Set in southern Louisiana, the blurb for this book seemed to suggest a tale resembling something penned by James Lee Burke. And to an extent that’s exSet in southern Louisiana, the blurb for this book seemed to suggest a tale resembling something penned by James Lee Burke. And to an extent that’s exactly what it delivers. There are huge differences, of course: JLB’s tales are soaked in the lore of the place and the author’s love for it, but they’re also often abstruse, the narrative hard to follow; Moorhead’s novel provides some of the same atmosphere and sense of place, and yet despite it being a complex tale of historical misdeeds and present day angst, at heart it’s a more straightforward story.
Dr. Willamena (Willa) Pearl Watters is a child psychologist. She’s currently tortured by a disastrous television appearance, in which she became confused and, as a result, somewhat lost the plot. There’s also something in her past that she feels compelled to investigate and resolve. This combination lures her back to the small town in which she was raised, to a house owned by two, now deceased, aunts. There’s something there that is hidden and is demanding to be discovered. She is planning for it to be a short visit, and she’ll use this time to escape her present problems and emerse herself in the past.
We learn that she grew up with a bipolar mother and a younger sister she doted on. She’d spent a good deal of time at her aunts’ house – it was often an escape from the bad times at home, times when her mother was tough to be around. But the escape she was seeking quickly turns into a tortuous series of encounters with people from her past. Many seem to be aware of her televised disassembly, and it feels like she’s being taunted by them. There’s also an encounter with an ex-boyfriend, now a cop, and his spooky brothers. Very quickly, Willa realises she can’t wait to shut herself away in the house, to drink a bottle of cheap wine and decompress.
There’s also a second thread to this tale. The town has been invaded by the press and television media, as a result of a school teacher who’s gone missing and also a barrel that’s been discovered in the bayou. Human remains were discovered inside the barrel. Soon, more barrels are discovered, courtesy of a drought that’s affecting this area and is reducing the water level, causing the bayou to expose its secrets.
There are some wonderfully descriptive passages in this novel, as Willa wrestles with the challenges she currently faces and is plagued by elements of her early life, frankly things she’d rather completely block out of her mind. And yet there’s a sense that just too many issues are piling up for her personally, and with a bunch of others impacting this small town, all at the same time. It’s busy, very busy. I really think it could have all been paired back a little. A case of less would have been more.
It’s probably unfair to compare this novel to Burke’s work. JLB has been at it for many years, for time immemorial, it seems. This is Moorhead’s first novel. It’s a decent story, and it’s well told, too. Perhaps she’s stacked too much on the plate, but there really is an awful lot to enjoy here. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for her next offering.
My thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
The opening scene is tense and attention grabbing. School teacher Richard Boyle spots an ex-student approaching the school in a manner that strongly sThe opening scene is tense and attention grabbing. School teacher Richard Boyle spots an ex-student approaching the school in a manner that strongly suggests he intends to do harm. He’s got to act quickly and decisively, or this could end catastrophically. A scene plays out that is both dramatic and sad, and which throws suspicion on at least one member of the school staff for historic deeds, which most likely prompted this act.
In the aftermath of this event, Richard returns to the school to what might be described as a mixed reception. In the background, one teacher in particular seems to be plotting against him. But then Richard is faced by a second major challenge as he is confronted – out of school – by a former student who accuses him of historic misdeeds. This scenario, too, has potential for things to end disastrously for both him and his family.
A group of bad actors involved in drug dealing and Richard’s sister-in-law, a cop, are now added to the pot. What follows is a complex series of events, in which Richard makes a series of poor decisions. In addition, to make the story work and to keep the reader guessing, the author asks us to accept quite a number of unlikely co-incidences and swallow a series of misdirections. In truth, I found this all to be pretty unconvincing and highly contrived. Added to this, I was pretty sure from very early on that I knew who would turn out to be the mysterious baddy lurking in the background (I was proven to be right).
So, for me, this was a story that started brightly but then deteriorated into an elaborately conceived but improbable jumble that really made little sense. It just didn’t feel real. On the upside, the audio version I listened to was very well narrated, and the pace of the story, as well as a constant sense of threat and urgency, was well maintained throughout. On this basis it’s a three star rating from me (which might just be a little on the generous side).
