This is not your run-of-the-mill religious, historical, chase, search, code-breaking, discovery of some ancient artefact that proves Christianity is based on a myth or a lie, type of thriller. It’s quite a step up from that.
Passages reminded me of books I’ve read by Alan Furst or Olen Steinhauer. The introspection, the uncertainty, the slightly tainted or regretted past, the feeling I got of the main character just being along for the ride in certain sections of his or her own life.
Gospel Truths is written from the point of view of a middle-aged English police officer, with a slightly troubled past personal and professional life. He is originally from the English counties, but after a high-profile success, he is now working in London. He is handed a bit of a hot potato of a case, involving a suicide they suspect is murder but can’t prove, international banking scandals, The Vatican and various highly un-savoury international underworld figures. His investigations lead him to France, to cathedrals, the possible involvement of the Freemasons, a Gospel that could be written using Jesus’ own words and the long tendrils of freemasonry organisations, with more fingers in more pies than they have fingers. I think I’ve covered the most of it.
The funny thing is, that while the book is called The Gospel Code and the story is ostensibly woven around a murder and a search/chase for an ancient gospel, that isn’t really what (I think, as least) the book is about. It’s more about a personal and introspective search, by the main character Nigel Lyman. We learn more about him, his background and history, than we do about the searched for Gospel. And it’s all the better for that.
If I were to be critical, i’d say that there some background passages were a little too oblique. I liked the style of colouring in his past with some passages which, on the surface, seemed to have little to do with the plot, but were there to illuminate how the reasoning he applied to plot developments, came about. However, sometimes I was struggling to see how exactly they helped me understand him any more than getting on with the story would have done.
Overall, you are going to have to put in a bit of effort into reading this one. It’s much more than an ordinary, airport shop, holiday-reading, page-turning blockbuster, no matter how much the cover blurb would like to convince you you’ve got another Dan Brown in your hands. It’s much better than that.
Recommended.

View all my reviews

It seems the Amen Corner’s version isn’t the original. The original is by an American band called The Outsiders and was released in 1966. Another (perhaps) US band, called The American Breed, had a hit in the States in 1968. But don’t you worry about those, the best version is far and away the ‘Corner’s.

But then, what else is there?

There’s ‘High In The Sky’, for example:

Or, ‘Hello Suzie’:

Obviously, these performances are/were mimed. Pretty much all TV performances were mimed back in the good old days of Top Of The Pops and Beat Club, or whatever hip and happening TV programmes these performances are taken from. However, when you hear the relentless drive and soul-tinged power of the music and see it contrasted with the rather stilted, lackadaisical and almost lethargic, rabbit caught in the headlights performances of the band, clearly recently plucked from their day jobs in the factory…it gives it a whole different edge for me. I see a band told by their manager to ‘do this, do that, count to four and do this and do that…’, I see them concentrating more on trying to remember to get the the dance moves right, than the rhythm of the music. Unfortunately for the former Welsh miner turned entrepreneur (probably), who was their manager, the whole band are clearly not thinking ‘gotta put over the music, gotta move in the right places’, they’re thinking “I’m on TV, me!”

And it’s all the better for that. To me, it looks like the band are trying to keep up with the unstoppable, runaway flow of the music, rather than play it. Brilliant!

You can, should you so wish, read more about the mighty ‘Corner, here.

Oh and, if you can’t find them under Amen Corner, try The Amen Corner. From what I can see, there were/are albums accredited to either name. Not sure which came first or which is the proper version. On iTunes you can listen to previews of the various tracks, I would recommend you do that before downloading. Often with tracks from the ’60′s and early ’70′s, the various artists have re-recorded them and released them again (I would imagine that it’s either because they don’t own the original recordings or sommat). Sometimes, iTunes will note ‘re-recorded’ after the track name, but not always. And, there are sometimes live versions in there as well, also un-noted. So you shouldn’t just go, find the name and click ‘download’. Give it a listen first and try and find the one that sounds most ’60′s-like. With the ‘Bend Me Shape Me‘ track, I have two versions. One appears to be a stereo version, but the drums are in one speaker and the vocals in another, giving a very unsettling effect. I also found another version, where it still seems to be stereo, but the mix is a lot more even and the better for it. It was, rather out of place if you ask me, on a compilation called ‘Total Love’. I haven’t gone through the Amen Corner proper albums to see if it’s there as well, but this is the version I prefer. Go check it out!

