Books - Book Aid
Exile by Denise Mina. Scottish Noir crime 9/10
Books By bookworm on 1/31/2008 10:28 AM
I really have to give Exile by Denise Mina [ISBN 0 593 04] a high score because it is written with such realism and perceptive insights. It is well written and thought provoking. It has an excellent plot. Its characters are multi dimensional and drawn with amazingly observed human touches few notice. However, I have to also say it is raw and brutal; it is beyond “gritty” it is uncomfortable and deeply depressing in parts. You wish some brightness could filter into these Glaswegian low-lives. It took me a long time to read because I only read relatively little at a time, and that way I could appreciate its quirky ironic humour without being too down afterwards. If you read for escape, you wouldn’t want to escape to here.
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Harm by Brian Aldiss. Science Fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 1/30/2008 3:22 PM
Well, the master science fiction writer is certainly keeping his stories up to date. Brian Aldiss’s Harm [ISBN 978 0 7156 3699 2] deals with the current concern about Guantanamo and Abu Graib together with issues of insanity and worlds within the mind. I have to say that it is quite deeply depressing and thought provoking, and if you read books for pleasure rather than getting slugged in the head, then this is not for you. It is quite unrelenting and though it deals with deep issues of the relationship of religious belief, oppression and violence, it does not offer anything as antidote.
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Kill Me by Stephen White. American crime thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 1/29/2008 12:12 PM
There’s no doubt about it, Kill Me by Stephen White [ISBN 978 0 7515 3629 –4] is mostly very good indeed. The plot is just a bit different (not particularly plausible, but suspend your disbelief and its OK). Mind you, the narrative is one of those that starts at the end and works back in a kind of haphazard way so the reader reads on to find out what is happening. Something pretty awful, its clear, but why ?
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Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. Literary non-fiction: biography 10/10
Books By bookworm on 1/28/2008 1:41 PM
Bill Bryson’s biography of Shakespeare [ISBN 978 0 00 719789 7] is full of his scholarship and research on Shakespeare, meticulously referenced – but what makes it such a brilliant book is how well it is written. Whether you are a particular afficiando of Shakespeare or not, the book is written so cogently – like a very readable story – which makes what little is known about Shakespeare into a highly plausible, interesting biography.
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Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen. American crime thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/26/2008 9:29 AM
Cody McFadyen’s thriller Shadow Man [ISBN 0 340 84006 4] is seriously gruesome in parts and that’s why I’ve rated it down – it is quite unremittingly noir. The heroine has no respite from start to finish, which though this makes for suspenseful reading, it can be inappropriate for a late night read – or even a relaxing one. Technically, its quite good, though you’ll recognise the plot which has been laundered many times – you know, past nightmares coming back to get you. However, you will not guess what is happening for some time. If you can get the book or it gets lent to you, try it.
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In the Woods by Tana French. Irish Mystery/thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 1/25/2008 10:54 AM
Tana French’s mystery thriller In the Woods [ISBN 978 0 340 92476 1] is a debut novel, and very good it is too. There is a stonking plot which hooks you from the outset, and a slowish narrative that has some flashback of an old murder tied in, perhaps, in some way with a current case. It feels, at times, too long for the suspense it has to carry. Large dense books such as this, however, good value, have to be read in several sessions and the more complex the plot the more difficult it is to remember nuances of hints or clues over several days. Having said that, it is so very well planned and written, it’s a pleasure to see a new author so skilled.
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Trial and Error by Anthony Berkeley. Vintage Greenback English crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/23/2008 9:49 AM
Anthony Berkeley’s crime fiction novel [First published 1937] notwithstanding its dated characters (this wouldn’t matter if the authors didn’t make them speak in such a twee way – surely middle class people who didn’t seem to work weren’t as insufferable as this were they? Well yes, they probably were). The story is nicely plotted and though the book is really too long, so the plot is strung further than the reader’s attention span, it shifts gears well. Good ending too.
