Recommended Books

Cherub series by Robert Muchamore. Think you read a couple of these already. Starts with The Recruit, there's ten in the main series so far (plus a little world book day one) and he's just pubished a new series which is linked to it. Not read any of them yet, but I'm going to the Trafford Centre on Saturday and he's gonna be there so I'll get a signed copy of it, yay!

633 Squadron by Frederick E Smith. Really realistic books set in the Second World War about a squadron of pilots who get set really hard missions to do. Bit hard to get hold of them, but it's worth trying to find them because the characters are incredibly realistic, as are the details of the missions, but I have to admit, I like them for the characters even more than for the action.

Seven Ancient Wonders by Mathew Reilly. Pure action, I love this book. Moves really fast, got some clever bits in. Kind of Indianna Jones brought up to date with lots of traps and stuff and an ace main character who kind of inspired some of my own writing.

Without Remorse by Tom Clancy. This is absolutely top. It comes part way through his main series, but it's about one of the secondary characters, set before the rest of the books. It's pretty long, but it's well worth reading, and I loved it. It's about an ex-SEAL who's new girlfriend gets murdered by drug dealers and he decides to make them pay. At the same time, the government wants him to supervise a totally different mission...

Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn. I love Mitch Rapp! He's an ace character! He's a CIA assassin, and when the White House gets taken over by terrorists, it's down to him to make everyone realise that trading off hostages with the terrorists is not the greatest thing to do. Lots of action and great characters.

The Maximum Ride Trilogy by James Patterson. I refuse to acknowledge the fourth book as part of the series because it's pretty rubbish. The first three, starting with The Angel Experiment, on the other hand, are absolutely amazing! Winged children, created by evil scientists, pursued by Erasers. Might sound a bit iffy, but they're absolutely incredible. The first three at any rate. As far as I'm concerned, the fourth isn't a part of it.

A Prayer for the Dying by Jack Higgins. I think this would have to be my favourite book if I was absolutely forced to pick one. It's about an ex-IRA terrorist who finds a conscience. He has to get away and so he's forced to take one last job to kill a man so he can have a passport and some money to get away. But a priest witnesses the murder and the terrorist refuses to kill him. He gets involved with the priest and a blind girl living with him and it's all about that. Absolutely fantastic.

Sean Dillon series by Jack Higgins (first one's Eye of the Storm, but I prefer Thunder Point/ On Dangerous Ground as a starting point). Also about an ex-terrorist (though not in Eye of the Storm) who gets pulled in to work for the British government. Great characters. Sean Dillon inspired my character Ash who is one of my all time favourites that I've created.

Bravo Two Zero by Andy MacNab. It's non fiction, autobiographical I guess, but it's worth reading for its value as a story. Especially because you know it's true. It's the story of the SAS patrol Bravo Two Zero, and their work behind the lines and capture. Really well written and really really interesting.

Redwall series by Brian Jacques. I love these books. Maybe they're not aimed at older teenagers, but I started reading them in Year 5/6 and I love them. Doesn't really matter what order you read them in. His other series, The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, is pretty awesome too, recommend them. He writes really good descriptive detail and sword fights. I guess that's what inspired the sword fights that are a pretty big part of my stories.

Nutmeg Angel by me, cos I'm self-publishing it and it's gonna come out probably early next month on Amazon. About angels and demons and all sorts of exciting things.

Jimmy Coates series by Joe Craig. Again, aimed at a slightly younger audience, but still well worth reading. The first one is Killer. About a teenage boy who discovers he's not really a human...

Kissing the Rain by Kevin Brooks. Quite dark and a little scary, about a teenage boy who nobody really likes who witnesses a murder. He knows it didn't happen how the police say it did. But he finds himself getting dragged into a world he didn't want anything to do with. It's a while since I've read it, but it really stuck with me and it has a very interesting ending.