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The Streetbird by Janwillem van de Wetering. Eurocrime 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/29/2006 12:12 PM
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Much as I like Janwillem van de Wetering, this book, The Streetbird [ISBN 1 56947 093 6] is not particularly satisfying. Though the ambience of Amsterdam and the psychological quirkiness is still in abundance, the plot and narrative of this particular novel are just hard work to plough through. Its been a day or two since I finished it, and already I’ve forgotten some key motives and action.
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James Patterson – Cross. Serial murder/Crime fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/28/2006 2:05 PM
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There’s been a lot of hype on TV ads about this new book of James Patterson – Cross [ISBN 0 7553 2315 – 7] which leads to great expectations which are not particularly realised. The Alex Cross novels have been going a long time, and the plots are looking tired round the edges, but this one is a back-in-time Alex Cross and is predictable (as it follows the formula of the previous novels) and not nearly as enjoyable or even scary as it could have been (possibly without the hype).
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Killing the Shadows by Val McDermid. Serial murder/Crime thriller 10/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/27/2006 2:23 PM
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Val Mc Dermid’s Killing the Shadows [ISBN 0 00 776852 4] has been around a while (2000?) , but has been well worth a re-read . McDermid’s plots are always excellent, and she possesses such expertise in the narrative that you know you will be holding your breath during almost all the chapters wondering what on earth is going to happen next. I’m not over-fond of some of her characters – the males, especially in this book, do seem to be pretty passive, wimpy and truly supportive guys, which is good for role modelling, but not always authentic
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The Memory Box by Margaret Forster Literary Fiction 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/24/2006 11:45 AM
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I found Margaret Forster’s book, the Memory Box [CN 9166] to have an interesting story idea (the Memory Box) strung out into a long book which so attenuates the spare ideas they become too thin to sustain real interest. It may have been much more interesting had the main characters been believable – sympathetic or complex enough to hook the reader into the seriously slow narrative.
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Sam Bourne – The Righteous Men. Mystic Code breaking thriller 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/23/2006 2:07 PM
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The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne [ISBN 0 00 720330 –6] is one of the new genre of religious code-breaking end-of-the-world if it isn’t found out kind of mysteries, but this time is about a sinister serial murderer triggering on information in the Bible related to Jewish and Christian beliefs. It has a similar plot and pace to The Da Vinci Code, where the hero only becomes gradually aware of the mystery and uncovers parts of the story bit by bit as he travels and follows clues.
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Empire State by Henry Porter. Spy thriller 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/22/2006 2:24 PM
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Henry Porter’s spy thriller Empire State [ISBN 0 75285 892 0] is an exciting, multi-faceted, well researched and authentic sounding novel with an excellent plot, and compulsive narrative that pulls you along. The book hits all the current buttons – al Qa’ida, internet espionage and hacking – but there are all kinds of bluffs and double bluffs and pages of red herrings – or are they? The reader is led by the nose backwards and forwards
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The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. Historical Fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/21/2006 11:22 AM
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Philippa Gregory’s historical fiction novel, The Constant Princess [ISBN 0 00 719031 X] is very much in the same style and period as her previous book The Other Boleyn Girl about Mary Boleyn, Anne’s sister – and this book is about Katherine of Aragon, and covers the same Tudor time period as the previous novel following the life of Henry VIII’s Spanish first wife.
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Stephen Leather – Pay Off. Adventure thriller 7/10. |
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By bookworm on
9/20/2006 6:03 PM
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Pay Off by Stephen Leather [ISBN 0 340 92216 8} is in this volume of two stories with The Tunnel Rats - but its no where near as good a read as the Tunnel Rats, though its still a good weekend read. The plot is based on a plan of revenge that doesn’t quite go as planned, and has some good twists which makes for quite scary suspense situations at times. Action moves quickly and Leather’s real narrative strength lies the way he can focus on moving the plot forward so that any incongruities (and there are a couple in this book) are barely noticed.
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Melvyn Bragg – A Place in England . Literary Fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/18/2006 8:40 AM
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A Place in England by Melvyn Bragg [ISBN 0 340 770092 9] is a relaxed, smoothly written account of a place (a village in Cumbria) at a certain time (before and during the second World War) seen through the life of an uneducated young man with ambition. There is little “plot” as such – it’s a lyrical story with few surprises though the characters are nicely drawn, I found it difficult to empathise but felt like an observer of the happenings,
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Jack Higgins – Day of Judgment. Vintage adventure thriller 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/17/2006 12:56 PM
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Day of Judgment by Jack Higgins [ISBN 0 00 222148 9], and now quite vintage (1978) is a typically fluent macho adventure thriller set in post-war Berlin during the cold war period Kennedy was American President –and it does seem now a little dated if only to wonder at the anachronism of the stiff upper lip Major Vaughan the hero.
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