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250th Birthday Celebration in ‘A Promised Land’….

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Being a man of a certain age, I can recall 1976 and the bi-centennial celebrations to mark the 200th ‘birthday’ of the USA. Gerald Ford was president and as part of the celebrations, more than 10,000 people were naturalised as citizens in mass ceremonies held in Chicago, Detroit and Miami. While in New York, tall ships formed a flotilla with hundreds of smaller vessels. It was quite the party! Fast forward 50 years (which seems scarcely possible) and I felt I should mark the latest milestone in similarly lavish fashion.And thus I settled down to the audiobook version of ‘A Promised Land’ by Barack Obama. This first volume of the former president’s memoirs is quite a tome (I have a hard copy on my TBR shelf) and yet the prospect of a presidential address lasting 29 hours 10 minutes felt like the kind of extreme indulgence, as befits the occasion.

There’s no question the author can write and tell a compelling story (even one we’ve lived through) and there are plenty of sobering plot-lines (Covid; the financial crisis; Iraq; Afghanistan; racial and gender inequality), some well known villains, but also a large cast of good people, who are credited with some seismic achievements, as Obama tentatively lifts the veil on the machinations of the American political establishment. Indeed, for a curious outsider, having the unique perspective of the POTUS to walk the reader/listener through a series of international challenges, political frictions, electoral battles and attendant risks was fascinating, made all the more profound laid alongside the domestic considerations that also attend a young husband and father, trying to maintain a sense of balance and stay grounded, in the rarified atmosphere of the White House.

What I liked most about the account was the sense of having a ringside seat for history in the making. Albeit a retrospective view, to hear the competing factors to be weighed, compromises to be made and the tactical nouse necessary to advance any policy is mind boggling and there are no easy hits. Foreign or domestic policies, fiscal and budgetary constraints, health, defence, education, each arena fraught with partisan loyalties and the need to keep even loyalists onside. The sheer breadth of the President’s field of vision, even allowing for specialist advisers, is truly remarkable.

And yet, in the face of the many challenges eventually to be confronted by the 44th President, what also came across was the humanity of the man. From humble background, to senator, to leader of the western world. A family man, with a love of basketball and the occasional cigarette, able to connect with his closest staff, as well as national leaders, a gifted communicator that from this side of the pond appears to be a tough act to follow.

I shall look forward to the second volume with interest, but this first instalment is well worth the investment in time and narrated by the author the audiobook was definitely enriched. The main advantage of the hardcopy is access to some tremendous photographs and a detailed index. I don’t review many non-fiction books here, but this one is quite insightful and enabled me to look back at a pandemic, war and a serious financial crisis, if not with nostalgia, at least with satisfaction for the leadership shouldering a succession of crises.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Womb with a View

I picked this up at the library, a very safe selection, as I am generally a great admirer of McEwan’s work, but this 2016 novel remained on my tbr list. Still, it was more ‘novel’ than I had expected. The story is regular enough (reportedly drawing on the influence of Shakespeare’s Hamlet). Trudy is pregnant with her husband’s child, living in a London townhouse inherited by John, but he’s not there. The couple are separated. Instead Claude (John’s brother) has moved in, creating a triangle beset by additional tension and familial loyalties. What makes this book different is the author’s decision to make the unnamed baby the narrator and thereby providing an unseeing and unseen witness to the private deceit and decision to murder the baby’s father.

It’s ambitious and I believe few writers could have pulled it off, but of course Ian McEwan, at the height of his powers, is extraordinarily gifted. By making John a poet, the author also gets to quote Auden and Betjeman in the pursuit of what the reader might term, ‘poetic justice’. Perhaps not his best novel, in my view, though the trademark use of elegant language and interesting turns of phrase are present. However, it felt so ‘experimental’ that I wondered whether the author had simply set himself an unusual cerebral challenge. In any event, it’s worth reading simply for that sense of ambition!

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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The Construction of Dreams

2021 novel, “Paper Castles” was my first taste of the work of indie author, B.Fox and though formatted into three parts, the smooth conversational style of this debut novel had me hooked by the end of the first chapter. It is true that the book may be regarded as ‘literary fiction’, given that it does not fit neatly into an established genre, but be assured, irrespective of the notional label, this is a fine example of accomplished storytelling.

James Brooke, aged 28, graduate of Cleveland and wannabe architect has returned home to Westland, Ohio, weighed down by student debt and a glaring lack of opportunity. Moreover, James finds himself reliant on a father beset with his own struggles and in the absence of James’ late Mom, without the maternal influence that formerly kept the family together and fanned the embers of their son’s aspirations.

On one level the story is an interesting study in the communication James has with himself (and the reader), but also the collision of the possible with the pragmatic, respectively represented by son and father and the consequences of a failure to engage. More broadly, the novel calls into question the status of the ‘American dream’, the worship of money and the human casualties that get left behind, collateral damage in an unattractive, largely utilitarian system.

Using the real estate industry as a metaphor to reinforce the themes, the author also highlights the need for aesthetic vision, combined with pragmatic discipline, if huge potential is not to be simply sacrificed on the altar of crude economics.

Still, it is the wanton disregard for human capital and the disadvantages to be overcome by the socially powerless that lend real depth to this book. Karen, whom James meets in a diner, is trapped in a waitressing job that enables her to also provide elder care to her frail grandmother. But, can this unusual alliance provide the key that may liberate the young couple from their respective challenges? The author has created a fascinatingly complex relationship between the two characters and James’ observation that “it feels good to be outside of my own head for once. Hers is so much more interesting”, alludes to an important psychological connection, but can it be enough?

Certainly, Karen’s assertion that “It’s not the American dream what’s important; it’s the dreamer! A dream can’t be alive without a dreamer who believes in it.” seems to best describe the essence of this novel, However, on balance, the avoidance of a trite conclusion is also to the credit of B. Fox. Hugely satisfying read, I shall look forward to the author’s future work with great interest, but, for now, I have no hesitation in lodging “Paper Castles” on my current favourites’ shelf.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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No Lightweight Short Story…

This was my first experience of Ken Stark’s work and yet, despite the short format, “Dead Weight” packs a powerful punch. Subtly horrifying, the author exposes the abject vulnerability of a mind imprisoned in a paralysed body, juxtaposed with a shackled body, the consequence of a broken mind. In common with top writers in the genre, Stark doesn’t rely on graphic description, but instead allows the reader to formulate a mental picture in all its shuddering repugnance. Bravo!

Rather like a tasty aperitif, this short story has stimulated my appetite for a more substantial course and waiting in my tbr list is Mr Stark’s post-apocalyptic zombie thriller. “Stage 3”. Can’t wait. Bon appetit!

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Mesopotamian Blues

I don’t regard myself as a connoisseur of children’s books, though I’ve read quite a few over the years (what parent hasn’t?), but it’s been a while. Still, it made my dip into the world of ‘Varjak Paw’, a Mesopotamian blue cat, all the more refreshing.

