Books - Book Aid

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Bookaid.org.uk is a blog reviewing books I'm reading day by day. Written by me, an ecelectic but easily bored readaholic, it covers a wide range of fiction from literary stuff through crime fiction and science fiction and even some non-fiction such as biography and travel.

The book reviews are non-commercial and express the perhaps idiosyncratic opinions of the blogger. I encourage freedom of speech,discussion and debate though I would ask for consideration when posting comments.

The Society by Michael Palmer. American crime/thriller 5/10
Michael Palmer’s novel The society [ISBN 0 09 946357 1] starts off well – smart and pacy, with lots of action introducing a serial killer targeting executives in the American healthcare industry. The plot is just too complicated which leads to action fatigue long before I got to the halfway mark .

Dear Tom: Letters from Home by Tom Courtenay. Autobiography/letters 10/10
This is Tom Courtenay’s first book – not just an autobiography of his early life, but a window onto his relationship with his mother. Dear Tom: Letters from Home [ISBN 0 552 99926 1] is a collection of letters written by his mother to him during the time he was at University and at RADA. Courtenay himself has contextualised the letters with a sensitive and accomplished, well-crafted account of his childhood through to the early death of his mother.

The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris. Of Chocolat fame 4/10
Joanne Harris’s The Lollipop Shoes [ISBN 978 0 55277 315 7] is a kind of follow-on from Chocolat, and if you liked that you probably will like this. I found it rather twee and tedious and never made the end.

The Unquiet by John Connolly. American Crime fiction 7/10
John Connolly’s The Unquiet [ISBN 978 0 340 92051] took quite a lot of getting into – it is quite dense and nothing much happened at the outset. It’s a brooding, unsettling kind of book, with no little light along the way. Not a bad plot, and the narrative eventually gets going. Quite turgid characters, though he does a good line in heavies and baddies.

Rat Run by Gerald Seymour. British thriller/adventure 8/10
Not only does Gerald Seymour write classy adventure/thriller fiction, he also is excels at satisfying endings and Rat Run [ISBN 978 0 552 15342 3] follows this model. A story of redemption that has many twists and turns making it an addictive read. The flashbacks written in italics are only a minor annoyance –they don’t always add very much to the on-going narrative.

Losing You by Nicci French. British Crime fiction 8/10
Nicci French is, in my opinion, an accomplished fiction writer, and this book Losing You [ISBN 978 0 141 03541 3] has a good plot, a straightforward, narrative that moves along quite well. Characters are pretty well drawn without being tedious as well. However, it has my most unfavourite story topic – a child abduction, which so upsets and unsettles me I read the book with little pleasure and lots of dread.

The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke 8/10
James Lee Burke’s novel The Tin Roof Blowdown [ISBN 978 0 7538 2317 0] is a continuation of his excellent Dave Robicheaux’s stories set in a bayou near New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. It has the usual mix of dubious and interesting characters, though the plot was fine I did find the narrative quite difficult to get into for the first part of the book.

The Next Accident by Lisa Gardner. American Crime fiction 8/10.
Lisa Gardener’s novel The Next Accident [ISBN 978 1 4070 1309 5] is another novel featuring Rainie Conner as Investigator and her ex-more-than-colleague Pierce Quincy (though this is as ambivalent as relationships get). The book has a good pacy narrative and lots of red herrings as usual.

Dead Cold by Louise Penny. Canadian crime fiction 9/10
This is the first time I’ve read a book by Louise Penny –and I’ll be looking at others besides Dead Cold [ISBN 978 0 7553 2893 2] because its such a well-written book. It has an excellent, quite clever plot, and a wonderful context – winter and Christmas in Quebec – an excellent sleuth – Chief Inspector Gamache – and a whole load of rounded and fascinating characters – as well as a pacy narrative.

Dead Cold by Louise Penny. Canadian crime fiction 9/10
This is the first time I’ve read a book by Louise Penny –and I’ll be looking at others besides Dead Cold [ISBN 978 0 7553 2893 2] because its such a well-written book. It has an excellent, quite clever plot, and a wonderful context – winter and Christmas in Quebec – an excellent sleuth – Chief Inspector Gamache – and a whole load of rounded and fascinating characters – as well as a pacy narrative.
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