My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio for providing a copy of this audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
It starts with Penelope Coyne (an elderly ‘Miss Marple’ figure) becoming aware of a murder in her small Scottish village. A man has been strangled in It starts with Penelope Coyne (an elderly ‘Miss Marple’ figure) becoming aware of a murder in her small Scottish village. A man has been strangled in the church confessional booth. Having already solved a number of murders in this quiet place - a rather odd claim in itself – she’s determined to somehow involve herself in the investigation.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Jonny Hawke is nursing a headache. He’s woken up in a room he doesn’t recognise, next to a woman he’s struggling to identify. Jonny is a police lieutenant who, we will learn, has a habit of getting his partners killed. His maverick ways have delivered results, but at a hefty price. He’s soon picked up by his latest partner and is off to visit the scene of what appears to be the suicide of a male writer. There seems little doubt that the man took his own life, but his boss want’s the i’s to be fully dotted on this one.
These two threads – an old school murder mystery and a contemporary hardboiled detective tale – are rather odd bedfellows, and yet they are to be merged into a broader story that’s distinctly different to anything I’ve come across before. It’s a book that really demands that you don’t know too much before launching yourself into it, so I’ll pretty much halt my description of the plot there.
I’m an admirer of Brookmyre’s writing; his stories are usually well constructed and include a mix of wry humour, social comments, and plotlines/themes that often surprise and delight. His standalone novels, in particular, are written in a way that had you not known they were from the same pen, you’d swear they were born from a different hand. He’s stylistically brave and adventurous, and this might just be his most outlandish experiment to date.
My own opinion of this one is that it’s a mix of highs and lows. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the storyline, and I particularly loved the chemistry that developed between the two leading characters. On the downside, I found it challenging to follow the complex unfolding of the tale, with its large cast. In addition, the final denouement felt rather convoluted and also somewhat unsatisfying. As a result, I’m finding it a hard book to rate. It’s probably something just north of three stars for me, but I’m going to round up rather than down simply because of the story’s originality and also because of my admiration for the mind that conceived it.
My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK, for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Francesca Meadows is readying herself and also hustling her team of helpers in anticipation of a celebration feast to mark the opening of her luxury hFrancesca Meadows is readying herself and also hustling her team of helpers in anticipation of a celebration feast to mark the opening of her luxury hotel. She’d inherited the Manor from her grandparents and has subsequently invested a good deal of time (and money) transforming this familial coastal estate into a retreat for those with deep pockets. The guests are now in place, amongst them the mysterious Bella, someone who seems to have something of a history with this place, and with Francesca.
We’ll learn how events play out through the eyes of Francesca and Bella, but also through Francesca’s husband, Owen, and a local kitchen helper called Eddie. To some extent it’s hard to like any of the major protagonists, with the possible exception of Eddie: their behaviours are almost always self-serving and very often inappropriate. But the story is told with its tongue often firmly in its cheek, so I’m inclined to forgive it this characteristic. It’s at once wryly amusing, somewhat shocking and intriguingly mysterious.
Some of the locals are not happy that Francesca has sealed off access to areas they’ve always treated as communal, including a stretch of beach. They’re not going to take this lying down, so some disruption to the evening’s proceedings is possible. As we near what promises to be the highlight of the weekend, we also learn more of the history of this place, and some of these people, through a series of diary entries, written by a teenage girl who spent some time here whilst on holiday quite a few years back.
Foley draws these threads together skillfully and eventually leads us to a truly dramatic finish. This is a psychological thriller that pits a selfish need for social status against a desire to right historical wrongs. It’s really very well done. I listened to an audio version, brilliantly narrated by a team of actors.
My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio for providing a copy of this audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Elvis Henderson receives the call while mindlessly driving his Ford Transit van through Texas, close to tReview first posted on mysteryandsuspense.com
Elvis Henderson receives the call while mindlessly driving his Ford Transit van through Texas, close to the Mexican border. He’s instructed to drive to the place he least wants to go: Quartz County, Northern Alabama. Elvis has history there, and it’s not good history. He left this place twenty-eight years ago and swore he’d never go back.
But he’s a restless lawyer who has stepped away from prestigious law firms to practice ‘small law,’ defending whoever his mysterious boss instructs him to. This time, it’s a woman charged with capital murder and facing a potential death penalty. The trial starts in just four and a half weeks, so time is very tight. But that doesn’t stop Elvis from being distracted by a billboard advertising a cabaret featuring fully nude women—there’s always time for that! Yes, Elvis is an interesting character: a man with a mysterious past, a driven professional passionate about his work, but also someone who enjoys some of the seedier aspects of life. The woman he’s been instructed to defend is Destiny Grace Harper, accused of murdering her twin babies. More accurately, her crime seems to be letting her unborn fetuses, who suffered from a rare condition called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (commonly referred to as TTTS), die as a result of denying them specialized laser surgery that might have saved them.