Originally published in 2003 and winner of the Smarties Prize Gold Award, in Varjak Paw the author (S.F.Said) has created an interesting main character, heroic but humble, timid but courageous, naive but open to new ideas and tolerant of different pedigrees and perspectives. In keeping with classic books, such as “Watership Down”(Richard Adams, 1972), the fact that the characters are animals simply alters the context, but not the need for the cast to resolve the attendant challenges. In this example, feline blue-blood Varjak Paw and his family are living a leisurely existence with the Countess, but when their kind benefactor mysteriously disappears, Varjak Paw finds himself traumatically relegated to the street and facing threats to which he is not accustomed. The young cat needs help and to learn quickly how to survive.

Given the nature of the book, it is only right that due credit also go to the illustrator, Dave McKean, whose minimalist black and white drawings complement the story and deftly draw the eye, providing a visual treat that supports the fast-moving narrative. I note there is also a sequel to this adventure (“The Outlaw Varjak Paw”, 2005), which I shall add to my tbr pile, but in the meantime, I have sent my copy of the original book to my eight year-old nephew for a rather more expert opinion, though I remain confident that he will approve.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Masking an Iceberg

Jane Davis is the author of nine novels to date, of which I have read six so far. This latest example was published in 2015 and the following year was lauded by Writing Magazine as the ‘Self-Published Book of the Year’. Indeed, “An Unknown Woman” exemplifies much of what I enjoy about Ms Davis storytelling. The themes are broad, the female characters especially are fascinating and the situations confronting them incite in the reader a deep-seated empathy.

The premise of this novel is that each of us is akin to an iceberg, with only a small proportion of ourselves showing above the surface. Even those closest to us may project a persona that avoids the exposure of unflattering traits and inner compromises, in the face of life’s changing demands. However, crises sometimes have the capacity to ‘out’ submerged feelings and secrets, enabling them to bob unexpectedly to the surface,no longer private, no longer hidden.

A fire, which destroys the home of Anita and Ed and with it the possessions gathered over their fifteen years together, is such a catalyst. It is a stress test of their cohabiting relationship. Without the trappings built up over time, are their foundations strong enough to withstand the necessary rebuild and attendant doubt? “Something of herself or of Ed had been invented in each object.” The wrecked house is perhaps a metaphor for the decisions required. Whether to replicate their former home, or take the opportunity to remodel a more ambitious project, maybe just cash in their chips and go their separate ways. For Anita in particular, her job as a curator at a famous historical site provides an interesting perspective around the relationship between past and present, but the reader also gets a glimpse of the influence of nature and nurture in Anita’s upbringing and the source of the bond with her father.

A parallel and contrasting strand to the story, though equally absorbing, concerns Anita’s parents. Patti and Ron have a longstanding marriage shaped by the traditions of a different generation, a very different time, but they have their own secrets. As the two couples work through their respective challenges, learning anew about each other and recalibrating their attachments, the novel alludes not so much to a radical ‘reset’, as to an ongoing evolution that the reader can’t help but find familiar.

Notwithstanding the delicious language and attention to descriptive detail that makes Ms Davis writing stand out, for this reader, it is also the underlying scope for reflection and food for thought that offers genuine depth. It may be reassuring to note that as we float along the currents of life, the ice from which we are formed will be sculpted. Still, worth also remembering the mask one chooses to wear may be simply a protective covering.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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The Werewolf & the Tailor…

I have drawn these two short stories together, as companion pieces, released under their own covers (on Kindle only) and because I found them intriguing. Author, Alan Scott, has created ‘The Storm’ series, which currently comprises a trilogy of novels and three books of short stories and ‘Tea’ was taken from “Stories of a Storm Filled Night”(2014). The stories are set twenty five and twenty six years respectively, after the events detailed in ‘Scions of the Storm’ (Book 2 of the trilogy) and signpost the reader towards “Echoes of a Storm” (Book 1), where it all begins. It’s an interesting promotional strategy, which offers the prospect of a much more developed dark fantasy, but hinges on whetting the readers’ appetite through two short abstracts.

The signs were good, when having immersed myself in ‘Tea’, I was very quickly loading the follow-up onto my tray for the conclusion to the initial story and therein lies a clue. The two stories are of their nature – short and centre on the curious relationship between two very different characters, who come together annually on the longest night, “when the shadows were at their deepest and darkest”. This single night, established as the briefest of respite from their respective experiences of isolation, stands testament to the value of companionship and the healing potential of hot tea and warm attention. In these brief pages, the seemingly mundane traverses life, death, loss, duty and identity and gives the reader the sense of epic events distilled into a cup of tea shared between people, with whom a special affinity exists.

It is very much a case of less is more, yet the quality of the writing leaves the reader wanting to understand the broader context for the short stories and learn more about the enigmatic ‘Shadow Killer’ (William) and the diffident tailor (Samuel). Certainly, for fans of dark fantasy, these morsels will surely have readers seeking the main course and spurred by these tasters, I have added The Storm trilogy to my tbr list.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine…

Whilst ‘romance’ is a genre I have ordinarily neglected, what better time to indulge in a novel high on the feel-good quotient, than Christmas week? Moreover, in her latest novel (published November 2021), Christian author, M.C.Harrison has certainly tapped into the Christmas spirit and the magic that attends the festive season, whisking the reader away to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Miss Holly Bennett hails from Richmond, but when her unreliable boyfriend (Craig) disappoints yet again, the main character takes her sister’s advice and heads to the snowy slopes, with her dog ‘Skeeter’, for some retail therapy in the Victorian quaintness of rural Bethlehem.

Lifelong member of that community, Tyler Morris, is owner of ‘The Olde Yarn Bookshop’ and is also leading the local response to a bizarre drone problem besetting the townsfolk. Still, it is the palliative care of his mother and childcare of his orphaned nephew that dominate Tyler’s life.

The challenges for this star-crossed couple include creating the space for their natural chemistry to flourish, but also finding common cause in combatting local corruption and fashioning a very special Christmas celebration, the life-blood on which the town depends.

This is an easy read, over a gingerbread latte that oozes traditional values and charm. It also made this reader want to book into the ‘Sweet Betsy from Pike’ bed and breakfast immediately and inhabit a world not so much lacking realism, as simply filtering out some of the customary ugliness. Escapism – absolutely, but a welcome reminder perhaps that the sharing of life’s trials and tribulations can make the good times even sweeter. Certainly, in this COVID-dominated period, Ms Harrison has demonstrated that happiness can also be infectious!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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Wilt Wields, Others Yield…

5 December 2021 (13:35)

In “The Blood Within the Stone (Book 1 of the Wraith Cycle)”, published in 2017, T.R.Thompson seeks to establish an impressive cast of characters and introduce, in particular, professional thief, Wilt and his street urchin friend, Higgs. The accompanying world-building also takes in their home environment – ‘Greystone’, where Wilt modestly aspires to join the ‘Grey Guild of Thieves, but the growth of his precocious mental talents brings Wilt to the attention of more powerful forces that draw the friends to the mountain fortress of ‘Redmondis’. In this rarefied atmosphere, overseen by the sinister ‘Nine Sisters’, the skilled are nurtured (crafting, healing, apothecary, etc), while for potential ‘wielders’(those who can read and eventually control minds), a chance to train among the elite ‘Black Robes’ and develop their prodigious gifts.

