Books - Book Aid
At Risk by Patricia Cornwell. Crime thriller 5/10
Books By bookworm on 4/30/2007 12:00 PM
At Risk by Patricia Cornwell [ISBN 978 0 7515 3871 7] does not (thank goodness) feature Kay Scarpetta (these Scarpetta novels petered off into the merely bizarre) but even though this is slightly better, its only a fair read up to her best. The plot is Okish but the characters are strangely wooden and unlikeable without having any of the benefits that unlikeable people can give to the narrative in energy and motive
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Blacklist by Sara Paretsky. Crime thriller 9/10
Books By bookworm on 4/29/2007 9:08 AM
I don’t know what sequence Blacklist [ISBN 0 141 01023 1] comes with Sara Paretsky’s series of crime novels featuring her wonderful investigator VI Warshawski, but this is a classic. The plot is tight and the background, as usual impeccable and interesting, the narrative gives up jewels page by page and yet the answers elude the reader for some time, but the chances for speculation are pleasurable.
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Piece of My Heart by Peter Robinson. Crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 4/27/2007 8:37 AM
Peter Robinson’s crime fiction novel Piece of my Heart [ISBN 978 0 340 83688 0] is the latest of his books, featuring Inspector Bank (a cop I’m not thrilled with ,but an excellent characterisation). The plot is clever and sneaky: the story unfolds in an alternating past-and-present narrative 1969 and present day, and though the reader knows they will eventually come together, there is great satisfaction in the way a master writer
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Tides of Light by Gregory Benford. Science Fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 4/25/2007 9:33 AM
Given the jacket blurbs “The best SF writer now writing” you could expect Gregory Benford’s Tides of Light [ISBN 0 575 04759 3] to be a good science fiction read – even a great read. I have not read science fiction in large quantities for over 20 years, but this does not touch the great SF writers. It is reminiscent of the quite awful HG Wells “The Men in the moon” (or something like that) with the strange beings lurking about underground apropos to very little at all. This book is a sequel to an earlier book I cannot comment on
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Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier. Literary Fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 4/20/2007 1:26 PM
Charles Frazier – the author of Cold Mountain – has written a historical fiction book Thirteen Moons [CN 148395] with a background of the 19th century American landgrabs and the impact on the American Cherokee Indians as they are forced away from their lands. The story is a first person narrative and is touching and thought provoking revealing all kinds of insights into the plight of the poor – Indian, white or black – and their different kinds of slavery.
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Devoted Ladies by Molly Keane (writing as MJ Farrell) Literary Fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 4/18/2007 4:07 PM
Devoted Ladies by Molly Keane [ISBN 0 8608 466 0] does not particularly deserve such a high score for literary fiction per se, but for the historical interest and amusement it gave me. Written in 1934, Molly Keane wrote about the Anglo-Irish huntin’ shootin’ set – an upper class with little to recommend it – but this novel, with its two central characters as lesbians (with a gay manservant) must have been extraordinarily risqué for its time
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The American Boy by Andrew Taylor . Historical Fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 4/16/2007 7:48 PM
Andrew Taylor’s historical fiction novel The American Boy [ISBN0 00 710960 1] has an absorbing and evocative historical context, with a fair plot and steady narrative. The characters don’t have such a good feel – my background in history is not up to Andrew Taylor’s but I don’t feel the dialogue is particularly authentic, and the characters are rather Dickensian take-offs. The women are particularly wimpy.
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Missing Persons by Stephen White. Psychological thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 4/15/2007 4:42 PM
Stephen White’s thriller fiction novel Missing Persons [ISBN 0 7515 3628 8] has a good, authentic feel, is plotted well, and the narrative has enough twisting to keep up suspense, and not too clever to become confusing and boring (as they do sometimes). The central character, the psychologist, carries on from previous novels being agonising about client confidentiality, but nonetheless makes an intelligent and interesting first person narrative.
