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The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith. Light literary humour 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/29/2008 8:56 AM
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This is the fifth 44 Scotland street story and The Unbearable Lightness of Scones [ISBN 978 1 84697 057 3] just extends the serial of these weird people living in Edinburgh – not that they seem weird as you get drawn into their often dysfunctional lives. How people who read this book as their first introduction can work out how relationships came to be so convoluted, I don’t know.
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Peacocks Dancing by Sharon Maas. Literary Fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/28/2008 12:28 PM
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You have to give Peacocks Dancing by Sharon Maas [ISBN 0 00 711847 3] marks for an interesting story given its context – its set in Guyana. But I felt the story writing was annoying disjointed – the almost obligatory chopped up narrative fails to knit together - and the cast of dysfunctional characters failed to gain my sympathy – altogether I found it to be downbeat and depressing.
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The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver. American thriller 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/27/2008 8:35 AM
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One if his series featuring investigator Kathryn Dance, Jeffery Deaver’s novel The Sleeping Doll [ISBN 978 0 7434 9158 7] is cleverly plotted and suspenseful with a terrific ending (which is a change –so many authors don’t quite know how to end their stories). It reads well and easily – so give a clear weekend to it because you’ll want to finish it.
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A Thousand Bones by P J Parrish. American crime fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/21/2008 8:40 AM
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I found P J Parrish’s novel A Thousand Bones [ISBN 978 1 84739 132 2] quite hard to get into – true, it is well-written with an interesting bunch of characters- and the plot is dense enough. I did, however, find the narrative hard going at several points during the read.
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Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs. American crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/20/2008 9:55 AM
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Like Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist and so is her heroine, Temperance Brennan, but her books, and this one – Bones to Ashes- [ISBN 978 0 09 949236 8] particularly is much better than Cornwell of late. The science is excellent (sometimes rather laboured and over-detailed as if she MUST show her knowledge) and the plot good, but a little contrived in parts, though the narrative moves along OK.
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End Games by Michael Dibdin. Crime fiction 10/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/18/2008 2:30 PM
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End Games was Michael Dibdin’s last novel [ISBN 978 0 571 23617 6] and its one of his very best. Featuring Aurelio Zen, in Calabria, and giving a wonderfully clear and rich picture of Italian life from his perspective. As his final case, it’s a winner for plot, amusing ironic narrative and all-round ambiance.
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Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein. American crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/17/2008 8:25 AM
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Linda Fairstein’s crime fiction novel Bad Blood [ISBN 978 0 7515 3807 6] is a fast-paced interesting read – not only is there a mystery that takes some unravelling – but you may well find out things about the bowels of New York you never thought about. The plot and ending are pretty good and the narrative moves along well. The main character and her two sidekicks do get rather anal and exclusive book by book.
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Harbor by Lorraine Adams. American thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/15/2008 8:54 AM
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This book , Harbor by Lorraine Adams won the LA Times book award and you can see why [ISBN 1 84527 034 0] – its seriously deep and brilliantly written – and a powerful and sensitive social commentary on immigrant communities in the USA. It also looks into the nature of terrorism and motivation – it is fast paced and empathic – hard stuff to do.
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Nemesis by Bill Napier. Sci Fi thriller 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/4/2008 9:03 AM
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The science (or specifically Astronomy) in Bill Napier’s novels is convincing and authentic because he is, in fact, an astronomer, but the science is perhaps the best part of his novel Nemesis [ISBN 0 7472 5993 3]. The plot has several double blinds, which is quite clever, but doesn’t convince as much as it should. The narrative is exciting and quite pacy, though the characterisations and dialogue I found not particularly lively, though scientists could well be as lacklustre as this and talk all the time in mathematical speak. They could well do that.
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The Intruders by Michael Marshall. American thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
8/3/2008 8:19 AM
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Michael Marshall wrote the very creepy The Straw Men and its sequels and this book, The Intruders [ISBN 978 0 00 720997 2] has a very similar feel. Its brilliantly put together, unguessable plot, tight quickly-moving narrative that keeps you on the end of the seat, and a scary mystery at the heart which makes this not a first choice for bedtime reading for the nervous.
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