Monday 19 June 2017

New Book Release: Suspect N°1

Suspect N°1 Out Now - Disponible dès Maintenant

"Un polar au suspense haletant", publié par Talents Hauts Éditions, illustré par Marie Avril Art - http://www.talentshauts.com/thpdfs/argu_suspect.pdf


Andrew Jones, citoyen américain, est arrêté en France pour conduite en état d’ivresse. Dans la boîte à gants du véhicule, la gendarmerie trouve un pistolet semi-automatique Smith & Wesson, la même arme que celle dont les balles ont tué une dizaine personnes aux États-Unis ces derniers mois. Le lieutenant David Lopez est chargé de l’enquête et les interrogatoires sont menés par un certain Sheldon Black, un profiler tout juste arrivé des États Unis. Au fil de l’enquête, le comportement de ce dernier va s’avérer de plus en plus étrange...



New Interview: Mes Premières Lectures

Rencontre avec Simon Duke - auteur bilingue - pour parler de son roman "Suspect N°1", tout juste sorti aux éditions Talents Hauts !

http://mespremiereslectures.com/Rencontre-avec-Simon-Duke.html

Friday 21 April 2017

"Suspect N°1" - My new book in French-English/mon nouveau roman en français-anglais




Hello all/Bonjour à tous! 

Après mes romans en anglais « Out of Bounds » (2014) et « The Perfectionist » (2016), mon nouveau roman « Suspect N°1 », cette fois-ci en version bilingue français-anglais et pour un public adolescent, paraîtra aux éditions Talents Hauts à partir du 15 juin 2017. Il est illustré par Marie Avril.

Talents Hauts est une maison d'édition indépendante, créée en 2005. Elle publie des livres pour la jeunesse, des livres percutants, forts, drôles, qui bousculent les idées reçues. « Suspect N°1 » fera partie de la nouvelle collection bilingue DUAL. Le premier chapitre du roman est en français, le deuxième en anglais et ainsi de suite. C’est un concept unique (testé par des parents, des enseignants et des linguistes) qui fait ses preuves depuis près de dix ans et qui non seulement aide un public adolescent à améliorer son niveau de compréhension de l’anglais, mais en même temps lui procure une bonne dose de divertissement. C’est aussi l’occasion pour moi de partager une littérature policière et le monde du thriller avec les jeunes lecteurs.

Donc si vous voulez le lire ou le faire lire à vos ados et me soutenir, je vous invite à vous le procurer mais aussi à faire circuler l'information autour de vous. En attendant, et en plus de la couverture ci-dessus que je trouve vraiment très réussie et qui illustre bien l’ambiance du roman, voici un petit résumé de « Suspect N°1 » – de quoi vous donner l'eau à la bouche :

« Andrew Jones, citoyen américain, est arrêté en France pour conduite en état d’ivresse. Dans la boîte à gants du véhicule, la gendarmerie trouve un pistolet semi-automatique Smith & Wesson. La même arme a tué une dizaine personnes aux États-Unis ces derniers mois… Le lieutenant David Lopez est chargé de l’enquête et les interrogatoires sont menés par un certain Sheldon Black, un profiler tout juste arrivé des États-Unis ».

Plus d'infos le mois prochain sur http://www.talentshauts.fr 

Merci à tous et bonne lecture.

« Suspect N°1 ». Edition bilingue français-anglais Simon Duke (Auteur) Marie Avril (Illustration) Roman adolescent dès 13 ans en anglais / français (broché). Existe aussi en version audio.

Déjà disponible en pré-commande : http://livre.fnac.com/a10540095/Simon-Duke-Suspect-numero-1#st=suspect%20N%C2%B01%20simon%20duke&ct=&t=p 



Friday 31 March 2017

2 Books You Must Read this Summer: The Redemption of Charm and The Last Laugh




Book Review: 'The Redemption of Charm' by Frank Westworth

'The Redemption of Charm' is a very good read with dark humor, good characters, nice suspense, a little shocking violence, and some smart payback... In other words another amazing installment in the Killing Sisters series!

I really liked seeing the cast from Westworth's previous books once again. In this final part of the trilogy, ex-black ops assassin and former soldier JJ Stoner is laying low in remote and wild USA, hiding from his enemies back home in Britain and generally keeping to himself. Isolated and out of action, we discover a more vulnerable side of Stoner, a man struggling to deal with the emotional tidal wave provoked by the brutalization of his woman and a series of betrayals. However, the nomadic hero eventually returns to his former, stone cold self and must confront Charm, the final Killing Sister, and find out who is friend and who is foe in order to survive.

Accustomed to the violence, humor and explicit sex scenes of the previous books in the series, 'The Redemption of Charm' was a change of scenery and a much welcomed new direction in plot. Though at first it took me a little while to find my bearings I was taken by pleasant surprise with the more slow-burning approach. It prepared me for the fast-paced action to come. The action and the unfolding of the plot seemed organic and melded well with the often savant element of Stoner's personality.

The series of JJ's encounters stateside and then back in England punctuated a captivating story, which I truly recommend to fans of Frank Westworth and to newcomers with an interest in the witty and gritty. It can be read as a standalone novel, but to really appreciate the denouement and the grand finale, make sure to also read parts one and two.

Westworth's writing grows on you and improves with each new book. Somewhat surprised when I originally came across his work, I learned to appreciate his style and how his sharp, timely-delivered dialogue is oftentimes more impactful than the action itself. It's subtle and intelligent. But at the same time - and this is me being perhaps too critical - Westworth may overdo it at times.

Stoner and the rest of the cast can be too smart for their own good. I'm amazed at how long the characters can keep up the witty retorts and never get tired. Long chunks of dialogue can be double-edged swords as there is always a danger that the reader can lose focus, no matter how punchy the lines are. And if I were to be even more finicky, I'd ask for a little less emphasis on blues and motorcycles (though we don't all share these passions, these are close to the writer's heart) and for an explanation on this strange obsession with coffee drinking and making breakfast throughout the novel.

'The Redemption of Charm' is vivid, hard-hitting, satisfactory story-telling. Keep it up, Frank!

Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Redemption-Charm-Killing-Sisters-Book/dp/1911320556

***

Book Review: 'The Last Laugh' by Paul Duke

Refugee camps. Fundamentalist terrorist organizations. Ruthless dictators. Violence. Bloodshed. Horrors of war. Oppressed populations. Clowns... Spot the odd one out. Not only does Paul Duke's debut novel manage to combine all these plot elements but it does so weaving in adventure, razor-sharp wit and some genuine funny moments. As a result 'The Last Laugh' is a gripping read.

Duke's dystopia offers a wonderful satire of radicalization and a fair portrayal of the NGO world and how the international community reacts to foreign threats. I enjoyed The Last Laugh's realism and its colourful cast of characters. I cared about main protagonist Franck Rousseau's commitment to the cause. I felt like I was part of his crew, travelling the dusty desert roads, entering hostile territories, generally fearing for my life... and appreciated their camaraderie, in-jokes and solidarity when the narrative was less tough. I was emotionally-connected, and at the end of the day, that is what matters when I read books.

The novel is dotted with the real-life experiences of the writer when he carried out humanitarian missions in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, or Pakistan. This not only propels the story forward but does so with ambition. Mixing humour with sensitive subjects like terrorism, war, or politics isn't an easy endeavor but Duke has pulled it off with panache.

'The Last Laugh' is a great achievement and puts Paul Duke on the literary map. This is a writer to look out for.

Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Laugh-Paul-Duke/dp/1532737378/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490961031&sr=1-1&keywords=the+last+laugh+paul+duke