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The Office of the Dead by Andrew Taylor. Third of Literary Trilogy 9/10
Books By bookworm on 4/14/2007 9:01 AM
For me, this last in Andrew Taylor’s trilogy, The Office of the Dead [ISBN 0 00 649655 5] is the best of the three. It is set before the last book and gives insight into why the events in the last book actually happened. Its still probably better to read them in the order the author probably intended, though he says it doesn’t matter. The plot is sharp and unexpected, the narrative builds suspense
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The Judgement of Strangers by Andrew Taylor. Literary thriller trilogy 7/10
Books By bookworm on 4/11/2007 6:51 PM
The Judgement of Strangers by Andrew Taylor [ISBN 0 00 710510-x], is the second book of his psychological thriller trilogy. But, like the jacket explanation says, is only vaguely linked to the first one and chronologically is an earlier time (1970s). The plot is tighter in this one, and altogether is a much better read, for me, than the first.
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The Four Last Things by Andrew Taylor . Literary thriller 1st of trilogy 5/10
Books By bookworm on 4/9/2007 7:48 AM
The Four Last Things by Andrew Taylor [ISBN0 00 710511 8] is the first of his trilogy of linked psychological thrillers (though it is said that they can be read in any sequence). I found this novel edgy and unpleasant – the topic of the abduction of a young child is not one I’m comfortable with reading about (for pleasure I have to remind myself). Its not just the topic, but the plot is, what can I say, strange : messy and convoluted,
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Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris. Literary Short Stories 6/10
Books By bookworm on 4/8/2007 7:19 AM
Joanne Harris (the author of Chocolat) has just published a book of short stories called Jigs and Reels [CN126448] and even the jacket blurbs have to search around for something definite to say about it. There are two “enjoyables” and another “one of Britain’s most popular novelists”. It is rather like that – you expect a great deal, and don’t really get it. The stories vary from the very weird
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Maggie’s Tree by Julie Walters. Literary Fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 4/6/2007 2:50 PM
I didn’t find Julie Walter’s first fiction Novel Maggie’s Tree [CN 148337] anywhere near as accomplished as her acting. The story is quite fractionated – bitty and fragile – and I found the subject matter – a woman’s mental disintegration - significantly depressing. The narrative is pretty slow and there are a number of perambulations around the lives of other characters that made me want to skip until the next bit of the “real” story appeared. This is really unfair to the author, but that’s how it was.
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The Hard Way by Lee Child . Thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 4/5/2007 3:14 PM
Lee Child’s crime fiction novel The Hard Way [ISBN 978 0 553 81587 0] features his tough guy hero Jack Reacher – who gets tougher and harder each book he writes. He is so invincible that you have to feel some soft of satisfaction knowing he will always win, and the baddies will always lose in a spectacular way. This book is no different, though
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Never Count out the Dead by Boston Teral. Scary thriller 10/10
Books By bookworm on 4/3/2007 8:44 AM
I have read Boston Teran’s thriller Never count out the Dead [ISBN 0 330 49104 0] before and I thought it was brilliant then, at a re-read I appreciate the excellence of the writing even more. The plot is so very clever – political intrigue, personal vendetta, botched cover-ups – are all there, and the writing is immediate and gripping. I have to say that this book has the very scariest female character I have ever seen in fiction, even thinking about her now makes me hope that there’s no equivalent in real
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Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks. Literary Fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 4/1/2007 8:12 AM
Sebastian Faulks literary fiction novel Human Traces [ISBN 978-0-099-45826-5] is reminiscent of the book I read a day or so ago – The Interpretation of murder – in that the subject matter – early psychiatry – was the same – and the viewpoints and polemic similar. The story, I felt, was rather stretched, and though well-written it wasn’t as well researched as it could have been - I did find the background stuff (supposed to be late 19th and early 20th century) contained a number of anachronisms
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The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld. Literary/Historical Mystery Fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 3/30/2007 12:23 PM