Destiny Grace had been a member of the Church of the Lord’s Rapture, run by an evangelical preacher named Jeremiah Tipple and his family. The church doesn’t allow parishioners to seek help from the medical profession. Their view is that prayers heal while doctors interfere. It’s quickly established that refusal of medical treatment on religious grounds will not be an effective defense; recent case law makes this quite clear. It’s hard to see how Elvis and the small team supporting him will be able to defend Destiny Grace. Everything seems stacked against them, including an idiosyncratic and mistake-prone judge, who seems hell-bent on supporting every wish of the prosecuting team while denying every request Elvis puts forward.
There’s a lot to take in here: a substantial cast of characters, a good deal of legal debate and argument, a plethora of Biblical quotes, and a backstory that explains why Elvis was so reluctant to return to this place. It takes a bit of concentration and patience, but past the halfway point, it really does develop into an attention-grabbing tale. Elvis is a compelling character, and he’s certainly the star attraction here. But there’s no end of colorful characters to enjoy and a compelling narrative that kept me on edge as we crept towards the story’s nail-biting climax.
The core argument here poses a really interesting conundrum, and it’s explored in an intelligent and comprehensively satisfying way. That alone should be enough to grab the interest of readers who enjoy a good legal thriller. But, augmented by the additional elements supplied here, what you have is not only a strong stand-alone story but one which, I hope, might prompt further adventures featuring Elvis and his crew. I, for one, would be happy to bump into this engaging legal practitioner at least one more time.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
The story begins with Josie Dixon, a polyamorous teacher, meeting a man at a conference at Shepaug UniReview first published on mysteryandsuspense.com
The story begins with Josie Dixon, a polyamorous teacher, meeting a man at a conference at Shepaug University in Connecticut. They get to talking, and that night they share a bed. Then tragedy strikes. It’s our first indication that a predator may be at large.
Martha Ratcliff is an archival librarian, used to living alone but open to a relationship if the right man comes along. When she meets Alan Peralta, a traveling salesman, it seems that he might suit her. He’s kind, and she quickly grows to like him a great deal; she doesn’t love him, but perhaps that’ll come in time. An additional point of merit is that Alan is away a good deal of the time, selling his T-shirts, ties, and badges (most decorated with an appropriately succinct but amusing phrase). Martha will therefore still have her alone time, something she values. Yes, this’ll work well, she decides. They marry and settle into a comfortable routine.
But one night, she happens to be looking out of her bedroom window when he returns from one of his trips. She watches as he steps out of the car and visibly – she thinks – prepares himself to enter the house. What is it that she senses in that moment? It’s hard to describe, and yet it somehow sets her on edge. Then, following a subsequent trip, Martha finds a stain on his shirt, which had been put out for washing. Is that a bloodstain? It’s hard to be sure, but with this discovery adding to her existing unease, she starts to wonder whether Alan is quite the man she believed him to be. These suspicions cause Martha to undertake some research, looking for reports of any incident that might have been reported at, or close to, the venue Alan last attended. Disturbingly, she finds something. This spurs her on to carry out additional searches, looking for similar reports close to other venues he’d recently attended. Shockingly, there seems to be a spate of fatal incidents involving women. She’s not ready to challenge Alan yet or to report her concerns to the police – she doesn’t want to end her marriage because of a vague feeling and, perhaps, a series of coincidences. She does, however, concoct a plan.
Lily Kintner had been a friend of hers at college, where she’d helped Martha escape from the grasp of a controlling partner. Though she hasn’t spoken to her in some years, she contacts Lily with a view to enlisting her help. Lily is living with aged parents and is somewhat bored. Soon, she’s agreed to assist her friend in covertly investigating what Alan gets up to when he’s away on business. In fact, Lily is a wonderfully complex character: she’s intelligent, determined, and also something of a sociopath. Lily also engages a friend of hers, Henry Kimball, a private investigator and former police officer, to assist her.
The book is broken into three sections and is constructed in such a way that we are to view events through different eyes in each section. This works extremely well. Not only is the perspective changed, but the mood is significantly altered too. It almost feels like three separate stories, each linked by a series of common events. The tension, too, ramps up as it becomes clear that what we’ve learned so far certainly doesn’t represent the whole picture. It’s a book that at first interested me but then gradually dragged me deeper into its thrall. By the end, I was reluctant to part company with the story at all, such was the power it had gained over me. I now know that this is the third book the author has penned featuring Kintner and Kimball – I plan to seek out the others very soon.
