I wrote about The Dead Saga books #0.5 and #1 a few weeks ago. I had mixed feelings about the series, however, I downloaded and read Odium Origins, which is book #1.5 in the series.
This book, as the “Origins” name suggested is all about the back story of a number of characters from book #1. Again, there are positives and negatives. There are also SPOILERS.
Positives are that each story within the book isn’t very long, with just enough information to find out who they were before the zombie outbreak and what they were doing.
Negatives include too much eye rolling from the characters. Also, if I’m not mistaken, apart from Mikey, all of the characters are killed by the end of the first book, which I feel negates the need for an origins book. One character specifically I would like to have read more about in the main book, but there you go.
I am also unsure how invested I am into the series. However, as I have only read the first book, it seems only fair that I give the second book a read. There is also a book #2.5, and apparently a book #3.5 on the way. There are enough books in the series to keep me occupied for a while, possibly.
The average score on Goodreads for book #1.5 is 4.35, which feels overly generous to me, as I gave it 3, which was overly harsh, but I didn’t think it deserved 4.
I was very kindly given a book token at Christmas by my mother-in-law, and Strange Ink was one of the book which I bought with it.
Harry Hendrick is a washed up journalist working for a minor local newspaper. He’s recently split up with his long term girlfriend and he is a borderline alcoholic. He wakes up one morning after a friend’s stag party with a raging hangover and a large brand new tattoo, which he has no recollection of getting. Along with the brand new tattoo he had a nightmare where two men were disposing of a dead body.
Being a journalist, just about, he tried to find out where and when he was “inked”, but to no avail. A week later, he had another nightmare and wakes up with another tattoo, and this time he wasn’t drunk. The nightmare is all about someone in the army in Afghanistan, who discovers a massacre of innocent civilians and a link to the drug import. Are the nightmares and tattoo from someone beyond the grave?
I really enjoyed this book with the combination of crime thriller with supernatural horror elements. The main character, Harry, is likeable, mostly, and the supporting cast are also well written. I was gripped all the way to the end.
I gave the book a rare five stars, which is possibly a little generous, but four stars would have been harsh. What I found interesting is that the book has an average score of only 3.5 on Goodreads, with plenty of two or three star reviews. Seeing as there are another Harry Hendrick books available, this definitely won’t be my last book from Mr. Kemble.
I don’t generally read regular crime thrillers as I prefer horror. One reason for this is that horror is make believe, while crime thrillers are often far nastier than any horror book I’ve read. Case in point would be the Scarpetta series of books by Patricia Cornwell.
I stumbled across the DS Cross series of books last summer, specifically one called The Cyclist. However, that particular book was the second in the series, so I downloaded the first one, The Dentist, onto my Kindle and then promptly forgot about it. Last week I started to read it, and had finished it in a matter of days, it was that good.
DS Cross is not your ordinary detective. He suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. He is nicknamed DS Odd by some of his unkinder colleagues. However, his conviction rate is the best in the city.
In this book, a homeless man has been killed. It is thought that it was simply two homeless men having an argument about alcohol and one of them killed the other. For DS Cross there are too many unanswered questions. He doesn’t believe that the man who’s been arrested and charged with the murder is the guilty man.
I won’t give any more away, but the story and the characters are compelling. This was easily one of the best crime thrillers that I have read in a long time, and I have already downloaded the second book in the series.
I gave the book a very rare five stars out of five, although the average score is a lowly 4.2. Maybe I’m not on the pulse of what is a good crime thriller, and possibly there are dozens of other crime writers out there even better than Tim Sullivan. Who knows?
I’ve got a lot of time for Mr Haywood, as he one of the most successful self-publishing British authors. I have read many of his books and his Undead series is easily one of the best zombie series available. Currently, the series is up to about book number 25 (I think), with the next book promised soon.
Anyway, Blood on the Floor is a bonus book from the Undead world which looks at two more minor characters, and how they entered into the wider Undead series.
Early on in the main series there is a character called Paco Maguire, who is definitely modelled on The Rock. He’s a larger than life American film star, in the UK filming a zombie film when a real life zombie outbreak starts. Despite his macho persona, in real life he’s a coward. Slowly, over the first ten day, he becomes braver, mostly because of an immune dog, who attacks ever zombie they come across.