Found this in our local Netto yesterday morning.

At 25 Kroner. That’s what I’m calling a bargain.

25 Kroner is what you would call £2.78 or $4.26.

As the Danish ‘You See’ TV provider’s website so aptly puts it:

Quintus er romersk centurion. Sammen med sine mænd er han fanget i fjendeland, omringet af det mystiske stammefolk picterne. Picterne har modstået den effektive romerske krigsmaskine, som har underlagt sig det ene land efter det andet. Picterne er nådesløse, og her på deres hjemmebane er de en modbydelig og overvældende modstander. Quintus og hans deling må kæmpe sig frem velvidende, at hvert øjeblik kan blive deres sidste.

Though I think they’ve actually taken that directly from the back of the DVD cover.

This is how it is on Amazon:

AD 117. The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying Picts. Quintus Dias (Fassbender), sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, marches north with General Virilus’ (West) legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon. But when the legion is ambushed on unfamiliar ground, and Virilus taken captive, Quintus faces a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive behind enemy lines. Enduring the harsh terrain and evading their remorseless Pict pursuers led by revenge-hungry Pict Warrior Etain (Kurylenko), the band of soldiers race to rescue their General and to reach the safety of the Roman frontier.

Actually, I saw this one only recently, well, before Christmas anyway. The story involves a Roman Legion’s mission into Pictish territory and the pretty disastrous consequences. I loaned it from the local library, but the copy didn’t seem to be in perfect nick, so getting a ‘proper’ copy for a steal, is indeed a result.

As it involves the Ninth Legion, I’m thinking it’s following in the same vein as Rosemary Sutcliffe’s ‘Eagle of the Ninth’ book(s), though it credits a screenwriter, it doesn’t mention her. I think I read one of the Eagle of the Ninth books in my youth, but I can’t really remember that far back.

This one is a good, hard-hitting film, plenty of action, plenty of muck and plenty of blood, as the wife duly noted. There aren’t the big, stylised set-pieces as in ‘Gladiator‘, it’s much more down-to-earth, but no less ambitious and compelling and well worth seeing – should your local supermarket have it on offer next to the hair gel and oranges.

Redbreast : Jo Nesbo.

“… entwines a Second World War ghost story with a modern hunt for an assassin in a clever and entertaining way that teases and taunts to the very end…Harry (Hole), with his quirky sense of humour, is a likeable hero despite his many flaws. A complicated story of passion, lost love, betrayal and murder.”

Actually Jo Nesbø, he’s from Norway and as someone now residing in neighbouring Denmark, I know how to pronounce the ‘ø’, that they’ve ducked out of using for the rest of the world outside Scandinavia.

This one was given away on iTunes as part of their 12 Days of Christmas promotion.

The Heretic’s Treasure : Scott Mariani.

This was 99p as a promotion on the UK iTunes store.

“An ancient fortune has lain hidden for thousands of years, one so powerful that men will kill to protect it.

And only one man can unearth it…”

Probably best not to go any further into it right now…

A Spy’s Life : Henry Porter.

“A massive air crash in New York kills 19 people, most of them working for the United Nations. The only survivor is a British ex-spy, Robert Harland. After a traumatic encounter with torture in Czechoslovakia during the Velvet Revolution, he is now working for the UN in a low-key, non-espionage role. Anyone familiar with the genre will know that attempts to retire from the spy trade are always doomed to failure and Harland’s freak survival of the plane crash soon make him public property again. The FBI and other shadowy forces are keen to find out what he was doing on the plane. As Harland speedily finds himself in lethal situations again, his life is further complicated by the appearance of a young man claiming to be his son by Eva, a young Czech agent with whom Harland was once in love.”

The Trinity Six : Charles Cumming.

“Often talked of as a potential heir to John le Carré, Cummings confirms here that he’s a reliably classy storyteller … An assured and richly enjoyable thriller” Sunday Times

The Polish Officer : Alan Furst

I’ve read a couple (I think it’s two) of his before. I was well impressed by his evocation of the period just before the start of the Second World War, though I thought the story was a bit light. No reason not to read more, though.

I Am Legend : Richard Matheson.

I loved the film – with either ending (though I thought the one that wasn’t used in the cinema version, just shaded it).

The book, is a completely different animal, a passing friend with a digital copy tells me. He recommends reading it in the daylight, as well.

