So, we are back with another Top 5 Tuesday which as you know is hosted by Shanah over at Bionic Bookworm, this week as you can tell from the title the topic is Books that Exceeded my Expectations.
A Touch of Death (The Outlands Pentalogy #1) by Rebecca Crunden
A thousand years in the future, the last of humanity live inside the walls of the totalitarian Kingdom of Cutta. The rich live in Anais, the capital city of Cutta, sheltered from the famine and disease which ravage the rest of the Kingdom. Yet riches and power only go so far, and even Anaitians can be executed. It is only by the will of the King that Nate Anteros, son of the King’s favourite, is spared from the gallows after openly dissenting. But when he’s released from prison, Nate disappears.
A stark contrast, Catherine Taenia has spent her entire life comfortable and content. The daughter of the King’s Hangman and in love with Thom, Nate’s younger brother, her life has always been easy, ordered and comfortable. That is, where it doesn’t concern Nate. His actions sullied not only his future, but theirs. And unlike Thom, Catherine has never forgiven him.
Two years pass without a word, and then one night Nate returns. But things with Nate are never simple, and when one wrong move turns their lives upside down, the only thing left to do is run where the King’s guards cannot find them – the Outlands. Those wild, untamed lands which stretch around the great walls of the Kingdom, filled with mutants and rabids.
So I will be completely honest as I always am, I judged this book before I even started to read it as the cover didn’t wow me. But oh boy did I love what was inside, so much so that I’ve just finished reading the second book in this pentalogy, I will link both my reviews below. If you are looking for a dystopian series with great characters and a fascinating world (with even better character development and world building in book 2) then I really urge you to pick this book up. This is so underrated and I will be picking up book 3 in the coming months.
A Touch of Death Review | A History of Madness Review
Million Eyes by C.R. Berry
What if we’re living in an alternate timeline? What if the car crash that killed Princess Diana, the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, and the shooting of King William II weren’t supposed to happen? Ex-history teacher Gregory Ferro finds evidence that a cabal of time travellers is responsible for several key events in our history. These events all seem to hinge on a dry textbook published in 1995, referenced in a history book written in 1977 and mentioned in a letter to King Edward III in 1348. Ferro teams up with down-on-her-luck graduate Jennifer Larson to get to the truth and discover the relevance of a book that seems to defy the arrow of time. But the time travellers are watching closely. Soon the duo are targeted by assassins willing to rewrite history to bury them. Million Eyes is a fast-paced conspiracy thriller about power, corruption and destiny.
Who knew that a time travel book would be making an appearance on this list! If it wasn’t for the fact that I took part in the blog tour then I don’t think I would have found out about this book. It’s so fascinating, addictive and completely took me by surprise! There is also a short story collection with 12 stories set in this world and I’m really hoping to read it next month!
Thirteen (Eddie Flynn #4) by Steve Cavanagh
The serial killer isn’t on trial.
He’s on the jury…
They were Hollywood’s hottest power couple. They had the world at their feet. Now one of them is dead and Hollywood star Robert Solomon is charged with the brutal murder of his beautiful wife.
This is the celebrity murder trial of the century and the defence want one man on their team: con artist turned lawyer Eddie Flynn.
All the evidence points to Robert’s guilt, but as the trial begins a series of sinister incidents in the court room start to raise doubts in Eddie’s mind.
What if there’s more than one actor in the courtroom?
What if the killer isn’t on trial? What if the killer is on the jury?
I read this book back in 2018 so my review isn’t as detailed as it would be if I read it recently, what I remember is that this book started off really slow. Once you push through the first half the rest of the book is extremely intense and definitely makes up for the slow start.
The Other You by J.S Monroe
Is he who you think he is?
Kate used to be good at recognising people. So good, she worked for the police, identifying criminals in crowds of thousands. But six months ago, a devastating car accident led to a brain injury. Now the woman who never forgot a face can barely recognise herself in the mirror.
At least she has Rob. Kate met him just after her accident, and he nursed her back to health in his high-tech modernist house on the Cornish coast. When she’s with him, the nightmares of the accident fade, and she feels safe and loved.
Until, one day, she looks at Rob anew – and knows, with absolute certainty, that he has been replaced by an impostor. Is she right? Have her old recognition skills returned? Or is it all in her damaged mind?
If you missed my review raving about this book being my first 5 star read of the year then I will link it below. The Other You honestly became so much more than I expected it to, I was worried that I would receive whiplash from all the twists and shocking moments.
The Teleporter by Lee Hall
Just when you thought there were enough super hero stories in this world, we made another one…
Kurt Wiseman is your average mid-twenties slouch with a serial thirst for alcohol, that is until destiny calls upon him to stumble where no man has clumsily stumbled before. By day he works for a familiar sounding, power hungry, media controlling, mega rich American businessman who represents everything wrong with society today.Whilst investigating this politically loaded story arc Kurt accidentally acquires a super power like no other. The ability to teleport!
Before he can think about saving the day, Wiseman must endure a journey of self-reflection by earning the trust of his friends and overcoming his greatest weakness, booze. Even if the path is filled with comic book cliché, inappropriate one liners and genre busting fourth wall action.
Not all heroes in this world are the same and with great power comes the possibility to go viral!
This is a story that will unite humanity… Kurt Wiseman is the Teleporter
The Teleporter wins the award for the book that made me laugh and smile the most in 2019!
This book is so far out of my comfort zone yet I’m really happy that I read it, it’s definitely not your usual superhero book. You may know that I have been slowly making my way through Lee Hall’s books in the past year and I will be continuing in 2020.
What books exceeded your expectations?
See you in the next one…
Feed The Crime 
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