The Colour of Death by Michael Cordy

I was sent this book as I'm part of the Transworld book group (see here for details)

When I was selecting the books I would read as part of this group I decided to pick a favourite author, 1 from each of my favourite genres and the last would be something new to me but which appealed in some way and this is that book.

In a residential neighbourhood of Portland, Oregon, an unknown young woman uncovers a shocking crime scene by inexplicably sensing the evil within its walls. To the police, she is a mystery. She can’t even tell them her own name. They christen her Jane Doe.

Suffering terrifying hallucinations, Jane is assigned to Nathan Fox, a forensic psychiatrist struggling with his own demons. Together they must piece together the jigsaw that is Jane’s identity.

Then a sequence of brutal killings terrorizes the city and Fox learns Jane is the only cryptic link between the unrelated victims. To solve the murders, Fox must discard his black and white preconceptions, look beyond the spectrum of normal human experience and confront the dark truth of her past…and his own.

Having read this book I found a lot of similarities in the plotlines between this and another book I have reviewed this year, Ultraviolet. They both deal with a young woman suffering from memory loss and synaesthesia who has been admitted to a mental health facility (People who have synaesthesia sense things in a different way to the rest of us, words can have a taste or smell, letters and numbers can have different colours even when all written with the same pen) but from this similar starting point the two books vary greatly.

The heroine, Jane Doe presents with not just one form but ALL forms of synaesthesia and even one that has not previously been documented. As we travel with Jane in her journey of discovery it's easy to understand just how terrifying the world around us could be should we suddenly loose our self in the way she has. We see Fox struggle to deal with his own personal demons which re-surface from this case as well as his inability to let anyone close to him again while also trying to keep what little family he has left safe. And then on top of all this is the horrific fact that there is a killer in the city who seems to be fixated on Jane.

I really don't want to give anything away from this book at all, I found it to be an amazing story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story moved along at a good pace, there were lots of details to make it easy to follow along from scene to scene and to understand the characters and their motivations. The writing flows so well that I am going to look at getting some more books by this author very soon.

Angel Delight Vanilla Flavoured Ice Cream Mix

Yesterday I had some good post, I received a free sample of Angel Delight Vanilla Flavoured Ice Cream Mix and just had to make it up!

It's simple to make, as all Angel Delight products are, just 150ml of milk and a lot of whisking! It's very easy to tell when it's been mixed just right as it not only doubles in volume but it goes really thick and the whisk leaves tracers behind as you move it around the bowl!

I decided to add a little flavour to ours and drizzled on a small amount of Chocolate syrup and gently folded it through the mix. I then left it in a tub in the freezer for 4 hours.

After dinner tonight we tried some and it's very nice, thick and creamy and just what you'd expect ice cream to taste like, the only flaw to it was I felt it was a bit too sweet for my tastes but Dave enjoyed it, it is one thing we do have different tastes on, he loves really sweet things but I'm not too keen :-)

Blistex - Raspberry Lemonade Blast

A little over a week ago I was made aware that the Blistex UK Facebook page were offering samples out to their followers. I quickly made my way over to their page and applied for one as I know just how good their products are being a user of their daily lip conditioner already.

This morning my postman brought my freebie and I just had to try it out right away.

It's not until you remove the cap that you notice the aroma and it lives up to it's name, it smells just like raspberries and lemonade (not the mass produced stuff that probably hasn't ever seen a lemon but the real lemonade that has that tongue tingling sensation to it, like cloudy lemonade!)

It glides on well and doesn't feel at all thick/heavy/greasy like some lip balm sticks can, in fact, I can hardly feel it on but I can taste it and yet again it lives up to it's name in full, a berry flavour with a citrussy edge to it, it's very pleasant almost like raspberry sherbet and I'm enjoying licking my lips very much today.

Actually that could be a down side, my lip problems stem from me licking/sucking on my lips and making them dry, adding this could make me worse as it tastes so good. Never mind, I'll just add more each time I've licked it off!lol

EDIT:

So I wrote this review out this afternoon and I just wanted to add that this lip balm is actually very long wearing. I last applied it about 4 hours ago, in that time I've been kissed (Dave came home!lol) had a few cups of coffee and eaten dinner and yet I can still taste it on my lips and they feel soft and smooth. This will be getting re-purchased especially with winter round the corner ..... well, with the summer we've had it cant be far off!