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The Secret Vanguard by Michael Innes. Vintage English Greenback mystery fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 1/22/2008 10:04 AM
Michael Innes’s mystery fiction novel The Secret Vanguard [First published 1940] is reflective of the time and the plot deals with wartime spies and underhand dealing by the enemy. Set mostly in the Highlands of Scotland the story features a very modern Bond-type heroine full of derring do, plus Michael Innes’s Inspector Appleby, who has lightning thoughts but snail’s action. The mystery is set up in a pretty clunky way using a strange, noticeable code and the early and middle part of the book move along quite well. It only gets very strange near the end, but that’s par for mysteries when the time for rational explanation looms.
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The Follower by Patrick Quentin. Vintage Greenback British-ish mystery fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 1/20/2008 12:06 PM
Patrick Quentin, it seems, is a British writer living abroad. The Follower [First published 1950] is set first in New York and then in Mexico. Though the contextual details are pretty thin, the plot is OK, and the story moves along quickly. The characters are not as dated as those in English settings of the time, but still one or two are pretty two dimensional. Its not a bad read if you keep skipping.
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More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham. Vintage Greenback English crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/19/2008 9:47 AM
Margery Allingham’s More Work for the Undertaker [First published 1949] appears extremely dated, but the plot is not bad, and it is an amusing read. This “press comment” printed in her book says it all: ….”only Margery Allingham’s creations have these impudently inevitable names ….. Here are not only the impeccable detection [not really] one demands of any practitioner ……Miss Allingham carries literacy lightly and if a couple of her latest characters do occasionally converse in quotations from George Peele [hands up all those who don’t know who he is] and the Gentlemen’s magazine that is only, I’m sure, her little dig at the esoteric erudition of the dons who dabble in death…..” So there.
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The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin. Vintage English Greenback Mystery 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/18/2008 9:48 AM
Edmund Crispin’s The Long Divorce [First published 1951] has quite a good plot, and Mr Datchery AKA as his sleuth Gervase Fen, is less annoyingly twee than in some of his books. The story has several strands and many clues along the way (though Crispin, unlike Christie does not give the reader all the information) so the narrative moves well, though the collection of “typical” characters in this village are hardly representative. The predilection of the males to ask someone to marry them after (or even before) the first kiss now appears very strange. They kiss chastely. “Does this mean we are to get married ?” “Yes”. No messing.
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Aphrodite Means Death by John Appleby. Vintage English Greenback mystery fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 1/17/2008 10:43 AM
John Appelby’s mystery fiction [First published 1951] has not dated as much as others of the genre stuck in the English upper middle class and their sometimes vacuous lifestylea, and though the behaviours of the heroine are a bit limp wrested, on the whole this is a very good mystery story. The plot, based around an amnesic recluse in Greece, in early post-war, together with a well-written suspenseful narrative, keeps the reader guessing for much of the book. The premise that someone may have found the Venus de Milo’s arms may be risible, but the book rises well above it.
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The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson. Swedish crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 1/16/2008 4:04 PM
Its not that I particularly like the plot of The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson [ISBN 13: 9878 0 312 32768 2], though the ending is nicely unexpected. Its not even, for that matter, the characters, who are a little flat at times, though this could be the translation. What I really liked is the wonderful glimpses it gives of life in Uppsala (so reminiscent of early Henning Mankell) the chill of the cold snow fitting with the chill of the weirdo psychotic murderer.
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Uncommon Danger by Eric Ambler. Vintage British Greenback spy/mystery fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/15/2008 3:57 PM
Reminiscent of the James Bond precursors, Eric Ambler’s Uncommon Danger [First published 1937] has a plot that includes protagonists from across the whole of Europe. Set in the pre-WW2 time the book gives a fascinating insight into the strained relationships between various factions in Europe at that time, as well as being the ideal context for a spy/mystery thriller. The plot is all over the place, as befits such a book, whilst so is the action – it really does zip along, and never gets boring until the second part where the reader gets a little impatient whilst the good-baddies sort themselves out.