Jed Rubenfled’s historical mystery fiction novel The Interpretation of Murder [ISBN 978 0 7553 3142 0] is a quite amazing book in many different ways. Firstly, the historical background of early 20th century New York is fascinating – including the amusing social divisions – and equally well researched is the background to the story – Freud’s lecture visit (with Jung) to the states in 1909, which the author has cunningly contrived to write into a murder mystery. The psychoanalytic discourse is reassuringly authentic, but can be tedious when
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The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais. Crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 3/29/2007 3:15 PM
Robert Crais’ latest crime fiction novel The Two Minute Rule [ISBN 978 0 7528 7957 4] is not an Elvis Cole, but a gritty interesting and well-written table-turner where a newly released ex-con sets out to find a murderer. The plot is not all that complex, but the questions at the heart of it sets up a suspenseful narrative that builds and builds throughout the book – it only fails to get a 10/10 because he uses a couple of plot devices I find slightly cheating –and allows him to squirrel away key information until the end and then it looks a bit staged
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The Skin Gods by Richard Montanari. Thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 3/28/2007 10:28 AM
Richard Montanari’s novel The Skin Gods [ISBN 978 0 099 48689 3] is a dense book in many ways. It is not just that it’s a substantial read, but the plot is a complex mix of several stories which you feel may or may not come together. The narrative keeps moving forward all the time, but often adds only a sliver of information to the story out of context as each sub-story moves at the same pace. There are scads of red herrings and the reader can’t be sure which part of the plot each may well be connected with. The complexity is clever, and keeps you guessing.
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Darkness and Light by John Harvey. Crime thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 3/24/2007 4:10 PM
John Harvey’s Darkness and Light [ISBN 978 0 099 48995 5] is a well-written crime thriller, though the plot mechanism is so obvious that it begins to be hackneyed when you spot it. The crimes throw up suspects from the outset, each one is offered as a possibility, all but one are red herrings, but throughout the book you are invited to match the possibles against a flashback narrative of a young boy at a psychiatrist who is obviously our culprit
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Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman. Literary Fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 3/23/2007 4:01 PM
Alice Hoffman’s Skylight Confessions [CN 149600] is not my usual style of book. Its got an ethereal, ghostly feel, and though the story is simple (it could be told in a couple of sentences or so) the narrative is gripping and powerful and I confess I cried in several places. (This has not happened since the Kite Runner – but its not even as desperately sad as that was, its just so well written you are dragged into the story until you care what happens.)
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Brightness Falls by Jay McInerney. Literary Fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 3/22/2007 11:04 AM
Jay McInerney’s novel Brightness Falls [CN 5900] is one of those American almost riches to almost rags sagas full of angst and self-absorption. The plot is therefore simple, and the narrative predictable, even the underhand business dealings are no surprise. The characters are thoroughly drawn, (though American characters of this type get more and more foreign, I feel) and their foibles and views explored. The book is undoubtedly well written, which is why, even though it’s a long book, I did get to the end with only the minimal of skipping.
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Night Windows by Jonathan Smith. Thriller 6/10
Books By bookworm on 3/21/2007 11:00 AM
Jonathan Smith’s thriller Night Windows [ISBN 0 349 11893 0] gets some really good jacket crits – “an excellent and subtle novelist” “ a brilliant novel with a stunningly logical pay-off”, but I don’t think its quite so good. The plot is quite simple and revealed tediously – a double life or a doppleganger – and this is good as far as it goes, but the original character is quite stolid and boring – yes, I know this is to set against his shadow, but it doesn’t keep you on your seat, particularly. The writing is good, and. OK, subtle, but it’s only a fair read.
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Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan. Literary Fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 3/19/2007 9:01 AM
Amy Tan’s Saving fish from Drowning [ISBN 0 00 721616 5] is a deceptively light comedy, that has great depths to its underlying psychology, detailed observations and empathic views of difference. The plot is engaging and the narrative voice (of a dead person’s spirit) sets just the right viewpoint and tone for this amusing. ironic, multiculturally-playful, thought provoking novel.
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Twisted by Jeffrey Deaver. Crime fiction short stories 10/10
Books By bookworm on 3/18/2007 7:34 PM
Twisted, Jeffrey Deaver’s collection of short stories [ISBN 0 340 83389 0] is a delight of well-written superbly plotted and suspenseful stories. Though short stories are not my usual preferred medium, these are the very best of the genre. Each one delivers major twists on what is expected – as he says in his introduction, all rules for full-scale novels are off, and he can change the goalposts and expectations. There is a new Lincoln Rhyme short story – good it is too, and a plethora of seriously clever, intelligent other stories you should not miss.
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The Associate by Philip Margolin. Crime thriller 6/10
Books By bookworm on 3/16/2007 1:28 PM
Philip Margolin’s crime fiction novel The Associate [ISBN 0 7515 3243 6] is reminiscent of Scott Turow (without the overwhelming detail) and is a reasonable enough read. The plot is somewhat implausible, however, it starts off well and then goes off at a tangent for a long period and never really tightens up again. The narrative keeps going with some pace, and the characterisations are good enough for light fiction, but it isn’t as good as I expected it to be at the outset.
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The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid. Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 3/15/2007 5:39 PM
No question about it, Val McDermid writes well. The Grave Tattoo, her latest [ISBN 978 0 00 714287 3] is not her best (I still like the Wire in the Blood) but a workpersonlike crime novel with sufficient twists and interesting background to keep you reading. The plot features the identification of a mummified body in the Lake District, and the narrative slowly uncovers happenings in the past and the present that lead to violence. Characters are OK, but not overly memorable (I’ve forgotten a couple of names already).
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The Remedy by Michelle Lovric. Orange Long-list historical fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 3/14/2007 11:26 AM
Michelle Lovric’s The Remedy [ISBN 1 84408 137 0] is historical fiction set in the late 19th century partly in London and partly in Venice. It has a quite simple plot and plot devices of dual narratives and misunderstandings, and though the historical details and context are undoubtedly authentic there is just too much of it. By this I mean, it appears that activities that happened in the two places from 1890 to 1900 were all crammed into a narrative spanning a few months
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Omega by Jack McDevitt. Science fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 3/13/2007 2:37 PM
The jacket blurb of Jack McDevitt’s Omega [ISBN 0 441 01210 8] hails him as “the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke”, but don’t believe it. Clarke, perhaps, as he was never much good at the literary part – his ideas fine but the delivery boring. Omega is not good on either, particularly. This book is part of a saga, and I think I’m glad this is my first exposure to it. The plot is the size of the cosmos and suffers from a canvas moving apart at red-shift speeds
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The Small Hours of the Morning by Margaret Yorke. Crime fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 3/12/2007 8:54 AM
The Small Hours of the Morning [ISBN 0 7545 4494 9] is a re-print of one of Margaret Yorke’s very early novels and it shows – but famous names carry sales and perhaps died in the wool fans would find something to like. It is pretty bland. The plot is simple and quite easily guessable, the characters rather wooden and not particularly likeable, though the narrative is well written so the story flows, and so makes up for some of the basic lack.
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The Monsters of Gramercy Park by Danny Leigh. Thriller and more 9/10
Books By bookworm on 3/11/2007 10:20 AM
Danny Leigh’s The Monsters of Gramercy Park [ISBN 0 571 22906 9 ] is brilliantly written and has psychological depths rarely seen in what could be labelled as a thriller. The narrative has a number of devices switching from third person, to first, to reports, stories etc. which normally I would find distracting, but in this book adds to its interest and richness. The reader is captured at the outset and it becomes enthralling waiting to find out what happens. The reader is left with so many conflicting emotions, page by page.
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Brother Termite by Patricia Anthony. Good Science Fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 3/10/2007 10:57 AM
Patricia Anthony’s Brother Termite [ISBN 0 340 61843 4] is one of the best science fiction books I have read for a long time. The plot is quite simple but powerful and the narrative cleverly written to reveal the fundamental differences between the aliens and humans – not the usual boringly detailed descriptions of the scientific-but-not literate school of writers but with the slight quirks of dialogue and actions that suggest (but don’t club you with) apartness
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Reign in Hell by William Diehl. Armageddon scenario stuff 5/10
Books By bookworm on 3/8/2007 10:02 AM
William Diehl’s Reign in Hell [ISBN 0 7493 2284 5] is a novel featuring the right wing Christian militia in a fictional mega plan to take over America. Its not so much that it couldn’t happen, as much as you hope it couldn’t, but given the picture it paints of strangely incompetent folks in charge of either the country or the Christian militias you wouldn’t be surprised of such a series of cock-ups could happen. It could put you off American novels for years.
