Upgrade by Stephen Hise

Let me begin with the ingredients: Take a decent amount of science,  add to this quite a lot of sex, then introduce mystery and intrigue, mix it all up, give it a twist right at the end and you have a superb , end product-Upgrade!

The author’s   way with words and jaunty style of writing makes this book a very lively and entertaining read. He tells the tale of an unattractive but wealthy man seeking to change his life by neuroscience .The procedure is successful and we follow the protagonist, Brent Schoenfeld through his new style of life, now focusing   on females ( which I hasten to add have very different and colourful personalities of their own )and the exploits in their effort to woo him.

As the story progressed, the author builds up the feeling that something just isn’t quite right , the suspense was growing .I actually found myself trying to second guess the ending with all sorts of scenarios and although I got somewhere close , he still managed to outmanoeuvre me  with a totally unexpected and dramatic conclusion. Superb twist!

 This story is original, sexy, extremely well presented with excellent grammar and editing. Also, in addition to the clever mix of genres, the author  also incorporates a serious message with this book ; be careful what you wish for , the grass isn’t always greener on the other side!
I enjoyed Upgrade  from the first page to the last and I will now look forward to reading anything else Stephen Hise  has to offer. He is talented to say the least!

The Perfect Plan by Ty Hutchinson

This is a short, brutal but entertaining story.It is action packed from the first page to the twist at the end .The perfect plan......or not so perfect for some ..read it and find out , you won’t be disappointed, I wasn’t. I enjoyed it  but other   readers should be aware that the story contains bad language throughout  but then again you would hardly expect bank robbers to be polite now , would you?? Even though this was a thriller,in parts of the story I could detect underlying humour from the author and I will now look forward to reading more of his work.

To conclude; well written and a fast paced , energising read.Well worth the hour you will spend reading it, if you like a hardcore thriller. 

Kiwi in Cat City by Vickie Johnstone

I have to admit I started this book with a little indifference. My preferred genre is horror ,thriller and murder mystery and it is many, many years since I have read a children’s book. Oh boy , was I in for a surprise! This book is a pure delight –the author has such a great imagination and her ability to captivate an audience is second to none.

The tale is of two children who decide to follow their pet cat, Kiwi, one night and get the shock of the lives when they are led into a great adventure within ‘Cat City’.It is here when Kiwi and the children, who, by the way are now kittens , embark on an investigation to find missing catizens.I just loved the way the author changed words to fit into the cat world , I really don’t know how she managed to come up with so many but they were brilliant and I found myself chuckling away throughout. I soon became engrossed in the story and completely forgot I was reading a children’s book –it was so good .

To conclude; this was a well written and edited story, full of fun, colour and adventure, which I found very refreshing. The ending was a little inconclusive but this is the first in the series so I am guessing this is purposely done in order to encourage the reader to read the next one, which I would certainly do. I would love to see this book published in paperback and lining children’s bookshelves, it would also be a great choice for parents to read out loud as bedtime stories as they would enjoy it just as much.

With an imagination like this and the skill of the storytelling Vickie Johnstone could go far and I , for one , really hopes she does.