All Ora: The Boiling Point by Sotto Voce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Having read and enjoyed the first book, ‘In Ora,’ I found it was essential reading for the first couple of chapters of this sequel. This is because, despite the short prequel, ‘To Ora,’ (which is confusingly called an Epilogue rather than the Prologue) the writing style throughout the book continues the reader’s confusion and dilemma, with its constant unclear changing of the various characters’ point of view. This was also a particular problem with the dialogue. The occasional inclusion of the phrase: ‘he said’ or ‘she said’ etc would have helped this reader enormously. Too much was taken for granted in those sections. I was constantly having to refer back to find out whose voice I was meant to be listening to. Unfortunately, that and the author’s very strange way of expressing certain parts of the narrative, with its common idioms and clichés spoilt my overall enjoyment of the story.

I was still rooting for Luke and Ruyi who are now in hiding from Sphene and his group, including the equally ruthless Quillon. In the prequel we discover more about Luke’s father and his childhood friend, Anny, which does help to explain a lot about past and future circumstances.
The ever present affection between Luke and Ruyi maintains a mayor element of the whole book. It is very touching and still so well done. The contrast between the two societies, the superior Orans and the desperately poorer Origins, lies at the heart of this dystopian book and provides the urgency for readers to keep turning the pages; and that is also well done.

I found it refreshing for Luke and Ruyi together, to begin to consider some of the morality and ethics that may exist behind the actions and cruelty that are, inevitably, behind warfare and its battles for power. This is notwithstanding the aims and methods behind the Oran’s genetic experiments, since these help to reveal the reasons for needing human subjects, like Luke and others from Origin’s population.

Were it not for the frequent spelling errors and poor grammar here and there I would have been able to give this a higher rating, as previously. But with some re-editing and some re-arrangement this fascinating, exciting and compelling story would have had my ardent recommendation.

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The Quarantine Drift: A Dystopian First Contact Science Fiction Novel by Erika LeClair
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story had me gripped from the beginning. It told of a future drought-ridden Earth that has become desperate for water. During a freak storm Carina, the main character, had heart-breaking tragedy happen to her. She then spends most of the book searching for her lost twin sister, and the truth behind alien domination through a powerful tech company, Genidex. My heart went out to Carina even more as the history of what happened to her as a child, in the ruthless clutches of Genidex, unfolds.

The author’s writing of an intriguing and exciting sci-fi tale is obvious from the start. The pace together with the various twists and turns makes one quite breathless at times. I enjoyed meeting her well-drawn characters and most of their conversations were realistic, if somewhat too idiomatic at times. Unfortunately, I also found so many typos and spelling errors pretty well throughout the book, that it did spoil my overall enjoyment. The number of oaths used, which included the word ‘god,’ was tedious because it is always, respectfully, spelt with an upper case first letter, that is to say ‘God.’

There is an exciting and enigmatic ending to the book, with perhaps too much blood and guts for some readers, but I found it acceptable within the context of the story. Great characters and a compelling plot with some original theoretical ideas kept my attention. A pity this was spoilt by the need for a lot more editing, and before I can recommend it without criticism.

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Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As usual the author’s almost abrupt attitude towards her portrayal of the character of Vera Stanhope, makes no bones about her appearance and her method of interviewing people. She comes across as being a large woman, plain in appearance and very unstylishly dressed. She is still very fond of alcohol and often unpleasantly direct when asking questions of witnesses or suspects. We find her swimming lengths of a health club’s pool at the start of the story, due to her doctor’s advice about changing her lifestyle to one that is healthier.

When Vera discovers a woman’s dead body in the steam room of the health club we know we are at the beginning of her next new murder case. The victim, Jenny Lister, is a social worker and the subsequent investigation will occupy the rest of the novel. Sometimes Cleeves tells the story from the POV of her sergeant Joe Ashworth but in the third person generally. It is obvious throughout that Vera is pulling the strings and I felt it was unfair on Joe to make him seem so naïve. In this novel we start to get an idea of how much Vera thinks of her sergeant and, at the same time, the effect upon his wife with how much extra overtime he is expected to put in to a case. There is also the appearance of Vera’s father’s old Land Rover, breaking the general police rules about the safety of the vehicles used by officers. Cleeves gives the reader a little more information about DI Stanhope’s upbringing from Hector, her widower father. It meant I found more sympathy and understanding for her bluff TV image.

This novel had so many false trails and possible suspects that it makes your head spin at times; just what you want in a good crime thriller. I still am not sure of the eventual motive for the murder – but I suspect that is going to be the situation I will find myself at the end of many more Vera Stanhope novels. Fans of the crime genre will like this book.

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