My thanks to William Morrow for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
Book thirty three, in a series I feel I’ve been reading forever. The first book, featuring Venice based senior policeman Guido Brunetti, was publishedBook thirty three, in a series I feel I’ve been reading forever. The first book, featuring Venice based senior policeman Guido Brunetti, was published more than thirty years ago. The stories are as much about Venice and it’s unique culture as they are about a crime that challenges Guido in each episode. In actual fact, it’s sometimes rather difficult to spot the crime. In the course of this series, readers will have gotten to know Brunetti’s family and his colleagues pretty well; here, the focus falls significantly on Guido’s fellow Commissario, Claudia Griffoni.
So-called baby gangs, groups of youths in their early teens, have been clashing in the city. In effect, rival gangs have been communicating online with a view to meeting for a mass punch-up. Nobody has gotten seriously injured – yet – but it’s tying up police resources and drawing criticism from many sources. Then, one night after the arrest of a group of youths, Claudia offers to escort the last remaining boy home, the others having already been collected from the questura (police station) by their parents. Though this task is completed without drama, it is to draw retrospective criticism and pose a degree of threat for Griffoni.
Another of Brunetti’s colleagues is also having his problems: Enzo Bocchese, the quiet, almost reclusive, head technician at the questura. It seems he’s being bullied, a young man who lives in an apartment in the same building as the technician. There are a number of other issues occupying Guido’s mind, too, but none of any real consequence. This gives him plenty of time to slip home early for a meal with his wife and family or to simply put his feet up and read. There’s always time to stop for a coffee, too. Well, it’d be rude not to. Then, after a meal at his father-in-law’s palazzo, he’s able to stroll through the city with his wife and admire the beauty and tranquillity of this glorious place they call home.
The various threads here, some of which initially seem relatively benign, do eventually come together in what is actually an explosive ending. As always with this series, I was sad to finish my latest visit to this city, and bring to my visit to what I would now call my friends to an end. I miss these people and this place for eleven months each year, but I look forward to being reunited with them again – hopefully next year.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
The first chapter is great. Addison McKellar, a feisty, rich married woman, goes looking for her husband, Dean. He’s done a disappearing act. Again. TThe first chapter is great. Addison McKellar, a feisty, rich married woman, goes looking for her husband, Dean. He’s done a disappearing act. Again. The last time he did this, he returned full of remorse, and with promises that it wouldn’t happen again. But this time is different. He’s been gone a week with no contact at all, and Addison is now on the war path. Having gotten very little help from her husband’s secretary, she visits his office, and this is where her whole life with Dean is exposed to be a huge lie.
From this point on we’re to meet quite a cast of characters, most of them wacky and extreme, but all of them are interesting. Best of all, we are introduced to a private investigator called Porter Hayes, a man in his late 60s. He’s the sort of guy you’d expect the character John Shaft (from the novel Shaft by Ernest Tidyman, and played in the subsequent films by Richard Roundtree) to have matured into. He’s magnetic, and, for me, his aura dominates the rest of the book. The problem, though, is that the challenging multi-person point of view structure employed by Atkins rather detracted from my enjoyment of this otherwise intriguing tale.
There are quite a few characters here, in what Ian a somewhat complex story. Also, to accommodate the chosen structure, the timeframe is a little jumpy, which provides an additional challenge. There’s a good plot here, and the story is populated with intriguing characters. The dialogue is great, too, and often hilarious. But it’s all told in a way that I found testing. It felt like a four star story told in a two star way. So, overall it’s a three star offering for me.
My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Three stories, all set in the small town called Sam Dent in Essex County, northern New York State.
A man regrets the sale of a large plot of land to a Three stories, all set in the small town called Sam Dent in Essex County, northern New York State.
A man regrets the sale of a large plot of land to a man who has become increasingly irritating and unfriendly. The plot (over 300 acres) had been in his family’s hands for generations, and he’s always hunted there. He’d planned to teach his teenage son to hunt deer there, too, but now that’s under threat.
A family move into their new home to discover that their next-door neighbours are two white women and four black children. At first, contact is minimal, but then friendly overtures are forthcoming. But odd events start to cause concerns, and soon, events take a dramatic turn.
Two elderly grandparents are kidnapped from their home by two men. They claim that their grandson has something that they want returned to them. Some bad blood between the grandparents and their grandson’s mother are also in the mix. This could all end badly.
It took me a while to get into each of these stories, but slowly, each grew on me. My favourite is the first story, I just found that I could somehow most identify with the man at the centre of the tale. The writing is strong and highly impactful. There is violence here, these scenes being unvarnished and, to me, quite shocking.
I’ll look out more from this writer – this being my first experience of his work – but I’d urge all readers of this book to approach it with a little caution: there’s definitely a sting in every tale.
