Tag: Jon Richter

Sunday Summary – 21st November 2021

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Good evening and welcome to my Sunday Summary update this week! As always, I hope you’ve had a good week? I’ve had a great one! Not only have I been off work and spending time with family, but I’ve also been doing a job I’ve been dreading in the garden – cutting down my second hedge to a reasonable height. I thought taking the first one down a couple of weeks ago was bad, but this second one was a whole different ballpark. But, never mind; it has gone now, which I’m a bit relieved about!

Aside from the mundane jobs around the house, and the significantly more exciting spending time with family, I have shared a couple of blog posts with you. My first post of the week was a Top Ten Tuesday post. This week’s subject was Top Ten Books to Read If You Like ‘X’; I chose fantasy as my subject. As I’ve read a lot of the genre I felt it was the most comfortable topic I could talk about. Not only that, but as there are a lot of fantasy books out there, I hope that featuring my favourites helps you find your next one!

On Friday I took part in a blog tour for The Warden by Jon Richter. This is a psychological thriller novel that I agreed to review as part of the tour. If you haven’t checked out my review you can find a handy link here – no spoilers in saying that I enjoyed the book! It is an interesting take on the pandemic and a potential future concept involving technology, and what could happen if we became highly dependent on it and it goes wrong. It was fantastic and I hope you can take a look at the book for yourself!

 

Books Read

As of the beginning of this week I had 25% of The Warden left to read before I could put my thoughts together for my review on Friday. I blitzed through this last hour’s worth of reading after publishing my Sunday Summary post last week. I don’t know how I can do that when I don’t plan to do it, but when I do plan to do it (as I did the week prior) I fail miserably. Never mind – it meant that I have plenty of time to get my thoughts together and draft my review.

I have since gone back to reading Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. I put this on hold briefly in order to do my reading for the recent blog tours I’ve taken part in (Million Eyes II and The Warden). It only equates to having read 5% of the book this week, but it’s progress. It works out at just over 50 pages, in case you’re interested. 5% doesn’t sound like much; 50 pages sounds better!

I’ve also started listening to a new audiobook this week. Whilst I was knitting the other evening I decided to start listening to Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell. I’m currently on chapter 2 and the introduction has been great. There is plenty of action to keep me interested but also enough history to get an idea of who our main characters are and their role in society as a whole. I can’t wait to keep listening to this and find out more! All in all, a fabulous start.

 

Books Discovered

No new additions again this week. You might find this report a little bit boring, but I personally am very happy about it. It means I can *pretend* my habit is in control.

 

Coming Up…

I’m all done for blog tours for now. I haven’t signed up to very many of them this year, and while I’ve enjoyed taking part in them, I’m also looking forward to being able to post in my own time.

I’ve been having a think about what I want to share with you and the plan is to share a discussion post with you early next week. The topic I have in mind is to talk about how I juggle writing content for my blog, as well as reading and also all the other bits I like to do. For anyone who doesn’t blog, it may give insight as to how much time it takes. And, for anyone who does, I may be able to offer some time management techniques that you may take away and try to implement yourself!

Later in the week I will be back with my regular Friday feature posts. This week I will be sharing a First Lines Friday post. I really enjoy sharing these and giving myself the opportunity to share a variety of books here on my blog. And for this week’s post I’m going to keep it open (as I set myself a challenge last time I shared this post). I hope you can join me and that you like the sound of the book I ultimately feature.

Then, last but not least, I’ll be back the same time next week with another Sunday Summary update for you.

In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. Have you read any of the books I’m reading? Do any of them appeal to you? Let me know in the comments!

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Blog Tour Review: The Warden – Jon Richter

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Hello everyone and welcome to today’s blog tour review of The Warden by Jon Richter, organised by Blackthorn Book Tours. This is the second blog tour post I’ve shared with Blackthorn, and it also happens to be the same author that I’m featuring today!

When I received the invite to read and review The Warden as part of this tour, it was a no-brainer decision! I really enjoyed reading Auxiliary: London 2039, also by Jon Richter, and I loved the sound of The Warden. Whilst it has similar themes to Auxiliary (on the technological side anyway), it’s a completely different narrative and character set. So, I don’t think you don’t have to have read any books by him previously to give this one a go based on my experience.

