Belshazzar's Daughter, Barbara Nadel

I have had this one sitting on my bookshelf for a little while now, since before the trip to Greece back in August. I regret not reading it before now. It is incredibly well written, tightly plotted with memorable characters and a gripping storyline. And the fact that it is set in Turkey, Istanbul and deals very interestingly with the murder of an elderly Jewish man in a less than savoury area of the city, is but one part that gripped me. Overtures of Nazi-ism ran amock through the book, it focussed on destructive relationships, obsession, love and strong willed people doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

I surprised myself by enjoying this book so much that I didn't want it to end. I dragged it out, re-reading certain descriptions over again, and googling the places mentioned.

I think this will translate fantastically well into a Indie movie as it is a close, personal and very private sort of book with characters that enchant and repulse in equal measure. It also revels in the fact that you should not pigeon hole people, especially slightly drunk bad tempered policemen. Barbara Nadel did a sterling job with this one - I've just stuck her details into Amazon and am genuinely pleased that there a few more novels of hers to read.

Definitely...ten out of ten!

Blood is the new Black,Valerie Stivers

If you've read The Devil Wear's Prada, or seen the movie adaptation thereof, or watched Mean Girls and loved Buffy, then you'll like this. It is a good, fun and a quick read. For something that was brainstormed in a few hours and then given to Valerie Stivers to write, it is a fun romp through the unusual world of the world of magazine-life, through the eyes of the main character.

She very soon discovers that the people who run the magazine are all vampires and that they can move around during the day, can cope with sunlight, and that they all ove "product."

Yes, you can only be a vampire if you are tall, skinny, pretty and enjoy shopping. This is the people they choose to "turn." The more you shop, the Tasty-er you are. It is a ridiculous spin on the old vampire stories. I am pleased I did not pay full-price for this, as it certainly isn't worth the £6.99 it is retailing for.

Think carefully, when buying this. It is cashing in on the new chick/horror/supernatural lit genre that is happening...and it is a sad imitation of all of these individual genres.

3 out of 5.