Unfortunately, Paco succumbs to overwhelming numbers and become infected, ultimately being killed by the dog who saved him. A couple of weeks later, Paco stumbles into the main series with Heather, a woman who he saved, and who also saved him. Blood on the Floor describes how the pair of them met, and how Paco survived becoming infected.
There’s a lot to like about this book, as the stories intertwines with the main books, and we see the action from a completely different point of view. However, in my opinion, the book is too long. The first half drags and would work far better if maybe 50% of the first half of the book was edited out. The second half is far better, and by the end it is brilliant, but again, a good portion of the second could have been ditched.
Finally, if you’re not a fan of the Undead series, don’t even think about starting to read this book. It is definitely one for fans of the main series of books. I gave the book three stars, which I thought was generous, but looking on Goodreads, it has an average score of 4.5, which is astounding.
There are another two books set within the Undead world; Blood at the Premier and The Camping Shop. I have downloaded them both to my Kindle as they are available with Kindle Unlimited, but I might give them a miss.
Karen Rose is an author I had never heard about until the Random Book Club sent me a copy of Silent Scream. I will admit that I’ve not read all of the random books, but I have made an effort.
Four students set fire to a environmentally unfriendly development, hoping to put a stop to it. Unfortunately, a young woman is trapped in the main building and is killed. Only one of the students attempts to save her, but he is knocked out by his “friends”. On top of this, someone filmed them setting the fire and knocking out a security guard. This person is now blackmailing them for money and to set other fires.
The book is fairly long, over 500 pages, and it does take a long time to get going. However, the last 100 pages are gripping. Apart from being too long, there are a few other negatives. The romance aspect of the story didn’t fully work for me. I was happy that the two characters were together at the end, but at the beginning, the male character comes across as a spurned stalker.
Another problem was that the main characters were often referencing past events, which I knew nothing about. There is obviously an earlier book with the same characters trying to find a serial killer who kills his victims and then dumps them into a lime pit to decompose. I have looked on Goodreads to see which book this one is, and haven’t been able to identify it. Karen Rose’s books all occur in the same universe with a common set of characters, although there are subset locations. There is a suggested reading order, and Silent Scream is book #11.
I gave the book 4 stars, mostly because of the last 100 pages. 3.5 stars is probably a fairer score. Would I read another book by Karen Rose? Probably not, unless I stumbled across one in a charity shop, as her books aren’t available on Kindle Unlimited.
In partnership with the Lake District National Park, the 13 Valleys Ultra is an epic adventure in the stunning landscape of the Lake District National Park, with four distances to chose from.
13 Valleys celebrates the 13 unique valleys of the Lake District National Park which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site status, by linking them all together. You can choose between one trail distance: 2 Valleys (21km) and three ultra distances: 5 Valleys (55km), 7 Valleys (110km) and 13 Valleys (180km). Each of them will take you through spectacular trail running around the magnificent lakes and valleys of the Lake District. (Taken directly from the website).
My lovely wife, Helen, sent me a link to this particular ultra, and I have entered the 5 Valleys distance with an early bird discount. For me, this race seems perfect. The 7 and 13 Valleys are way too long for me, and the 2 Valleys wouldn’t be enough of a challenge.
The route for the 5 Valleys starts in Ambleside and finishes in Keswick. Almost half of the route me and Helen have walked or run in the past, which should make navigation easier. However, the 5 Valleys distance is fully waymarked, and the GPS route can be downloaded, which I will do.
From Ambleside, the route heads to Troutbeck, skirting Wansfell. From there the route follows a well used trail all the way to Thornthwaite. Last year we walked up that fell, but for this race the route to the top and down from the top are different from what I’ve done in the past. Until the route drops into Hartsop, there is a 7 km section that will be new to me, followed by another 3 km that I’ve also never done. However, there is a 20 km section from Glenridding to Threlkeld that I’ve also never done. Over the course of the summer I will hopefully attempt this main section.
As the name of the race suggests, the route doesn’t always traverse the highest points or the fell summits. High Street and The Knott are just two Wainwrights where the official route misses by less than 100 m. I don’t suppose that anyone would mind if I was to run a little extra, although I would expect by race day that me and Helen will have “bagged” those two pesky Wainwrights.
The race is at the end of September, giving me eight full months to train. I have to say that I am incredibly excited by this race. The distance of 55 km will be challenging, as will the hills, although, as I said, the elevation could easily have been a lot more, with it “only” being 2300 m.
