MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by RANSOM RIGGS

I can't believe I let this one sit on my TBR shelf for as long as I did. I remember picking it up shortly after I purchased it and reading about ten pages and setting it down to collect dust.

I was depriving myself of one of the most special reading experiences I would ever have.

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by RANSOM RIGGS is truly one very amazing read. It's everything you want in a book. It's the complete package, from cover to cover.

Riggs has produced a book that is full of magical adventure, thrilling action and frightening antagonists, as well as a heart warming romance that spans centuries.

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN was so much more than what I was expecting by multitudes. Quite frankly I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Perhaps a quiet mystery surrounding some strange photographs. I'm not sure. But what I got was so much more.

Jacob goes on the hunt for the story behind his grandfather's strange photographs after he is murdered at the hands of a tentacle-mouthed creature out of any child's worst nightmare. What follows is unexpected and wondrous. To tell more would be ruining your own experience.

There will come a day I will re-read MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. It is a modern day classic I recommend very, very, highly. If you have not read it, I implore you to drop what it is you are doing and run immediately to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy.

The book is atmospheric, mysterious, and quite simply amazing. Two thumbs up. Ten out of ten. Get. It. Now.

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN - book trailer

Later today I will review this most amazing, wonderful, and incredibly brilliant book. For now, the trailer:

CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ONSLAUGHT trailer

This post if for my beautiful fiancé Ashley…

ZOO by JAMES PATTERSON & MICHAEL LEDWIDGE

Under normal circumstances I would stay away from this book. The reason being, it seems like PATTERSON puts out a new book with a co-author every other week. The man couldn't possibly be so prolific! I assume most of these books are written by the writer whose name is neither prominent on the cover, nor is highlighted in bold, bright, caps.

But I digress.

What captured my attention was the cover and the title of the book. Without even reading anything about the story on the back of the book I just knew this might be something I would like to read.

I was right.

ZOO is a kick-ass action, adventure, thriller about animals, on mass, attacking the human race. While not completely original, ZOO is certainly entertaining! It's a page turner that will keep the high octane book lovers out there reading through the night until its apocalyptic conclusion.

ZOO is the kind of book I like to read smack dab in the middle of summer (which is probably when it came out in hardback). I love my end-of-the-world-creature-feature during the hot season, not sure why. Just seems to suit my needs at that time of the year. It's usually when the big blockbuster movies are hitting the big screens and so I usually want something blockbuster-y to read.

ZOO is a blockbuster. It's a popcorn and Coke kind of book. I think you'll enjoy it.

If you have a COSTCO membership you can grab the paperback off one of their book tables for like six bucks.

The book also spawned a graphic novel. See the cover below:

THE COPERNICUS LEGACY: THE FORBIDDEN STONE by TONY ABBOTT - book trailer

This one looks really interesting. I will definitely be grabbing my copy this week.

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

I loved Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. In my opinion it ranks right up their with other mega trilogies, like STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, DIE HARD, THE MATRIX (and others).

I was really excited for last years THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. I couldn't wait to see it. Unfortunately when I did, I nearly fell asleep. I thought it was boring, long winded and draining. My mother fell asleep not long after the opening scenes.

Never the less I wanted to see THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG. Maybe it was my lowered expectations or maybe it was just a better film, but DESOLATION rocked my world.

For days afterward I was thinking about how awesome it was! It was full of action and humour and thrilling moments that will keep you on the edge of your seats.

Two thumbs up. Definitely check it out!

THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES by SCOTT LYNCH

For a good long while Scott Lynch's THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA was one of my all time favourite books. Great characters and wonderful story telling. Locke and Jean were two of my favourite fantasy characters, much like Lansdale's Hap and Leonard are my favourite mystery/thriller characters.

I couldn't wait to read what trouble Locke and Jean would get up to in RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES. The follow up, while no classic, was a worthy sequel.

THE GENTLEMAN BASTARD SEQUENCE appeared to be off and running, Lynch a growing name in the fantasy genre.

Then nothing. For five long years.

The wait for THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES was made all the more torturous due to the monumental cliff hanger at the end of RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES.

Five years is also a difficult amount of time, for me anyway, to remember all the details of a fantasy series. It's one of the reasons I was not able to continue reading George R.R. Martin's SONG OF FIRE AND ICE series. How can I possibly remember all those characters and situations? Sure, that's what wikipedia is for but none the less…

THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES is a descent novel but no where near what I was hoping it might be or as good as I think it could have been.

Locke and Jean and their long ago friend Sabatha are corralled by the Bondsmagi of Karthain to rig/compete against one another in the Karthain elections. Locke and Jean against Sabatha…who can get the most seats for their respective party?

THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES runs between two time lines. One delves into an earlier time of Locke, Jean and Sabatha's early years when their master, Chains, sends them away to Espara where they join a troubled theatre group with the aim to bring it back into good repute. This leg of the book is quite tedious and could have done with a heavy trim from an editor's eager pen!

The other side of THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES deals with the elections of Karthain and where I was expecting the book to become quite juicy. Locke and Jean are thieves, con artists, trained hustlers, swindlers, cheaters, bamboozlers! I expected lots of clever plots by our antagonists to tip the election in their favour. I was expecting grand schemes and scams, tricks and treacherous cheats!

Unfortunately the author never comes even remotely close to such things. Most of the time we are given pages and pages of Locke mooning over Sabatha (the love of his life). This book at its heart turns out to be a soppy romance disguised as a fantasy novel, instead of a what it should have been, a fantasy novel disguised as a romance.

Lynch should have done better. With two kick ass characters like Locke and Jean and the amazing world they inhabit THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES should have been an epic political ball buster, instead of the bore that it turned out to be.

Will I continue to read THE GENTLEMEN BASTARD SEQUENCE? Certainly. Lynch is a really good writer, and I know he can give us a good book. This just wasn't one.

Just a word on the cover. INCREDIBLE! One of the best covers I've ever seen. BRILLIANT!