Books - Book Aid
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. Crime fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 6/29/2007 9:07 AM
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George [ISBN 0 340 83129 4] is the very first of George’s Inspector Lynley mysteries (written in 1989) and is really one of her best. The characters of Lynley and Barbara Havers is much rougher than the television personas have smoothed – Haver’s working class edge is the same but Lynley is this upper class fop painted in two dimensions. However, saying that, the plot is seriously clever
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Perfect Match by Jodi Piccoult. Literary Fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 6/28/2007 3:49 PM
This novel, Perfect Match [ISBN 0 340 89722 8] is written to the usual Jodi Piccolt formula – common life tragedy padded in a long-winded narrative heavy on the psychology, but with a contrived feel. The plot of this one is simple but the underlying premise – if you’re a mother you can get away with anything even when you’re wrong – is the type of Piccoult sophistry we are by now used to.
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The Land of the Living by Nicci French. Crime fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 6/27/2007 8:48 AM
I have reviewed a number of books by Nicci French (do a search on the blog to find them) and this book, The Land of the Living [ISBN 0 141 00650 1 ], though I have read it before some time ago, is just as good on its re-read. The plot is excellent, tight and unguessable but beautifully planned and an unexpected ending. The narrative is grippingly suspenseful, and very believable
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The King of Lies by John Hart. American murder mystery 4/10
Books By bookworm on 6/26/2007 10:32 AM
John Hart’s novel The King of Lies [ISBN 13 978 0 312 36375 a] illustrates one of my increasing fears – that the American crime fiction novel is diverging further as its own genre and becoming more difficult to read, more introspective and self-regarding, more full of unresolved angst. This novel’s plot is pretty run of the mill – everything that is going to happen is signalled from the outset due to a particularly awful lead character
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The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. Historical fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 6/25/2007 11:24 AM
Phillipa Gregory’s historical novel The Boleyn Inheritance [ISBN 978 0 00 719033 1] is one of a series written about the Tudor period generally and the Boleyns in particular. Not only are these books very readable, but also they are meticulously faithful to historical background – everything that happens in the book, could have well happened. What she does is to put flesh onto historical fact – embroider dialogue from known behaviours, and uses the mechanism of changing first person accounts, which works very well as a way of giving different viewpoints, and elucidating what is happening
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Stripped by Brian Freeman. American Crime Fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 6/23/2007 8:55 AM
Brian Freeman’s crime fiction novel Stripped [ISBN 978 0 7553 2537 5 ] is a terrific read, and an example of a master storyteller, that can keep you engaged and wondering all the way through. Its one of his series where Jonathon Stride and Serena Dial are detectives, and though they are only mediocre characters when compared with other detective series, and, indeed, their relationship has so much angst it appears contrived, this doesn’t affect the quality of the plot or narrative, even with the dodgy gay and transsexuals just sneaked in there.
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The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. Historical Fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 6/22/2007 10:56 AM
Amitav Ghosh’s historical novel The Glass Palace [ISBN 0 00 651409 X] is an epic story of three generations of a family moving from Burma, Malaya and India at a time in the 20th century before the partition of India. An Indian, writing in English Amitav Ghosh’s brings new historical and human insights into the stories of the period though sometimes I felt the canvas was both too small and too large at the same time. Though the characters are drawn in detail with sympathy and understanding, the background historical and geographical information at times fades so much into the background its difficult to put the happenings into the context of historical happenings
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White Mughuls by William Dalrymple. Historical non-fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 6/21/2007 9:41 AM
William Dalrymple’s impressively researched historical non-fiction book, White Mughuls [ISBN 0 00 655096 7] was winner of the 2003 Wolfson History Prize, and this is not surprising. The account of the British in 18th century India blows away many of the accepted views of that time by using contemporary letters and papers used as sources for the first time
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Lifeless by Mark Billingham. Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 6/20/2007 1:01 PM
Mark Billingham’s crime fiction novel Lifeless [ISBN 0 7515 3616 4] I found a very heavy read. Its not that its boring, it just moves so slowly its hard to persist for long periods as the action is dripped out in very small globs. The plot is quite opaque at the outset even though you are led to believe its straightforward, it clearly isn’t. The narrative is full of detail but not a lot of it actually adds to moving the plot forwards
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A Fancy to Kill For by Hilary Bonner. Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 6/19/2007 3:16 PM
Hilary Bonner’s novel A Fancy to Kill For [ISBN 0 09 943586 1] is a nice, lively quick murder mystery interspersed with titillating details of more intimate happenings (I can’t call them relationships). A straightforward plot and a narrative you know there must be a twist in – and indeed there is.