My thanks to Bedford Square Publishers for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
History records that in 1845, Captain Sir John Franklin led a British expedition to find the Northwest Passage through Canada. It turned out to be oneHistory records that in 1845, Captain Sir John Franklin led a British expedition to find the Northwest Passage through Canada. It turned out to be one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration. In all, 129 officers and crew members were lost – that is, everyone on board the two ships that sailed. One of the officers was Graham Gore, who in this story has been plucked from the ice (shortly before it’s presumed everyone starved to death) and transported to London. Set in the near future, a UK ministry has discovered a time travel door and has managed to bring a small group of people, from various years, back through it. Each was transferred shortly before the date they were believed to have been due to die, this being an attempt to minimise the likely impact of their removal.
Gore and the others are each supported by a ministry employee known as a Bridge. The job of the Bridge is to live with the time traveller, control and monitor their movements, and generally help them adjust to this new world they find themselves in. We will meet all of these characters, but the main emphasis here is on the relationship between Gore (a man in his mid-thirties) and his young female Bridge. In effect, this is a convoluted love story.
The time travel methodology is never really explored, the focus being on the people and how they adjust to this modern world, and also on the mystery surrounding the ministry itself: both its purpose and it’s rather overbearing senior personnel. In typical time travel novel style, quite a bit of coverage is given to the incongruities of modern life for these people who have all travelled from more primitive times. For me, this repetitive theme quickly became rather trite and uninteresting. Also, aside from the budding romance, very little else was actually happening. Then, it started to get very confusing. The narrative, initially slow and somewhat dull, suddenly becomes fast-moving and jumpy. My mind couldn’t follow the series of seemingly random happenings. It transpires that there is some logic here and even an interesting surprise, but it takes some time for things to become clear.
A time travel story provides an almost unlimited licence to introduce strange and sometimes wonderful twists. But in so doing, there is a need to engage the reader/listener and make them part of the journey. Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller's Wife is a confusing jumble saved by the most wonderful ending imaginable and Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is an imaginative exploration of a major event in American history – these stories are amongst my most memorable audiobook experiences. But despite being competently narrated, this novel just failed to engage me, nor did it deliver the level of excitement or eye watering surprises I was hoping for. In truth, I found it all a bit of a mess, and in the end, a disappointment.
My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton Audio for providing a copy of this audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I finished reading this book some days ago, and ever since I’ve been ruminating on what I think of it. To start with, it’s fair to say that JLB has loI finished reading this book some days ago, and ever since I’ve been ruminating on what I think of it. To start with, it’s fair to say that JLB has long been the writer who excites me and drags me into a story to a greater extent than any other. His descriptions of place and people are, I believe, peerless. His tales are about good versus evil, though even the good people in his books have significant flaws. The bad are as grim and malevolently violent as any I’ve come across in literature or film. It’s this clash, this sublime contest, that I’ve found totally compelling for thirty years or more. But in recent years, Burke has started to introduce paranormal elements increasingly, his characters having visions of events and of people that make no sense in everyday life. It’s this trend in his writing that gives me pause.
The author’s Dave Robicheaux novels are probably my favourites, set mainly in Southern Louisiana settings that Burke describes so brilliantly and with such personal loving. Robicheaux, a sometimes lawman, is usually accompanied by his best friend and ex-partner in the NOPD, Clete Purcell. Dave can sometimes lose it and snap into acts of extreme violence, but Clete takes this to another level: one minute, creating mayhem and the next cracking wise with a comment that has me laughing out loud. To date, these books have focused on events as seen through the eyes of Robicheaux, but this time it’s through Clete that we watch events unfold. To me, this was like looking at the world through tinted lenses: things look as they always did, but at the same time, they seem different. It was intriguing to see the world through the eyes of Purcell for the first time and to obtain insight into his inner thoughts on life and also on Dave.
The story itself takes us back quite a few years. At this point, Clete was a private investigator based in New Orleans, and Dave was a police officer working out of New Iberia. Clete has a bad experience shortly after having his car returned from a car wash owned by an old friend. He wakes in the night to find a bunch of men stripping down his lovingly restored Cadillac. A violent exchange ensues, with Clete winding up on the wrong end of a beating. It seems that the men were looking for a stash of super-charged Fentanyl that had been planted in Clete’s car by mistake. Dave is soon on the scene, and the pair attempt to track down those responsible with a view to dispensing their own form of justice.
