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Dead Simple by Peter James – murder/thriller – 7/10 if you’re not squeamish ! |
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By bookworm on
1/31/2006 1:50 PM
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I found this book Dead Simple by Peter James as a major challenge to read past the first chapter or so – not because it was either poorly written or conceived – just the opposite – the initial action was so intense and opened up such horrifying possibilities, I wasn’t sure I would want to go through the pain barrier of the suspense so clearly signalled. I thought it was likely to continue to disturb me rather than be an interesting problem to be solved. It was so well written I found it difficult to detach. Not only does the plot milk the pain of claustrophobia but also the betrayal of friendship and the rising panic of all characters as the novel comes to the end. I did keep reading – Peter James is an excellent crime writer – but though I applaud the realism – I found the topics uncomfortable. Trythis book yourself and see what you think !
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John Lawton – Blackout – crime fiction. 7.5/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/30/2006 8:45 PM
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John Lawton’s Blackout is a well-presented novel : nicely written, good narrative and a convincing (at least I thought so) wartime-London context. The day-to-day life of the time seems to be well portrayed, and the plot utilises a number of wartime themes, and weaves them into a suspenseful story. The characterisations are variable in depth, though convincing of the “types” of the more class-based society of the time. Blackout starts out really well, and sets up the problem of identification of a body that could have been a murder or accidental to a German bomb.
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Gabrielle Lord – Feeding the Demons – busy crime thriller 6.5/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/29/2006 7:30 PM
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Gabrielle Lord – Feeding the Demons is a crime thriller with a number of interwoven plots and sub-plots, it has considerable psychological background and is full of pretty unstable characters who are unpredictable and can come under scrutiny of guilt in the murders at different times. Probably because of this unpredictability, the reader is led to keep reading through the narrative with its quickly escalating thriller action, even though sympathy for the characters does wane after one stupid decision follows another ! But an excellent sustaining of interest right up to the end.
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Dean Koontz – Velocity – speedy, scary, unfathomable – killer ending 10/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/27/2006 3:11 PM
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Dean Koontz – Velocity - this is a read-in-one-go novel says the book blurb – and its right, I had to finish it before I went to bed. The story is just so downright suspenseful and compelling that at each new acceleration of the nightmare it is essential to find out if it IS going to happen. This book has a multi-layered, clever plot, an absolutely outstandingly gripping narrative, a well-drawn central character we come to identify with as he struggles to take control, though the other characters are more background sketches we don’t know whether they will turn out to be innocent or complicit.
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Karin Fossum – He Who Fears the Wolf – well-characterised crime fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/26/2006 1:52 PM
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He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum is a particularly interesting murder mystery. It may be that the rather mournful, clinical, almost detached, matter of fact view of the murder and its possible suspects is related to the third person narrative and that it is translated from the Norwegian. This does mean, however, that the background and context is interesting and authentic and with considerable detail and depth. The psychological expertise and empathy of the narrator for the characters lifts this book from the OK to the worth reading category.
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Henning Mankell – The Fifth Woman – another case for Inspector Wallender |
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By bookworm on
1/24/2006 8:04 PM
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Henning Mankell’s The Fifth Woman is now one of seven Inspector Wallender crime novels excellently translated from the Swedish – his novels give a wonderful sense of background and place, and capturing the space and isolation of rural life whilst at the same time an appreciation of the use of modern crime methods and techniques. The plot of the Fifth Woman is very clever, giving significant clues in every chapter, whilst at the time leaving the reader unsure how to knit them in, until the end. The narrative, therefore, is compelling. At times the descriptions of personality and nature gives a rather mournful impression of the characters – especially Kurt Wallender, though the thin personal life of overworked workaholic police is a constant theme in crime fiction.
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Frank Devlin – Love in all the wrong places – psychological/serial murders 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/23/2006 2:46 PM
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Love in all the wrong places by Frank Devlin is reminiscent of the American cop genre (though without the wry humour of, say, Robert B Parker). It has excellent and intriguing plot which in turn mystifies, lulls you into a false feeling of knowing the end, and then has a few sneaky switches at the end. A fast-paced narrative with a good characterisation of the usual squeeze on the strung-out lives of the overworked cops, relentless in their pursuit of their known killer.
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Straight into Darkness by Faye Kellerman – dark recent/history murder mystery/8/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/20/2006 7:06 PM
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Straight into Darkness - Faye Kellerman has written another “international bestseller” and deserves to be so – it is well researched with an authentic feel to the historical pre-war context. The plot is quite convoluted - murders are set against rapidly moving action within Germany at that time, and the related instability of the police force and incipient violence. The characterisation is good, and the narrative is suspenseful enough to keep the reader guessing. An excellent ending with a surprising final twist. Worth getting for the weekend.
