I love the historical crime novels of Steven Saylor. Gordianus the Finder is a wonderfully wraught character, Saylor spins expert webs of mystery in his stories and the history of the pieces is nothing short of excellent. As far as I can tell. They're wonderfully snug vibrant, lusty, curious, alive novels and I always look forward to a new one appearing. The Seven Wonders is a prequel to the other novels; it takes place when Gordianus is a mere 18 years old and travels around the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World with his tutor Antipater of Sidon. As we get to know the wonders as they stood at that time Gordianus also solves a new mystery at each one. But perhaps there's a great one tying them all together....?

The most eagerly awaited UK novel of 2012. I liked it, Mr Cleave's characters come off as very believable and though I've never followed athletic cycling (which is the setting of the novel although it's not what it's about...) I really enjoyed this. There are bits when I feel ever-so-slightly emotionally manipulated, but the topics touched upon ARE heart-wrenching so perhaps it's not so suprising. The writing is often pitch-perfect and the roller-coasters of feeling we're subjected to are fascinating and, yes , gripping. 

Don Winslow writes a cool stream. This is a prequel to the fantastic novel Savages (which has just been filmed by Oliver Stone) and lets us in on how the mirthsome threesome became who they were and who the preceeding generation was made up of. It also contains nods to several other Winslow novels which those in the know will find great fun. A cool read, but read Savages first.