So far, so good. But then Clete begins to receive visits from a historical figure from 15th century France, who seems intent on passing him messages. The meanings are often obscure, and it’s at this point that I started to struggle with a meandering narrative, which sometimes bordered on incomprehensible. Are these visions a result of the beating Clete took? It’s not clear. But as the story plays out it’s fair to say that the plotline doesn’t really function without these interventions. Such elements have occasionally surfaced in even Burke's early books, but they’re much more prevalent of late. I’m not sure why this is. It’s been suggested to me that it’s a result of Burke’s age (he’s 87 years old) and therefore facing what are most likely the last years of his life. This might be so, and perhaps I’ll understand this more as I steadily make my way to the same place.
As a piece of writing it’s first class, and the book is well worth reading to experience the superb way JLB is able to put sentences together in a way I think no other writer can. But as a story it’s flawed, difficult to follow, and fairly predictable in how it’s going to end. However, it’s Dave and Clete, and I’d happily open a new book every day to read another adventure featuring this pair.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances exiMen make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. (Karl Marx)
In other words, we all make many choices in our lives, but many things are already chosen for us. This might be down to where in the world we’re born, to which family, or a whole bunch of other elements, including inherited health conditions. It's is a theme that runs throughout this excellent novel, and yet it took me me quite a while to identify this.
It’s starts with Lily meeting Matthew. The former is a Chinese-American woman of very limited means, and the latter is most definitely a born and bred American, and not short of a bob or two. He quickly whisks her off to Paris, seemingly on the spur of the moment, and soon after they’re a couple. I thought this would be the beginning of the story but I was to learn that this was actually the mid-point, we’ll learn how the story truly begins, and then how it ends, later in the book.
There are, in fact, three generations covered here. Their stories are complex and interweaving. But because of the way it’s structured, it isn't initially clear where it's all heading. The story of Mai (Lily’s mother) is the most harrowing section, documenting the chilling regime imposed by Mao Zedong and the very limited options open to all but the party leaders and their families. The final section brings everything together and finally makes sense of the piece as a whole.
There’s a good deal of philosophising here, and lots of science, too. But the central theme is how luck, or fortune, plays such a key role in determining what sort of life it is we will be allowed to lead. Unless we are able to load the odds in our favour, that is. Is it possible that modern science has a card up its sleeve that will enable us to improve our odds? There is a science fiction element to this tale, but based (I presume) on what might one day be possible. It was always there in this story, in the background, but it wasn't intrusive, and I didn't spot it for the most part. It crept up on me, and actually not in a bad way. In truth, I was always more engaged in the people: their stories, what they desired, and what was driving them.
There are small things here that I could pick at, but really it’s a tale that had me gripped pretty much from the start. It’s superbly written and imaginatively created. I loved it and was really sad to finally finish this slow-moving but hugely thought-provoking tale.
My thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone, for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
In South Australia’s Outback, Quinn is making her way to her job at the only pub/hotel for miles and miles. However, she’s stopped in her tracks when In South Australia’s Outback, Quinn is making her way to her job at the only pub/hotel for miles and miles. However, she’s stopped in her tracks when she comes across a body, seemingly dumped by the side of the road. Meanwhile, her employers are preparing for what’s expected to be huge rainfall after what’s been a lengthy drought. Also, making their way towards the same area are a group of motorcyclists on their way to a funeral, and four young people are setting out to drive from Adelaide to Darwen on the Stuart Highway.
With the storm pending, tensions are running high. Quinn’s issue is obvious, but at the pub they’re desperately rushing around preparing for the impacts of the coming storm. The motorcyclists are a pushy, boozy crowd and appear to have at least one bad actor in their midst. The group of four are a squabbling, mismatched group, seemingly unable to agree on anything. Paths will eventually cross, and as a result, a number of these people will be put at risk.
The story is told from the point of view of various characters, which works pretty well in sustaining a degree of unpredictability throughout. The problem for me is that I didn’t find any of these people particularly engaging, and as a result, I didn't become truly invested in their fate. For the most part, I also found it pretty slow going, even if towards the end, a sense of suspense was eventually created. But then it suddenly ended - unexpectedly, abruptly. The remainder of the book is an over-elaborate walkthrough of the aftermath.
I listened to an audio version, narrated by actor Jodie Harris. For the most part, she does a good job, though I did find her portrayal of one character (a Dutchman) strangely irritating. It’s a book that will, I’m sure, find an audience that will appreciate the tale to a greater degree than I did. In truth, I found it to be rather disappointing, and certainly not on a par with books written by my favourite Aussie mystery and suspense writers, such as Chris Hammer and Jane Harper.
