Tag Archives: book reviews

Book Review: Pimple, by Ryan Weeks

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Ryan Weeks’ debut novel paints a disturbing picture of the sex industry fuelled not by drugs and organised crime but by download speed.
By Lucy Bryson for Frost Magazine
With shades of Black Mirror, the hit Netflix series, Pimple is a brave debut novel by the tech journalist, Ryan Weeks. In it, he transports us – hopefully for the first time – to London’s underworld where pimps, prostitutes and criminals abound. It explores what would happen if this shady cast of characters were thrust in the neon glare of the internet and the impact of ‘disruptive technology on society.

Pimple sees tech insiders take on the sex industry by creating an app that puts sex workers and clients directly in touch with one another, Uber-style.
With an insider knowledge drawn from his years as a mover and shaker within the world of ‘FinTech’ (or financial technology), Weeks casts a sideways glance at the buzz terms and behaviour of those involved in game-changing tech but isn’t afraid to confront tough questions about accountability.

The sex industry is a controversial subject to cover, and it’s very much to the author’s credit that Pimple doesn’t descend into tawdry imaginings of sexual encounters. Rather, it’s a thoughtful and stylishly-written novel that looks at the lives of four very different people – Annie, the tech-savvy young woman who creates the app; Elena the sex worker that signs up for what she hopes will be a safer and more profitable way of doing; Emerson, a disgusting pimp who violently object to the loss of income; and the police officers enforcing the laws that ban prostitutes and pimps from plying their trade.

Annie, the book’s main character, is a techy-savvy millennial looking for a new challenge after her financial start-up is bought out by a High Street bank. Looking for something morally rewarding, she begins to imagine ways in which she could use technology to stem a rise in violent crime against female sex workers in the city. With the help of close friend Veronica, she develops a revolutionary new app that is to throw an already dangerous situation into chaos.


The first chapters of the book outline the women’s attempts to launch the app on the street worker scene, and before long prostitutes begin to sign up in their droves – accustomed as they are to the abusive pimps, these vulnerable women find themselves suddenly in a more powerful position. Able to pick and choose her clients (rated on a 1-5 scale, as are the prostitutes) and her rates, Annie feels a cautious sense of liberation and independence. But neither the pimps nor the police are happy, and events spiral dangerously out of control, as several fraught chapters lead to a violent conclusion.

This is not a book that will appeal to all tastes. The stylised language sounds a little forced at times – particularly in the dialogue between Annie and Veronica – and some readers will baulk at the idea of a book about Millennials and their ‘tech-talk’. But Weeks is unafraid to poke fun at his own generation and its presumed pretentiousness, making this a more humorous read than the subject matter may suggest.

Weeks succeeds in conveying a sense of impending doom, and fans of the thriller genre will find a lot to enjoy here; the book crams a lot of tension, twists and turns into little over 200 pages.

But Weeks also poses some challenging questions about sexual exploitation and the impact of technology on society – questions which readers are likely to be pondering long after they’ve put the book down.

Ryan Weeks is the editor of AltFi.com, one of the leading news and intelligence resources for ‘fintech’ (financial technology) in the UK. Pimple, explores the dramatic consequences of technological disruption. It is out now through Amazon UK priced £10.99 in paperback and 99p in ebook.

Necessary Evil: How to Fix Finance by Saving Human Rights | Book of The Week

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necessary evil finance

When I first received this book I worried it might be bias. There was no need. It is well researched and balanced. Full of fascinating facts and persuasive argument. A compelling and thoughtful read.

Finance is the evil we cannot live without. It governs almost every aspect of our lives and has the power to liberate as well as enslave. With the world’s total financial assets–valued at a staggering $300 trillion–being four times larger than the combined output of all the world’s economies, there is, apparently, plenty to go around. Yet, while proponents of finance-driven capitalism point to the trickle-down effect as its contribution to wealth redistribution, there are still nearly a billion people across the globe existing on less than $2 a day; 14 percent of Americans are living below the official poverty line; and disparities in wealth equality everywhere have reached unprecedented levels. Evidently a trickle is not enough.