If you’re interested, the official website is https://www.13valleysultra.com/. I don’t know when the early bird discount will end, or when entries have to be in by. I also don’t know how popular the event is. The Lap, another ultra run/walk in the Lakes, sells out in a couple of weeks, so for me, this is the perfect alternative race as I was too slow to enter the run around Windermere.
Anyway, if you have entered, I’ll see you there, or possibly in the Valleys reckoning the route over the summer.
It is very good, although I was always under the impression that hellfire was all one word.
Saxon were the second band I ever saw live back in 1983, and I still have their best albums on vinyl from that period.
It is scary to see how old the band look, with Biff being 72. They are supporting Judas Priest in a couple of months, but the dates don’t work particularly well, or the venues. Hopefully, Saxon will do their own UK tour later in the year.
Two weeks in a row that we’ve headed out for a walk in the Lake District, and when I say “we”, I mean me, my lovely wife, Helen, and our silly young Pointer, Gordon. With tired legs from yesterday’s parkrun, we decided to tick off an easy Wainwright, Troutbeck Tongue. Obligatory selfie before we set off as we waited for a shower to pass.
According to Wikipedia, Troutbeck Tongue is small fell three miles east-northeast of Ambleside. Its moderate height and proximity to a main road mean it is a pleasant half-day excursion that can be done when the higher fells are in cloud. Today, the higher fells of Ill Bell, Froswick and Red Screes were all hidden by cloud, as well as having a dusting on frost.
Even though we set off nice and early, the small carpark close to the church in Troutbeck was already full. Fortunately, we managed to squeeze into a small layby a little further up the road. When we returned, cars were parked everywhere, which I assume the locals hate.
When we set off, we clambered over two stiles and joined a small path running parallel to the main Kirkstone Road, which we crossed and joined Ing Lane. The walking was easy, even with a very excited pointer. He was a little unsure of the sheep when we crossed another field, but we soon found ourselves heading up the lower slope of the Tongue.
From the photo it is easy to see how the other fells dwarf the much smaller Troutbeck Tongue.
As with all Wainwright’s, there was some steep sections, but you don’t get the great views without a little effort. However, Gordon was slightly too excited and was bordering on being a pest, especially when he tried to eat frozen lumps of sheep poo.
When we reached the summit, we bumped into the first people we’d seen on our route. Two men, loaded down with huge rucksacks. We didn’t have chance to find out what they were doing, but it looked epic.
From the top, you can see why Wainwright added this fell to his collection, with views all the way down the valley to Windermere, even on a day like today when the weather wasn’t any where near as good as the previous week.
It was surprisingly windy at the top, even though we weren’t very high, and with the dusting of frost, Gordon decided it wasn’t for him. We took a few photos and then headed back down the way we had come up, which was a lot easier than climbing up.
You can see that little Gordon has a harness across his snout. He doesn’t like it, but he’s too strong to walk with if he’s not wearing it. He’s an intelligent lad, so we’re fairly sure that his little brain will link not pulling with not having to wear the lead he doesn’t like.
On the way down we passed a woman with a very lively dog, who didn’t like Gordon, before meeting a man wearing a kilt, and a fell runner running up hill faster than I would run downhill.
At the bottom of the Tongue, we took a different route back to Troutbeck, following the main bridleway which would take you to Thornthwaite Crag and High Street. Thornthwaite we’ve done, but High Street is a fell for another day. (Read about Thornthwaite here).
We followed the bridleway until we reached a fork. Our intended route was to the left, but the right fork would take us through Limefitt holiday park. It looked fairly pleasant, even if the lodges were very close to each other. It was a nice short cut which took us directly back to our car. We fed Gordon before heading on home.
Our route might have only been six miles, but it was great to be out. Plus, we ticked off one more Wainwright, although it will probably take us years to walk them all.
Not another series of books about a zombie apocalypse? I’m afraid so, although this particular series does have some very good reviews. As far as I can tell, there are nine full books in the series, with another four or five shorter books set in between the main stories. I have started to read them in order, beginning with book #0.5 Odium Origins: Nina’s Story. I have only read two books, with the second one being Odium: The Dead Saga #1.0. There are spoilers below. You have been warned.
The basic story is that people are dying and turning into zombies. The government manages to set up an unknown number of walled cities, with hundreds or possible thousands of people living there in safety in each one. Unfortunately, the government falls and aid no longer reaches the cities. With a scarcity of food and other resources, people are being turned away from the cities. They are the Forgotten. Some of them were not allowed inside the cities as they had a criminal record.
