The Traitor and the Thief

By Gareth Ward

My book club was held at the Wardini Book shop. Where the resident author and his wife hold court. We all have a fabulous evening. Sharing the latest read and being entertained with discussion around the latest finds the couple had discovered.  I'm sure if it was the intended plan, but I bought a copy of this book for my boy. He polished it off in 4 hours and loved every minute of it. I try not to be jealous when I'm still pouring over it four weeks later.

Synopsis

"If you join us, you too may die, but your sacrifice will save the lives of millions. COG does not fight for the Empire; it fights for humanity."

Discovered thieving at Coxford's Corn Market, fourteen-year-old Sin is hunted across the city. Caught by the enigmatic Eldrich Moons. Sin is offered a way out of his life of crime: join the COVERT OPERATIONS GROUP (COG) and train to become a SPY.
At Lenheim Palace, Sin learns spy craft while trying not to break the school's CAST-IRON RULES. Befriended by eccentric Zonda Chubb, together they endeavour to unmask a traitor causing HAVOC within the palace. After an assassination attempt on COG's founder, Sin realises that someone close to him could be the TRAITOR.
Sin is forced into an ALLIANCE with the school bully, Velvet Von Darque. But can he trust her? And will COG try to bury him with the SECRETS he discovers?

Author 

Gareth Ward, a.k.a. The Great Wardini is a magician, hypnotist, storyteller, bookseller and author. He has worked as a Royal Marine Commando, Police Officer, Evil Magician and Zombie. He basically likes jobs where you get to wear really cool hats – as writer and compere of Napier City’s inaugural Steampunk murder mystery evening he wore a rather splendid bowler.... More.

Novels by the Author

The Traitor and the Thief

Total Control

By David Baldacci

This was one of the stand alone novels Baldacci wrote quite early on. It was the one that gripped me so hard, I thought it was so clever. I read it at a time in my life when I had a lot of time on my hands. During the end of my third year of university I was on a 5 week placement at... I don't recall the name of the school- it was 23 years ago.
It was a 3 hour trip each way. A lot of time to go stir crazy. So I began reading. Those were the days... 6 hours a day to just sit, reflect and read. What a joy.

Synopsis

Baldacci proves again that he is the new superstar in the thriller firmament, a total master of plo, pacing and surprise.
Jason Archer is a rising young executive at Triton Global, the world's leading technology conglomerate. Determined to give his family the best of everything, Archer has secretly entered into a deadly game of cat and mouse. He is about to disappear - leaving behind a wife who must sort out his lies from his truths, an air-crash investigation team that wants to know why the plane he was ticketed on suddenly fell from the sky, and a veteran FBI agent who wants to know it all.
Soon the startling truth behind Jason Archer's disappearance explodes into a sinister plot with the murder of the country's single most powerful individual. And Archer's wife, Sidney, is plunged straight into the violence that is leaving behind a trail of dead bodies and shocking exposed secrets.

Author

David Baldacci is one of the for most popular authors living today. The current publishing run sports the brag "110 million copies sold". That is quite a feat for someone who published their first novel in just 20 years ago.
"Born in 1960 in Virginia, Baldacci received a degree in B.A in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and also a degree in Law from the University of Virginia. For nine years, he practiced law, first as a trial and then as a corporate attorney in Washington, D.C."

- Famous Authors

Other books written by the author

The Author is prolific so you can either following the link above to the definative list of his works or the list below is merely what I have read to date of publishing:

• Absolute Power (1996)
• Total Control (1997)
• The Winner (1998)
• The Simple Truth (1998)
• Saving Faith (1999)
• Wish You Well (2001)
• Last Man Standing (2001)
• The Christmas Train (2003)
• Split Second (2003)
• Hour Game (2004)
• The Camel Club (2005)
• The Collectors (2006)
• Stone Cold (2007)
• Simple Genius (2007)
• Divine Justice (2008)
• True Blue (2009)
• Memory Man (2015)

Amulet

By Kazu Kibuishi

My boy recommended this one to me. And when we went to the LIT QUIZ this year there was practically a whole section dedicated to it.
This is the first book in a series and it's a goodie. The illustrations are wonderfully done. The dialogue sharp, the story begins explosively and doesn't let you go. 10/10

Synopsis

THERE'S SOMETHING STRANGE BEHIND THE BASEMENT DOOR...
After a family tragedy, Emily, Navin and their mother move to the ancestral home to start a new life. On the family's very first night in the mysterious house, Em and Navin's mom is kidnapped by a tentacled creature. Now it's up to Em and Navin to figure out how to set things right and save their mother's life!

