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At Close Quarters by Gerald Seymour. Adventure/Thriller 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/31/2007 8:14 AM
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Gerald Seymour’s At Close Quarters [ISBN 0 552 15397 4] is as tight and exciting as usual. The plot – this time around Palestinian terrorism – feels authentic and authoritative and is intricate and widely ranging,, and the well-written narrative just zooms along. As well as this his characters are complex and believable and you worry what will happen to them.
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The Inheritance of Loss by Hiran Desai. Man Booker Prize winner 2006. 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/27/2007 8:16 AM
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The Inheritance of Loss by Hiran Desai [978 0 141 02728 9] is typical of the Literary Prize winners of this time – novel set in exotic foreign parts, written in English by a foreign-born writer, highlighting differences, focussing on the psychology of characters and wordy and well written. Hiran Desai’s book is a series of psychologically intense, detailed scenes in and out of time sequence, chipping away at a broad narrative of the lives of her four or five characters, at its best and most alive when set in New York. I found it quite ponderous in places
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Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson. African crime fiction 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/26/2007 12:25 PM
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Instruments of Darkness a crime fiction book set in Benin, West Africa [ISBN 1 84561 464 X] is the first novel by Robert Wilson I have read, and excellent it is, too. The African context makes it an unusual and interesting read, but Robert Wilson’s cracking narrative laced with subtle humour brings the whole louche and corrupt world alive. Plot is good enough to be unguessable, and the characters creatures of the context, are well drawn. Classy writing.
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The Cold Moon by Jeffery Deaver. American Crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/25/2007 10:13 AM
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Jeffery Deaver’s crime fiction novel The Cold Moon [ISBN 978 0 340 83383 4] is the latest in the Lincoln Rhyme series, and is, as usual, a good read. The plot has so many red herrings and twists and turns that just as soon as you feel that you are getting somewhere you find out you’re not. The split narrative tells the goodies and baddies stories, but, as usual, the baddies story doesn’t reveal very much at all. Its quite an addictive read and nicely put together, though Rhyme is just too clever for his own good – like Sherlock Home with his monographs on cigar ash.
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Ice Station by Matthew Reilly. Boys own adventure story 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/24/2007 2:11 PM
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Though Ice Station by Matthew Reilly [ISBN 978 0 330 45231 1] is pretty crummy, the strangeness of the plot and very weird narrative had a sort of mesmeric effect – and indeed, it keeps the reader guessing as to how all the strange mess is going to be resolved. (One suspects that not many will be alive to cause problems – and there might not be much of Antartica left either). It is quite risible but not bad escapist reading if you are fed up of the heavy stuff.
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Split Second by David Baldacci. American spy/adventure fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/20/2007 8:40 AM
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I had a feeling of déjà vu reading Split Second by David Baldacci [ISBN 978 0 330 45226 7] because I have certainly read it before, though I didn’t remember the ending and its good enough for a second read. The plot is quite dense enough to keep the reader guessing, and the action busy enough – though the characters, like most books of this genre, are not the roundest of people.
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Winter in Madrid by C. J Sansom. Literary fiction 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/19/2007 8:13 AM
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C. J. Sansom’s literary fiction novel Winter in Madrid [ISBN 978 0 350 41198 1] is set in Madrid in 1940. After the Spanish Civil War Madrid is in a poor state, and Franco debates whether to enter the war. It is a very uncertain time, which is well portrayed in this book. The main characters are three men who had been at public school together as children, but are not quite friends. They are in very different roles in Spain and the story winds around the three of them and the politics of the time.
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Home Run by Gerald Seymour. Adventure/Spy 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/18/2007 8:09 AM
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Gerald Seymour’s spy thriller Home Run [ISBN 0 552 15395 8] is an action-packed adventure story, which amazingly almost avoids the naiveté of most boys own adventure stories and has a reasonable plot and a fast paced narrative – its a good story even though the characters are a little thinly drawn, but even so they manage to be quite rounded – the goodies are not all good and the baddies have good points – and one or two the reader has a problem of deciding which they are at all.
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Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride. Crime fiction 10/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/17/2007 8:52 AM
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I would compare Stuart Macbride’s crime fiction novel Cold Granite [ISBN 978 0 00 719314 1] to Ian Rankin, but that would be a major disservice to Macbride. As a first novel it is brilliant, set in Aberdeen and so very atmospheric, though no one is going to go there in winter after reading this book. Wonderfully crafted characters–the content is gruesome but the dialogue funny and revealing, the plot is clever and sneaky, and the narrative tight and addictive and the characters. Prepare to want to read it at one session.
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A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter. American crime fiction 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
7/12/2007 8:09 AM
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Karin Slaughter’s crime fiction novel A Faint Cold Fear [ISBN 0 09 944532 8] is so very well written that my quibbles about modern American crime fiction (hackneyed serial murder plots, over-gruesome details, unpleasant inept psychologically-flawed lead characters) are suspended even though the criticisms do apply – funny how really good writing grips and compels the reader in spite of unsettling content. The plot is complex but very well conceived, the narrative reveals clues and interest as it bowls along, and the characters
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