There are a few topics in the book that some readers may not be comfortable with reading. These are listed below so you can decide whether you’re interested in the book and also on here in my thoughts. I really hope that they don’t put you off however, because it is a fantastic book. I’m not one to shy away and I’m glad that the case, because this book was a pleasure to read!

 

The Warden – Jon Richter

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Print length: 312

Suitable for young adults? This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16-18

Trigger warnings: Covid references; homicide with some graphic violence; references to medical experimentation on humans; swearing; brief animal cruelty (goldfish left to die); references to suicide and mental illness

Amazon Rating: 4.5 stars

Purchase link: http://mybook.to/theWardenJonRichter

 

Goodreads – The Warden

The year is 2024, and the residents of the Tower, a virus-proof apartment building, live in a state of permanent lockdown. The building is controlled by a state-of-the-art AI named James, who keeps the residents safe but incarcerated. Behind bricked-up front doors, their every need is serviced; they are pampered but remain prisoners.

This suits Eugene just fine. Ravaged by the traumas of his past, the agoraphobic ex-detective has no intention of ever setting foot outside again. But when he finds the Tower’s building manager brutally murdered, his investigator’s instincts won’t allow him to ignore the vicious crime.

What Eugene finds beyond the comfort of his apartment’s walls will turn his sheltered existence upside down. To unravel the Tower’s mysteries, he must confront James… and James takes his role as the Warden very, very seriously.

 

Praise for The Warden

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a book set during a pandemic – but I’m so glad I did. One of my top reads of 2021 – it grabbed me from the start and didn’t let go till the fantastic ending. Part psychological thriller, part horror story, part crime novel – and there’s even a touch of romance – all brought together by superb writing. Amazon review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wow, I loved this book! Set in the year 2024, with flashbacks to 2020, it shows an alternative reality to the Covid situation we’re currently living through. The virus has become even more virulent, and people are shut inside their homes, terrified to go out. Amazon review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Massive 5 stars. Jon Richter is an author I admire – I loved his Rabbit Hole, and it was my number one book for 2020. This one is definitely in the running for being number one in 2021! It is set in Covid times, with some remarkably likeable characters who prove to be anything but… Amazon Review

My Thoughts…

I love the spin of the world and our current circumstances featured in the novel. We are all too familiar with the pandemic at this point. A number of us have had to make changes in our lives and embrace new technologies to help us through it. In this futuristic novel, Covid has advanced even further than our current circumstances. It is highly contagious and to prevent spread, people are sealing themselves inside their homes. The residents of The Tower are fortunate in that they are looked after by James, a highly intelligent AI system that delivers their daily needs, provides all the entertainment they can want and more besides. What could go wrong?

Well, there’s a question…

The thing that makes this narrative so chilling is that it has a stark resemblance to our recent circumstances. The fact that this could be our lives in the not too distant future is scary and all-too-real. We don’t need to imagine what it is like to have to isolate or stay at home. We’ve done that; The only difference is that events in the book a far more extreme than we have had to experience (thankfully!)

If you like science-fiction then this book has aspects for you as well! Alongside the current narrative in 2024, there are flashbacks to the creation of the AI, James, stemming from the beginning of the pandemic. I liked these snippets from the past as they build on the current storyline, but also they have interesting aspects in terms of The creation of the technology and how it has evolved in the few years between timelines. As someone who has read a lot more in the way of science fiction of late, this appeals to me as well.

I love books that combine different genres, and The Warden certainly does that! I enjoyed how the psychological thriller and science-fiction elements came together. They are both well-loved genres on my reading list and to find a book that melded the two together almost seamlessly was perfect. There is a good balance of both to appeal to readers of each genre; but, if like me you enjoyed both then you should love this book as much as I did!

The Warden was everything I hoped it would be. The writing style is effortless to read and the story flows nicely. Changing between the two timelines was clear and effortless to read. I also enjoyed how different chapters were written from the perspective of different characters. It adds a new dimension to any narrative and it’s one of my favourite elements of books of this kind. Each narrative voice is distinct and even if each chapter weren’t clearly labelled with whose perspective it was from, you could easily tell from the style.

All in all, The Warden was a really enjoyable read. With short chapters and a page count of just over 300 pages, it’s a novel that is great for a wide audience… especially those who enjoy their novels on the darker side…

About Jon Richter

Jon Richter writes genre-hopping dark fiction, including his three gripping crime thrillers, Deadly Burial, Never Rest and Rabbit Hole, his cyberpunk noir thriller Auxiliary: London 2039 and his new techno-thriller The Warden, as well as two collections of short horror fiction.

 Jon lives in London and is a self-confessed nerd who loves books, films and video games – basically any way to tell a great story!  He writes whenever he can, and hopes to bring you many more sinister tales in the future.  He also co-hosts the Dark Natter podcast, a fortnightly dissection of the world’s greatest works of dark fiction, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast fix.

If you want to chat to him about any of this, you can find him on Twitter @RichterWrites or Instagram @jonrichterwrites.  His website haunts the internet at www.jon-richter.com, and you can find his books available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2OXXRVP.

 

Sunday Summary – 14th November 2021

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Good evening and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary update! As always, I hope you’ve had a good week whatever you have been doing?

As for what I’ve been doing, I shared a blog tour review of Million Eyes II: The Unraveller on Wednesday this week. Having taken part in the blog tour for the first book of the series back in January 2020, I was keen to get involved and share my thoughts on this second instalment. If you haven’t yet read my review, you can find a link above. That post also links to my review of the first book of the series, so if you want to catch up from the beginning that’s the place to go. In fact, I’ll pop a handy link to that here as well.

On Friday I shared a Shelf Control post. It’s a regular series here at Reviewsfeed that gives me the opportunity to review the books on my to be read list, whittle out anything I no longer want to read and feature those that I do! This week I featured a book that’s been on my list for a few years. My sister reminded me after I shared this post, she managed to get a copy of it as part of an O2 deal. She had asked if she could read it before she handed it to me, and I never saw it. She had a laugh with me about it after my post went live, and confided that she didn’t finish it herself. However, when she comes to visit at Christmas I’ll get my hands on it!

 

Books Read

 

In last week’s Sunday Summary update I had 15% of Million Eyes II: The Unraveller left to read. I was right on those stats even though I couldn’t cross check against my Kindle. That worked out to be about an hour‘s worth of reading time, however, my plan to read it on Sunday night didn’t work out. I ended up knitting instead…

However, I did go on to read this on Monday evening and at the same time I started my blog post draft while my thoughts were fresh. The ending was very good; it ended up being quite a complex narrative with so many interlinking parts, however it was executed very well. It was a pleasure to read and I’m glad I took part in the blog tour for it!

After this, I started to read The Warden by Jon Richter. I have a read and reviewed a book by Jon Richter previously, Auxiliary: London 2039. I enjoyed this book immensely and I signed up for the blog tour of The Warden ages ago. Well, the time has finally come for me to read this book as my blog tour post for this book is due to go live next Friday.

I have to say, the book is every bit as good as I expected. It’s an action-packed psychological thriller. The majority of the narrative takes place in 2024, with flashbacks to beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus in this fictional narrative has mutated exceptionally and humans have to take more and more drastic action in order to avoid contamination. Like sealing themselves into buildings supported predominantly by an AI. But what if something goes wrong? Without going into any detail that’s the crux of the narrative and I’m really enjoying it. Naturally, anyone uncomfortable with the theme of the pandemic being the linchpin of the narrative might not choose to read this one. However, I very rarely shy away from a topic and I think it works really well!

As of this Sunday Summary update post, I am 3/4 of the way through the book. The remaining time left to read is about an hour and so I have plenty of time to get this finished before my blog tour post on Friday. I hope you like the sound of the book based on little snippets I told you and that you can check it out in full on Friday.

 

Books Discovered

Once again, I’m pleased to confirm that my TBR has not gotten any longer. Thankfully!

 

Coming Up…

I’ve decided to take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post. The topic of the post is “Books to Read If You Love ‘X’”. For this topic, I’ve decided to stick with the genre I have read most extensively, which is fantasy. If you love fantasy books as much as me then take the time to check out my list on Tuesday. In that post I will be featuring my favourite books of the genre and why I love them!