How can this be when so much wealth abounds, and when finance is supposedly chastened and reformed after its latest global crisis? How, especially, can it be in an age when human rights are more loudly proclaimed than ever before? Can the financial sector be made to shoulder more of the burden of spreading wealth, reducing poverty, and protecting rights? And if so, what role can human rights play in making it happen?

In answering these questions, David Kinley draws on a vast array of material from bankers, economists, lawyers, and politicians, as well as human rights activists, philosophers, historians and anthropologists, alongside his own experiences working in the field. Necessary Evil shows how finance can shed its conceit, return to its role as the economy’s servant not its master, and regain the public trust and credibility it has so spectacularly lost over the past decade–all by helping human rights, not harming them.

Available here.

Mário de Sá-Carneiro – The Ambiguity of a Suicide, by Giuseppe Cafiero

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By Staff Writer

Part biography, part historical travelogue and part detective story, this fictionalised investigation into the suicide of the Portuguese writer Mário de Sá-Carneiro is admirable on many levels. 

Part of the acclaimed ‘Ambiguities…’ series by Italian author and playwright Giuseppe Cafiero, Ambiguity of a Suicide is an artful, intriguing meander through the mind of a gifted yet troubled soul.

Cafiero’s works are described by the author himself as works of ‘bio-fiction’, a type of metaliterature that plays with the blending of fact and fiction. This literary form is particularly effective in telling the story of de Sá-Carneiro, an acclaimed avant-garde writer of the early 20th century whose mind was muddied by his taste for strong alcohol and a desire to numb his sense of ‘saudade’ (a uniquely Portuguese word best translated as ‘melancholy’).

The word is key to the novel’s depiction of a man apparently tormented by feelings of inappropriate desires, of  something ‘missing’ and of a general mournful malaise that could not be shifted by boozy nights in Lisbon and Paris, or dreams of making a new life in the Portuguese territory of Brazil.

The Ambiguity of Suicide follows the journey of de Sá-Carneiro’s close friend, fellow poet Fernando Pessoa; Mondine, a private detective; and Doctor Abilio Fernandes Quaresma, a ‘solver of enigmas’, as they retrace the tragic author’s footsteps in light of his recent death.

Together, they drink in his watering holes, eat in his favourite restaurants and talk to the characters that he came across before he took his own life in a desperate bid to shed light on the circumstances that led to his demise.

Cafiero effortlessly evokes the period and settings that shaped de Sá-Carneiro during his time in Lisbon and Paris, and there is a fitting sense of beautiful melancholy throughout the book, such as the following description: “Sea and salt air. Duino was then in his heart. A manor house corroded by time. White, skeletal, dried by the sun. Progenitor of imperial deaths. The ocean is another thing. Gusts of an Atlantic wind. Gazing at conquered lands. Lisbon”.

Following a trail that leads them into seedily sensual territories, the three characters come to understand a little more of Sá-Carneiro and his troubled mind,

but ultimately (and as the ‘ambiguity’ title suggests) they find there is never any simple answer to the ‘why?’ of a suicide. 

The translation from the original Italian is extremely well done, but so too are the translations from the original Portuguese – the text is dotted with direct quotes from the writer and poet’s works, as well as from his friend Pessoa (best known for The Book of Disquiet).

It is perhaps fair to say that the works of Mário de Sá-Carneiro are little known outside of Portuguese-speaking countries. It’s also fair to say, however, that readers willing to engage with the unfamiliar will glean a lot of enjoyment from this novel and will probably find themselves eager to familiarise themselves with de Sá-Carneiro’s back catalogue after reading it.

Mário de Sá-Carneiro – The Ambiguity of a Suicide by Giuseppe Cafiero (Clink Street Publishing) is available from Amazon UK, priced £1.13 in paperback and £1.07 in Kindle edition. Visit www.giuseppecafiero.com.

 

The Ancient Celts Second Edition Book Review

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Fierce warriors and skilled craftsmen, the Celts were famous throughout the Ancient Mediterranean World. They were the archetypal barbarians from the north and were feared by both Greeks and Romans. For two and a half thousand years they have continued to fascinate those who have come into contact with them, yet their origins have remained a mystery and even today are the subject of heated debate among historians and archaeologists.

