being Nuked and finished earlier than expected.  The technology from the future has been in their hands for 13 years now and great leaps and bounds are being made.

Stalin’s Hammer is scheduled to be broken into 3  books, Rome being the first, Cairo and Paris being the other too and these books catch us up on what has been happening. Turns out Stalin not happy to hear his communist party doesn’t survive to the turn of century and sets out to fix this. Whatever that may mean….

Let me be clear i’m not an ebook person. I could ramble on about the smell, tactile sensation or how awesome a full bookshelf is but that’s beside the point. I prefer books on the shelf but since john has been screwed over by publishers he is going out on his own. As such the only (read cost effective) way to get the books is in ebook format. These are just novellas so quite short but i loved the world he created and just had to get them. Since my favourite characters from Axis of Time return such as Prince Harry, it is a fantastic (short) read.

He intends to release part 2 and 3 for free on his mailing list first so defiantly jump in there and sign up if you like freebies. http://cheeseburgergothic.com/

Star Trek Enterprise: Live By the Code – Christopher L. Bennett

Well this is Part 4 in the series so far and wraps up many loose ends established in previous ones, leaving one to wonder will there be another book. This most definitely is not a stand alone story

This is Star Trek at its best, Klingons, moral dilemmas, space battles, character development, techno babble. This is not a book you can just pick up you have to read the series and the series only makes sense if you watched the TV show as well. Which always limits their sales i guess. That’s the catch using established IPs i guess.

Fool Me Once – Harlan Coben

Been a fan of Coben for a few years now and each time he releases a new book i grab it day one. Here we have another great thriller with twists and turns right up until the end.

Maya is a war veteran who seems to have a bit of PTSD going on. Her world falls apart when her husband is killed. Now a single mum, she is fiercely protective of her daughter and so a friend trying to help buys her a nanny cam so she can watch her daughter when she is with the nanny.

One day reviewing footage she sees something that cant be real, she refuses to accept it, but the evidence is there in front of her. Her dead husband is on the footage…..

What happens next is a rollercoaster ride that leads us to a shocking ending.

This book is great, not just from having a female protagonist but also for dealing with PTSD. Harlan goes on to thank and acknowledge the many veterans he has spoken with in regarding to dealing with PTSD. I thought that was a nice addition

A definite must have for the thriller lovers out there

The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins

In today’s day and age it is so hard to have a real discussion about religion. We have as a society evolved (well devolved since its going backwards) to lash out when people want to discuss certain topics.

In the media the left wing nanny state fascists, instead of having discussions on the issue just throw around words like racist and bigots or commence in slanderous attacks rather than discuss the issue but this is just childish. We seem to have lost the ability to have a respectful talk on key issues with someone of an opposing point of view. Is it because we have become a race of keyboard warriors who lash out at anything they don’t agree with? or are people becoming so brainwashed they don’t know why they hold a point of view so they cant argue it? or worse still they are told they are not allowed to.

This book does a wonderful job of highlighting this very issue. How religion has turned into a topic that people don’t want to discuss and just react violently to who ever brings it up. Which is the very opposite of what the major religions preach.

Its a great read for someone who has an open mind and doesn’t run off and bury their head in the sand when a topic is broached they don’t like.