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The Telling by Ursula Le Guin. Science Fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 1/13/2008 2:22 PM
I don’t think I am being ageist when I say that Le Guin is much past her best with this book (one of the Hainish cycle) published when she was 71 {The Telling First published 2000] – its much more that she seems to be running out of sharp plots. This book may have a plot, and the story a point, but it takes some searching for. If it wasn’t for respect for Le Guin, I doubt I would have bothered. Watching paint dry is racy up the speed of development of the narrative, but you may well differ in opinion.
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Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh. Vintage English Greenback mystery fiction 4/10
Books By bookworm on 1/12/2008 4:21 PM
Ngaio Marsh’s Death in Ecstasy [First published 1936] must have one of the most seriously contrived plots in the history of crime fiction. One wonders how she ever got into print – never mind be as successful as she eventually became. Still …. As well as an awful plot, the characters are even more contrived and totally unbelievable, and it’s a wonder that Nigel Bathgate (always hanging around like a spare part) and his friend Inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard ever became popular, given their total lack of clue in investigation. If you like should-be tongue in cheek novels about strange religious sects, then this is for you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Certainly don’t believe the jacket blurb “ a really clever thriller”.
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The Crime at Black Dudley by Marjorie Allingham. Vintage English Greenback mystery fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 1/11/2008 4:11 PM
I have to say that the greatest crime at Black Dudley was that Allingham wrote this book in the first place. However, The Crime at Black Dudley [ First published 1929] is one of a large number written by Marjorie Allingham, this one featuring the very weird Mr Albert Campion as the foppish sleuth. It is most interesting as an example of her early work and plots you should leave alone – it is also of its time and illustrates the pretty useless lives of the upper middle class at this period., though many seem to be nostalgic for the period.
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Dead March in Three Keys by Peter Curtis. Vintage Greenback murder mystery 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/9/2008 2:17 PM
Peter Curtis’s murder mystery novel Dead March in Three Keys [First published 1940] is quite nicely constructed. The story is told in three parts – a narrative taken up by different characters- which reveals thoughts and motives. It moves quite quickly and the reader becomes intrigued as to how the central triangle of relationships will be resolved.
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A Kiss before Dying by Ira Levin. Vintage Greenback murder mystery fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 1/8/2008 9:53 AM
Ira Levin’s first murder mystery A Kiss Before Dying [first published 1954] is a very clever book and when published labelled as “a masterpiece of the genre” which it is. The plot is brilliant – and the narrative allows the reader to know everything that is happening, and follow the murderer through his ruthless pursuit of three sisters, one after another. The suspense is kept up all through the novel to its satisfying ending. If you’re a crime aficionado and have never read this, try to get hold of it !
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Take only as Directed by James Byrom. Vintage British Greenback fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 1/7/2008 1:00 PM
James Byrom’s crime fiction novel Take Only as Directed [First published 1959] appears to have modern content but embedded in a very dated style which is heralded by the jacket blurb “James Byrom shows a cheerful grasp of the Knightsbridge type and he tells his tale with a well-developed and witty gift for the unexpected phrase”. For unexpected phrase read “twee and affected”. It is also true that the reader can have scant sympathy for his characters without a brain cell between them. Having said that the plot isn’t all that bad …….
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A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. Vintage British Greenback mystery 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/6/2008 3:50 PM
Ngaio Marsh’s fiction novel A Man Lay Dead [First published 1934] is an early novel featuring her detective Inspector Alleyn. The plot is pretty complex as are so many detective novels of the period (and like them not always believable though diverting at the denouement) and the narrative keeps moving all the way through, though often packed with extraneous detail - those interested in the period will delight in the way the lives and mores of the rich are revealed often innocently enough. This early Inspector Alleyn does at times have some of the effete and flippant verbal characteristics of the time, but not irritatingly so.
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Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham. Vintage British Greenback Mystery 5/10
Books By bookworm on 1/5/2008 3:12 PM
Margery Allingham’s Mystery Mile is one of her early crime fiction novels [First published 1930] and suffers from the interminable plots and dated dialogue characteristic of her early books. The plot has so many red herrings and twists it stretches the readers credibility beyond fantasy, and the dialogue of the strangest sleuth of the period, Albert Campion - camp, arch and downright silly as it is, is quite annoying. However, if one can bear these, the context and atmosphere of the novel has several interesting features for the vintage enthusiast.
