The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker

A difficult book to review. A book within a book. A crime novel about people, about relationships, about books. A love story, a bromance. All these things and more make up The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair.
A book with a compelling core which had me hooked from the opening pages, its relentless twists and turns kept me guessing right to the end. A truly disturbing revelation about one of the main characters (don't worry, you'll find no spoilers here!) genuinely left my jaw on the floor and that doesn't happen often.
While the central characters were deftly written and nuanced, some of the background players were little more than caricatures, Marcus' publisher and mother for example. These niggles stop the book being a classic and that is a shame as it was an entirely enjoyable and satisfying read.

*A free e-ARC was provided by the publisher via netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Published by Quercus Books with a release date of 01/05/14

The Boy With The Porcelain Blade by Den Patrick

Sometimes reading a book by a new author is a difficult experience. It's like meeting someone for the first time, a little awkward, not quite at ease with each other. Other times, though, it's an entirely different situation where you immediately feel like you've known them forever. This was how I felt when I met, sorry, read Den Patrick's debut novel. The titular boy, Lucien, an Orfano, in the world of nobles is less than, and at the same time more than that. Amongst political intrigue and deception, Lucien struggles to find his place in the world while also trying to simply stay alive.
A beautifully written novel, with a greatly sympathetic protagonist set in a world you really feel we've only scratched the surface of.
I look forward to spending more time with new friends
 in Demense throughout the rest of this trilogy.
Very highly recommended.

The Girl Who Would Be King by Kelly Thompson

A superhero story with a difference. Two girls blessed with super powers,  one good one bad. Not the most original of set-ups, but done very well nonetheless. The good girl was perhaps a little bland and predictable,  but this book really came to life when focusing on the evil character.  The descent into madness was drawn out exceptionally well and made for a fuller character than the good version.  While the ending was a little obvious, its hard to criticise as things are rarely wrapped up neatly, and this proves that fact.

Redshirts by John Scalzi

As a (massive) Star Trek fan, I'd put off reading this book for a while as I was worried it would be a little condescending towards it. It was actually quite the opposite. A really good story oozing with affection for the obvious inspirational source material. Really inventive in parts with enough nods to trends and tropes inherent in scifi space operas to give it a really familiar feel. The only real criticism I have is that the characters themselves were pretty one-dimensional. This may have been because they were extras within their own show, and as such didn't have too much personality, but I found myself, towards the end of the book caring more about how clever the resolution would be rather than if the main players would all make it to the finish line. That said, a good story that was an easy read and ultimately very enjoyable.