Kieran Delaney Male, 24, In a relationship. York, United Kingdom

I'll admit that when I picked this book up I had no idea that Joe Hill was the son of someone famous, and to be honest it matters not one jot. It makes no difference whatsoever and I feel that some reviews have unfairly cast a shadow over this novel because of the size of Hill's father's shoes.

This is one of the best books I've read this year. I'm aware that I tend to give books everything - if I like them I tend to really like them, but in this case this book really is great. Sure it has its flaws, but I don't think I've read a perfect debut. But neither, and this is the important bit, have I picked up a debut novel before and stayed awake all night to read it all in one go.

This book has a little too much fat in places which slightly stifled the sense of urgency but despite this the book is still well paced and you get the feeling that nothing is included by accident. Towards the end of the book all sorts of seemingly random facts and anecdotes are pulled together to not only paint a picture of a tormented man, but to help explain his behaviour and his fears.

A novel that is cunningly disguised as a ghost story, the pages deftly share the cycle of abuse from the abused's transformation to abuser and the fear of facing our own demons, until a climax that ticks all the boxes without seeming forced or rushed.

Perry Groves is an Arsenal legend. He's not the clubs greatest scorer (not even close) and didn't manage a massive number of appearences either. However he became something of a cult figure for Arsenal due to his never give up attitude and his bizzare tin tin haircut.

This is the story of Perry's life from boy to hero and father. Wisely concentrating on the hilarious anecdotes of a proffesional footballer and his scrapes with the law, and other players instead of the "boring family stuff like arguments at xmas that everyone already knows" this is a riot from start to finish.

The style is relaxed and informal and throughout Perry's story you really get the impression that he's bemused that he was lucky enough to take these experiences himself, and even luckier to be given the oppurtunity to share them.

Told with good humour, not once does Groves come across as bitter for missing out on todays wages explosion although he does make some wry observations - and you have to ask if anyone in football today has this much fun.

I can't recommend this enough to anyone who likes football, sports or even just wants to read the exciting story of one man lucky enough to steo into his own dream.

Junky is a dangerous book - it doesn't glorify drugs, it doesn't glorify the existence of those that take them, but it does dispel a few myths.

Told from a matter of fact point of view, this unapologetic memoir is concise and lean (154 pages) and clearly spoke. It details Burroughs ambling eventful life through his minor scrapes with the law and his several addictions to Heroin.

Throughout the novel Burroughs appears to do well for himself - whether or not this is subconscious wishful thinking or careful retroactive optimism its not clear, but those around Burroughs gradually collapse and fall away - the only constant in his life the drug his body craves.

Its interesting and a provocative read because unlike Trainspotting its true, but sometimes true life doesn't quite capture the imagination like fiction.

Peter Crumb is not a good man. The 7 days of Peter Crumb is not a good book. I am unimpressed. The whole book, its like written, of course it is, in this faux conversation (you know what i mean right?) loose memoir note taking style, that just seems to go on and on. There is no plot. But then I knew that. So did he. Its funny how you do things. Without meaning to.

Anyway, you'll probably get the idea from the above paragraph just how frustrating a read this book is - I laboured with it mistakenly thinking there was going to be a massive twist or payoff at the end to make it all worthwhile. After all Arena magazine decided this was "the debut novel of 2007" (presumably in the sub category "about a man called Peter Crumb written by a gobshite"). There isn't. Miso Soup, American Psycho etc all portray the descent into mindless violence without being vulgar and attention seeking - Mr Brooks expertly dissects the relationships between people inside one head. Simply, the content covered here is presented with more style and finesse elsewhere.

At times the author uses words and violence just to provoke a reaction - the reaction it got was one of tiresome boredom.

Both of me thought this was shit, although the line about the queen gets it an extra star.

There's two things wrong with Sci Fi. Ridiculous oneupmanship permeates the genre, with each new author and each new book daring to create bigger better universes with more aliens and more technology and more fear and more intrigue and more confusion. And thats the other thing - confusion reigns when the author fails to employ subtlety.

Altered Carbon suffered from neither of these and as such it was perfect. This follow up, Broken Angels isn't quite as succsseful. For a start it tries too hard. As a sequel it just isn't as effortless as its predecessor, the technology gets in the way, the characters are too brash and the story is too convoluted.

And that ties up into quite a confusing little package - in a valient attempt at keeping the reader guessing Morgan has chucked more twists in than a bucket of twisty twister twists. And its just hoplessly confusing. At one point I was flicking back by 100 pages trying to work out what I'd read the day before and if that guy with the thing was actually that guy who did the thing with the other thing, but its not its ok its a different guy but they might be the same guy, and it might actually be a man and for fucks sake its all irrelevent.

What the novel does deliver in large doses is a downbeat look at corporate society (however unsubtle) and some fantastic action.

A case of trying too hard, this isn't a bad novel but its not any better than the sum of its parts which is a shame because Takeshi Kovacs is an excellent character who deserves more.

This book should be amazing. Its about Zombies. Its a survival guide for the end of the world. Surely, it shouldn't fail?!

Unfortunately it just doesn't hit the spot. Its not funny. Its not clever. Its not even that accurate when regarding actual facts (like desert survival and plastic guns!).

The thing is, I was expecting a humourous book about how to best despatch a zombie and how to live like a bear. Instead I got some half arsed attempt at cleverness (they are zombies because they have the zombie virus, its called sonamblahblahblahium because, get this, they look like they sleep walk hahahaha) and a load of stuff I already knew.

For example - did you know that buses are not that good at driving through muddy fields?! Did you know that guns fire bullets?!

Also, and perhaps I missed the point because the whole thing seems quite american, where the fuck am i to get AK47's from at the end of the world? Essential kit apparently.

Poor.

I picked this up after reading Relentless - a book which didn't promise much but delivered beyond expectation.

The Business Of Dying is Kernick's first novel which is apparent from the off - not quite as polished as his later books it still revolves around his strongest idea yet, that of Dennis Milne full time cop, part time murderer.

A man with a twisted moral compass, he's sent to kill 3 drug dealers but it immediately goes awry when it becomes clear these men were not drug dealers and not corrupt.

The thing is the book doesn't then descend into so much postulating about the rights and wrongs - Milne has this figured out already, he's intelligent enough to realise this is a bad situation, but the importance of surviving compels him ever forward, and that's what makes the book exciting. Its not a moral lesson, its a story about survival in a fucked up world.

The book is then pushed into overdrive as Milne becomes embroiled in an investigation that he can't let go and slowly but surely the two intertwine - not in a coincidental slapdash way, but a very deliberate execution of a believable plot that drags you slowly in.

The final third of the book slips easily from twisted detective thriller to full on revenge action with a neat intelligent ending and the book makes no excuses for the actions of its central protagonist.

Some books maintain an even keel, some books dip in the middle and some books dip at the end. This is one of the few that gets better throughout until the biting crescendo.

I used to read sci-fi all the time. And then something somewhere slipped - my sense of adventure, my technological interest (its hard when you work in the field to get excited by it) and the lack of decent sci-fi on supermarket bookshelves (I have a mortgage now, no excuses).

I was leant this book in an experiment - a challenge to myself to read something I would not normally pick up and something to inject some fun into reading. The unknown - how i felt years ago before the Da Vinci code ruined my opinion of humanity.

This book delivered that in spades - the story is cracking from start to finish, a real page turner despite some of the heavy prose, full of twists and turns. Essentially this is old fashioned "hard boiled" detective noir pasted into a rich tapestry of future technology. Even the writing style is straight from the 20th C, but with stunningly depicted future backdrops.

The real cleverness of the book is its ability to introduce technological advances with a brief mention or underhanded description - just like passing comment on that mundane coffe table. It makes you feel like you're their - you even feel like you've been dragged across the universe with Kovacs the central character at the beggining of the book, such is the power of the descriptions.

All I can say is this book has whetted my appetite for more - more Richard Morgan and more Takeshi Kovacs.

An excellent (and surprising) novel....

I read Paranoia and thought it was amazing - the detail which added to the story, the story itself and the flawed characters all made for an exciting and interesting story.

Finders latest, Power Play was an interesting idea, with plenty of twists and turns - exceptionally tight its a real read in one go novel as the bulk of it takes place over a couple of hours (though before and after the event are spread over days). The characters were quite well written - they didn't need to be fleshed out too much as they were detestable executives (faceless and childish you know the stereotype) whilst Jake the main character has an interesting past (told through a series of short sharp flashbacks) which contributes greatly to the central story.

Overall I'd have to say this book was good, but not excellent - the parts were all there, but together they didn't quite capture the excitement of the situation for me. However its short and sharp which adds to the enjoyment. Its like an episode of 24 rather than an entire series - exciting enough but you're still waiting for the payoff after the last page.

This book markets itself as a sensitive portrayal of a little girls abduction from a wealthy family.... the fear and the shock as the assumed ransom demand never comes and her clothing turns up in a registered sex offenders truck is well depicted and well written - expertly told from multiple viewpoints and from inside the characters minds the story churns at your nerves with a very real sense of unease. Mistaken identity increases the emotional impact - but thats over by the 1st half of the book. And then it literally explodes from a touching melodrama into a tight physcological thriller that you just can put down.

At least twice Shelley looked at me funny whilst I was reading - I was grinning like an idiot as the family rapidly discover and punish the bad guys. Over the course of the book I got absolutely involved rooting for the family from start to finish. I've not read a story so affecting for a while, whilst Blaze made me root for the bad guy I always knew it would end badly - here I had hope and confidence that they could do what needed to be done.

I can't really think of anything in this novel that was negative - being ultra picky there was a slight feeling of "trying to hard" when there was some 1337 5P34K email messages read and decoded, but i just read that and thought "as if real geeks wrote emails like that - silly stereotypes". And thats being picky, it all happened on one page (which out of nearly 500 aint a bad ratio).

The crowning glory of this book though is the ending. Its perfect. It ends how it needs to end. It's restrained but eager, well paced and well plotted. The climax is missing important details as its told from multiple points of view - these leak in the closing chapters as the characters take stock, and for once I was glued to the very last page.