The Bourne Legacy : Eric Von Lustbader.

“Jason Bourne has gradually come to realise who an what he really is – a strange amalgam of a man named David Webb and a deadly killer. Now David Webb is living a peaceful life as a university professor in the backwoods of America with his wife and children. But someone is reaching out to take him out of the game forever. A deadly assassin is on his trail and his former handler has been brutally murdered already. It seems that David Webb must once again turn to Bourne to save his life and family.”

You know exactly what you’re gonna get with Robert Ludlum and Jason Bourne and (based on the previous one) von Lustbader does a great job of continuing in the Ludlum vein.

Most of the above were bought on the Danish iTunes book store, though a couple were found on the UK version. As a rule, by the time we get them in Denmark, they are available everywhere.

]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/whats-in-the-ipad-today-jim/feed/ 0 56.147762 10.003630 56.147762 10.003630 speesh The Redbreast The Heretic's Treasure A Spy's Life The Trinity Six The Polish Officer I Am Legend The Bourne Legacy http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/if-i-only-recommend-one-book-on-the-vikings-it-would-be-these-three/ http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/if-i-only-recommend-one-book-on-the-vikings-it-would-be-these-three/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:31:23 +0000 speesh https://speesh.wordpress.com/?p=551 ]]>

The Hammer and the Cross : Robert Ferguson

Brings the history of the Vikings into the 21st Century.

After many years away, this is the one that got me back into the Vikings with a bang.

The title refers to how the Vikings were actually effectively wiped out by Christianity.

The Vikings in America : Graeme Davis

 I’ve reviewed this one here and on my Goodreads page, I even got a thank you comment from the great man himself!

Great cover as well…

A Brief History Of The Vikings : Jonathan Clements

I ordered this one at the same time as I read a couple of other histories and though it might be a little superfluous. It wasn’t. I read it in super fast time and was really impressed by its concise, but thorough examination of the period from a variety of angles.

Obviously, I’m still a beginner in this field, but I’d still say this was one of the best books you can buy on the Vikings.

I’ve been interested in the Vikings since I was young and I live in Denmark these days, though the latter wasn’t because of the former. However, I haven’t yet read a Danish written history on the Vikings. I have read a Danish-written novel set in the Viking period, called Erik den Røde, by Preben Mørkbak. I read it a couple of years ago, when really, my understanding of The Danish language was still in its infancy. I probably read it a bit too early, as I don’t think I got as much as I should out of it. I must have another go, now that I’m a fluent Danish speaker.

All the above (English) books are available on Amazon, probably where you live.

]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/if-i-only-recommend-one-book-on-the-vikings-it-would-be-these-three/feed/ 0 speesh http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/studio-one-funk/ http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/studio-one-funk/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:00:43 +0000 speesh https://speesh.wordpress.com/?p=527 ]]>

Picked this little beauty up from the library the other day.

It’s an old one and the ‘funk’ of the title is really, as the sleeve notes say; “Reggae Funk from the vaults of Studio One.”

The Studio One, is actually a reference to the famous (if you know of it of course) Studio One in Kingston, Jamaica.

This is from the Studio One Wikipedia page:

Studio One was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. The label was founded by Clement ‘Coxone’ Dodd in 1954, and the first recordings were cut in 1963 on Brentford Road in Kingston. Amongst its earliest records were “Easy Snappin’” by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, and “This Man is Back” by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of other labels, including World Disc, and had run Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, one of the largest and most reputable sound systems in the Kingston ghettos. The label and studio were closed when Dodd relocated to New York City in the 1980s.

So! It’s jam-packed with all your reggae funk favourites, such as; Alton Ellis, Pablove Black, Prince Francis, Prince Moonie, Leroy Sibbles and Delroy Wilson (whom you of course remember from The Clash‘s ‘White Man In Hammersmith Palais’).

If you like your reggae old-style, smooth and funky and you want to still be able to wind up your waist without a trip to the chiropractor afterwards, this is the one for you. Check it out, somewhere.

Let’s face it, it’ll add to your credibility if you can say; “actually, I prefer Leroy Sibbles’ early work, thanks all the same”.