My thanks to Dreamscape Media for providing a copy of this audiobook via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
In an unusually constructed tale, we follow a period in the lives of two people, just married. We catch up with Richard and Evelyn while they’re honeyIn an unusually constructed tale, we follow a period in the lives of two people, just married. We catch up with Richard and Evelyn while they’re honeymooning on a small Greek island, close to the Turkish coast. They seem an ill-matched pair: he rather straight and somewhat pompous, and she sharp, self-deprecating, and funny. We’re to follow their already disintegrating relationship and their various other travails through a number of documents, starting with a long (very long!) letter written by Evelyn and addressed to her husband. In future we’ll be presented with more letters as well as entries in a hotel’s guest book and even a transcript of a recorded conversation.
The honeymoon is already a strange affair as they’re joined for the first part by Richard’s best friend and his current girlfriend. For the second half of their stay, the married couple will transfer to what’s billed as more upmarket accommodation, booked and paid for by Richard’s mother. Their initial accommodation is rough and ready, and it’s clearly the end of the season. Everything is closing down. Nonetheless, everything seems relatively calm – until the pair transfer to their new accommodation, that is. Evelyn quickly becomes suspicious of the attractive girl who greets them and seems to be in charge here. Richard, on the other hand, is clearly taken with her. There are a few other people hanging around the place, but there are no other guests at this stage.
A mystery will begin to surface, something that’s been in the background but not yet openly talked about. It’s clearly a cause of some tension between the newlyweds. But here, the structure of the story started to bug me somewhat. The length of the first letter was irrationally long, and then I started to spot sentences that were unfinished in the documents presented. It irritated me as I assumed I’d downloaded a damaged version of the book to my Kindle. I even downloaded it a second time to check if it was a problem in the transfer – no, they were both the same. I carried on, but a series of similar issues cropped up, nearly always at the most inconvenient points. Later, I checked some reviews of the book, and it seems that this might well be intended, a quirk or feature of the storytelling. Some readers liked this. They thought it clever, but it just frustrated me and nearly persuaded me to give up on the book.
I did finish the book, and I’m now conflicted in my view of it. There are some great passages and sections I thought were hilarious or brilliantly described feelings, particularly when it comes to jealousy or frustration with one’s partner. But I didn’t like the fractured way the story was told. Also, I’m not sure I fully believed in the story: there are elements that, to me, seemed too co-incidental or just unrealistically extreme; there’s some really strong writing here, but very average storytelling. I think this is a book that will divide opinions, I’ve already seen some very positive reviews, but I think other readers will share my discontentment with some elements. It’s a three star offering for me.
My thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for providing an ARC of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
Evan Keogh always wanted to be a painter. He loved abstract art and thought he had something of a gift for it. His father wanted him to become a footbEvan Keogh always wanted to be a painter. He loved abstract art and thought he had something of a gift for it. His father wanted him to become a footballer, something he definitely had a gift for, yet this was something Evan had no interest in. We’d briefly met Evan in Boyne’s previous novella (in this set of four) Water, at the end of which he’d escaped the small island off the west coast of Ireland where he’d lived with his parents. His aim is to find a new life.
When we catch up with him here he’s a professional footballer, playing for a club in the second tier of English football. Evan is gay, which is a challenge in itself given football’s homophobic environment. Details of his sexuality are not widely known, even amongst his teammates. But at least one is aware - Rob, his closest friend at the club. So Evan is successful and has money, but is he happy? The answer is no; Evan simply see’s football as a way to build up sufficient savings to allow him to live the life he really wants. But now he’s in trouble: he’s due to appear in court along with Rob, accused of sexual assault.
So how did he end up in this place, and what does it all mean for his future? As the story of Evan’s life after leaving the island begins to be told, we learn how a collision of bad people, bad luck, and poor choices have led him here. There are unexpected linkages to be revealed, too, and in the end, Evan is left with decisions to be made that will determine how his life will play out from this point.
It’s another powerful story from a writer whose themes and whose characters often highlight the significant challenges life can throw up. Who is to be trusted, and what light will guide us through the maze set out in front of us? The choices we make will sometimes have little significance, and yet others are likely to define us. A moral compass is a useful ally, but it might yet lead us to places we've no desire to go.
My thanks to Random House UK for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
Manako Kajii is a convicted serial killer. She’d seduced three men by cooking them gourmet food and then killed them off, one by one. Or did she? TherManako Kajii is a convicted serial killer. She’d seduced three men by cooking them gourmet food and then killed them off, one by one. Or did she? There is a degree of ambiguity surrounding the circumstances of each death. Perhaps she’s just been unlucky, and the deaths were actually caused by suicide, accident, or misadventure? A retrial is scheduled, and it’s the talk of Tokyo. Manako is remaining tight-lipped and is refusing visitors, but one woman - journalist Rika Machida - is determined to speak to her to wheedle out Manako’s account of events.