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The Case of the Second Chance by Christopher Bush. Vintage Greenback Mystery 7/10
Books By bookworm on 1/4/2008 11:49 AM
Christopher Bush’s mystery novel The Case of the Second Chance [First published 1946] has an interesting structure – divided into three parts following the stages in the investigation- which adds impetus at each stage even though the author makes clear that the reader has all the information needed to solve the mystery after the first part. The narrative is quite low key and chatty but readable, and the characters though a little stereotyped like novels of this time, reasonably rounded. The time and context gives a fillip to the modern reader – I find it adds a particular charm.
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Swan Song by Edmund Crispin. Vintage English Greenback mystery fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 1/3/2008 4:20 PM
Edmund Crispin’s novel Swan Song (First published 1947) and features the strange sleuth Gervase Fen (it appears that crime writers of this time felt they had to have detectives who were strange people, evidenced by their affected flippant speech: the preface says that Fen is “pompous, self-willed and insouciant” and that says it all !). Notwithstanding the occasionally annoying Fen, the book has a nice intelligent plot, and the straightforward narrative is pacy and interesting, given the background of an opera company, which feels authentic. The denouement is classic and the answers to the murder mystery unexpected.
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Trent’s Last Case by E C Bentley. Vintage English Greenback Mystery 8/10
Books By bookworm on 1/2/2008 11:04 AM
For such an elderly crime fiction book this is less dated than many written up to 40 years later. E C Bentley’s Trent’s Last Case [First published 1912) has an excellent plot and a pretty modern detective. The narrative moves forward smartly, uncovering just enough clues to keep the reader guessing – and it has an unexpected ending (used by many others much later, but still clever for its time). Agatha-Christie-like Bentley leaves the reader all the clues revealed by the detective Trent, who is surprisingly modern if you can forget the very few arch “clever” comments which are typical of sleuths in later mystery novels (such as Campion
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There Came both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes. Vintage British Greenback fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 1/2/2008 11:03 AM
Michael Innes’s There Came both Mist and Snow [ Penguin 1958] is one of his early books featuring Inspector Appelby, and is typical of the Agatha Christie genre of murder and crime in big houses. The plot is suitably obscure with all kinds of red herrings and a load of unlikely characters gathered together (you expect to see Colonel Mustard in the Library). It is, however, fascinating to read for the pleasure of finding out who did it anyway.
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The Sleeper by Holly Roth. Vintage American Greenback fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 12/31/2007 10:22 AM
Holly Roth’s The Sleeper (Penguin first pub 1955) is surprisingly modern in feel, without the stilted dialogue and wooden characters that typify British crime fiction of this age. The plot is good – and the narrative hold good suspense all the way through – only the ending is a little weak after all that build up. Interesting characters set up by the plot.
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The Dead Hour by Denise Mina. Scottish Noir crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 12/30/2007 11:27 AM
Denise Mina’s crime fiction novel The Dead Hour [ISBN 978 0 553 81560 3] is the first of her books that I’ve read, but she has written another six books featuring Paddy Meehan, the journalist before this one. It’s a pity I will have to read them out of order as this can be very confusing, but read them I will. Mina is just brilliant: the plot is, of itself, nothing extraordinary, but the way that Mina weaves the rich context of the background (the seamy side of Glasgow) with the reality and thickness of her characters makes them come alive to the reader and engaging their sympathy or dislike. The double narrative is not intrusive as this is not a story chopped up like many literary butcher, but simultaneous happenings that the reader can quickly weave into the plot. Go out and buythis now !
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The Murmur of Stones by Thomas H Cook. Mystery thriller 8/10
Books By bookworm on 12/29/2007 11:20 AM
Thomas H Cook’s mystery thriller The Murmur of Stones [ISBN 10 1 84724 071 2] is well-written with an unusual structure that intrigues the reader and keeps one guessing. The central issue is given in glimpses, in snippets and not really revealed until the end – a method that often annoys me – but this is very well written. The narrative consist of two strands, both first person by the story narrator: the first strand a reflection on the meaning of issues as discussed with a sympathetic policeman and the second a flashback of particular incidents illustrating the first. You feel you can anticipate the ending –but this changes as the novel proceeds. Clever book.