]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/studio-one-funk/feed/ 0 56.147762 10.003630 56.147762 10.003630 speesh http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/review-the-lucifer-gospel/ http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/review-the-lucifer-gospel/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:38:33 +0000 speesh http://speesh.wordpress.com/?p=525 ]]>
The Lucifer Gospel by Paul Christopher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Close, but no cigar.
The Lucifer Gospel really could have been good, but wasn’t. It was like a Dan Brown wannabe-lite. I gave it every chance, but it failed to deliver and finally, I couldn’t get Clive-bloody-Cussler out of my mind.
(A Clive Cussler book has got to be one of the worst things ever to have wasted ink and paper and, more importantly, my time).
The majority of the plot actually seems to do its best to avoid the front and back cover’s set-up entirely and involves a race across the world to find something, we’re not really sure of. Even the title, or the actual item the title seems to describe, turns out not to be what you think it ‘should’ be, it’s almost a play on words and I couldn’t help but feel a little cheated.
It all starts out alright, ticking all the right boxes for the historical/biblical mystery, thriller-genre (if there is one); there’s a possibly world-changing lost treasure, a desert, a sympathetic heroine, a helpful, knowledgeable male co-lead character who can do just about everything, a mad millionaire…oh yeah, see; all going wrong, all going Clive Cussler on us already.
The story then takes us from Egypt to Libya, across half of Europe, to the Caribbean and finally, the USA. Luckily, for each tricky situation they find themselves in, or faced with, they have the necessary experience required. The most eyebrow-raising point for me, came when they were trying to figure out how long somewhere had been deserted. They found a Coca-Cola bottle without a ring-pull opening. Fortunately, the heroine’s mother had been to school with the man who invented the ring-pull system and the heroine had written a thesis on it and was thus able to estimate how old the place was…I think I finally lost touch completely with the book at that point, just as well it was towards the end or I might not have persisted.
The Lucifer Gospel actually has some reasonably interesting characters and situations, problem is, they’re mostly the supporting characters and situations that aren’t the big set-pieces. It’s nicely written, decently put together and generally a pleasant read. But that’s the problem, it’s all too slight, too inoffensive and too far from being one I can recommend.

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]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/review-the-lucifer-gospel/feed/ 0 speesh The Lucifer Gospel http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/early-2011-reading-list-2/ http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/early-2011-reading-list-2/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:31:33 +0000 speesh http://speesh.wordpress.com/?p=504 ]]> Ok. This is what I’m looking forward to getting stuck into over the next couple of months – or three, depending on how knackered I am when I come home or go to bed…

In no particular order, either of merit or of reading.

The Lucifer Gospel : Paul Christopher

“In the desert of north Africa, Finn Ryan stumbles upon a seventy-year-old plane wreck – and a shocking revelation that threatens to unravel an entire faith.”

All Hell Let Lose : Max Hastings

“This is military history at its most gripping. A veritable tour de force.”

The Thieves of Faith : Richard Doetsch

“A master thief. A priceless treasure. The world’s most heavily guarded fortress – about to be breached.”

Gospel Truths : J. G. Sandom

“How many must die to keep the Church’s most carefully guarded secret of all?”

Gates of Fire : Steven Pressfield

“An epic novel of the battle of Thermopylae.”

Viking 3: King’s Man : Tim Severin

“A tumultuously epic story of valour, treachery and derring-do.”

Britain A.D. : Francis Pryor.

“A quest for Arthur, England and the Anglo-Saxons.”

I have a few on the old iPad2 as well, but I won’t be getting on to them until I’m done with this lot – and this post has taken me long enough (who’d have thought that getting thumbnail pictures of books, to range left to the copy that goes with them, in a stack, would be so difficult impossible?), so that’ll have to wait for another time.

I will, of course, review them as I finish them. Otherwise, catch me on Goodreads.

]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/early-2011-reading-list-2/feed/ 0 56.147762 10.003630 56.147762 10.003630 speesh wpid-Photo-07012012-17.42.jpg wpid-Photo-07012012-18.36.jpg wpid-Photo-07012012-18.45.jpg wpid-Photo-07012012-18.54.jpg wpid-Photo-07012012-19.34.jpg thumbnail.aspx thumbnail-1.aspx http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/review-the-silver-eagle/ http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/review-the-silver-eagle/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:39:11 +0000 speesh http://speesh.wordpress.com/?p=490 ]]>
The Silver Eagle by Ben Kane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an excellent read. At least on a par with Harry Sidebottom’s ‘Warrior of Rome’ books.’The Silver Eagle’, is number two in Ben Kane’s ‘Forgotten Legion’ series.

