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By Bitesize Books, March 17, 2012 12:12 pm

Sam is a collector of souls, when he is dispatched to collect the soul of Kate MacNeil, a teenage girl who killed her family, Sam encounters something he should not feel – the soul of an innocent. His refusal to collect that soul and the ensuing trouble this causes is skilfully blended in hard boiled noir fiction with the supernatural. With the non collection of Kate’s soul threatening the resumption of war between Angels and Demons and Sam’s belief that to collect that soul will start just such a war, Sam and Kate must find a way to stay alive and keep the peace.
 
Holm’s human characters are believable and frail enough, his hero tough enough – and scared enough – with exactly the right amount of stubbornness. As for his Angels and Demons, be prepared for some surprises, not everything is as it appears. Holm’s rendition of the Angels in their terrible beauty and the Demons in their terribleness is a standard that I shall now be applying to any future fiction I read featuring these supernatural beings.
 
With a twist at the end this page turner will rivet fans of the thriller/crime genre as well as those whose normal staple is fantasy/horror giving both an expanded reading horizon that is sorely lacking in genre fiction that keeps to it’s own narrow rail. I will be looking out for the second book in the series.
 
My thanks to Angry Robot for my review copy of this book.

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By Bitesize Books, January 11, 2012 12:28 pm

In Yallop’s beautifully written book she explores the grey area between guilt and innocence, the extenuating factors that may make a terrible act more explicable and understandable. She also forces the reader to explore their own motivations in the way we look at and judge others. The book speaks to our need for love and the damage caused when that love is withheld or corrupted. A fine read which has been compared to ‘The Secret Scripture’ and ‘The Reader’, I am not convinced it is quite up to the high standard set by Sebastian Barry but another book likely to find favour with book groups.

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By Bitesize Books, January 11, 2012 12:26 pm

This is an important book that forces questions about what it means to be a citizen of your Country. In ‘The Submission’ Amy Waldman explores the view Americans have of America and its racial mix. Is it white Judeo-Christian or is the truth more complex and more explosive? What happens if our view of ourselves is challenged, both individually and as a Nation? Waldman asks these questions as she also explores the politics of grief and how our view of ourselves can lead to bigotry, hatred and violence. An important book that forces us to assess and reassess ourselves, our attitudes and those of our countrymen. Who are we as a nation and what do we believe in? A great book for book groups.