The Curse of Can-Balam by Matt Cartney

Review by The Mole

Danny Lansing Adventure number 3

While talking to a friend via a video link Angus and Danny witness the kidnap of Dr Gordon Campbell, an archaeologist working in Belize on finding lost Mayan treasures. The police are getting nowhere and so Angus decides they will travel to Belize to help look for him.

No ransom demands and no contact with the kidnappers starts to raise questions of why this has happened. When they pick up the trail of what they hope is the kidnappers, Angus and their guide are kidnapped and Danny is left alone in the rainforest to fend for himself against the many predators that the jungle harbours.

Danny sort of "comes of age" in this book and things are all the better for it. Here he recalls the training Angus has given him in the previous stories and uses that to survive. He is now more confident, not overly though, and makes more positive contributions to the adventure. I would stress that he is not a superhero and still unsure of so many things but finds ways to use what he knows to best effect.

The book launches straight into action and it twists and turns with tension right down to the last page.

I truly loved this book - and I'm not it's target audience! I was unable to leave it alone for very long and was left wanting more - although I think Danny had been through enough for one book. An excellent sequel that will again delight his many fans and maybe win many more. I look forward to reading more of Danny in the future.

Previous Danny Lansing Adventures Sons of Rissouli, Red, White and Black

Publisher - Strident Publishing
Genre - Boy's Adventure

Picks of 2012 - The Mole

My selection of from 2012 is driven from the books that have made an impression with me and I remember. Rather more in my selection than in Maryom's - perhaps I'm just greedy?


Historical Novels
Empire Of The Moghul : The Tainted Throne by Alex Rutherford
This is the first historical novel I have read and it left me wondering why I hadn't tried them earlier. Definitely I will be reading more in 2013 - particularly if they are as good as this one was.

Fantasy
Shadow Blizzard by Alexey Pehov
Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov

This year saw me reading the second and third books in the Chronicles of Sala trilogy and, unusually, found each book better than the last - a series well worth a read.

Liberator's Ruin by P J Johns 
This book came as a bit of a surprise but Maryom described it as "Star Wars as it should have been written". Bear that in mind and you will see that justice is a relative thing.




 

Classics/Nostalgia/Sci-Fi
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This is a book that disappeared from my own collection many years ago and when given the opportunity I jumped at it. It ages remarkably well.




Children's
Red, White and Black by Matt Cartney
Danny Lansing is a youngster who has caught my imagination and I'm sure he will catch many more. This is his second adventure and it's even better than his first.

Wolfie by Emma Barnes
A story to delight children from 1-101

Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
The final adventure for Artemis Fowl - a truly memorable last adventure it is too.

Guinea Pigs Online by Jennifer Gray and Amanda Swift 
This is about memorable and enjoyable books and this one certainly is both.

Edwin Spencer: Shadow Magic by J D Irwin
 Edwin is a true reluctant hero - But he loves IT!









YA
Ramshackle by Elizabeth Reeder
Surprisingly, of all the YA I have read this year this is the one that truly stands out. Plenty of award nominations but not enough awards - it deserves far more




 
Thriller/Crime
Uncommon Enemy by Alan Judd
A story of a spy betrayed.



Midwinter Sacrifice by Mons Kallentoft
My first Nordic Noir - and I plan on more.





The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
A modern Sherlock Holmes - and thoroughly enjoyed.









Humour
Everything's Fine by Socrates Adams
I was warned it was a little eccentric and it was - but it was also great fun and you may never see your Sat Nav in the same light.


The Fart by Cynan Jones
During the year of the short story - here is a VERY short story that I found very amusing!



Non-fiction
Bridge of Spies by Giles Whittell 
An era that I knew less of than I thought and told with a cynicism that will amuse
 
Red Bull Racing F1 Car 2010 (RB6) Owner's Workshop Manual 
OK, it's not REALLY aimed at owners but it was a Christmas present and it was hugely informative.


How To Win Friends and Influence People
Something we all aspire to.









Short Stories

Unthology No. 3 edited by Stokes Ashley and Robin Jones 

And 2012 was the year of the short stories - well it would have been but that is actually explained in the forward to this collection that warmed me more to short stories that I have ever been. Perhaps all anthologies should be like this?