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Dance with Death by Barbara Nadel. Superior crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 3/6/2007 9:56 AM
Dance with Death by Barbara Nadel [ISBN 0 7553 2129 4] is the latest one in her series featuring her Turkish Detective Inspector Cetin Ikmen – to my mind equal to Rebus – with a more exotic and fascinating background. The plot is woven into the fabric both of the unsavoury present and the traditional past and unravels part by part in a gripping way.
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Lullaby Town by Robert Crais. Crime/Detective Fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 3/2/2007 2:36 PM
Lullaby Town by Robert Crais [ISBN 0 75381 700 0] is another mid-series re-released Elvis Cole American detective novel with his usual curved and twisty plot and moving-along narrative (whilst still managing to give a relaxed, laidback feel to the hero) – but again, what is the very best about Robert Crais is the superb characterisations of folks you can either dislike or like a lot, but never feel that they have only been airbrushed in because the author has run out of ideas.
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Second Genesis by Donald Moffitt. Science Fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 2/27/2007 2:00 PM
Second Genesis by Donald Moffitt [ISBN 0 7434 5861] is another mega journey with lots of time to set up characters to deliver polemics about stellar physics, the meaning of life the galaxy and everything, and descriptions about the intricate workings of alien stuff. The plot is rather broad brush, and the action measured in light years, not very high octane. What amazes me the most is that I read it all to the end – so it must be more addictive than I’m giving it credit for.
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Life Sentences by Alice Blanchard. Crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 2/25/2007 1:37 PM
Alice Blanchard’s Life Sentences [ISBN 0 316 73090 4] has a terrific plot, and a well-written interesting, suspenseful narrative. It is a delight to read among the wasteland of tedious fiction. The characters are flawed and real, and the descriptive fluency of her writing is excellent.
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The Sky so Big and High by John Barnes. Science Fiction 4/10
Books By bookworm on 2/22/2007 11:19 AM
John Barnes’s The Sky so Big and High [ISBN 0 765 3433 7] has a pretty fair plot, though the narrative seems turgid at points (you think, get on with it !) the ending is very good. The third person narrative has the intricate detail of good sci-fi, though it is mainly descriptive, with little fuel for the plot as the interminable circular trip goes on. It is near to the end of the book when the action begins to take off.
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Beyond Infinity by Gregory Benford. Sci Fi 7/10
Books By bookworm on 2/20/2007 7:11 PM
Gregory Benford is one of the major science fiction writers who are actually scientists – as well as big name writer. I think Beyond Infinity [ISBN 1 84149 188 8] is an expansion-write of an earlier story idea he had. You’ll recognise the style of book – where the strange future world happenings is a backdrop for a polemic dialogue on the meaning of life between the main characters. The descriptions of the strange lush animate vegetation of this future earth reminds me very much of Hothouse – a premier book of the genre for me.
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Safer than Houses by Frances Fyfield. Literary-type Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 2/19/2007 12:49 PM
I think I’ve been quite kind with my scoring for Frances Fyfield’s Safer than Houses [ISBN 0 7515 3621 0] because though its quite clever and well written, it isn’t the most zippy of reads. Reminiscent of Ruth Rendall, the convoluted plot meshes all the characters together in a strange circular and bizarre way. The characters themselves are kind of damaged and psychologically flaw
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The Lazarus Widow by Bill Knox Crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 2/18/2007 1:40 PM
Veteran British crime writer, Bill Knox left this book incomplete, however, Martin Edwards did a pretty good job of finishing the story. The Lazarus Widow [ISBN 0 094 97680 7] has a interesting plot, sound police procedural stuff, and a readable and fascinating Scottish River Clyde context.