Barry Cunliffe’s classic study of the ancient Celtic world was first published in 1997. Since then huge advances have taken place in our knowledge: new finds, new ways of using DNA records to understand Celtic origins, new ideas about the proto-urban nature of early chieftains’ strongholds, All these developments are part of this fully updated , and completely redesigned edition.

Cunliffe explores the archaeological reality of these bold warriors and skilled craftsmen of barbarian Europe who inspired fear in both the Greeks and the Romans. He investigates the texts of the classical writers and contrasts their view of the Celts with current archaeological findings. Tracing the emergence of chiefdoms and the fifth- to third-century migrations as far as Bosnia and the Czech Republic, he assesses the disparity between the traditional story and the most recent historical and
archaeological evidence on the Celts.

Other aspects of Celtic identity such as the cultural diversity of the tribes, their social and religious systems, art, language and law, are also examined. From the picture that emerges, we are – crucially – able to distinguish between the original Celts, and those tribes which were ‘Celtized’, giving us an invaluable insight into the true identity of this ancient people.

This book is an excellent and thorough look into the lives of the ancient Celts. It is both accessible and well-researched. Recommended. 

The Ancient Celts is available here. 

 

TAKE FOUR WRITERS: RECOVERING, COMPLETING, REVIEWING, CHARTING

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ANGELA PETCH… RECOVERING

I spent time with my characters on their bench by the sea and they told me the rest of their stories. I’ve 95% finished the first draft of “Mavis and Dot” and very soon the editing slog will start. Beta-readers and illustrator are on board and deadlines are in place with blog tours and an author week arranged for mid-November. I’ve also booked a December 1st launch in Worthing (the location for my book) and contacted Cancer Research for support – (I am donating profits to this organisation, so fingers-crossed I make some.

In the midst of all this planning, I ended up in hospital with a warning. My memory disappeared for a few hours; a stroke or tumour was suspected. However, a brain scan revealed all was well (some would disagree!) I need to slow down. My writing is for fun – anything else is a bonus.

“If you listen to your body when it whispers, you won’t have to hear it scream.”

 

JACKIE BALDWIN… COMPLETING

Hello. This month I finished my line edit and answered all those squirmy plot questions. Things are starting to gather momentum now. I’ve been told that my cover reveal will be happening on the Killer Reads page at 8pm on Sunday 29th April which is exciting! I’ve had a few days off as I wait for the copy-edit to arrive. Once that is finished the book will be in its final form.

Tasting freedom, I’ve been gallivanting in the Lake District and up visiting The Kelpies near Falkirk.

I’ve also started planning my blog tour with Love Books Group. It will start on 15th June when the book is released and last two weeks. I’ll need to prepare guest posts and Q/A’s for that. The day after it ends I’m off to a Greek island to stitch my shredded nerves together with my long suffering husband.


CLAIRE DYER… REVIEWING

So, after the launch and after the blog tour come the reviews!

I’ve long thought that writing is an odd thing to do. You spend a year or two writing a novel, editing it, rewriting it, editing it again, doing copy edits, checking covers, planning the PR and then there’s one glorious day when you hold the book in your hand and think, ‘Crikey, it’s a real thing and it’s going to go out into the world and (hopefully) be read by others.’ It’s a bit like hoping people will like your kids when they leave home and strike out on their own.

And, as much as we don’t like people passing judgement on our children, authors do need reviews of their books. I always do them for novels I’ve enjoyed and it’s a wonderful way to support authors and their publishers. Doing shout-outs on Twitter, popping up a 5* on Amazon and/or Goodreads is a lovely way to show support for the writing community. And, if I didn’t enjoy a book so much, I tend to keep quiet. Not because I don’t believe in freedom of speech, because I do, but because I don’t think giving a negative review is helpful. Reading tastes are so subjective, after all.

I would, however, like to thank all the lovely people who’ve left reviews of ‘The Last Day’ and who’ve messaged me privately to say they’ve enjoyed reading it. These are, naturally, the judgements I do like!

 

LUCY COLEMAN… CHARTING

It’s been a month of celebrating and being grateful for reader power. Amazon is only one of the online market places but it’s a useful measure. An eye-catching cover and a tantalising book blurb are essential, but reviews are a major influencer.