Matt Cartney - a cup of coffee with the author

By The Mole

While at Edinburgh International Book Festival I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Red, White and Black by Matt Cartney and I took the opportunity to put aside the book I was about to start to read this instead. I was halfway through and really enjoying it when I received a text from Matt, who had got my number via the publisher, asking if I would like to meet up and chat over a coffee.

I quickly jumped at the chance and met him at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society - a members only club where we could be sure of getting a seat at Fringe time. Matt, who works in Edinburgh, sees the Fringe every year and I asked him how he viewed it. He told me that locals sometimes see it as an opportunity for the city and at other times as an invasion.

I had heard that he had been going to Russia doing 'research' and had run intoa problem which he told me was due to a mechanical issue with his Landrover. But on the subject of research he told me how the things that Danny has done, Matt actually did first! In the current book Danny goes to a high Norwegian plateau to search for a plane and has to spend several nights camping in order to get there. Apart from not finding a plane, Matt made that trip taking photographs along the way. He also climbed Schneibstein (a mountain in Bavaria) that Danny climbs etc gathering photos along the way.

I was left wondering if this is what gives the Danny Lansing stories a special 'edge'.. a genuine 'Boys Own' feel that makes you want to get up and do it.

Matt explained that when doing school visits he takes a laptop and projector and uses some of the gathered research photos to illustrate his talks - it must be a rather special treat for the children!

The first book "Sons of Rissouli" was set in the deserts of Morocco; this, the second book "Red, White and Black" is set in the snows of Norway amongst other locations; the third book is (apparently and if I remember correctly) set in the jungles of Belize. The fourth was to be in Russia but... And now Matt is in Iceland so we will see and wait with bated breath.

Danny Lansing is a normal boy, albeit with an an investigative journalist uncle who is a little eccentric in how he looks after Danny after the death of Danny's parents - and perhaps he is every boys dream of how a guardian should behave?

I was very grateful to Matt for making time to see me and I sincerely hope that Danny goes on a great deal longer with his adventures.

Red, White and Black by Matt Cartney

The Adventures Continue
Review by The Mole

Danny and his Uncle Angus learn of a war time briefcase lying buried on a Norwegian mountainside and tempted by the adventure of finding secrets that must no longer have value except as a story for the newspapers they set out to find it. Before long they are pursuing "Adler Kommando",  a group of terrorists that are about to threaten the lives of thousands of people.

For those who haven't read Sons of Rissouli you won't have met Danny Lansing - a young boy who has been orphaned and now lives with his Uncle Angus. Angus is an investigative reporter who travels the world pursuing stories and takes Danny with him - regardless of the school calendar!

Readers of Danny's first adventure will find his second adventure even better and this time we go from the the hot deserts of the the first story to the cold snowy wastes from Norway to the Alps and to Poland (occasionally returning to Angus's home in Dunkeld, Scotland). I found myself wanting to be there because so much of Danny's adventures are accessible - if you're fit and adventurous then you could be out there doing them, apart from coming up against terrorist organisations... please keep well clear of them!!

Absolutely fabulous adventure once again from the "Boy's Own" era that will have readers hankering to learn to ski and climb and get out there and do it.

Highly recommended to ALL readers of adventure stories. And apparently girls love Danny too!

Publisher - Strident Publishing
Genre - Boy's Adventure

Buy Red, White & Black (Danny Lansing Adventures) from Amazon

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2012

This year we timed our annual holiday so as to spend a week in Edinburgh to take in events at the festival as well as meet people and step outside a bit and enjoy fringe events too.

The first week was to be our week and we set aside just 3 days to attend the festival but what we didn't realise is that the festival is actually addictive and that we quickly changed that to 6 days, so if you plan on attending the festival at all then be warned!