The Forgotten Legion are one of the Roman Legions defeated after the battle of Carrhae. They are then captured and taken east by the victors, the Parthians. In the east, they are kept together and kept fighting, but under their control against their eastern enemies, ending with a huge battle in the far east against an Indian army, in the footsteps of Alexander the Great.

Throughout this story and the previous book (presumably number three as well), we follow a brother and sister, made slaves, sold, captured, forced to fight, forced to…well, plenty of other things. They are separated, the sister is kept in Rome, the brother, Romulus, is forced into the ‘Forgotten Legion.’ The story follows them and the people who become their close friends, companions, spiritual advisors, enemies, rivals, tormentors and worse. The novel is centred around the two and their adventures both trying to stay alive at a crucial period in Roman history (the rise of Julius Caesar, the end of the Republic, the time of Rome as an empire, driven by Emperors and Caesars, modelled in various degrees of success, on Julius Caesar) and their search for each other and for revenge.

If you know, or can remember anything of this period of Roman history from your school-days, then there seem to be some clues as to what might well happen in the third (and possibly final) volume of The Forgotten Legion series. But, I could be mistaken of course.

You don’t necessarily need to have read the previous book, The Forgotten Legion, but it would only increase your enjoyment of The Silver Eagle. There’s a good pace kept up throughout the book, which is obviously written from a thorough understanding of and a deep interest in, the period it is set.

If there is one thing though, that I was a little doubtful about. He has a habit of ending each chapter on a cliff-hanger; ‘will they, won’t they get out of this one!’ Whilst never having read any Charles Dickens (seen enough tv series and films to cover that particular base), I understand he used to do it because his stories were published in weekly, or monthly, periodicals and each chapter or section finished on a cliff-hanger in order to get the reader sufficiently worked-up to purchase the next edition. Here, Ben Kane is merely shifting from one strand of the story to another and back. Whilst it is exciting to read of battles against overwhelming odds blended into the story, it does get a little wearing and in danger of becoming a forced cliche by doing it at the end of each chapter. It eases up in the later sections and the story is the better for it.

Other than that minor irritation, I can thoroughly recommend ‘The Silver Eagle’ and look forward to the next excuse to order a whole load of new books from Amazon.

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]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/review-the-silver-eagle/feed/ 0 speesh The Silver Eagle http://speesh.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/review-warrior-of-rome-iii-lion-of-the-sun/ http://speesh.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/review-warrior-of-rome-iii-lion-of-the-sun/#comments Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:07:46 +0000 speesh http://speesh.wordpress.com/?p=472 ]]>
Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun by Harry Sidebottom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now this was an excellent book.

Like the first two in the ‘Warrior of Rome’ series; ‘Fire In the East’ and ‘King Of Kings’; ‘Lion of the Sun’ again follows our Roman soldier hero Ballista (actually from the north of Europe), who was traded as a hostage by his chieftain father as a child and brought up in Rome by his captors.
The action takes place in the east of the Empire, where he is caught up in everything from desperate battles, scheming politicians to the crazed whims of Emperors who threaten not just him, but his wife and children as well.

‘Lion of the Sun’ continues Ballista’s story, takes it on and leaves it perfectly set up for the next installment. You certainly get your money’s worth in terms of desperate action and big set-piece battles, unlike my previous read, that’s for sure. Ballista is a master tactician and has the respect of the soldiers in his command, so ingenuity is expected but the solutions, often including some finely-drawn supporting characters, are always pleasant surprises.

It is clear that Harry Sidebottom knows the period he is writing about intimately. According to the book cover, Harry Sidebottom is actually Dr Harry Sidebottom, a teacher of Classical History at Oxford University. This comes through loud and clear, but without ever being either a hindrance to the action or a problem for the reader who just wants to enjoy the fighting and intrigue.
As a review from The Times’ Bettany Hughes printed inside the cover, says;

“Dr. Harry Sidebottom’s prose blazes with such searing scholarship that there is enormous enjoyment in this rumbustuous tale of the late Roman Empire…He makes you feel as though you are there”.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one, couldn’t put it down and look forward tremendously to getting hold of the next one in the series, probably called ‘The Caspian Gates’ and I certainly hope it’s not the last in the series.

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]]> http://speesh.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/review-warrior-of-rome-iii-lion-of-the-sun/feed/ 0 56.147762 10.003630 56.147762 10.003630 speesh Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun