The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh (Matthew Connor Adventure series, #2) - Carolyn Arnold

Synopsis:

In Egypt’s Western Desert lies the tomb of an unnamed pharaoh that hides a secret so powerful, it could destroy the world as we know it.

Archaeologist and adventurer Matthew Connor has made a career of finding legends the world has all but forgotten. Though there’s one in particular that has fascinated him for years—the Emerald Tablets. Myth says that they possess the knowledge of the universe, allowing humankind to traverse Heaven and Earth, and have the power to bestow wealth and wisdom upon whoever possesses them. But if they fall into evil hands, it could cause a global disaster.

So when a former colleague stumbles across an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic map that promises to lead to a pharaoh’s tomb and the Emerald Tablets, there’s no way he’s turning down her invitation to join the dig. He only has one stipulation: his best friends Robyn Garcia and Cal Myers come with him.

The road ahead isn’t going to be an easy one, and their shared dream of recovering the Emerald Tablets is being crushed at every turn. And just when they think it’s all over, they learn there are a few clues they have overlooked. But they’re no longer the only ones searching for the Tablets. Now, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, and soon they’ll find out that when it comes to hunting legends, they can’t trust anyone.

Review:

The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh is the second in the Matthew Connor series of books by author Carolyn Arnold. Matthew, a renown archaeologist, is contacted by an old friend who is currently working on a dig in Egypt. Having possibly discovered the tomb of a nameless pharaoh, this friend called Alex seeks Matthew’s expertise to join her in what may end up being the discovery of the fabled Emerald Tablets. Not willing to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime that would solidify his reputation, Matthew invites his best friends to tag along for the adventure. With the exploration full of mishaps and mystery and amongst whispers about “curses”, Matthew begins to wonder if the name he's made for himself is worth the damage that could be the result if the tablets fell into the wrong hands.

When I was first contacted to read and review The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh, I was immediately intrigued. Ancient Egypt has always been a fascination of mine, I loved Ancient Egypt when we often spoke of it in History classes as i grew up, and  wont lie, who doesn't love the mummy films from back in 1999 with Brendan Fraser. So I jumped at the opportunity to give it a read and give an honest review. The detail in which the dig site, underground catacombs, burial chamber and subsequent riches were described made me feel as if I were standing next to Matthew and Cal as part of the team, Carolyn has a way of doing that so it was so easy to sit back in a chair and sink into the story.

Like other time before now, I was a little concerned with this being the second book in the series that there would be gaps in the story or the characters because I had not yet read City of Gold and maybe I'd end up confused and lost. I shouldn't have even worried because although it's the second adventure, Carolyn crafted the narrative to focus on the present adventure, although we do hear about the team’s previous adventures/activities together as they are mentioned in the context of the story, but they are served with just the right amount of filler (which did make me want to read the previous book so badly.) There was never a moment I was lost or confused due to the referencing of previous encounters between the characters. 

If you like action-packed adventure books that’s that will keep you reading well into the early hours or in my case, right through them, I have no issue in recommending The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh to you. After this introduction to the Matthew Connor series, I am seriously considering picking up a copy of City of Gold, as well as any future books in the series. This is my 3rd time reading work by Carolyn and by the looks of it, its definitely wont be the last.

Its an easy 5/5 from me, maybe even higher if my scale went that high.

Radar Road: The Best of On Impulse - Nath Jones

Synopsis:

Radar Road: the Best of On Impulse highlights an exploration of twenty-first century narrative. In four collections that move from raw to refined, the On Impulse series invites the reader to contemplate how we use language now: online, in full-length books, and with each other. Morgan Kiger arranged this fifth collection to stand on its own while showcasing the series's original trajectory from catharsis to craft.

Review:

Nath Jones dissects human life through her work, showing us it all in his guts and glory. As a result we see many of the stories lying parallel with real human lives both witnessed and imagined.

In this collection we play witness to the beauty of ageing lovers, the magic of a child’s perspective, the blight of sudden change and the uncommon kindness of neighbourhood and community. Although there are so many people through this book there is a common thing shared by all the women, they are at first seen as the soft, couldn't hurt a fly type, harmless and innocent but they go to show their true hardness bought on by resilience and strength.

