Battle sight zero. Gerald Seymour
His thirty fourth novel and tells the story of a recently recruited martyr who needs to receive a Kalashnikov rifle and set up a deal for future transactions with the underworld there.
Running parallel with the story is the said guns history from it’s production from the factory and use from conflicts around the world.
Another solid story from the best thriller writer in the world for me.
Finally got around to reading Listen Liberal, by Thomas Frank.
Definitely worth reading if you have an interest in US politics.
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I read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide for the first time last week and I thought it was fucking underwhelming. Never taken me so long to read 70 pages.
I much prefer the contemporary media portrayal of Jekyll and Hyde than the original haha
Just started reading Midnight Tides earlier and it is superb.
Again I fell in the same trap of being so invested in the last book that I was really pissed off that the next book was now going to follow a whole new group of characters on a brand new continent and I lose momentum but after starting it I’m really loving it.
Tehol Beddict and Bugg are great characters haha
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Tehol and Bugg are hilarious. The situation in Lether is far removed from a lot of the stuff going on but elements do eventually link back / overlap. There’s a very interesting converging of characters, definitely worth the wait. The storylines involving the Beddict brothers is brilliant imo
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The sadness of the Jekyll character never gets touched on in modern format. Go and read it again.
Oh that is true, the last 5-10 pages are very sad as Dr. Jelyll realises he’s not going to be able to change back from Hyde but I was definitely expecting something more bombastic and grand and monstrous than what it was.
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Bloody kids 
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Fucking spoilers man, I was planning to read that ffs
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Started this tonight
A few pages in but the few references to postal workers going on strikes keeps making me thinknof @Stroller haha
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Paul Di Anno_ Beast
Iron Maiden lead singer on the first two albums. Absolutely owns vocally some of them songs. Book deals with mostly his none career after leaving and excesses with other bands in a shock sensational way.
Drugs, drink, girls, fighting and smashing hotel rooms up. All mildly amusing but with nothing substantial musically falls short.
Having a line of coke snorted off your dick is one thing. Then talking about attacking a girl off your face with a paragraph of remorse cancels the fun out of it. End up just seeing a loser and a prick.
Sacked from Maiden who dominated the world, to basically ending up a bit of a tosser, sadly.
Always have them first two albums though and he was part of helping Maiden become Maiden.
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Not much of a book person but as we are in lockdown and won’t be going “out” for the foreseeable future I looked on Amazon for football books as I’m not interested in “normal books” and got this. Seems an interesting idea looking forward to reading it when it comes!
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@Cristo I just started this. It’s about the guy who spoofed the markets with his high frequency trading strategies from his bedroom and made multi million bucks. He’s known for being the guy responsible for causing the 2010 flash crash on the Dow Jones Index. Pretty interesting if you liked Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys!
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Ahh I’ll definitely have to get that! Is it quite well written??
Michael Lewis is able to break it down in a way that’s easy to understand which made it a lot more enjoyable
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Literally just started it about 20 mins ago! I’ll get back to you tomorrow with a more better insight but the prologue definitely gives a good thrill. The book was just released on Friday, I came across it being advertised on Bloomberg.
Totally agree on Michael Lewis too btw, such a fantastic writer. I’d say he’s one of, if not the best in this field.
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The Railway Man_ Eric Lomax
Lomax was a POW in the far East during the second world war. Held captive and subjected to both physical and mental torture.It’s a remarkable story of one man’s journey to survive both war and try to live with the scars after.
Ultimately it’s a victory of the human spirit as he and one of his former captor’s meet again.
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@Cristo just realised I never got back to you.
I finished this yesterday, it’s a worthwhile read for sure! Gives you a really good insight into how these HFTs can frontrun a market and basically dictate prices. I’m sure all this you’re aware of as you’ve read the Michael Lewis book which I haven’t.
But yeah, without ruining the story this guy comes in spoofing the system and basically stole profits from the HFTs which they obviously didn’t like. As he got richer from his bedroom through compounding, he got so wealthy to a point that he was making enough interest in his bank account to buy a Big Mac every minute LOL.
After reading it, it’s dependant on your views to if he was a criminal or a hero but you can understand why the US wanted to extradite him. They must and probably still feel very silly that this guy from his bedroom unlocked the dynamics of an exchange and blew out all the big players.
It’s not a long book at all, worth a read mate!
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that sounds epic, I’ll definitely need to give that a read.
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Johnny got his gun _Dalton Trumbo
Timeless classic book that was turned into a brilliant but very dark film on the injuries of a soldier in ww1.
Bloke is virtually mutilated on the battlefield and put into a military hospital. Bit by bit his active brain comes to terms with his hellish existence. unable to talk or communicate, hes left with memories and frustrations and a desperate reflex action to try some articulation. Its brilliantly written. It takes you on an emotional roller coaster just like the film. Get to know the characters life a bit more here and its topped off by a brilliant and moving forword by a lady who lost a son in the Gulf war.
@Persona @JakeyBoy its a perfect companion to the film. Only 243 pages long but I picked my moments because its a heavy read. Chapter every other day worked for me. Same as the film you wont forget it.
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Been catching up listening with some of this man. Never dates.