The proverb, ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’, is an underlying theme for the plot, denoted by the ruthless exercise of the collective might of the Sisters and their company of guards. However, Wilt and Higgs are able to rely on allies operating outside of Redmondis, able to offer some protection and insight into the seeping evil threatening to subsume and suppress the population. It’s a risky strategy, to place the youngsters at the heart of such a nest of vipers, but Wilt and Higgs must also develop their skills quickly, if they are not to be overwhelmed.

Of course, the ability to shape-shift is a useful skill to have, in the circumstances, but the awe-inspiring power of the mind and Wilt’s struggle to master his inner strength, for the good of others, without compromising his humility or jeopardising his spirit, is an interesting challenge. The book also emphasises the value of friendship and it is the circle of strong characters around Wilt who realise his potential, yet also keep him grounded.

This first book in the ‘The Wraith Cycle’ series, is necessarily required to familiarise the reader with this fantasy world, the nature of the key characters and their evolving relationships. Certainly, the author has seeded the reader’s curiosity around the onward adventures of Wilt, Higgs and their diverse crew. The description of something as intangible as the wielders’ ‘gift’, is an unusual challenge for the writer, to formulate images of coloured ‘welds’ connecting minds, but not in a reciprocal fashion, but rather at the bidding of a frighteningly powerful minority. It is an uncomfortable proposition for the reader! Still, T.R.Thompson has forged a gripping tale and I look forward to reading Book 2, “The Forked Path” and in the knowledge that Book 3, “A Flame of Song” is due to be released on 17.12.21. Happy holidays fantasy fans!

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Black lightens the dark

Stephen Black described his debut novel, published in 2019, as “a supernatural fantasy that explores very real themes and issues”, which was helpful, as for me the peg that is ‘Skelly’s Square’ doesn’t fit snugly into the round holes of several familiar fiction genres. Fantastical certainly, with intriguing supernatural elements and some YA tendencies, but as the world blithely stumbles towards the brink of disaster, the unwitting champions of the planet are the most unlikely of superheroes. The titular, OCD-wracked Kirkwood Scott; an alcohol-dependent, homeless teenager (Meredith Starc); physically disabled, young wheelchair-user (Harley Davison); and the late Emily O’Hara. However, what the living characters have in common is their status as pawns in an intergalactic power grab, which threatens the very existence of mankind and will see the trio cast as the last line of defence against ‘the Scourge’.

Leading the predators greedily eyeing the Earth is Colonel Augustus Skelly. A wonderfully macabre villain, Skelly has the opportunity to avenge the ignominious cull of his whole command at the battle of Waterloo in 1815, where, though among the triumphant Duke of Wellington’s forces, the 49th Somerset Regiment would warrant little more than a footnote acknowledging they were attendees. Two centuries later, as Skelly marshalls his troops to storm the portal and unleash the dark forces of occupation from another dimension, the ultimate comeback is at hand.

And it is this contrast of scale and perspective, which lies at the heart of this finely balanced story and offers sardonic levity in the face of individual and collective doom. The three young people struggling with respective circumstances, which threaten to overwhelm, are beautifully observed by the author. Scott and Starc particularly come perilously close to a sense of individual, rock-bottom hopelessness and though the reader may be discomforted by the depths plumbed, Stephen Black has skilfully constructed the exhilaration of a countering ascent befitting of a roller coaster, careering around Northern Ireland.
For this reader, Harley Davison was an unfortunate late-comer to the party, whose character didn’t quite experience the development of her peers, but I applaud the author for his sensitive portrayal that avoided defining the young woman by her disability and I hope the cameo appearance in this first chronicle may be fleshed out further in the sequel.

Of course it is possible that Mr Black’s exposition of some mundane, demoralising aspects of the human experience, anchor the plot and thus offer an artful way of giving full rein to the more imaginative elements. However, whilst the blunt observation of Meredith Starc is wryly accurate, “It’s hardly DC versus Marvel…” the book (all ninety one glorious chapters) gambols along relentlessly, suffused with that most human of emotions – hope and in the depths of the created gloom, the author shines a welcome torch. I shall look forward to Book 2 – “A New Jerusalem” with a warm glow of expectation.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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Baldwin Does the Blues

02 October 2021 (12:20)

Through a quirk of serendipity, my completion of Book 4 in the Penguin 60s collection coincided with an examination of the late James Baldwin’s life on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Great Lives’ programme. Notwithstanding the enormous contribution of this American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet and activist to the civil rights and gay liberation movements of the mid twentieth century, I was  unfamiliar with his work. Yet, the three short stories in this volume, taken from “Going to Meet the Man” (1965), are an excellent taster, which has whetted my appetite for more.

“Sonny’s Blues” is the longest of the three tales and encapsulates the topics often associated with the author’s take on anti-black racism, such as drug addiction and masculinity, but also offers a fascinating glimpse into complex family relationships and childhood upbringing as underpinnings of individual life experience. It is a sombre, but absorbing portrayal of Sonny and his tentative reconciliation with sibling and society through his music, within which he lays bare his pain.

“The Rockpile” and “Previous Condition” are shorter vignettes, but also evoke the harsh reality of poverty, the pernicious effect on childhood and the tension it confers on the relationships between those trapped in its grip. No doubt, Baldwin drew heavily on his own experience of growing up in Harlem, but for the uninitiated he describes a sobering, but sadly not unfamiliar world, tainted by inequality. Though short and challenging for the reader, these stories have depth and a food-for-thought quality that make them worth seeking out.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Salted Crowe

“A Kind of Drowning” was my introduction to the work of Irish, indie author Robert Craven and in Garda Inspector Pius John Crowe, the author has created a fascinating character, worthy of that most popular genre – crime fiction. This is a short novel and consequently the story is quite tightly written, but the pace of the action is engaging and the author has a good eye, which draws the reader into life in the sleepy coastal town of Rosscarrig, complete with its incongruous hotspot. “If Rosscarrig was slowly checking out on the gurney, The Boogie Woogie Cafe was the last bright pulse on the monitor.”

However, in an unusual departure, Detective Crowe is lying low following his suspension from duties. With his marriage recently flat-lined and his police career also hanging in the balance, Crowe is thrown the lifeline of somewhere to stay by a retired colleague and slinks away from Dublin to lick his wounds. Though three months without pay will be a stretch, the examination of Crowe, very much a fish out of water, is interesting and his befriending of local inhabitants belies the gruff, hard-baked exterior, though he’s not ready for hearth and slippers just yet.