Through  the writing in all of these short stories which vary in length and mood, Nath allows us as a reader to look at lives intimately through a window which makes the read even more entertaining. Each person felt incredibly real to me, their experiences taking their toll on me as i read on and on.  I felt a few rang familiar to me, emotions i knew of, experiences that rang all too clearly in my head which only made me love Nath' writing more as everything was so accurately represented.

Some of the stories have some great lines and smart twists that come that kind of made me sit back going 'oh damn' for a solid six minutes... Having read this collection, I really want to read more of Nath' work because I'm so in love and intrigued with what other things Nath can make me feel and experience through her work.

 Without a doubt this book, collection of short stories and a few poem like entries deserves a 5/5. Its down to the relatability of all that was within and even then there is no reason to take the rating any lower.

Wrecking Ball: A Big Lad From a Small Island - Billy Vunipola

Synopsis:

Wrecking Ball is a captivating and humorous memoir by Billy Vunipola, one of the stars of England's recent rugby renaissance, and will be enjoyed by those who have read the recent autobiographies by Jonny Wilkinson, Brian O'Driscoll, Dan Carter and Paul O'Connell.

Standing at 6 feet 2 inches and weighing almost 20 stone, Billy is a rampaging and unmissable presence on the rugby pitch, for both club and country.

Wrecking Ball is his captivating story so far, chronicling his remarkable personal odyssey of 10,000 miles, from the tiny Tongan village of Longo Longo to the imposing vastness of Twickenham.

Join Billy on his journey from the year-round sunshine of Tonga to the bitter cold of a British winter, from his favourite Pontypool kebab shop to finding himself eating broccoli for breakfast, and from carefree childhood games in the middle of the Pacific to the serious business of playing professional rugby in Europe.

Wrecking Ball is a wonderfully eccentric and witty book, written with bags of charm. It captures Billy's colourful family and upbringing, and creates a rounded and fascinating portrait of a young man finding his feet as a modern English rugby player.

Review:

I'm going to have to try and contain myself as I write this review, as some people may know I'm a huge fan of the England Rugby team and well Billy Vunipola is one of the members of the team so when I saw he had a book out about his life and his story so far I just had to grab a copy and ahhhh!!! Okay so I've wanted to read the autobiographies of Jonny Wilkinson, Brian O'Driscoll, Dan Carter and Paul O'Connell whom are some kick ass players but I never actually got my hands on any copies even though I'd see the covers everywhere but I couldn't not pick up Billy's book and I'm sure ill go an pick up copies of the other autobiographies some time.

So Billy plays number 8 for England and Saracens and if you saw him and his older brother Mako you'd probably have a pre judgement on them by their sheer size Billy is past 6ft tall and nearly 20 stone so already with that information you're probably sizing him up and backing away from the guy, but honestly although he makes big hits and can probably make severe dents in opposing teams defence he's actually a great guy.

This book about his upbringing from the moment his father set foot on English soil all the way to the 2017 British and Irish Lions Tour of which he had to miss due to injury, we watch as Billy grows up facing many challenges and a huge amount of running!
Before I even went into this autobiography I knew a few things about Billy, like he was born in Sydney and as he grew up could have played for either Australia, Wales or England professionally, I knew of some injuries he had sustained through his career and how some other very well known rugby players had grown up with him (which is always such a great thing to see) but this book kind of opened the doors wider, it showed us the Tongan culture and way of life that Billy and Mako grew up in as well as all the other issues like his first real fight, his debut at Wasps and more things alike.

Throughout reading this, I've laughed and cried with Billy, realising so many things about such a great player that I didn't know before, feeling every emotion he must have experience through each of his experiences as a kid. I've never really felt so attached to someone in such a way that I now do with billy because although I don't personally know the man nor have I met him, this book he wrote for fans and other alike really allowed us to see that even though he is a professional rugby player who is in the public eye a lot, he is still human who has had to fight to get to where he is and has struggled but fought tooth and nail for all he has.

Its an emotional read but intriguing and very eye opening, I loved getting to know more about Billy and his upbringing as well as his family and the culture of which he grew up in before coming to England. I can give this read and easy 5/5 without question and recommend it to any fans of Rugby to any degree. Now I'm off to binge buy every other rugby player autobiography I can and then binge read and fangirl for days.