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Indigo Slam by Robert Crais. American Crime thriller 9/10
Books By bookworm on 2/14/2007 10:16 AM
Robert Crais crime fiction book Indigo Slam [ISBN 0 75281 694 2] is a mid-series Elvis Cole detective novel and is up to the high standard of the others. Not only are the plots excellent and three-dimensional but the narrative moves along helped not only by the speedy action, but also by the deceptively simple- but immensely hard to carry off - wisecracking humour and nice slick dialogue
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The Lure by Bill Napier. SciFi thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 2/13/2007 10:46 AM
Bill Napier is a Scottish Astronomer so its not surprising that the science in this book is so authentic. The Lure [ISBN 0 7472 6727 8] has an excellent plot, and its factual background in physics and planetology makes it pretty convincing. The narrative is not just a story about political realism but also a fast-moving action thriller – and the characterisations and dialogue given the background of the author – entirely credible. Pretty refreshing for modern Science Fiction.
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The Tryst by Michael Dibdin. Crime thriller 5/10
Books By bookworm on 2/12/2007 3:33 PM
The Tryst is an early Michael Dibdin novel [ISBN 0 571 14221 4] and nowhere near up to the standard of his Aurelio Zen series. The Tryst is one of those books with a simplistic poorly-handled plot but with a quite compelling early narrative that promises so very much more. The characterisations are good, and build up the novel is early stages but that don’t prepare the reader for the strange ending.
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Executive Orders by Tom Clancy. Boys own adventure supremo 6/10
Books By bookworm on 2/11/2007 10:59 AM
You can just not fail to be impressed by this massive adventure tome. Executive Orders by Tom Clancy {ISBN 0 00 647975] is remarkably prescient – written before 9/11 it still foresees terrorists plots in a spooky way – though not exactly. It’s a mixture of a thriller and a political power story with his hero Jack Ryan propelled into the job as President just because everyone else is wiped out by a wayward aeroplane hitting the Washington Senate building
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Looking Good Dead by Peter James. Crime thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 2/8/2007 2:19 PM
Peter James’s Looking Good Dead [ISBN 0 330 43420 9} is not quite as good as Dead Simple, but has quite a lot going for it. There is an excellent corkscrew plot and a split narrative (baddies and police activity ) that keeps going pretty well, though at times I could have wished it moved ahead much quicker (why are the police so slow) – I was so tempted to skip half chapters along the way. Sorry!
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The Good, the Bad and the Undead by Kim Harrison. Science Fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 2/5/2007 1:25 PM
Kim Harrison’s The Good, the Bad and the Undead [ISBN 0 00 723611 5] starts off OK in setting the scene for the particular environment which is very sketchy – even though its obviously part of a series, I haven’t read any other, so perhaps the author thought you already knew the ins and outs of this world where weres and vamps are more like humans than witches are (or have I got it wrong ?). As it happens, the story gets more and more convoluted as the book progresses
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Nothing more than Murder by Jim Thompson. Vintage Crime thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 2/2/2007 12:30 PM
One of the Orion Crime Masterworks series, Nothing more than Murder by Jim Thompson [ISBN 0 75285 214 0] is not only plotted superbly, but is based on seriously clever insights into human behaviour, and with a slick narrative that conveys a sense of time and context that draws the reader on.
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The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin. Superior crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 1/31/2007 9:37 AM
Ian Rankin’s The Naming of the Dead [0 7528 6858 6] is so good its like an exercise in superior writing. Again featuring his imperfect but inspirationally dogged DI Rebus, he displays a talent for plotting and compelling narrative I have not met in any other contemporary writer. Its why it had to be the hardback rather than waiting for the paperback…..
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Gridlinked by Neal Asher. Science Fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 1/30/2007 11:26 AM
Neal Asher’s Sci Fi novel, Gridlinked [ISBN 0 330 48433 8] is very nicely put together, the plot coherent and the imagined world structured and interesting (without too many cheats) – the narrative builds suspense throughout the book and the characterisations of the humans at least, pretty rounded for a sci fi book.
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