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The Drowning Man by Michael Robotham. Crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 6/18/2007 8:47 AM
I find that I have read The Drowning Man by Michael Robotham [ISBN 0 7515 3478 1] before, but it is just so very good and so very cleverly written that I hadn’t a chance of remembering all the ins and outs of the plot and I enjoyed reading it just as much the second time. The plot is twisty and well constructed, but the narrative devices (a lost memory and flashbacks) even though terrible in the hands of a poor writer, are so very clever in this book at holding suspense all the way through – a bonus is that the ending has an unexpected twist.
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Good Morning Midnight by Reginald Hill. Crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 6/15/2007 8:44 AM
Reginald Hill’s crime fiction novel Good Morning Midnight [CN 124203] features the pair of Dalziel and Pascoe, and is the best Reginald Hill novel of this type I have read – I gave up either watching the pair on television, or even trying to read the novels because I find the character of Dalziel so repellent (but I have to say so cleverly manufactured, especially in this novel).
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Holy Fools by Joanne Harris. Historical/Literary fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 6/13/2007 8:23 AM
Joanne Harris’s novel Holy Fools [ISBN0 552 77001 9] is a brilliant read, though I haven’t joined the plaudits for all her novels, this is really addictive. The context of 17th century France may or may not be authentic, but it feels almost so, and the details of life in a convent make a fascinating narrative. Joanne Harris really knows how to tell a rich story.
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Flinch by Robert Ferrigno. American Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 6/11/2007 7:03 AM
This crime fiction novel, Flinch by Robert Ferrigno [ISBN 1 84561 464 X] is a well-written, edgy story, with a fair plot and a narrative that keeps you interested. Characterisations are fine, and though quickly-drawn they nonetheless do the job, even though the psycho sticks out like a sore thumb (and indeed, is meant to).
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The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. Literary Fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 6/9/2007 8:58 AM
I know Jodi Picoult is flavour of the month and darling of the book clubs, but this book, The Tenth Circle [ISBN 078 0 340 83552 4], feels as if its been churned out from a list of the most mawkish sentiments to press as many emotional buttons as possible, with less regard to quality of plot or narrative
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Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Literary Fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 6/7/2007 3:26 PM
Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Prodigal Summer [ISBN 0571 20648 4] is a triple narrative centred around significant times in the lives of six people. It is charged and erotic in places and conveys a strong sense of place but it is the characters that live with you after the book is finished. One of the new breed of novels that celebrates relationships between much older women and young men I notice that we haven’t yet reached the point where they are successful ! Plus ca change!
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Weaving Shadows by Margaret Murphy. Crime fiction/thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 6/5/2007 8:44 AM
Margaret Murphy’s crime fiction novel Weaving Shadows [ISBN 0 340 82055 1] is a pretty good read – the plot is fine and the narrative quite pacy – and with a very good ending (always a bonus). However, I have to rate it down because the main character is one of my pet dislikes – a character who has had bad experiences in a previous novel and who carries the angst into the next, so crippling her ability to do anything much at all. Not only is she an absolute pain to her family, but is unable to function at work – this allows many vagaries in the plot when clues are missed or deductions screaming
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Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve. Literary Fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 6/4/2007 8:18 AM
Anita Shreve’s novel Strange Fits of Passion [ISBN 0 349 10586 3] is so very well written we have to forgive weaknesses in plot and storyline (alas we know what is going to happen from page one) and some slowness in the narrative (the skippers amongst us will be sorely tried in parts) because the book has some weight and feeling and draws you in.
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Until Justice is Done by Christine McGuire Court drama 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/31/2007 2:29 PM
Christine McGuire’s Until Justice is Done [ISBN 0 7493 2040 0] is quite a slim book which is why I decided to take it away on an overnighter holiday, and a good choice it was. An excellent plot even though about a serial rapist which is becoming a little passé as everyone has this as a topic, but she manages to write a lively and readable book, even though the rock hard driven female attorney about to expire through stress can be annoying at times as she manages to be as clueless
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The Kremlin Device by Chris Ryan. Adventure/thriller 9/10
Books By bookworm on 5/30/2007 2:14 PM
As far as Chris Ryan is concerned I’m going to have to take back all my negative comments about Boys Own Adventures – because he writes them so very well. Chris Ryan’s The Kremlin Device [ISBN 0 09 191105 2] is well plotted, with a narrative expertly written for maximum suspense and action, and also with characters you know he knows well. From the opening chapter of his parachute drop right up to the sweaty end, it really paces along. His background is believably authentic –of course, especially the army stuff, and altogether is a good read.
