The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

I’m sad, I just can’t. I can’t believe the one book I was desperately waiting for, is now done and dusted! THIS is the Matthew Reilly I fell in love with. He is back with a bang and I could not be happier!

Lets just get straight into it, here’s the blurb:

It is a secret the Chinese government has been keeping for forty years.

They have found a species of animal no one believed even existed. It will amaze the world.

Now the Chinese are ready to unveil their astonishing discovery within the greatest zoo ever constructed.

A small group of VIPs and journalists has been brought to the zoo deep within China to see its fabulous creatures for the first time.

Among them is Dr. Cassandra Jane ‘CJ’ Cameron, a writer for National Geographic and an expert on reptiles.

The visitors are assured by their Chinese hosts that they will be struck with wonder at these beasts, that they are perfectly safe, and that nothing can go wrong.

Of course it can’t…

Matthew Reilly is one of my favourite authors and his book, The Great Zoo of China is absolutely fantastic! As the name suggests, this book revolves around the greatest zoo ever built, with animals never seen before – Dragons! The zoo has been constructed in the wilds of China, under great secrecy. Before it is open to the general public, a select group of VIPs are invited on a tour of the zoo, for them to view, experience and take the extravagance to the world. CJ Cameron, an expert on reptiles and a writer for National Geographic, and her photographer brother Hamish are swept away to China to see the zoo they have no idea about and nothing could possibly prepare them for what was to come.

The man who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself – Freidrich Nietzche

The most dangerous animal in a zoo is MAN – Yann Martel, Life of Pi.

Reilly’s books always pack quite a punch; the action is always top notch – unrealistic, maybe – but isn’t that what his awesome books are all about? Reading about the world he’s created, despite the fact it defies belief, just seems so believable. No matter how much I wanted to drag this book out, I cruised through it. I wanted to be in the middle of the action, wanted to experience it all, all the death and destruction. This book, in snippets, did remind me of Jurassic Park but this storyline was superbly unique with great characters and majestic beasts.

I absolutely loved the new female character Reilly has introduced in CJ Cameron. She, like Shane Schofield and Jack West Jr, comes in scarred from past experiences which just make her so likeable.

If you have never read a Matthew Reilly book, this is where you need to start. This book (and all his other books) is HIGHLY recommended. It is Reilly on a scale never seen before; his book is fantastic, super enjoyable, unputdownable and crazily unrealistic!

THIS BOOK DESERVES A MOVIE! 😀

Everyone needs to give this book a go. It was just so much fun. I cannot wait with what Matthew Reilly comes up with next.

Happy Reading Peeps! xx

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Let me start off by saying this, Burial Rites couldn’t be more different from the books that I normally go for. Yet, constantly seeing it on every list of Top 10 books, I had to give this one a go.

So, here goes…

In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men. Agnes is sent to wait out the time leading to her execution on the farm of District Officer Jon Jonsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderess in their midst, the family avoids speaking with Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes’ spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her, as he attempts to salvage her soul. As the summer months fall away to winter and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes’ ill-fated tale of longing and betrayal begins to emerge. And as the days to her execution draw closer, the question burns: did she or didn’t she?

To say that I was pleasantly surprised with this book would be a huge understatement. I found it really hard to pull away from this one. This book is based on a true story. It is a beautifully written debut novel by Hannah Kent who has delved deep into human emotions to write a beautiful, cut-glass prose about personal freedom and the ways in which we will risk everything for love. She has portrayed a formidable 1800s Iceland, where every day is a battle for survival. It is a very moving book especially when you ask yourself, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Hannah’s writing is amazing, very descriptive. She made me see the locales of Iceland and I felt the chill in my bones from the wintery winds and the tiny bits of heat from the kitchen when Agnes told her story to Reverend Toti. This book is hauntingly emotional and there were so many points in the book where I would read a certain line and I’d be left thinking about it for a long time after.

“To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things.”

There was one in particular that I felt was just so beautifully written, especially when I did bother delving more into my personal memories; that is exactly how I felt:

“I can turn to that day as though it were a page in a book. It’s written so deeply upon my mind I can almost taste the ink.”

AND some more:

“Any woman knows that a thread, once woven, is fixed in place; the only way to smooth a mistake is to let it all unravel.”

“Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own.”

It is simply beautiful. Everyone should definitely attempt reading this book.

This one is good, very good.

Happy Reading Folks!

 xx

Scarecrow and The Army of Thieves by Matthew Reilly

 Scarecrow and The Army of Thieves, hmm… gosh, what do I say?! I love action movies, and this book could possibly be made into an amazing action movie – an action movie on steroids! Can I just state once and for all, Shane Schofield aka Scarecrow, is one of my absolute favourite characters any author has ever introduced, kudos to Matthew Reilly.

Can we for once give in to our need to simply read an amazing, fast paced, thrilling, action packed book that may possibly put a lot of movies to shame?! Of course we can! Go grab yourself a Matthew Reilly book and you’ll be kept entertained for a long time.

Lets talk about the book.

At an abandoned Soviet base in the Arctic, the battle to save the world has begun…

THE SECRET BASE: It is a top-secret base known only as Dragon Island. A long-forgotten relic of the Cold War, it houses a weapon of terrible destructive force, a weapon that has just been re-activated…A RENEGADE ARMY: When Dragon Island is seized by a brutal terrorist force calling itself the Army of Thieves, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, and there are no crack units close enough to get there in time to stop the Army setting off the weapon. ONE SMALL TEAM: Except, that is, for a small equipment-testing team up in the Arctic led by a Marine captain named Schofield, call-sign SCARECROW. It’s not a strike force; just a handful of Marines and civilians. It’s not equipped to attack a fortified island held by a vicious army. But Scarecrow will lead the team in anyway, because someone has to.

THE ULTIMATE HERO IS BACK, FACING THE ULTIMATE ARMY OF VILLAINS

To give you a little idea in a few lines:

The President looked at a wall clock. It was now 5 pm, or 6 am at Dragon. ‘Are you telling me that in five hours an unknown force is going to set off some kind of superweapon that will ignite the atmosphere or the northern hemisphere?’

‘That’s correct sir,’ Gordon said. ‘We have five hours to save the world.’

This book kicked up the pace from the get go. We see the return of Scarecrow for the first time since the last book (with the same name) in 2003. This mission pits Scarecrow against a very formidable foe – impossibly evil, led by totally deranged convictions, skewed sense of patriotism – his methodology on exploiting information is gut wrenching. This one’s probably the most menacing bad guy Matthew Reilly has introduced in his books.

What I love about this book is that Scarecrow is a little vulnerable. He is trying to overcome the grief he has experienced from a previous mission. This book sees some characters return and emergence of some other characters from unlikely sources. I love the loyalty Scarecrow tends to draw out of his team, everything he does is for a reason. He is fast thinker, strategic, patriotic, loves his team and there was one particular instance in the book that just proved it:

‘But…’ he held up a finger, ‘if you do come, then I ask only one thing of you: that you obey my orders. However crazy or bizarre they seem, there will always be some logic to them. In return, I promise that I will not leave you. If you are captured or caught, while I still have breath in my body, I will come for you. Got that? Good. All right then. Who’s in and who’s out? Speak now or forever hold your peace.’ 

 This book is packed with action, lots of explosions and a plethora of weapons and then there’s the cute little Bertie (got to read the book to find out what that is!) 😉 The book is fun, thrilling and super entertaining.

Realists need to stay away from this one. All you action lovers have got to give this one a go!

Happy Reading peeps!

xx