As I mentioned above, I will be sharing my thoughts in a blog tour review for The Warden by Jon Richter on Friday. That means my usual Friday feature will be taking a very short break just for this week. I can already tell that this post is going to be a good one. If you like the sound of the book based on my description above I really hope you can check out my full thoughts on Friday. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

As always, I will be rounding off the week with my next Sunday Summary update this time next week.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s post and until next time, happy reading!

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Book Review: Auxiliary: London 2039

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In today’s review, I feature a cyberpunk thriller novel that I really enjoyed reading towards the end of last year. I was kindly provided with a copy of the book in exchange for a review; I’m glad I agreed. It is the last book I agreed to take on before I stopped accepting any review requests. It was a really fun and intriguing read and I hope you like the sound of it too: –

 

Auxiliary: London 2039 – Jon Richter

Auxiliary: London 2039 by Jon Richter | Goodreads

The silicon revolution left Dremmler behind, but a good detective is never obsolete.

London is quiet in 2039—thanks to the machines. People stay indoors, communicating through high-tech glasses and gorging on simulated reality while 3D printers and scuttling robots cater to their every whim. Mammoth corporations wage war for dominance in a world where human augmentation blurs the line between flesh and steel.

And at the center of it all lurks The Imagination Machine: the hyper-advanced, omnipresent AI that drives our cars, flies our planes, cooks our food, and plans our lives. Servile, patient, tireless … TIM has everything humanity requires. Everything except a soul.

Through this silicon jungle prowls Carl Dremmler, police detective—one of the few professions better suited to meat than machine. His latest case: a grisly murder seemingly perpetrated by the victim’s boyfriend. Dremmler’s boss wants a quick end to the case, but the tech-wary detective can’t help but believe the accused’s bizarre story: that his robotic arm committed the heinous crime, not him. An advanced prosthetic, controlled by a chip in his skull.

A chip controlled by TIM.

Dremmler smells blood: the seeds of a conspiracy that could burn London to ash unless he exposes the truth. His investigation pits him against desperate criminals, scheming businesswomen, deadly automatons—and the nightmares of his own past. And when Dremmler finds himself questioning even TIM’s inscrutable motives, he’s forced to stare into the blank soul of the machine.

Auxiliary is gripping, unpredictable, and bleakly atmospheric—ideal for fans of cyberpunk classics like the Blade Runner movies, Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, and the Netflix original series Black Mirror.

 

My Thoughts…

There is a vast array of characters within the novel to complement the narrative and bring it to life. The main character who mistrusts technology is only fitting in an investigation in which technology appears to have gone awry. Carl Dremmler is a bit of a gruff old-schooler in this brave new world. He lives his life reminiscing of how things used to be… the good old days. When it comes to technology he is very old-fashioned. However, his distrust allows him a different perspective from those who have embraced it readily. Whilst he is not the most affable of people, he is very easy to read and get on with as a reader.

The universe in which Auxiliary: London 2039 is set is completely unique; the world-building aspect of this advanced civilization appealed to me greatly. The urban setting has it’s commonalities with modern-day London, but technologies like self-driving airborne vehicles place the setting distinctly apart from what we recognise London to be.

The pace of the book is great – there is plenty of action to keep the pages turning and new clues/revelations to keep you guessing. At just over 200 pages it’s a very approachable read. I read the book over a couple of days. I read a lot, so that’s not unexpected, but I honestly believe that anyone could pick this up with ease.

The plot concept of technology turning against humans isn’t a new one, but it appeals to a wide audience for a number of reasons. Technology is a huge part of our daily lives. We depend on it, and its presence is a familiar one. Technology is also evolving rapidly and with more wearable tech becoming more commonplace, the technology in Auxiliary: London 2039 doesn’t feel like a far stretch into the future. How easily we as readers can relate to futuristic technology is the reason the book is entertaining for many. If you have read even the synopsis, never mind the book, you’ll probably agree that it is an equally exciting and frightening realisation!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 13th December 2020

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Hi guys and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary (aka weekly update) post! How are you all keeping? Well, I hope?

I have shared a couple of posts with you this week, which I hope you have enjoyed reading. On Wednesday I shared a tag post, called Are You a Book Snob. All in all, I don’t think I come out to be a snob… but I think it’s interesting to see how other people’s answers compare!

Then, on Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post. For a good while, these posts were a regular feature, but in the latter half of this year they dropped off a little due to other blogging commitments, such as tours. This week’s First Lines Friday post was the first in a couple of months, put it that way!

 

Books Read

When I was thinking about what to write in this section earlier on today I was a little concerned I’d be lacking for content. I don’t want to say too much and come across as rubbing it in, but as things are pretty much normal here at the moment I’ve started with the usual plans and stuff coming up to Christmas. I don’t recall getting much reading done, but clearly, I’ve made the most of the time I did!

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I was 38% through Auxiliary by John Richter. This week I managed to finish the book in its entirety. I really enjoyed the narrative and the science-fiction element of the storyline. It was intriguing and a little bit unnerving at the same time!

I’ve also managed to start and read around a third of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley this week. So far it is every bit the dystopian novel I expected and I can see just how much the TV series has drawn from the book. I’m looking forward to reading more of this over next week.

 

Books Discovered

For the first time in weeks, I have an addition to my TBR! It feels like ages since I have written anything of note in this section of my weekly update post.

I was browsing Goodreads the other day and I happened to see a post or a recommendation about The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. I’ve seen the film… but I literally had no idea that it was based on a book series! So, I’ve added the first book of the Hannibal Lecter series to my TBR to read!

 

Coming Up…

Next week I am going to share another book review with you all. I have a bit of a backlog of books to review and I want to make sure I continue to chip away at them and keep giving you the content I hope you are here for most – reviews! This week I will be sharing a review of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.

Later in the week, I will be sharing another Friday feature post. This time, I’ll be taking another look at the TBR and sharing a book on my list and all the reasons I can’t wait to read it!

 

I hope you can join me for those posts, but for now, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post and I look forward to seeing you around!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 6th December 2020

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Hey guys! It’s Sunday, so you know I’m back with another Sunday Summary update post. I hope everyone is keeping safe and well?

This week has been a lot busier than last… that’s for sure! I’ve already shared three posts with you this week, making this Sunday Summary my fourth! My first post of the week was a blog tour post for Glimmer of Hope by J A Andrews. If you haven’t read that post yet, please do, as I have taken the time to share my thoughts on the book. Fans of thrillers, this one is for you.

My second post of the week was published the following day and was yet another blog tour post. That review was for The Dark Chorus by Ashley Meggitt and this one is a big recommendation for fans of psychological thrillers to read. I honestly loved this one, so make sure you take a look!

Yesterday I ‘penned’ my Reading List for December… the last one of the year. I can hardly believe it, but it’s true! I only have a small handful of books on this month’s list because December is a bit of a busy month anyway, but also because I’m not reading as much as I used to at the moment.

 

Books Read

I’ve been taking some more time off work this week in an effort to use up my allowance. In previous absences, I’ve been undertaking larger home improvement projects, like painting and decorating. This week, however, I haven’t done any of those things. I’m nearly done with the larger jobs and it was time to take the time for myself. And so I did. I dealt with a few little jobs on a couple of days, but I also took the time to do some fun things, like meet with friends, put up my Christmas decorations etc.

My reading progress was a little light considering I had a lot more time on my hands than usual. That said, I did have a few plans and appointments too, plus all the blog posts to draft… so I don’t mind. I quickly finished off Rags of Time by Michael Ward at the beginning of the week, but then didn’t move onto my next read for a good few days.

I started reading Auxiliary: London 2039 last night and read up to 38% in one sitting – I can’t grumble at that. I’m also going to pick it up again tonight and have a read in bed, so by the end of the night I should have a good deal more progress to that.

 

Books Discovered

 

Once again I’ve been good and not found any books to add to the TBR! I’m sure it’ll thank me later!

 

Coming Up…

I saw a funny tag post over on The Tattooed Book Geek’s blog a couple of weeks ago and I knew then I wanted to do my own take of the post. So, at the beginning of next week I’ll be sharing my own Are You a Book Snob post!

Later in the week, I’ll be bringing back my regular Friday posts. This week, it’s the turn of a First Lines Friday post. I haven’t decided which book to feature yet, but I’ll have something picked by the end of the week and ready to share with you on Friday.

That’s all in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a good week and I hope to see you around on the blog!

 

 

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