The island of Inishcarrig lies off the coast, privately-owned by a Canadian billionaire, but comings and goings by helicopter and the unexplained death of a newfound, vulnerable friend triggers Crowe’s professional instincts. Despite his ‘civilian’ status, some sniffing around discovers that Crowe isn’t the only one flushed out from the smoke.

The deliciously nicknamed ‘Teflon D’ is a major drug dealer, but has also been experiencing some difficulties in Dublin and is rumoured to have moved to the seaside town, where Crowe has the invigorating salty oxygen of a busman’s holiday.

What I liked most about this book was getting to know the main character. ‘Podge’ Crowe is seriously flawed, yet the peeling back of some of the layers of his awkward complexity was a highlight. Moreover, removing the detective from the streets of Dublin also enabled the author to showcase a contrasting community, in which it is possible to simply bask in their ordinariness.

I was delighted to read on Twitter that Mr Craven, @cravenrobert, is working on further tasks for Crowe and I shall watch for the next instalment with interest.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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The Pen is Indeed Mightier Than the Sword…

Book 3 of the ‘Penguin 60s’ collection moves on from classic fairytales to classical Roman literature. Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from AD161 to his death in 180 and is often referred to as the last of the ‘Five Good Emperors’. However, what is remarkable about this fascinating and significant tome is not simply that it continues to be read nearly a thousand years after it was written, but that it continues to resonate with scholars and contemporary world leaders alike.

This slim abstract from the original twelve volumes gives the reader an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a leader of one of the world’s largest and most influential empires. The ‘Meditations’ as they became known, record the reflections of an emperor and the Stoic philosophy that underpinned his view of that world and man’s place within it. It is not an essay, but in the main a collection of sayings, which today might be seen as the equivalent of snappy ‘sound bites’. That they remain worthy of study and continue to be often quoted is surely testament to their literary value. Marcus Aurelius was capable of maintaining a brutal regime, consistent with the period, but history has certainly looked positively on this particular aspect of his legacy.

“So here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not, ‘This is a misfortune’, but ‘To bear this worthily is good fortune’.”

And reassuringly…

“Nothing can happen to any man that nature has not fitted him to endure.”

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Bosch Closing on Iconic Status

15 May 2021 (18:30)

Back in the saddle at the LAPD, after a short-lived retirement, Harry Bosch reboots some ground rules with his erstwhile partner, Kizmin Rider and tries to avoid the impression that he’s a dinosaur. But, though some faces have changed in the Robbery Homicide Division, Deputy Chief Irvin Irving’s presence lingers like a bad smell and he’s lying in wait for Bosch, confident that the errant detective will make a mistake. By contrast, the ‘Open-Unsolved Unit’ is where the new Chief of Police is hoping Bosch will make his mark and help address the rhetoric around his department’s ‘greatest shame’. “A city that forgets its murder victims is a city lost…”

The murder of teenager Becky Verloren in 1988 is the first investigation allocated to Bosch and Rider in their new assignment and with the scientific advances made in the interim, on the face of it, the forensic possibilities of DNA might just make the case a slam dunk formality. Only Bosch and Rider also need to overcome errors in the original investigation and the apparent loss of key evidence from a secure police archive. Notwithstanding the ‘newbies’ have been allotted the period with the most unsolved cases, Bosch is content and almost reverential in the realisation that he is back, in his most natural environment, immersed once again in what amounts to a ‘blue religion’.

The original detectives in the Verloren case had surmised the hallmarks of a murder disguised as suicide, but the challenge for the current investigators is to revisit the evidence and generate more, despite the passage of years. Yet, while the machinations of the investigation are compelling, what makes the series of books stand out, for me, are the story arcs that link key characters and other books in the series. For example, Kizmin Rider has helped facilitate Bosch’s return to duty, but whilst an admirer of his skills as a detective, she has also taken a risk with her own career and is nervous about her partner’s capacity to attract trouble. There is also an awkward reunion with Jerry Edgar, Bosch’s former partner and a passing reference to Cassie Black (key character in “Void Moon”, published in 2000). In that sense, the reader is invited to consider this next piece in a far grander puzzle, created by Michael Connelly. Each piece/book can stand alone, but it also fits neatly into a larger examination of Bosch and his contemporaries across an impressive sweep of time.

Intriguingly the author adds familiar and obscure markers to the passage of years, through his reference to real-time events and developments. In this case, not only the emergence of DNA as a forensic tool, but also the changed regulation of wire taps. Thus, Connelly’s attention to detail has contributed to another graphic snapshot of his hero that can also be appreciated in the evolving ‘scrapbook’ that is emerging within the Bosch series. Albeit this is the eleventh book in the sequence, there is also no sign that the series is losing any of its pace or momentum. “The Closers” is another in the quite prolific output of an author ‘in the groove’, another page-turner that impels the reader inexorably on to the next book (“Echo Park”). Michael Connelly continues to consistently deliver a refreshing brand of crime novel that may well push Harry Bosch into the pantheon of iconic detectives, with the likes of Holmes, Poirot and Morse.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Girl Power!

2 May 2021 (23:30)

During ‘Indie April’ this year, I alighted on this debut novel by P.J.Sky, published in 2020. The book is set in a post-apocalyptic Australia, which was a bold choice and chimed absolutely with the story that unfolds, though in some respects the author has clearly intended the book for a ‘YA’ readership. Of course, such genre labels are merely a guide and the presence of a main character capable of extreme violence (necessary for the plot) is only partially offset by the absence of ‘bad language’. In fact, I found the reliance on “Dag it” as the expletive of choice for the youthful characters rather euphemistic, but ironically this quaint touch may equally find favour with an older reader resentful of more colourful, but accurate language. In any event, I believe the book might be best described as an ‘adventure / thriller’. Certainly the presence of complex themes such as identity; loyalty; power; betrayal; revenge; and social order command broad appeal, whatever the age of the reader.

The novel centres on two female characters from very contrasting situations. Starla Corinth is the daughter of the political leader of the sole walled city. The elite population within the enclave enjoy high living standards, derived from monopolised resources and a culture ‘protected’ from those unfortunate enough to find themselves existing in the surrounding wastelands. Moreover, for the city dwellers, “ The ultimate penalty and punishment was exile,” from which there was no return. Such is the destiny of Ari, once a child of the city, but ejected with her parents for reasons unknown and now alone but well-versed in the ways of survival in the wilderness.

Still, when Starla finds herself mysteriously removed from her gilded cage, but hopelessly equipped for ‘freedom’ in the wastelands, Ari just might be her only ticket home. Of course the malevolent forces that conspired to make the leader’s only daughter disappear in the first place  cannot afford to see their skulduggery uncovered and thus the stage is set for the chronicling of the attempted ‘home run’.