In Book #0.5, Nina, the main character, finds herself alone in one of these cities, and helps to overthrow the army who were in charge. However, the new leader turns out to be even worse.
At the start of Book #1.0, a young girl is being forced to leave the city for stealing some stale bread. Nina has had enough and goes with her, even though they have no weapons, no food, no water and literally, no hope.
They find a working car and drive hundreds of miles, before stopping to scavenge at a gas station. (The book is set in America). Zombies surround the place and they are rescued by a man who takes them to a community living in a set of tree houses. This gets burned down and they have to go on the run.
I have a few problems with the two books. It appears that Book #0.5 was written some time after Book #1.0. At the start of the first book, Nina is a pain in the ass and an unlikeable character. She argues with everyone, even those people trying to help. However, by the end, she is far more likeable and wants to help other people instead of the world being everyone for themselves. This is good character development. However, in the prequel, Nina isn’t very similar to how she is portrayed at the start of Book #1.0.
The community living in the trees have been there for since the start of the outbreak, which I think is over two years. In that time, they have only managed to find two or three guns. This is America, and the zombies don’t have any use for guns, so why haven’t they managed to find any? Also, one of the community locked some people who weren’t infected into a building with a few zombies, in effect, letting them die. This is mentioned almost every page.
Another thing I wasn’t keen on was how often the characters rolled their eyes. Seemingly every few pages. In my opinion, rolling your eyes is a phrase that was used far too often.
Despite some of my negative comments, by the end of Book #1.0 I was invested in the three main characters, and really wanted them to survive and to find out what happened next. I gave both books four stars on Goodreads.
Gordon is our nine-month old Pointer puppy. Today was the first time that we’ve taken him for a walk in the lakes. He loved it, which is just as well, as me and Helen still have 190 Wainwright’s to complete. The last time that we went walking in the Lake District was back in April last year. Now that Gordon is older, hopefully we’ll be heading out every couple of weeks.
Helen downloaded a six mile loop from Wikiloc, which started and finished in Ambleside. As there was plenty of ice around, we opted to park in Ambleside, rather than starting and finishing in Troutbeck, as on the drive out there it appeared that none of the roads had been gritted. One drawback, outrageous parking prices, and a payment machine that only worked via the App. Grumble, grumble, mumble.
The route took us past the Stock Ghyll Falls and onto the steepest section of the climb up Wansfell. It was cold and there was some ice, but it wasn’t too bad. My legs, on the other hand, were definitely not used to walking up steep fells. Gordon was also incredibly excited.
The views from the top were stunning, with the whole of Windermere Lake hidden under a blanket of cloud. My lovely wife, Helen, Googled it on the way home. There was a temperature inversion, where the temperature at ground level is lower than at higher ground. It is very rare for clouds to remain at ground level for more than a couple of hours in the early morning, so we were incredibly fortunate.
At the top, we did make a small mistake. Wansfell Pike isn’t a Wainwright. The next fell along, Baystones, is the Wainwright. It’s okay, we’ll simply have to come back another day.
Seconds after Helen took that photo of me and Gordon, I managed to drop his lead when he suddenly pulled. He was off like a shot, with me running and shouting after him. Fortunately, Helen’s loud whistle stopped him in his tracks and he ran back to us. I have never been so relieved. It isn’t uncommon for Pointer owners to have GPS collars on their dogs. They like to run, and our last Pointer would come back when she was ready.
From the top of Wansfell we dropped down the other side towards the small village of Troutbeck, where we bumped into an old friend from Lancaster who was out walking with his family in the opposite direction.
After a short section on the road we turned up Robin Lane. This was a fantastic track which we followed all the way back to Ambleside. Once again, Gordon was very excited, especially as he is now tall enough to be able to see over most stone walls. It was also the first time that he had seen sheep.
The track slowly made its way back down the hill, through a field full of more sheep and into a wood, before we reached Ambleside. We had a great view of Hayes Garden World from above the town, and we both agreed that it was a carbuncle and some of the cottages must have been annoyed when it was built, spoiling their views.
Anyway, back in the town we returned to the car, giving Gordon some food. Me and Helen both had tired feet and legs. We’d only walked seven miles, although we will soon find our fell legs.
I have to say that our route was one of the best shorter walks we have ever done in the Lake District, and one that we will repeat in the future.
Beards and Triathlons 
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