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Glass Tiger by Joe Gores. American spy thriller 7/10
Books By bookworm on 12/28/2007 2:43 PM
Joe Gores novel Glass Tiger [ISBN 10 1 84724 072 0] is quite a good read (in spite of being one of those American novels involving that strange almost mythical organisation the CIA). The plot appears straightforward but has some nice quirks, and despite the subject matter the narrative quite zips along, and the characterisations have moments of interest, though they are a little formulaic.
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Depths by Henning Mankell. Rather strange fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 12/19/2007 8:03 PM
The two other Mankell fans I know also found this book seriously weird (after getting used to Kurt Wallender this came as a surprise). Henning Mankell’s Depths [ISBN 978 0 099 48865 1] reads as an author’s obsession – nothing less would drive the research this book must have taken. It has little plot as such, but a convoluted story. The atmosphere is heavy and full of angst of the mentally out of sync person, and as I read the book it had almost a hypnotic effect –
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The Dead Place by Stephen Booth. Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 12/16/2007 10:34 AM
Stephen Booth’s crime fiction novel The Dead Place [ISBN 0 00 717208 7] is another book that is only good in parts. The plot appears, at the outset, much better than it is, and not a little derivative. The narrative (apart from the extensive convoluted quotes from the murderer’s tapes) does move along quite well, and the two main characters are sympathetically drawn. I was tempted to skip wodges of it, but did read it to the end.
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All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren. American classic fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 12/15/2007 10:24 AM
This 1946 book has been recently republished as it has been made into a film starring Sean Penn, Jude Law and Kate Winslet. Robert Penn Warren’s book, All the King’s Men [0 141 02696 0] is a significant novel about American politics, by a three times Pulitzer prize winner and America’s first poet laureate. It is a free-flowing, heavy-duty book with quite amazingly crafted characters which could only be part of the fluid American political process. Of its age, it is not politically correct, but has more honestly for that. I didn’t find the book easy to read – its density meant I had to read it over several days, and each time I picked it up again I needed to re-read the last chapter to pick up the nuances of the story.
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Last Known Victim by Erica Spindler. American Crime fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 12/13/2007 9:51 AM
Erica Spindler’s crime fiction novel Last Known Victim [ISBN 978 0 7783 0162 2] I found very patchy. The plot appears to be interesting, though the first half is much tighter than the second; the narrative intersperses pacy action with long interminable sections where there is plenty of action but no movement in the plot. The characters are spotty – for some there is more spurious detail than the plot needs and others seem to be not quite there yet.
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Snow Blind by P J Tracy. American crime fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 12/9/2007 3:59 PM
P J Tracy’s crime fiction novel Snow Blind [ISBN 978 0 141 01922 2] was a really good read. The plot grips from the outset and the pacy narrative gets hold and keeps you interested – and it has a particularly skilled denouement and resolution with unguessable twists. What I most like was the atmospheric context – I’m always a sucker for winter tales and this one, Minnesota in the snow transports the reader right into that world and you can feel yourself freezing along with the characters.
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Temporary Sanity by Rose Connors. American courtroom fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 12/8/2007 7:04 PM
Rose Connors legal crime fiction novel Temporary Sanity [ISBN 0 7499 3498 0] is much better than you are led to believe by the initial premise of the story. The plot is very good indeed – and as the courtroom drama appears to be open-and-shut with no wriggle room it is amazing how Connors develops the story in a believable way. The writing is tight and authentic, and the characterisations, whilst not particularly well developed, do not hijack the plot or irritate the reader.
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The Divide by Nicholas Evans. American Literary/mystery fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 12/7/2007 1:49 PM
Author of the Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans, has written this excellent novel The Divide [ISBN 0 7515 3934 1] with a similar feel. The story (rather than plot) is interesting and made compelling by the way the narrative is structured. I usually don’t like chopped up narratives because they seem to be gratuitously snipped up with little thought – but in The Divide the narrative is masterly – the story moves along naturally and easily........
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A Passion for Killing by Barbara Nadel. Turkish crime fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 11/25/2007 2:14 PM
Barbara Nadel is one of my favourite authors – she may not be the best crime writer, but the atmosphere of her stories set in Turkey featuring Inspector Ikmen are brilliant, and this one, A Passion for Killing [ISBN 978 0 7553 2134 6] is her latest and is no exception. The plot is nicely convoluted and the context (around specialist Turkish carpets) quite fascinating. What makes it as usual is the humanity and intelligence of the central character, the chain-smoking family centred Ikmen, and his side kick Suleyman now with his estranged marriage repaired.
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Dark House by Theresa Monsour. American Crime fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 11/22/2007 9:12 AM
Theresa Monsour’s crime thriller Dark House [ISBN 0 7515 3821 3] is a well-written story, with an above-average plot. The split narrative moves the story along along well, though the characters are clunky and not always believable. What made the book for me was the atmospheric background of Minnesota in winter, with a world shut down with cold and the limits this puts on people’s lives. The author ekes out the suspense and though the ending is not unexpected, the reader has to work for it.
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The Darkness Inside by John Rickards. American Crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 11/19/2007 6:39 PM
John Rickard’s crime fiction novel, The Darkness Inside [ISBN 978 0 141 01116 4] is a pretty good read overall. The plot is refreshingly original, with a number of surprising twists and turns, especially the ending whilst the narrative is straightforward and brisk Only the characters are a little lacklustre – I know authors can’t make their detectives too bright or they would find stuff out too soon, but sometimes you can get annoyed at the slow way their thinking works !
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Tai Pan by James Clavell. Historical world fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 11/17/2007 9:40 AM
I’ve scored Tai Pan, this historical fiction-based-on-historical-fact-ish novel by James Clavell as a 6 only because of its residual interest in an area of history (the formation of Hong Kong) I knew little about. However, it would have been more productive to read a non-fiction history, I feel. The book is a very dense narrative peopled with two dimensional characters who are either pretty bad or insipidly good. And it is very long and can become very tedious if one tries to finish it quickly. If you have a boring weekend ahead, it may be worth your while.
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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Literary World fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 11/14/2007 1:18 PM
Khaled Hosseini, author of the wonderful but (I found) depressing novel The Kite Runner, has written a second book with a background of Afganistan under the Taliban, A Thousand Splendid Suns [ISBN 978 0 7475 8297 7]. Not quite as wrenching a tale as The Kite Runner, but this book is still very negative about Afganistan under the Taliban, though the story line is much more positive. The narrative is quite enthralling and the reader easily becomes engaged in the (sad) lives of the characters. It is, however, a story primarily about love and friendship between women, and therefore has many enlightening aspects
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Sovereign by C J Sansom. Historical crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 11/12/2007 9:25 AM
C J Samsom’s Historical crime fiction book Sovereign [ISBN 978 0 330 43608 3] is the very best book of its type I have read. Set, like Philippa Gregory’s books, in the time of the Tudors, but this book surpasses Gregory in every way. Set at the time of Henry VIII’s major progress to York with Catherine Howard this book paints the story of life at the time, the problems of long journeys, and, indeed conveys the huge logistical issues of a progress with the court and an army to feed and house along the way. This was a delightful and engaging backdrop. However, the plot – taken in accurate historical context- is fascinating and believable, and the narrative – through the first person account of a lawyer, the hunchback Shardlake, reveals a side of history we rarely think about. The narrative is compelling, subtle and convincing, and the story grips from the first page to the last. I shall be tracking down his other books after this.
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The Sacred Cut by David Hewson. Crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 11/11/2007 10:30 AM
David Hewson’s crime fiction novel the Sacred Cut [ISBN 0 330 49367 1] is just so good that (unusually for me) I read it over a period of days rather than glopping it down all at once, because the atmospheric narrative just begs to be savoured. As his other novels featuring Nic Costa and his cronies, it is set in Italy, this one in Rome, and, unusually, during an unusual winter snow – this together gives the atmosphere a rather surreal feel – entering the Pantheon at night during a snow storm conjures up a powerful multi-sensory image – the Pantheon is cold enough at any time with its curious hole in the dome. The plot is tortuous and clever, and the characters (apart from the Americans who seem to be cast as weirdos) encouraging the reader’s empathy. Good ending, excellent suspense.