Within the the plot I enjoyed very much the development of the titular character particularly . Ari has endured a tough life, which has conferred resilience, self-sufficiency and ruthlessness. She is a young woman of action, able to look after herself. Yet, her solitary existence has also created a hard shell through which Ari finds it difficult to trust anyone. By contrast, in the wastelands, Starla is immediately confronted by her vulnerability in such an alien environment, but she does have skills to bring, not least the ability to reach out, on a human level, to her companion.

In this exciting and compelling debut, P.J.Sky has created an interesting dystopian world, with contemporary echoes and two strong female characters with lots of mileage for further exploration. I look forward to the sequel (“Ari Goes to War”) with some relish.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Framing A Moment…

15 March 2021 (22:30)

One of the consistently compelling features of Jane Davis’ work is the elegance imbued within her writing style, which makes each title such a sumptuous treat.This is my fifth sojourn into the author’s impressive list of books and I am struck by the breadth of historic and contemporary backdrops, between which Ms Davis seems to move with such consummate ease. However, this particular book, set in large part during the decadent Edwardian era, seems to give full rein to the author’s lavish prose and introduces another wonderfully characterized female protagonist.

Lottie Pye was born in 1910 and in mysterious circumstances was spared the workhouse, instead to be raised in Brighton, in the care of humble bakers, Kate and Sidney. By contrast, as a child, Sir James Hastings, her son, enjoyed the trappings of wealth, but grew up motherless, that’s to say he only met his mother once, at a photographic exhibition in Brighton when he was aged ten, where she was accompanied by an amputee soldier, apparently taken under her wing. However, since Lottie went on to live to the grand age of 108, Sir James was an old man himself by the time his mother’s solicitor wrote to inform him of her death. There followed the delivery of Lottie’s life’s work, forty two boxes of photographs and a letter partially explaining/excusing her absence from his life.

It’s an extraordinary scenario and through a cleverly crafted plot, the reader is immersed into the life of a woman apparently born to a great purpose and the slow reveal of her journey is told through the alternating stories of mother and son. The interplay between the fly-on-the-wall immediacy of ‘Lottie’s story’ and the retrospective reflections of Sir James’,  combine seamlessly into an absorbing family saga. Both stories are told in the first person and Sir James is assisted by a photography student (Jenny), to interpret the snapshots of his mother’s professional progression and deduce their significance. Over time Jenny is also able to offer insight into Lottie’s circumstances and some impartial balance, which may even advocate Lottie’s posthumous rehabilitation, or at least a more compassionate reading of the judgements made. 

The book is teeming with complex relationships and examines the relevance of blood ties and societal expectations of mothers particularly, but also the undeniable power of love and the fickle nature of human attachment. The fault lines of class and gender are also prominent, as is the concept of ‘doing one’s duty’, which may constrain an individual’s behaviour and aspirations with glutinous social norms. Still, what sets Lottie Pye apart is having the courage to resist the path of compliance, but being prepared to pay the personal price of those contentious choices, in an effort to remain true to herself. Certainly by the end of the book, I had become quite an admirer of Lottie Pye and her ardent refusal to be cowed by the inequities of her time. A life well worth exploring and another book destined for my ‘favourites shelf’, in the sure knowledge that there is more to be wrung from this excellent novel.

Rating: 5 out of 5.
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‘Penguin 60s’ Stylish Opener

The ‘Penguin 60s’ were published in 1995 on the occasion of the famous publisher’s sixtieth anniversary and this was my first dip into the distinctive, orange-spined collection. Rather like fine dining, what these small volumes lack in quantity, they make up for in quality and the opening two short stories by Martin Amis are quite sumptuous. Drawn from the author’s original book, “Einstein’s Monsters”, the stories included here are deliberately very different, though each offers unsettling descriptions of a dystopian society.

“God’s Dice” explores the impact of Polish strongman, Bujak, on his poor neighbourhood and family. Physically intimidating, just Bujak’s presence among them provides his neighbours with a welcome sense of security, but in the jungle, even big, noble beasts cannot defend the weaker members from the nagging attention of scavengers. Strong of arm and heart Bujak must also temper the temptation to give in to baser animal instincts when confronting society’s jackals.

By contrast, “The Little Puppy That Could” centres on that most adorable and guileless of creatures, a young dog. However, natural selection on a future Earth has fostered all manner of aberrations, such as idle homosapiens, no longer capable of carnivorous hunting and dogs that have developed homovorous tastes. Still, with the dog no longer ‘man’s best friend’, even a puppy is unwelcome in a human village, that is until he befriends a youngster, untainted by the reality of victimhood.

The story certainly offers food for thought and the possibilities conferred, if humankind were to be shorn of its capacity for predation and instead needed to contend with being prey, behaviour adapted to new imperatives of survival.

Martin Amis is an acclaimed novelist, short story writer and essayist and this snapshot of his obvious skills is fascinating.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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The Narrowest Margin

27th December 2020 (22:35)

“I know that my life’s mission would always take me to places where the truth that I might find would be an ugly and horrible thing.” Harry Bosch

The return of ‘The Poet’ (former FBI agent and serial killer, Robert Bachus) is a potential embarrassment for the bureau, having presumed his demise and demands the recall of Agent Rachel Walling from her four year exile in Dakota. The killer’s calling card is unmistakable, however, another trail of victims may also offer his former colleague a means of redemption.

Meanwhile, another former Special Agent has died. Terry McCaleb (key character in “Blood Work” and “A Darkness More Than Night”), he of the heart transplant, passed away on his boat, while out on a charter. But, based on her husband’s recognition of an investigator that never gives up, McCaleb’s widow (Graciela) engages Harry Bosch to look into the circumstances of his death. Thus, the hares are set running on another thrilling, trademark plot, teeming with intrigue, suspense and dark threat. Walling also recognizes Bosch’s worth to the investigation, but will need to get over their personal history and the FBI’s mistrust of outsiders, if she is to harness the private investigator’s know-how. Even in death, Terry McCaleb is the bridge.

What I relish about the author’s ongoing exposition of Harry Bosch is the multi-faceted nature of the character. Notwithstanding his maverick tendencies, and the prominence of his self-imposed ‘mission’, the detective continues to be buffeted by life outside of his dark bubble, presenting choices to challenge his resolve. For example, his burgeoning role as a belated father and his complicated relationship with estranged wife, Eleanor Wish (also a former FBI agent) are clearly important to Bosch, made easier by his current ‘free agent’ status. A permanent move to Las Vegas to be near them is a prospect. Yet, his identity has suffered since leaving the LAPD and when former partner (Kiz Rider) signposts the recruitment of recent retirees back onto the force, the reader just knows the temptation will be great. Once a cop…

Rachel Walling also possesses ingrained instincts and has a hunch Bosch may just get to their quarry first, but with her career already in tatters, to collaborate with Bosch is a serious gamble.

