'The Road to En-Dor' by E.H. Jones

Well it has been 100 years since the start of the Great War and with that anniversary comes a plethora of reissued and re-jacketed books, and this is one of them. But even so, how had I not heard of this escape before? Yes everyone knows of the ‘Great Escape’ –mainly due to the Steve McQueen movie. But this is so insane and weird that I can’t believe this escape story wasn’t the top pick for any movie producer.
Like many people, what made me pick this up was the fact that Neil Gaiman had written the introduction. “Huh! Why is Neil writing an introduction to a first world war escape story?” was definitely the first thought that entered my head. If you’re interested in exactly why Neil’s introduction was available to read on the Guardian’s website, you can read it here if you want to. As I’m sure he’ll convince you to read this book better than I.
Well anyway back to the book. Lieutenant E.H. Jones and Lieutenant C.W. Hill are the main protagonists. They’ve been captured and sent to the Yozgad prison camp in Turkey. Life as a POW is exceedingly dull, so they start ‘spooking’. Trying to talk to the dead using a OUIJA board quite unsuccessfully, Lt. Jones decides to fake the outcome and make messages appear to come out of nowhere. Although just a bit of fun, some of the other prisoners start to take it so seriously that Jones feels he can no longer admit his deceit without looking like a jerk. But as time goes on he pushes things further and further and also comes across Lt. Hill (who’s an amateur magician!) and together they push what could be expected even further!
It’s an amazing roller-coaster of a ride that involves them convincing the guards and commandant of their ‘powers’, and that there is a vast amount of buried treasure and the ‘ghost’ (through the ‘mediums’) could lead them to it!
Easily the most bizarre story you’ll ever hear about, and incredibly tense at times. It did make me wonder how anyone could put themselves through so much hardship. But then again I’ve never had to be in a Turkish POW camp!
You should really read this book, it’s outstanding!!!

‘Conversations with Spirits’ by E.O. Higgins

The premise for ‘Conversations with Spirits’ by E.O. Higgins is quite simple, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle asks Trelawney Hart to investigate a psychic medium who he believes to be the real deal.
Trelawney Hart is a man of pure logic like Spock or (more fittingly) Sherlock Holmes. Unlike Holmes, Trelawney isn’t addicted to cocaine but to alcohol. In fact since his wife’s death he seems to never have been sober!
This book is highly enjoyable and I’d recommend it to fans of Conan Doyle’s work. Just as in real life this fictional Sir Arthur is interested in spiritualism and is seeking proof of life after death (along with almost everyone in 1917 as with the huge loss of life during the Great War hitting everyone personally) and he feels he has finally found a man who seems have extraordinary powers, and is about to top it all off by walking through a solid wall!
The book does drag a little however (some scenes felt like complete filler, yes Trelawney is a drunk, I don’t need him to order another cherry brandy every page to hit that point home)and the description of the ‘illusion’ left me a little confused as to what exactly I was supposed to be visualising. But then again, I love illusionists and trying to work out how it was done, but not sure I could write up something I’d seen in a convincing and compelling way that even comes close to watching it yourself!
Overall though, this book is a lot of fun. Please do check this out!

'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' by Claire North

Ok, so let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. Harry August lives his life again and again, isn't that the same as Kate Atkinson's 'Life After Life'? I hear you say. No. This book is a different beast, and yes, much better!
This book is a gripping thriller about a man who is reborn again after each time he dies with the memory of what has happened to him intact. It also has a sprinkling of quantum physics, a 70's cliché style bond villain, and yet reads as believably as an Alan Furst novel!
Claire North (whoever that turns out to be, and I’ve been discussing this with a few people as to who they think it might be and our best guesses at the moment are Charlie Higson or Anthony Horowitz) has written a very engaging book that that has you liking and supporting the main character (Harry) from the first page and throughout his trials and tribulations.
With each re-birth Harry remembers everything of his previous lives and isn't content to doing the same things over and over again (where he doesn't have to) and so weaves multiple story threads through the narrative of his current life that are all interesting and don't outstay their welcome.
Some books that have a big buzz around them I tend to avoid, knowing that the build up they've got will only leave me disappointed. This book sounded so intriguing that I just had to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did, and so will you.
If this book isn't in your book of the year list, you haven't read it yet!

‘Annihilation’ by Jeff VanderMeer

‘Annihilation’ by Jeff VanderMeer is a bit of a mixed bag of a book.
The story is very interesting and the setting absolutely intriguing. The story follows the “twelfth” (sorry about the quotation marks there. It does rather give away that it isn’t really the twelfth expedition, but on the other hand that makes no difference to your enjoyment of a book about people entering a classified area) expedition into Area X, a classified and unknown area that was reported (by the first expedition) to be a beautiful new Eden.
We're given the story from the point of view of the biologist (the only remaining member of the expedition - don't worry I'm not giving anything away, she tells you that everyone else dies within two days at the start of the book) at the end of her experience as she recollects her time in Area X. Unfortunately the biologist is an unsympathetic character who is unemotional and detached, leaving you wishing Jeff VanderMeer had written the story from a third person perspective and given us insight into some of the other (and more interesting) characters that are also on the expedition. As it is we get quite a dry description of an exciting story, it's like reading the crime scene report of a shootout rather than the pages of a thriller. But what IS there grabs you and doesn't let go. Just view this book as an opening prologue, and let's hope the others grow in strength. The remaining parts of this trilogy are also to be published this year and as it's not long to wait I'll definitely pick the next one up, as Area X is such an intriguing place, I've just got to know more! Let's just hope that John Rodriguez (the main character in the second book) is a lot more compelling and sympathetic.