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Exit Music by Ian Rankin. Edinburgh Noir crime fiction 10/10
Books By bookworm on 11/9/2007 9:29 AM
Nobody quite gets the feel of Edinburgh like Ian Rankin AND brilliant story lines and characters, though in Exit Music [ISBN 978 0 7528 6860 8] Rankin has brought Rebus up to his retirement – though he hasn’t killed him off he has left a door open for a resurrection. The plot is, as usual, so well thought out, and the narrative bites into you – and nobody builds a character like Rankin does. Rebus is always edgy, never boring, and strangely attractive (though my image of him has been squashed by the two actors playing him in the TV series, he is so much better than portrayed isn’t he ?)
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Mission Canyon by Meg Gardiner. American Crime fiction 8/10
Books By bookworm on 11/8/2007 3:07 PM
Mission Canyon by Meg Gardiner [ISBN 978 0 340 82252 4] is the best American Crime fiction novel I’ve read for some time. One of the series featuring Evan Delaney, this book has a tight plot with a twist of an ending, with a really racy, well written fast-moving narrative that keeps the reader focused and interested. The two main male characters are the least attractive part of the novel, though, indeed they fit into their parts OK – but they appear to be rather feeble and whingy and out of control at the wrong times. But that’s just my opinion !
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The Virgin’s Lover by Phillipa Gregory. Historical fiction 7/10
Books By bookworm on 11/7/2007 4:36 PM
I have liked Phillipa Gregory’s series of books on the Tudors (search this blog), but the stories are becoming a little thinner. The Virgin’s Lover by Phillipa Gregory [CN 132067] tells the story of Elizabeth 1st and her relationship with Robert Dudley, and though she has given a slight twist to the story in parts, the story is well known and really tells little new. Except, for me her depiction of Robert Dudley as aggressive and unpleasant is not how I take his character – and I did take the time to read again a couple of history books just to check – so the book obviously engaged my attention.
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Guardian of the Dawn by Richard Zimler. Literary/Historical fiction 5/10
Books By bookworm on 10/31/2007 11:43 AM
Richard Zimler’s novel Guardian of the Dawn [ISBN 1 84529091 7] is one of those well-researched books that tell you a great deal you didn’t know about a particular time and place in the past whilst depressing you again over the vagaries of human nature. Set in the 16th in Portugese Goa it tells the story of the Catholic Inquisition scything their way through the colony’s Hindus or Jews. However, as well as a heavy plot, the ragbag of characters are uniformly unpleasant and untrustworthy, and the narrative is very slow in many parts
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Bone Mountain by Eliot Pattison. Crime fiction 9/10
Books By bookworm on 10/29/2007 10:11 AM
Eliot Pattison’s crime fiction novel Bone Mountain [ISBN 0 09 942206 9] is unusual and absorbing: set in Tibet and full of Tibetan and Buddhist legends and beliefs it also has an intriguing plot – which continues to mystify and interest the reader throughout the book – the narrative is convoluted and often gripping and the reader becomes involved with the lives of these strange characters – and comes to appreciate the major tragedies of the Tibetan people so much more powerfully than a direct factual account. A terrific ending.
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Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamandia Ngozi Adichie. Literary fiction 6/10
Books By bookworm on 10/24/2007 9:29 AM
Chimamandia Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun [ISBN 978 0 00 720028 3] is set against the Biafran/Nigerian war in the 1960s, and is told through the different viewpoints of three characters. Even though the book is written in novel form (chopped up time lines, switching narratives) I felt it would have been more effective as a straight story (and even as non-fiction) – as is was, the author can abrogate responsibility for what the characters do or say – and fail to give any kind of real analysis for causes or even views or visions for ways forward for Nigeria. I found the story turgid and heavy, and hard to get through the literary devices chopping up the narrative.
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