The titular ‘narrows’ refer to man-made protective channels designed to sluice flood water to the sea, preventing damage and helping manage the risk. They also provide an interesting metaphor for the bulwarks of criminal justice and public protection and the solidity that is Harry Bosch. Book 10 in the series is another masterful display of Michael Connelly’s skill as a writer and bears testament to the enduring appeal of the author’s storytelling in this very popular genre. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Sublime Though Rampant Execution…

Saturday 26th December 2020 (17:25)

‘Now a major motion picture’ is not necessarily an endorsement of an original novel, even when the movie has enjoyed international acclaim, but “The Hunger Games”, first in a book trilogy, is equal to the hype. Technically, this novel is almost surgically dissected into three equal parts (beginning, middle and end) and is set in Panem (formerly North America), where, following a civil insurrection, the Capitol has enslaved the surviving twelve districts. Moreover, as an ongoing reprisal for the uprising, ‘tributes’ are periodically taken from each district in the guise of one boy and one girl, aged 12-18, to fight to the death in the arena of the Hunger Games. 

Clearly the concept is barbaric, made more shocking by the youthful combatants and the fact that the carnage is televised like episodes of “I’m a celebrity…”, only with weapons. Still, at the same time it is fascinating, in spite of the implied voyeuristic sadism. That this dystopian novel, reflecting a post-apocalyptic America, is pitched at young adults, might also appear surprising. Yet, from District 12, the poorest region and reliant on its coal production, the author provides the reader with a true diamond among modern heroines, Catniss Everdeen, whose sixteen year old voice carries the story.

From the drama of ‘the reaping’ (the district lottery to determine the identity of the tributes), to the sacrificial whittling down of the twenty four in the purpose-built arena and the ultimate triumph of survival, the tension and attendant violence is overlaid by the macro politics at play and the love and key relationships that drive the main protagonist. There is also a cast of sympathetic characters enmeshed in the fabric of this epic tale, some of whom will doubtless reappear later in the trilogy.

The world-building is exceptional, the plot superbly paced and the denouement expertly delivered, such that the reader is compelled to hanker for the sequel. In short this book is a masterclass in the YA genre from conceptualisation, to character development, to the almost faultless execution of the storytelling. Notwithstanding the contentious nature of her creation (the book has been repeatedly challenged as ‘dangerous’), in my opinion, Suzanne Collins is rightly lauded for her achievement.

Rating: 5 out of 5.
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Killing the Dream…

13th December 2020 (13:18)

I was drawn to this book due in part to the setting (Northern Ireland during ‘the Troubles’), with which I’m quite familiar and the ambition implied by using as the main backdrop to the novel, 21st July 1972 – ‘Bloody Friday’. For those unfamiliar, this was the name given to a series of bombings in Belfast perpetrated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. At least twenty bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, culminating in 9 deaths and 130 casualties (the even more notorious ‘Bloody Sunday’ occurred in January of the same year). Yet, within this real-life sectarian horror, David Hough has founded an intriguing story replete with love, guilt, violent anger, regret and potential redemption.

Sorcha Mulveny is imprisoned in Armagh gaol for murders committed during that turbulent period, but the narrator of the book is an anonymous journalist seeking to piece together the sequence of events leading up to her original trial. The intervening eight years might offer the benefit of hindsight, but as he discovers the legacy of physical and mental scarring is long-lived and remains all too real. Everyone it seems is carrying baggage.

The journalistic endeavour, which will inform a non-fiction book, takes place over months and is a useful device with which to synthesize the multiple perspectives reflecting on that fateful day. The terrorists, the terrorized and the police, seeking to marshal the factions and uphold a common law, are represented through serial interviews with Sorcha, her protestant boyfriend (Martin) and a former detective sergeant (Will Evans). Their respective recollections are painstakingly pieced together, enabling a satisfying overview that the reader can stand back and admire. In a sense, the author methodically assembles the pieces of a complex jigsaw and fits them together for a fascinating slow reveal. Each of the key characters explain, through their disparate experiences, how they were personally affected, but inevitably it is where their networks overlap and spheres of influence collide that the drama arises.

This novel offers a sobering, fictional commentary on the catastrophe of communities at war and the many victims of the attendant crossfire. On a more philosophical note the author also calls into question the price of ‘belonging’ and the irrational choices sometimes made in the name of ‘loyalty’. A cleverly constructed moral maze, which challenges the reader, but also suggests the possibility of a different, better outcome, this book is well worth reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

 

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Alone in the Dark…

12:55, 29 November 2020

The first case for Harry Bosch since relinquishing his LAPD detective’s badge a year ago and a sense that the series’ readers are being prepared for a new direction, but not yet. Even shorn of the most potent symbol of his personal mission, this story confirms the fire energizing ‘Mr’ Bosch isn’t even damped down, never mind extinguished. Indeed, retirement has provided Bosch with that most precious commodity – time and when an ex-colleague, Lawton Cross, gives him a call, Bosch is soon back on the job. 

As noted recently in “A Darkness More Than Night”, the main character is dogged in his pursuit of justice and unsolved/unresolved cases are mentally archived and copies of the investigation records retained, pending further consideration. Five years earlier, Bosch, Kiz Rider and Jerry Edgar were the first responders to the murder of a production assistant from a movie company. However, when a $2m dollar heist occurs on a film set just a few days later, the case is transferred to the Robbery Homicide Division. It galled Bosch that the young woman’s life wasn’t considered important until the money was stolen. In any event the RHD investigation went nowhere and when the two detectives involved were the victims of a bar shooting, the case was shunted onto the unsolved pile. The incident had left Lawton Cross in a wheelchair, his partner dead. 

There was also the spectre of a missing FBI agent linked to the case bringing more echoes from the past hoving into view. Special Agent Roy Lindell (also appeared in ‘Trunk Music’ and ‘Angels Flight’) knows the value of Bosch’s involvement and runs interference for him, while former prosecutor, Janis Langwiser (‘Angels Flight’ and ‘A Darkness More Than Night’) provides some heavyweight legal cover. 

Since Bosch ‘pulled the pin’ his former partner, Kiz Rider, traded a career in the RHD for the greasy pole of the Chief’s Department, angered by his decision to walk away. But, though Rider is sent to warn him off, Bosch has never been one to surrender in the face of authority and well-versed in the respective agency processes and scare tactics, he’s fleet of foot enough to duck and weave past the pitfalls devised by the LAPD and the Feds. 