Inspired by a real case, that of a 34 year old woman labelled The Konatsu Killer, this story is part murder mystery, part cookery book. Manako is portrayed as a somewhat portly woman (something highly unusual and also, it seems socially unacceptable in Japan), someone who is unrepentantly fond of eating lavishly prepared dishes. So, in order to ingratiate herself to Manako, or at least pique her interest, Rika starts to correspond with her on the subject of food. Eventually, she manages to get permission to visit her in prison, and a relationship of sorts is developed.
There are other characters close to Rika here, too, but really, it's this central relationship between the journalist and the convicted killer that’s at the heart of the story. In the course of the weeks that follow Rika’s interest in cooking - and eating - accelerates to the point that she too begins to gain weight. Several people comment on this, none positively. There is a good deal of detail here on food preparation, cooking, and the experience of eating the painstakingly assembled dishes. In truth, I began to find this all a little monotonous. But what did interest me was the associated impacts of these events on Rika’s life: the way she was perceived by and treated by others around her.
There are features of Japanese culture covered here that I was hitherto blind to, or at least somewhat dismissive of. These include what seems to be institutional misogyny in the workplace and a work ethic that is collectivist, in the sense that each worker forms ‘a family’ with their colleagues and anything less than total commitment to the cause is deemed to demonstrate of a lack of loyalty. Manners matter a great deal, and adherence to unwritten standards of behaviour is paramount. I found this to be an absolute education. I liked some elements and wished we employed more of these in my own country, but others I found to be strange and disturbingly controlling.
In the end, I thought the story rather petered out without coming to a definitive or rounded ending. The lessons learned by Rika, and to a lesser extent, some of her friends are the only real points of focus. I think the book could have done with some serious editing (less on the food) and also a more rounded summary of how things played out at its conclusion. That said, there’s a certain quality to the writing and, in particular, the way in which characters are developed and portrayed that I found engaging. Overall, it’s a three star rating for me.
My thanks to 4th Estate for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
I’d enjoyed two books written by this author (The Burning Girls and The Drift), both were mysteries that were somewhat different to those I normally rI’d enjoyed two books written by this author (The Burning Girls and The Drift), both were mysteries that were somewhat different to those I normally read - but in a good way, they surprised me and challenged me. So when I started reading this one - without first reading the blurb, just relying on my previous experiences with this writer - I quickly realised that there was a fantasy element here. Now, this is something I try to avoid. It’s something that really switches me off. But I pressed on, for a while…
Set in a small town in Alaska, a detective arrives to investigate a murder. But the twist is that a colony of Vampyrs have recently descended on the community and housed themselves nearby, outside of the town. Twenty-five five year, ago there had been a murder attributed to such a c, lony and the residents of the town had been uneasy about this new group’s arrival, to say the least. This death has all the hallmarks of the previous event. The town residents have already made up their minds andhell-bent bent ‘culling’ the Vampyr community. The visiting cop, though, isn’t so sure.
The characters introduced in the early part of the story are generally strong. I particularly liked the police officer sent to investigate the latest death, a Vampyr specialist - a doctor, in fact. Others, such as the police chief and ex-police , hief are interesting too. But I just couldn’t get past the fact that the book was essentially about Vampyrs and their relationship with humans.
I feel like I’ve cheated the book somewhat as it’s not something I’d have picked up had I read the blurb. So I’m going to award it three stars, even though I usually award only one star for any book I fail to finish. The reason for this is simply that, based on the portion I read, I think for the right aud, ence this story might work well. It’s just not for me.
My thanks to Penguin, Random House for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
A young woman's travels documented in words and pictures. I was initially struck by the photographs as I perused Autumn’s online blog prior to requestA young woman's travels documented in words and pictures. I was initially struck by the photographs as I perused Autumn’s online blog prior to requesting this book – the photos are stunning! It’s harder to appreciate the quality via the e-book I was given access to, but I do believe they’ll show brilliantly well on paper. There are some good practical tips too for aspiring travellers, for instance how to make a ‘proper’ cup of English tea (clue: it doesn’t involve a microwave) and the fact that when visiting an English pub you have to approach the bar to order food and drink, the staff won’t come to you. From a personal point of view these both tickled me.
But aside from the tips and photos what really grabbed me was Autumn’s story: her bravery in undertaking the trips alone, her angst when faced with challenging situations (e.g. getting an uninvited mauling twice when in Italy or travelling to Australia with a potential diagnosis of cancer overhanging her). It really is a gripping account, written with modesty and honesty. I couldn’t help seeking out a few places listed that I’d visited and checking her reaction against mine. It really is great fun and, I think, truly inspiring.
My thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Loading...