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The Pact by Jodi Picoult – suspenseful and intriguing 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/19/2006 11:20 AM
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Jodi Picoult – the author of the Richard and Judy bestseller “My sister’s Keeper” – has written an interesting novel – the Pact – that explores the relationships between parents and children, and within families when faced with a serious trauma. The novel centres on a suicide pact between two young teenage lovers, and explores the myriad of factors involved in the inexorable progress to the death of the young girl, and the trial of the surviving boyfriend. There are compelling views of the families, both between and within them, the legal advisors and the time of incarceration. The ending could be better, I thought.
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Stalking the Angel by Robert Crais – Elvis Cole strikes again ! |
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By bookworm on
1/18/2006 1:36 PM
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Robert Crais’ detective crime novel “Stalking the Angel” gives another outing to that amusing detective Elvis Cole. As usual, Robert Crais writes a good story with narrative expertise. It has a good plot, with amusing characters and dialogue worth reading the book for if everything else were poor! The story moves along quickly, in a direction satisfying to the reader, with enough plot turns and twists to keep you guessing (there is nothing worse than reading towards the expected and then finding you’re right).
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The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith – 1st of new series |
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By bookworm on
1/17/2006 3:22 PM
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Alexander McCall Smith best known for the No1 Ladies Detective Agency Series has started a new series featuring an amateur sleuth set in middle-class Edinburgh. This is in the same amusing and rich style of his other books – wonderful characters, interesting and detailed background for Edinburgh-philics and an excellent plot – with layers of detecting giving clues to lead the reader to the inevitability of the ending. This is nicely written and a pleasure to read and if you’ve liked his other books, will give much pleasure. There is the point – rather like with Miss Marple, you do wonder what it all is to do with the main character and why is she pushing her nose into other people’s affairs !
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Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles – Civil War Historical fiction |
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By bookworm on
1/16/2006 2:44 PM
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For someone who knew very little about the American Civil War, this novel, Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles, (ISBN 0-00-714642-6] was particularly interesting, with a gritty, informative historical context revealing information about what happened during the Civil War in a realistic and hard-hitting way, as well as giving a realistic view of the harshness of country life in the mid nineteenth century in the United States (though they weren’t – united that is – at the time, of course). If your education missed American History (like most of us) you may well find this as fascinating as I did.
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Shattered Icon by Bill Napier – another discover-past religious secrets ploy – 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/15/2006 6:03 PM
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Bill Napier’s Shattered Icon is in the Da Vinci code genre – a thriller about hunting down a religious treasure following cryptic clues – which is fast paced and well-plotted, though the characters are a little two-dimensional and the significance of a couple of them to the plot seems to be marginal. However, it has a keep-you-reading style and some excellent insights into ancient calendars, astronomy and physics and 16th Century history, which will probably be new to many readers. The author, Bill Napier is an astronomer, so the scientific background is authentic, which certainly puts it above many of this type of thriller. I’d have given it a higher score but the ending is a little disappointing.
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Day after Day – Carlo Lucarelli – an Ispettore Negro novel – 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/13/2006 3:28 PM
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Day after Day by Carlo Lucarelli (ISBN 1 84343 149 1) is a crime/police procedural set in Italy – translated from the Italian so that the procedures and dialogue is as authentic and atmospheric as a good translator can make it. The plot is excellent and keeps the reader guessing to the end – even though the murderer is known from the outset, he is always so far ahead of the police that they follow only the clues he has left them until a late breakthrough enables them to put everything together. Inspector Negro – Grazia, is determined, tough and intelligent and is certainly a good addition to the collection of such detectives in the detective novel.
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Tash Aw – the Harmony Silk Factory – waiting for prizes |
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By bookworm on
1/12/2006 10:12 AM
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The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw – a new book of literary fiction is set to be recommended for prizes and certainly has been noticed and promoted. This is an extended quite exotic narrative, written in English though set in a wholly foreign context. The writer, like so many literary fiction writers in English nowadays brings his authentic background of different countries through his own birth and mixed heritage, so giving a depth and richness and suspense where the reader is unable to fathom the motives of the actors in the drama.
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Lawrence Block – Tanner on Ice. Strange, but I read it all. 5/10. |
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By bookworm on
1/10/2006 10:31 AM
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Lawrence Block is an excellent mystery/crime writer, and has written a large number of novels in different series. This Evan Tanner novel (the first of this series I’ve read) is more a quite strange and far-fetched old fashioned adventure story, though the incongruity of some of the narrative tends to add to its interest rather than distract from it. It is a quick-moving, probably over-complex plotted novel. Fairly easy to read quickly – which is in its favour.