Bosch’s kryptonite remains his estranged wife and former FBI agent, Eleanor Wish. Settled in Las Vegas and making a living as a professional poker player, the intimate bond between the couple remains, but neither can compromise and risk their respective vulnerability. It’s a gnawing sensation for Bosch, the loss of the light in his life and an interesting diversion for the reader from the intricate plot of the investigation. Bosch also reflects on the very different relationship between Lawton and Danielle Cross, but they are equally casualties of circumstance, their lives marred by a shared history, from which there can be no escape. Amid the familiar thrill of Bosch’s relentless pursuit of justice, in this book the author poignantly captures the sense of multiple losses weighing on the main character, but the very satisfying denouement also hints at a potential source of salvation.

The story arcs that link characters intermittently across the series continue to demonstrate a remarkable feat of storytelling, but the gradual exposure of Harry Bosch, warts and all and the ongoing description of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, through his eyes, remains compelling, even as I move inexorably towards Book 10 in the series (‘The Narrows’). 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Marooned in Venice…

12:15 29 November 2020

Book 8 in the Harry Bosch series and the enigmatic main character is once again having a bit of a time of it. When the Deputy Chief describes one of his officers as a “shit magnet”, even the broad shoulders of Detective Bosch might feel the urge to sag a little, but as we have learned in the series thus far, above all Bosch is a resilient guy. 

Just as well! After the frenetic, testosterone-steeped rutting of Harry Bosch and Terry McCaleb in “A Darkness More Than Night”, this book is, by comparison, a far more reflective, sombre affair. Notwithstanding child murder cases are the worst kind in Bosch’s view (“they hollowed you out”), this story also sees the main character beset by female colleagues and needing to wrestle emotionally with a former lover (coroner, Teresa Corazon) and former partner (Kiz Rider), current boss (Lt Grace Bilets), and a potential new romantic interest (Patrolwoman Julia Brasher). The plot also maroons Bosch outside of his comfort zone and offers the reader a glimpse of another side of the undistilled macho hero.

The book’s dramatic title was coined by an archaeologist for a mundane method of applying a grid to the crime scene. Still, the attendant challenges of addressing historic crimes are interesting and the need for a forensic anthropologist is a first for the series. The case also acknowledges (more than others) the tough miles that often underpin the investigative journey, with Bosch poring over microfiche records, sifting information, following leads.

One of the consistent elements of the series that this reader especially enjoys is the description of the locality through the eyes of Bosch. Never having been to California, the imagery evoked by the author fascinates and informs in equal measure, on this occasion introducing the reader to Venice, stateside. The running sore that is the relationship between Bosch and Deputy Chief Irving is also further irritated, but arguably the detective’s most redeeming quality is his insistence on keeping the department honest and not giving way to expedience. However, as he once more rails against departmental politics, in this episode Bosch discovers for the first time that the ‘cage’ of his job did not provide the safe haven he supposed and his allegiance to the LAPD must be evaluated anew.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Fury and the Fae

21:45 PM, 21 November 2020

This was my first book by indie author Will O’Shire and Book 1 of the ‘Fae Awakening’ series seemed like a logical start point. The author especially enjoys writing in the urban fantasy genre and in this novella the narrative explains how the Fae and human worlds co-exist, side by side. Ordinarily the permeable interface, which enables each to carry on oblivious to the other, is  marshalled by the likes of the main character, investigator Hunter Braydenbach (human) and the Fae ‘Guardians of the Realms’. Tasked by a treaty between the different spheres with ensuring ‘never the twain shall meet’, their clandestine activities are perilous and thankless, but crucial to maintaining peace, albeit no one would choose to be a hunter or a guardian.

This short book also introduces a host of characters and mythical creatures. Troll and goblin, giant and gargoyle. Some working together, to solve the mystery of the flaming black unicorn that has set light to buildings and killed a human, whilst seeking to preserve the anonymity of the Fae. Others, like untrustworthy leprechaun, Damian Hurst, just trying to get ahead. An added complication in this story are the two unsuspecting human teenagers unwittingly drawn into the Fae world, where they need to be protected and preferably prevented from getting themselves killed!

It’s a thrilling mix and for the reader an important foundation for future books in the series. I’m especially keen to read more about the intriguing and illusive forest-dweller and ‘bigfoot’, ‘Kawa’, who helps Hunter’s team and I’m sure there’s more to come from guardian ‘Frank’ too.

The book seems to be pitched at a YA readership and though in my paperback copy the author pays tribute to the cover design by Ivan Cakic, the animated version shared by @willoshire on Twitter is also excellent. https://twitter.com/i/status/1310761213639319555 In any event an interest in the Fae has certainly been awakened in me!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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“The Call of the Dark…”

11:24 PM 1 AUGUST 2020

Terry McCaleb has a new life on Catalina Island, with a house on the hill and his boat in the marina. New heart, new wife, new baby. Life is good. Yet, when an old colleague (Jaye Winston) comes calling for his skill as a former FBI profiler, McCaleb is immediately smitten by the lure of his past life and a return to the darkness.
The murder under investigation is particularly violent and gruesome. The victim, Edward Gunn, had been implicated in a murder six years earlier, but was never charged by the LAPD and the case was reluctantly dropped. The lead investigator had been Harry Bosch.

Immediately the story conjures up the potential clash of two titans of the justice system chronicled by Connelly and the author skilfully sets the scene for his most tenacious predators …”The cool air of the shark grey dawn…”.

In the courthouse, McCaleb also bumps into journalist Jack McEvoy in a passing nod to another of the author’s stable of well-known characters, but as the big beasts circle each other, it’s clear that’s where the action will be. Bosch makes no bones about his assessment of Gunn as a scumbag and retains a sense of being deprived of the opportunity to sweat the guy (due to Bosch shoving the intervening Lieutenant through his office window and getting himself suspended). But, for fans of the Bosch series, this interlinking of books and characters is fascinating and offers real depth to a pool of work that continues to deepen, though the respective novels can also stand alone. I am continuing to wade through them in published order and in this seventh novel featuring Bosch, the perspective of former agent McCaleb enables the author to really plumb the shadowy world that the two men choose to infiltrate. Still, when McCaleb identifies a tentative connection, or coincidence, potentially linking Bosch to Gunn’s murder, the two men would appear to be on a collision course. Moreover, the implied threat to Bosch’s integrity and reputation risks undermining his current murder prosecution.

The main tenet of the book is pondered by McCaleb. “You don’t go into the darkness without the darkness going into you.” and this is surely the point for the reader. McCaleb and Bosch are both hardened lawmen, perhaps even desensitised by their lengthy exposure to evil, but their mutual hankering for an almost gladiatorial lifestyle should be as much a cause for concern as a relief. Society perhaps needs such ‘soldiers’, but must also continue to demand that ‘ends’ are indeed through justifiable ‘means’.

