Sphinx by T.S Learner

Not the best book we've read recently despite the potential for a great storyline...

Egypt, in the 1970’s and the country is in the throes of trying to find political stability under President Sadat. Not everyone is keen to see peace across the region; there are those whose political and personal ambitions would sooner see war and civil uprising – and the discovery of a long-lost artefact with legendary magical powers to influence events and even predict a person’s death date would be an extremely desirable object to have in one’s possession... >> read the book review

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All we're going to say is: if you like what we do - pass it on. Tell your friends, neighbours, family, co-workers... and if you decide you rather fancy buying a book that we've reviewed - well then, tell us! Leave us your comments and views on any of the titles we've reviewed. And if you're inclined to help us just that little bit more - you might like to know that when you buy a book through the link on the review page, we earn a few pence in the process - at no additional cost to you.

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BOOK GIVEAWAY

We have 10 copies of Jane Casey's debut novel: The Missing, to giveaway to our members. All you have to do to enter is answer a simple question from our interview with the author... it really is that easy! You'll have to hurry though - this competition closes on 1st March 2010.

Read the book review

Read the author interview (you will have to register as a member to do so - but since it's free, we figured you wouldn't mind...)

The Complaints by Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin's first stand-alone novel since the Rebus days was always going to have an uphill struggle as people tend to stick to what they like - and most don't like change. However, in his creation of Malcolm Fox, we think Rankin has outdone himself - he's big, canny and beautifully flawed.

Unlike most crime novels, The Complaints focuses on that less than tasteful element of the police force - the Scottish version of Internal Affairs: The Complaints. Their job is to uncover the bad cops and hold them to count for their naughtiness - a job we can well imagine comes with a lot of grief and nastiness from the general policing population. You wouldn't be inviting Fox round to yours for a drink if you could help it...

Read the book review

Mortlock by Jon Mayhew

Debut Children's author, Jon Mayhew brings us a universally accessible tale about a pair of twins with a mysterious and dangerous legacy. Josie and Alfie are thrown together after being separated at birth when events begin to spiral out of control - Josie's Guardian is brutally murdered and so are many others who get in the way of the unnatural 'Aunts'.

Mortlock is set to the beginning of a series of books, although it appears at this stage that the books will each be stand-alone rather than, say, a trilogy featuring the twins. Not due out until April 2010, our review offers you a sneak preview of what is sure to be the start of a budding career for Jon Mayhew.

Read our book review.

February's Readers' Choice competition

February's Readers' Choice competition is now open. Choose from the following fantastic titles: Pursued by Love, Bequest or Whispers of the Dead and enter for free for your chance to win a review copy that is signed, lined, dated and numbered by our very own infamous Words URTH Worm (he's a bookworm and our editor).

Enter the competition.

Please note: The Ripley's Believe It Or Not competition is now CLOSED. Any entries will not be counted. We will endeavour to get this section removed to avoid confusion as soon as possible.

Dark Origins: Level 26 Bk 1 by Anthony E. Zuiker

From the creator of C.S.I comes a debut novel that plays to his strengths - enter all things macabre, creepy and gruesomely gory...

But as with most Americans, he just had to go one better than any other debut novelist - he didn't just produce a cracking book, but he also made it interactive. You can chose to take a break from the written word and login to a dedicated website that features footage and other online material to further enhance your reading experience. Of course, you have to buy the book in order to obtain the passwords, although we suspect that some will get leaked at some stage...

You can read our book review.