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Ian Rankin – Mortal Causes – A Crime Novel from the Mid-Rebus years |
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By bookworm on
1/6/2006 3:03 PM
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Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus Novels have become famous if only for the unfortunately poorly miscast (the earlier one - not the current) television series. This one, Ian Rankin’s Mortal Causes (ISBN 0 75287 720 8) is from his “mid period” the “St Leonard Years” and is as well crafted and plotted as the others in the series. However, this earlier Rebus is also, perhaps, sharper: and though the plot, as usual, hinges on Rebus’s relationship with Edinburgh gangsters, is challenging and interesting. I can’t think why I hadn’t read it before, but I’m glad I caught up with it.
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Zadie Smith – On Beauty: A Novel 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/5/2006 9:14 PM
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Zadie Smith’s On Beauty: A Novel is, so the jacket blurb states, her third novel and is advertised as “a brilliant take on family life, the collision of the personal and political and an honest look at people’s self deceptions”. Mmm. This is rather more than it is in my opinion. It is a story of two families with overtly similar but really quite different influences, part of the action in London and part in New England. It is a novel with a great deal of character description and side-narrative where the relevance is not always clear and often quite tedious. Where the action focuses on interaction between the families the story moves quicker.
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Eats Shoots and Leaves. The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss |
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By bookworm on
1/4/2006 4:19 PM
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Eats Shoots and Leaves, The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss was book of the year 2004, and shows how seriously the English take their punctuation. Clearly, concisely and humorously written Eats Shoots and Leaves is an argument for the preservation of our printed conventions of punctuation given the onslaught of informality through email and texting.
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Expresso Tales – more from Alexander McCall Smith at 44 Scotland Street |
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By bookworm on
1/2/2006 7:23 PM
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Expresso Tales is from the author of the Ladies No1 Detective Agency and follows his successful first book on the lives of people on 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. It originally was published in a weekly serial in the Scotsman and the first book became an immediate best seller. Ideally you would read the first one before this, as all the wonderful characters are introduced.
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December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza – crime in Rio – 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/1/2006 2:41 PM
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December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, translated from the Spanish is a police procedural with a difference. Set in Rio de Janeiro it chronicles the underworld of crime and police response showing a very different flavour to the usual USA based cop crime/underworld novel. Characterisations and relationships are developed against the background of atmosphere of menace and danger, and the plot unravels satisfactorily unguessable.
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The English Assassin by Daniel Silva – A really good read 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
12/30/2005 10:46 AM
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Daniel Silva’s The English Assassin is a well crafted mystery/thriller that moves along at a fast pace, with a terrific plot. The descriptions are contained and used for insight into context and characters, though characters and place are not drawn in the padded laboured detail as in some less well written books , but through clever focus on key events and action keeps the reader gripped. It really was difficult to put this one down even just to make a cup of tea ! I can really recommend this for a good read. I’ll make a point of reading his other books.
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The latest Aurelio Zen – Is Michael Dibdin pulling our leg ? |
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By bookworm on
12/29/2005 9:34 AM
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Back To Bologna by Michael Dibdin is the latest Aurelio Zen mystery shows the atmospheric Italian background of the earlier Zen mysteries at which Dibdin excels, but also some very tired plotting and characterisation that stretches our belief to the limit. The jacket blurb says “features a cast of vivid and idiosyncratic characters and along the way delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of today’s Italy.” For idiosyncratic read weird and almost unbelievable when put together into one book –and “Comic insights” ?. I got the feeling that Dibdin was just fed up with Zen and all he could manage was a parody.
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Sleep Pale Sister by Joanne Harris. An early novel by author of Chocolat – a little turgid 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
12/28/2005 8:10 PM
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Sleep Pale Sister is a reprint of an early work of Whitbread-shortlisted Chocolat’s author Joanne Harris. It is a historical thriller. Written in the first person the narrator changes from character to character as a device to reveal the motives and thoughts of each of the protagonists. This does make the prose somewhat long winded stream of consciousness stuff that can be very tedious if you are (like me) wanting the plot to move a little quicker. The action is all too predictable, thought there are many circuitous chapters until we get there. I must also confess to feeling that this was a particular weak ending. However, I did read it until the end.
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Stuart – A life backwards by Alexander Masters – read this over Christmas |
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By bookworm on
12/23/2005 9:58 PM
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Stuart – A life backwards by Alexander Masters, is a true story about the life of a homeless man, Stuart. This wonderful biography, written after two years of interviews, shows a graphic and often funny picture of what it is like being a person with a chaotic lifestyle – and should be read by all those people who think the problem of homelessness could be cured by some simple answer. Read it this Christmas and have an insight into just how privileged you are – however grim your life may seem – not to have the demons and self awareness of them of Stuart Shorter.