A reader apologised to me recently for the fact that she only writes very short reviews. Always five stars and a simple statement of appreciation. I wish I could have jumped through the monitor to hug her, because EVERY positive review is a blessing.

This month ‘The French Adventure’ soared up the charts and peaked at a dizzying #81 in the overall Amazon UK Kindle chart. Having passed that top 100 magical number before, I always wonder ‘Will the readers take me there again?’

As a reader, never underestimate YOUR power – your voice counts, so let your favourite authors know that and they will keep on writing.

Four Mums In a Boat Book Review

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Four Mums in a Boat: Friends who rowed 3000 miles, broke a world record and learnt a lot about life along the way

The incredible true story of four ordinary working mums from Yorkshire who took on an extraordinary challenge and broke a world record along the way.

Janette, Frances, Helen and Niki, though all from Yorkshire, were four very different women, all juggling full time jobs alongside being mothers to each of their 2 children. They could never be described as athletes, but they were determined to be busy and the local Saturday morning rowing club was the perfect place to go to have a laugh and a gossip, get the blood pumping in the open air, and feel invigorated.

Brought together by their love of rowing, they quickly became firm friends, and it wasn’t long before they cooked up a crazy idea over a few glasses of wine: together, they were going to do something that fewer people than had gone into space or climbed Everest had succeeded in doing. They were going to cross 3,000 miles of treacherous ocean in the toughest row in the world, The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Yes, they had children and husbands that they would be leaving behind for two months, yes they had businesses to run, mortgages to pay, responsibilities. And there was that little thing of them all being in their 40s and 50s.

But two years of planning, preparation, fundraising, training and difficult conversations later, and they found themselves standing on the edge of the San Sebastian harbour in the Canary Islands, petrified, exhilarated and ready to head up the race of their lives.

This is the story of how four friends together had the audacity to go on a wild, terrifying and beautiful adventure, not to escape life, but for life not to escape them.

Frost really loved this amazing story of courage and resilience. It is also a must read for mothers who too often put their life on hold and never put themselves first. Nothing in life comes easy but it is possible to have children and live your life to the full. 

 

Available from amazon.co.uk

J.D Robb Secrets In Death | Recommended Reads

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j.d. robb secrets in death

A thoroughly enjoyable read from one of the world’s most prolific, and successful, writers.

No one is going to miss Larinda Mars. A ruthless gossip queen with a lucrative sideline in blackmail, there’s no lack of suspects when she’s murdered in a fashionable New York bar. With so many people wanting her dead, it’s going to be a tough case to crack.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas may not like this particular victim, but it’s her duty to bring the killer to justice. As she digs deeper into Larinda’s mysterious past, it becomes clear the reporter had a unique talent for uncovering secrets. Including ones very close to home for Eve and her husband Roarke…

Someone was willing to commit murder to keep their secrets hidden. And with Eve now working to uncover the truth, she and her team are heading into serious danger.

J.D Robb Secrets In Death is available here. 

The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr By Frances Maynard Book Review

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The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr

I really loved this book. It has a lead character with Asperger’s- which I think is a great thing- we need more stories told from different perspectives, and it is just funny and well written, but also sad. It is original and, sometimes, even a bit of a difficult read. Some people take advantage of Elvira and her differences. Even though the book can be sad sometimes it also is uplifting and draws you in. The characters are all brought vividly to life and the story goes along at a good pace. This book won a book competition I entered and I am not even slightly bitter that it won, it was well deserved. A must read.

Funny, heart-warming and ultimately triumphant, The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard is the perfect story for anyone who doesn’t quite fit in – and for everyone who chooses not to.

Elvira Carr is twenty-seven and neuro-atypical. Her father – who she suspects was in the secret service – has passed away and, after several Unfortunate Incidents growing up, she now spends most of her time at home with her overbearing mother. But when her mother has a stroke and is taken into care, Elvira is suddenly forced to look after herself or risk ending up in Sheltered Accommodation. Armed with her Seven Rules, which she puts together after online research, Elvira hopes to learn how to navigate a world that’s full of people she doesn’t understand. Not even the Seven Rules can help her, however, when she discovers that everything she thought she knew about her father was a lie, and is faced with solving a mystery she didn’t even know existed . . .

The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr is available here.