Category: Novella

The Outfit: The Absolutely True Story Of The Time Joseph Stalin Robbed A Bank by David Tallerman

I Read, Therefore I Blog3 Comments

The Blurb On The Back:

In 1906, the revolutionary Joseph Djugashvili – who would later take the name Joseph Stalin – met with an old friend, a clerk at the Tiflis branch of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, for a glass of milk.  Over talk of national pride, the spirit of the new century and Djugashvili’s poetry, they agreed the beginnings of a plan.

With the aid of the Outfit, Djugashvili’s hardened crew of “expropriators”, they would pull off the biggest, bloodiest and most daring robbery in Georgia’s history, and ruthlessly change the direction of the Bolshevik revolution forever … 

THE OUTFIT by David Tallerman was released in the United Kingdom on 3rd March 2022.  Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the review copy of this book.

You can order THE OUTFIT by David Tallerman from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

Jon is on the run.

He has betrayed Oslo’s biggest crime lord: The Fisherman.

Fleeting to a mountain town so far north that the sun never sets, Jon hopes to find sanctuary.

Hiding out in the wilderness, all that stands between him and his fate are Lea, a bereaved mother, and her young son, Knut.

But the midnight sun is slowly driving Jon to insanity.

And then he discovers that the Fisherman’s men are getting closer …

You can buy MIDNIGHT SUN by Jo Nesbo from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

Blood On Snow by Jo Nesbo

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

Olav lives the lonely life of a fixer.

When you “fix” people for a living – terminally – it’s hard to get close to anyone.

Now he’s finally met the woman of his dreams.

But there are two problems.

She’s his boss’s wife.

And Olav’s just been hired to kill her.

You can order Blood On Snow by Jo Nesbo from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

The Language Of Dying by Sarah Pinborough

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

Tonight is a special terrible night.

A woman sits at her father’s bedside, watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life.  Her brothers and sisters – all broken, their bonds fragile – have been there for the past week, but now she is alone.

And that’s when it always comes

The clock ticks, the darkness beckons.

If it comes at all.

You can order The Language Of Dying by Sarah Pinborough from Amazon UK, or Waterstone’s.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

The Catch by Mick Herron

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

If life in the Intelligence Service has taught John Bachelor anything, it’s to keep his head down.  Especially now, when he’s living rent-free in a dead spook’s flat.

So he’s not delighted to be woken at dawn by a pair of Regent’s Park’s heavies, looking for a client he’s not seen in years.

Benny Manors could be anywhere, provided it serves alcohol.  So John sets out on a reluctant trawl through the bars of the capital, all the while plagued by the age-old questions: will he end up sleeping in his car?  How many bottles of gin can be afford at London prices?

And just how far will Regent’s Park go to prevent anyone rocking the Establishment’s boat.

You can order The Catch by Mick Herron from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

The Alice Encounter by John Gribbin

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

There is about 10 times more dark matter (DM, also known here as Alice matter) than bright stuff in our Galaxy.

The DM is spread out in a roughly uniform sphere (a spherical distribution of Alice stars), with our flattened disk Galaxy embedded in it.  The “Alice matter”, is a kind of mirror image shadow stuff; the term “looking glass matter” has been used by some scientists.  Alice matter can be turned into ordinary matter (and vice versa) by sending it though a loop of Alice string, a naturally occurring cosmic phenomenon.

Aliens in the DM world, more advanced than we are, have discovered the trace of 10 per cent “normal” matter in “their” universe.  And have come to investigate it.

Our disk is a perturbation that they are puzzled about.

You can order The Alice Encounter by John Gribbin from Amazon UK, or Waterstone’s.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

The Drop by Mick Herron

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone cafe, he knows he’s witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair’s breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crew member overboard, well: collateral damage is her speciality.

A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information.

It’s also what happens just before you hit the ground. 

You can order THE DROP by Mick Herron (published as THE MARYLEBONE DROP in the USA) from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company.  Exploratory teams are accompanies by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid – a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot”.  Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighbouring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.  

You can order ALL SYSTEMS RED by Martha Wells from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

The List by Mick Herron

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

Dieter Hess, an aged spy, is dead, and John Bachelor, his MI5 handler, is in deep, deep trouble.  Death has revealed that the deceased had been keeping a secret second bank account – and there’s only ever one reason a spy has a secret second bank account.  The question of whether he was a double agent must be resolved, and its answer may undo an entire career’s worth of spy secrets.  

You can order THE LIST by Mick Herron from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »

The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch

I Read, Therefore I BlogLeave a comment

The Blurb On The Back:

There’s something going bump on the Metropolitan line and Sergeant Jaget Jumar knows exactly who to call. 

It’s PC Peter Grant’s speciality …

Only things are more than just going ‘bump’.  Traumatised travellers have been reporting strange encounters on their morning commute, with strangely dressed people trying to deliver an urgent message.  Stranger still, despite calling the police themselves, within a few minutes the commuters have already forgotten the encounter – making the follow-up interviews rather difficult.

So with a little help from Abigail and Toby the ghost hunting dog, Peter and Jaget are heading out on a ghost hunting expedition.

Because finding the ghost and deciphering their urgent message might just be a matter of life and death.

You can order THE FURTHEST STATION by Ben Aaronovitch from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Read More »