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The Blood-Dimmed Tide by Rennie Airth, Crime/Police procedural 7/10
Books By bookworm on 5/29/2007 9:13 AM
Rennie Airth’s the Blood Dimmed Tide [ISBN 0 330-48472-9] is set in 1932, and has a pleasing, countryside context backing a quite chilling thriller, the plot is straightforward and the narrative nicely tucked in with the time and situation – no rushing about for the police in these times, and the characters believable
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The Precipice by Ben Bova. The Asteroid Wars:1 Science Fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 5/24/2007 8:16 AM
It appears that Ben Bova is one of the “masters” of Science Fiction given the plaudits of the jacket blurbs (though I note that some of the journals are obscure to say the least). This book The Precipice [ISBN 0 340 840090 0] – the first book of a series the Asteroid Wars, makes sure for me that there won’t be a second. The giants of early sci-fo, such as Asimov or Clarke, managed to be scientists AND writers. Ben Bova may well be a scientist, but I bet he never went to any classes for writing, and I wish he had.
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Atlantis by David Gibbins. Grail search type adventure 7/10
Books By bookworm on 5/23/2007 2:37 PM
David Gibbin’s adventure novel Atlantis [ISBN 0 7553 2422 6] is another of those irritatingly popular search-for-lost treasure-type books (no prizes in guessing what they’re looking for) with similar strengths and weaknesses to many of the others. The strengths are the inherent interest of the search – unravelling a deep long-term mystery, and lots of authentic historical background together with gung-ho action and baddies on the trail making considerable suspense. The weaknesses are
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Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. Literary fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/22/2007 8:25 AM
Mary Lawson’s literary fiction novel Crow Lake [Vintage books] is the archetypal Reading Club choice. Well written, a narrative with psychological depth, fascinating context [the wilds of Canada] and a readable story.
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Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Literary Fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 5/21/2007 11:58 AM
This is a quite amazing book – Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky [ISBN 978 0 099 48878 1] Irene Nemirovsky was a remarkable woman, a multilingual Russian Jew who was in France during its occupation and during this time she wrote the two sections of this book, before she was taken to Auschwitz where she died in 1942 – and this is one of the reasons this book is just so gripping. The book tells perceptively of the time when the Germans were about to move into Paris and there was a major outflow into the countryside –
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The Glory Boys by Gerald Seymour. Spy/terrorist thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/19/2007 1:22 PM
This boys own adventure stuff is not usually my kind of reading but The Glory Boys, spy/terrorist thriller by Gerald Seymour is very readable. It is realistically plotted, with a swift-moving narrative and though characterisations are not brilliant, Jimmy, the alcoholic crumpled secret service dial-an-assassin is very nicely portrayed.
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Promise me by Harlan Coben. Crime fiction/thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 5/17/2007 6:21 AM
Harlan Coben’s crime mystery fiction Promise me [ISBN 978 0 7528 7821 8] is superbly plotted –the mysterious disappearance of a girl starts the book and the step by step following her trail forms a suspenseful and readable book – with an excellent twist of an ending – which now we expect from this writer.
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Archangel by Paul Watkins. Literary fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/16/2007 9:04 AM
I loved the atmosphere of Paul Watkin’s novel Archangel [ISBN 0 571 17717 4] even though the images are bleak and primeval: the story is powerful and interesting, and the characters, though not written with depth, show psychological shrewdness in their personas. It is set in North Maine, close to the Canadian border, amongst the bleak Algonquin wilderness, and evokes in us that mysterious uncertainty that large untamed areas call from us.
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Secret Smile by Nicci French. Thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 5/15/2007 12:04 PM
Nicci French’s novel Secret smile [ISBN 0 718 14519 4] is well written, as usual, with a quite relentless narrative which builds and builds suspense. It isn’t, however, a pleasant read and I found myself wishing I could get to the end quicker. It’s a book that makes you squirm – the portrait of obsession is so good – but its also unpleasant and makes the reader feel (at least me) feel uncomfortable – because it is really so believable.