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Michael Connelly – The Closers just as good as his others |
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By bookworm on
12/21/2005 9:56 AM
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You can see why Michael Connelly stays on the best seller lists - Michael Connelly’s The Closers is particularly well crafted crime fiction. It is well plotted with a nice fast-paced narrative. Harry Bosch, Connelly’s detective is out of retirement and working with “Cold Cases” – now renamed the “Open Unsolved Unit”.
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Shalimar the Clown –Salman Rushdie - 5/10 only |
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By bookworm on
12/18/2005 2:47 PM
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Heavyweight prizewinning author Salman Rushdie’s novel Shalimar the Clown has a fairly formulaic structure – Action then reason for it – that means little is unexpected and is tedious reading in parts. With a cast of flawed and unlikable characters it is really uphill work to keep on to the end. There are some lyrical passages of context which may be enough to lift the book for fans of his writing.
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Renko returns !. Wolves eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith equals Gorky Park |
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By bookworm on
12/15/2005 7:05 PM
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Wolves Eat Dogs, the latest Martin Cruz Smith book featuring the Moscow Senior Investigator Arkady Renko, now looks at the Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain. This is a must read – not just for the interest in the setting and context, and effective characterisation, but a masterful plot that drips information and invites you to put together the solution. My best read this year.
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Michele Desbordes – The House in the Forest- has considerable critical acclaim |
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By bookworm on
12/13/2005 8:28 PM
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Michele Desbordes – The House in the Forest- has considerable critical acclaim – jacket reviews say “Michele Desbordes enigmatic first novel glitters and pulses” and “both a tantalising mystery and a gripping and lyrical meditation on love, loss and the passing of time”. This prepares you for something more than seems to be there. It is certainly quite strange in its setting, and increasingly predictably, a tragedy. Perhaps it were better read in its original French.
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Orange Prize shortlisted – Marina Lewycka, a Short History of Tractors in Ukranian |
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By bookworm on
12/11/2005 6:48 PM
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Marina Lewycka brought up in England, though with Ukrainian parents, has written a novel – A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (ISBN 0 670 91560 2 HB) that was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for fiction. The story is interwoven with a number of themes, relationships in families – with some wonderful reflections of old age, the legacy of Europe’s history over the past 50 years, and about immigrants and immigration and links with their mother countries. It is funny, very funny in parts, though it took a little getting into.
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Le Carre – The Constant Gardner – Film good but book better |
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By bookworm on
12/5/2005 8:31 PM
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Le Carre’s The Constant Gardner (ISBN 0 340 73339 X) is not just a murder mystery but a political thriller, a moving love story and environmental treatise. It has a knotted plot – is this a red herring ? Could be, probably not, probably is – viewpoints are forced to keep changing. A book that's a page turner with feeling and depth. Such a good read – and this from someone who thought she didn’t like Le Carre.
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Turkish author Orhan Pamuk in the news |
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By bookworm on
12/5/2005 5:18 PM
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Recently in the news, Turkish author Orhan Pamuk has been gaoled in Istanbul for writing books containing what has been thought of “negative” images of Turkey. Orhan Pamuk’s book “My name is Red” (Faber & Faber), written in 1998, had universally rave reviews and must be worth a read out of curiosity. It is dense, sensual, foreign, sensitive in insights into human nature and daily life, it’s a historical thriller/romance, and highlights the long-standing differences between Islamic and Christian cultures.
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Diehl’s Primal Fear worth a read |
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By bookworm on
12/4/2005 11:21 AM
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Primal Fear has most if not all of the elements that make for a high octane, gripping thriller, full of suspense: a gruesome beginning that grip your interest, leading to a clever legal/courtroom battle, then continuing to cleverly drip the reader clues keeping the brain engaged in problem-solving – and keeping you reading to try and find out what happens.
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Harry Potter best of last week’s reading |
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By bookworm on
12/2/2005 3:06 PM
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is in the tradition of the later Harry Potter books, a long and seemingly simple but yet tortuous story, where you are aware of major secrets and keep reading to find out what its all about, but get only dribbles of enlightenment though lots of action. The ending of the book is a sad surprise, as Harry is left with parts of Voldemorts soul to find in further books. It really is compelling reading. It left me wanting to read the one or two of the Harry Potter books I’ve missed.
Other Reading - Library books - this week: Death and the Language of Happiness by John Straley (Orion), The Magdalen Martyrs by Ken Bruen (Brandon) and The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen (Hodder & Stoughton)
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