We met and made a lot of friends and attended events and book signings and here are but a few.

i) Alan Bissett - Maryom chatted about Pack Men and how it is not just for male football fans. We also saw Alan at the Festival Cafe (a BBC Scotland radio show) where he talked about and performed a brief excerpt from his one man fringe show for arachnophobes - extremely funny, catch him if you can.

ii) Barry Hutchinson - We talked with Barry and other Scottish authors about the difficulties caused by branding books as 'Scottish' and how buyers in England avoid such books for some reason perhaps in the belief that they are "all haggis and tartan".

iii) Linda Strachan - We chatted about many things and had a sneak preview of the cover for Don't Judge Me, her next teen novel to be published by Strident in Autumn.

iv) Keren David and Cat Clarke talked about motivations for writing, methods of writing and other things and read from their latest books and The Mole discussed with Cat Clarke the character with which she identifies and although we disagreed on choice her father was in agreement with The Mole.

v) Keith Charters  - We chatted at length on many subjects surrounding publishing and many NOT publishing related.

vi) Matt Cartney - We chatted about several things... but more on this meeting in a later post.

vii) Edward Wilson talked of his route to writing spy thrillers and read from his  book.

viii) James Mayhew - We saw him story telling and painting in a way that he does so well.

ix) S J Watson signed Maryom's copy of Before I Go To Sleep and chatted about it and the publicity campaign surrounding it.

And one of the great things is that at the festival you can meet so many people by chance..while in the yurt, apparently Neil Gaiman walked past and we missed him, we brushed passed and chatted with Nicola Morgan in the bookshop and we met and chatted with Victoria Campbell as well as brushing past an Archbishop.

The problem is that you cannot do everything you want to do and we missed many people. There were also so many authors and friends we would like to have met in the second week, but sadly due to the GCSE results day in England then it had to be the first week only.

The Mole's Christmas reading suggestions...

The problem with a list like this is that any you leave out you seem to be 'knocking' in some way, but that is not the case, it's just the list has to be the one's that made the biggest impact on me.

Maryom has made her choice, which is HERE

Starting with children's and getting older as we go

The Fearsome BeastieA book to share with younger readers that is just good fun.

Ralph is not a spy Laugh out load moments with lots of activities too for young apprentice spies.

Lee On the Dark Side of the Moon

Just simple fun for younger readers with lots of laughs.

The Sons of Rissouli Boys own adventure stuff that they won't put down. Peace and quiet on Christmas afternoon?











Moving on to teenagers and beyond...

The Kiss of Death
A bit daft putting this one in really because it's out of print but if you can find a copy...

Philip Ardagh's Book of Howlers, Blunders and Random Mistakery

If you can bear to have your Christmas interrupted by someone piping up "Did you know...?" then include this one - otherwise get it for yourself and ruin everyone else's peace and quiet!

Spider

This is a very powerful story of speed, adrenaline and fallout - see if they can put it down.

Star of Sakova

I have read some fantasy this year but this one sort of 'sticks' with me more than the rest.









And now to just the adults readers...

The Liberation of Celia Kahn

A well told story of growing up.

Hot Dogs under the Dakota

Another one I keep coming back to as I found the story most intriguing.

Night Watcher

We found that we didn't get on with e-books but of the few I have managed to read that way this one was certainly worth reading.

Return to the Olive Farm

And last, but certainly not least, Carol Drinkwater's experiences certainly made me start to question much about the 'organic' labels.









To all those books that I have read and not included - apologies but I had to choose just 10... (Ssshhhh... she hasn't counted them!)

The Sons of Rissouli - Matt Cartney

One for the boys
Review by The Mole

Danny's mum and dad have died and his uncle Angus has taken charge of him. Angus is an investigative reporter who goes anywhere at the drop of a hat and has hair raising adventures. Danny has always admired his uncle and should be in heaven but... his uncle now owns a 4x4 that is pink and has a slogan "your sewage is our bread and butter" emblazoned on the side - not every boys dream.

Angus is approached to investigate how guns are appearing on the streets of the UK and so decides to set out to investigate. The problem is he can't leave Danny behind so he sends a totally unbelievable note to school and takes Danny with him to Morocco. One thing leads to another and massive adventures follow.

Packed with adventure and humour this book will delight all young boys and as an added bonus - just for them - not a giiirrrll in sight. The violence is not overplayed or gory and the plot is not complex and twisting and requiring a notebook to keep track of - it is just straight honest to goodness adventure.

I was told this is "Boy's Own" stuff and that is so true except Biggles, Dan Dare et al were always role models to aspire to whereas this is a lad of an age the reader can identify with.

Publisher - Strident Publishing
Genre - Boy's Adventure


Buy The Sons of Rissouli (Danny Lansing series) (X Series) from Amazon