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The distance between us by Maggie O’Farrell. Award winning literary fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/14/2007 12:01 PM
Maggie O’Farrell’s The distance between us [ISBN 0 7553 0266 4] won the 2005 Somerset Maugham Award and you’ll see why when you read it. Its one of those beautifully written double narratives of two separate people’s stories that you know will come together before the end. It’s a travel and romance between two folks who haven’t met yet , complicated identities (the novel calls them the hyphenated people – Italian American, Hong Kong British) and sisterly bonds
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Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley. Psychological mystery thriller 9/10
Books By bookworm on 5/12/2007 12:35 PM
If you haven’t read Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley [ISBN 0 00 654747 8] then you should just go out and get hold of it. It has a brilliant plot at its core, but the way the narrative is woven in time – with skirtings into the past and just past to mine around a situation from different viewpoints – enables the reader to consider and re-consider evidence and reasons for actions
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Undercurrents by Frances Fyfield. Psychological mystery/thriller 9/10
Books By bookworm on 5/11/2007 12:05 PM
Frances Fyfield’s novel undercurrents [ISBN 0 7515 3028 X] is an excellent read; not only is the plot intriguing, and the characterisations so beautifully observed, but the faded seaside out of season atmosphere recalls sights and sounds and smells (not so very attractive in some cases) so very cleverly. You can almost feel the rain and cutting blustery wind each time the characters step out of doors. The story is compelling and addictive to read,
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Black Waltz by Patricia Melo. Literary fiction Brazilian author. 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/10/2007 3:31 PM
Patricia Melo’s Black Waltz [ISBN 0 7475 7372 7] is a skilfully written account of a relationship fracturing with increasingly unreasonable jealously. The marriage cracks and then starts to disintegrate and this is so skilfully built in the narrative that the pressure is cranked up a little at a time, until the reader cannot imagine how the author will resolve the conflict
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The Keeper by Sarah Langan. Supernatural thriller 1/10
Books By bookworm on 5/9/2007 12:03 PM
It’s not really Sarah Langan’s fault that her novel The Keeper [ISBN 0 7553 3371 3] is part of a genre I dislike (and I didn’t know this when I picked up the book). The plot is obscure (I still don’t know what it was all about and I did read most of it) the narrative is bleak and the misery relentless. A beautiful but deranged young girl, abused by her father, grows up into something that haunts the town.
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The Caller by Alex Barclay. Thriller 5/10
Books By bookworm on 5/8/2007 10:53 AM
Its unfortunate, but I have read The Caller by Alex Barclay [ISBN 978 0 00 719534 3] in the middle of a series of diabolical books, and it just seems to have joined them in my mind. This is written as a sequel to an earlier book where his family had been involved with the killer – and the emotions dragged their way through this novel – which is always very difficult not to seem contrived and in the way. Apart for that its just another gruesome serial killer
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Living Dangerously by Katie Fforde. Light humorous literary fiction/chick lit 6/10
Books By bookworm on 5/7/2007 10:02 AM
Katie Fforde’s novel Living Dangerously [ISBN 0 14 024330 5] was published in 1995, and already some of the attitudes are already beginning to look passé – the story about a 35 year old single woman, lefty, hippyish, working in a whole food café (for peanuts !) and though rubenesque very attractive to, but not interested in, men. I can hardly give the plot away if I say that the story
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Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Literary fiction 6.5/10
Books By bookworm on 5/6/2007 3:18 PM
David Mitchell’s novel Black Swan Green [ISBN 978 0 340 82280] is covered with a load of amazingly good jacket crits, and, indeed, it is very well written. However, it is not clear exactly what kind of a book it is, you could say it’s a rite-of-passage-book about a teenager; or about family life in the 1980s, or an insight into the problems of stuttering for an adolescent, or a recreated pastiche of 1982, and its all of these, but it’s a lighter read than the crits suggest
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Panic by Jeff Abbott. Political conspiracy thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 5/3/2007 10:05 AM
Jeff Abbott’s novel Panic [ISBN 978 0 7515 3851] has got excellent reviews and I can see why – though the American thriller genre is becoming stranger and more OTT (America is portrayed by many writers in this genre to be a strange twisted place to the average Brit and becomes more and more foreign and paradoxically, less interesting to me). The plot is quite breathtakingly amazing – from the outset Panic is just that – a frenzied series of actions created by inexplicable external events
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Equinox by Michael White. Ancient secret societies strike again 6/10
Books By bookworm on 5/2/2007 5:41 PM
Michael White’s Equinox [ISBN 0 09 950523 1] is another one of those novels where ancient secret societies surface in the modern day because of the now possibility of gaining some wonderful prize triggered by events. This time it’s the old Philosopher’s stone ploy and the resurgence of alchemy in the heart of Oxford no less. I’m amused by the idea, but, in fact, the author is knowledgeable about the historical context, though I barely forgive him for the seriously patronising afterword where he “reveals the facts behind the fiction” which just takes stuff out of an encyclopaedia and reveals
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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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