Author

Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi is a Japanese–American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology Flight and for creating the webcomic Copper.

Other works

• Flight, Vol. 1 (Flight, #1) 2004 
• Daisy Kutter: The Last Train 2005 
• Flight, Vol. 2 (Flight, #2)2005 
• Flight, Vol. 3 (Flight, #3) 2006 
• Flight, Vol. 4 (Flight, #4)2007 
• The Stonekeeper (Amulet, #1) 2008 
• Flight, Vol. 5 (Flight, #5) 2008 
• The Stonekeeper's Curse (Amulet, #2) 2009 
• Flight, Vol. 6 (Flight, #6) 2009 
• The Cloud Searchers (Amulet, #3) 2010 
• Copper 2010 
• Flight, Vol. 7 (Flight, #7) 2010 
• The Last Council (Amulet, #4) 2011 
• Flight, Vol. 8 (Flight, #8) 2011 
• Prince of the Elves (Amulet, #5) 2012 
• The Mystery Boxes (Explorer, #1)2012 
• The Lost Islands (Explorer, #2) 2013 
• Escape from Lucien (Amulet, #6) 2014 
• Firelight (Amulet, #7)2016 
• Supernova (Amulet #8) 2018

Novel Study

Amulet Book One Reading Guide: This is a reading guide for book one of the Amulet graphic novel series by Kazu Kibuishi. The guide is broken down into eight days of assigned reading pages and corresponding comprehension questions.

The Narrows

By Michael Connelly

Another wonderful piece by Connelly. He continues to dig the the depths of what makes Harry, Harry. At the same time we follow a case that grips you by the throat and never lets you go until the very end. It seems that the Poet has returned and is out to get the beautiful profiler, Rachel Walling. Unfortunately for the Poet, Rachel happens to be someone close to Harry Bosch and that will be his downfall, I'm sure of it.

Synopsis

Harry Bosch confronts a villian who's long been in hiding... he's called the Poet.
Former FBI agent Rachel Walling has recieved the call she's been dreading for four years. The Poet is back. Has has not forgotten her. And he has a special present for her.
Harry Bosch is adjusting to life in Las Vegas as a private investigator and a new father. He gets a call, too, form the widow of a friend who died recently, someone who worked on the famous case tracking the killer known as the Poet...

Author 

Michael Connelly began writing for the Los Angeles on the Crime Beat. He turned out his first novel in 1992, Bill Clinton was spotted purchasing Michael’s third novel, Concrete Blonde, in 1994 and he never looked back. 26 novels later and he’s still going. On a personal note, with the title “The wrong side of goodbye” I’m a little nervous about reading the 2016 novel for fear of Harry dying off… no comments giving that away people, I’m hoping to address that demon over Christmas.

Books by the same author

There are so many novels he's written, a full list can be found here. But I'm going to focus on what I consider to be the most significant in terms of Harry Bosch's character development.

The Black Echo (1992)
The Last Coyote (1995)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
Nine Dragons (2009)
The Drop (2011)
Switchblade (2014)

The Martian

By Andy Weir

I was delighted when we unwrapped this penultimate book from the book club this year. It's been sitting on my shelf for a year now, just waiting.
For the past month I had two copies in my house. My boy and I read it at the same time. Well, when I say "the same time" my boy obviously polished it off in three days and I'm still, 24 days later, finishing it off.
I loved it. A book with some action, brilliant.
Now that we've both read the book we might well watch the movie.

Do you think it'll ruin the book? 

Synopsis  

I'm stranded on Mars.

I have no way to communicate with Earth.
If the Oxygenator breaks down, I'll suffocate.
If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I'll die of thirst.
If the Habitat breaches, I'll just kind of explode.
If none of those things happen, I'll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

I'm screwed.

Author

Andrew Taylor Weir is an American novelist whose debut novel, The Martian, was later adapted into a film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott in 2015. He also worked as a computer programmer for much of his life. He received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016. Wikipedia

Other Books

The Martian (2011)

Artemis (2017)

Study Guides

The Martian: Classroom Edition Teacher’s Guide