Michael Connelly is a master of intrigue and this book is certainly thrilling, as it casts a light on two compelling characters that choose to work in the shadows.Another excellent example of why the author is among the best in his chosen genre.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Contrasting Fortunes

4:12 PM 26 JUNE 2020

One of the things I adore about Kevin Ansbro’s writing is the assured way in which he reconciles the seemingly incompatible. Few authors can so effortlessly weave together the incongruity of a European serial killer with a SE Asian mythical being, trapped in a two thousand year purgatory at the bottom of the Andaman Sea. Yet, the remarkable journey on which the author takes the reader also enmeshes very familiar human themes of attachment and loss, romantic love and platonic friendship, alongside Buddhist notions of karma. It makes for a heady mix!

This blending of perceived contrasts, the exotic and mundane, is exemplified perhaps in the main locations for the tale. With all due respect to the inhabitants of East Anglia, Norwich (UK) and Phuket (Thailand) are, on the face of it, very different! Still, through the travails of the main characters, the author suggests that human experience is not entirely shaped by location, or culture. If not ‘fate’, sometimes things are just ‘meant to be’.

Take the British couple, Calum and Hannah, they are close friends at school, but then are separated by the vagaries of family moves, but it is Calum’s solo visit to Thailand that proves the catalyst for a potential reunion with his ‘true love’. As well as developing an immediate affinity for this unfamiliar territory, Calum befriends a young local man, Sawat Leelapun, with a shared interest in martial arts, but a very different trajectory in life. As a boy, Sawat has survived the 2004 tsunami, but experienced the attendant tragedy and challenges that followed. He too has a significant other (‘Nok’), but more central is the bond formed between the two men and the influence of Sawat’s humble nature on his hot-headed British friend. As well as helping Calum reflect on his own approach to life, like the knock-on effect of dominoes, Sawat also confides in his friend an incredible secret he has harboured since childhood and introduces the reader to the mythical Kinnara.

This diversion into supernatural elements is not new for the author, but offers a very helpful vehicle for expressing the clear affection with which Mr Ansbro regards the people and culture of Thailand. ‘Klahan Kinnara’ is a prince among the mythical swan people, cast into the sea, spellbound and destined to be alone for eternity. Klahan is also separated from his beloved and like his human counterparts shares a profound sense of loss. The question posed by the story is whether the three couples can all rely on fate/karma/good fortune, or perhaps the invincible nature of their collective love, to generate similarly happy outcomes?

The fly in the ointment, of course, is the serial murderer I mentioned, but whilst the author has a penchant for a dash of the macabre, it is never arbitrary. Rather the latent threat is a further development of the contrast between good and evil. Just as the reader might hope for good things to happen to good people, the reverse can also be quite satisfying. With ‘Kinnara’ , the author has skilfully delivered another exhilarating and emotional ride for the reader and has secured another spot on my favourites shelf.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Accomplished Debut Novel

12:56 PM 24 MAY 2020

“Killing a Dead Man” is rightly billed as a ‘supernatural thriller’ and though the author, Siobhian R. Hodges is a new talent, I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel. Ostensibly targeted at the YA readership, it can be tricky when shedding light on some challenging themes not to oversteer, but in her subtle use of light and shade, the author successfully navigates a course, which balances the best and worst of human traits.

Written in the first person, the book adopts the perspective of Jordan, now aged fifteen, but weighed down by the loss of his twin brother, Danny, brutally murdered five years earlier. It was a defining moment in Jordan’s young life, steeped in guilt that he hadn’t prevented it and anger that the perpetrator had not been caught. The only consolation for Jordan is that Danny’s spirit had not moved on, but intermittently communicates with his brother. Jordan can feel Danny’s presence, rather than see him and though comforting, the connection was not without consequences. The boys’ bewildered parents had finally sought psychiatric help for their surviving son, meanwhile Jordan’s talking to an invisible brother was seized upon by teenage school bullies. The central character is isolated amid the struggles of his adolescent life, but not alone. Still, when Danny divulges he knows the identity of his killer, Jordan is compelled to launch across the country in search of revenge.

Whilst the premise of the subsequent adventure may play differently, depending on the reader’s beliefs concerning the afterlife, I found the author’s description of the twins’ ongoing relationship and the permeable nature of the boundary between this world and the next, both convincing and warming. Jordan and Danny are each held in a glutinous state of torment, which must surely be excised if they are to move on with their respective journeys, but it will take active forces in both realms if Jordan is to survive the ordeal.

Along the way, the reader is introduced to some intriguing characters, in particular, long-suffering taxi driver, Mr Butch, who is unwittingly drawn into Jordan’s odyssey and just as Danny attends the edge of the living world, so Jordan’s companion is a welcome escort for his foray into a murky, sometimes hostile adult environment.

The book teems with suspense, yet delivers the reader a very satisfying denouement. I look forward to placing my copy in the hands of a teenager, for whom I think the novel was intended, but with a hearty recommendation that it is well worth reading. So too perhaps for those young of heart!

Unusual praise too for the quality of the binding. I am not ordinarily moved to comment on such aesthetics, however, the paperback, apparently “printed in Great Britain by Amazon”, has a deliciously waxy feel to the touch, which simply made the book a genuine pleasure to hold. Ms Hodges is to be congratulated on such a rounded debut and I look forward with interest to her future titles.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Fate or Coincidence – a COVID Read

7:21 PM 12 APRIL 2020

Cometh the hour, cometh the book! Just when we had lapsed into the nightmarish ‘social isolation’ that has attended the COVID-19 pandemic, I happened upon this novel through the vagaries of Twitter and the #WritingCommunity. Perhaps, in keeping with the book, it might almost have been fated to rescue me from a state of pervasive gloom and offer a literary balm to a bruised psyche. Indeed, Kevin Ansbro’s tale of love and devotion, in a variety of forms, is teeming with the ‘feel good factor’, but also succeeds in realizing the author’s self-confessed penchant for “handcuffing humour and tragedy to the same radiator”. It is hard to pidgeon-hole this book neatly into a single genre. Thrilling – certainly, philosophical at times, but it is also brimming with pathos, humour, suspense and love rather than romance, juxtaposed with far darker strands of human life and even the hereafter.

To revel in what man (and woman) is capable of, is to wonder at a fathomless capacity for altruistic good and yet also recognize a breathtaking instinct for selfishness and even unalloyed evil. In “The Fish that Climbed a Tree” the author deftly traverses that continuum in a cleverly conceived plot that draws upon the experience of an impressive range of characters, whose respective journeys are influenced by an active (or in some cases very redundant) moral compass.

The heroically named Ulysses Drummond, vicar of St Cuthbert’s, Hackney, and Iraq war veteran, was of a good family and with his diminutive wife Florence had made a very positive contribution to their community. They were also proud parents of Henry, aged 10, when the couple were brutally murdered in front of their young boy. By contrast, the murderers – Ukranian gangster, Yuri Voloshyn and Rwandan war criminal, Pascall Makuza, are on a very different trajectory towards judgement day. Still, whether by fate, or a series of coincidences, the Drummonds will be dogged by that fateful day, as Henry passes into adulthood and a date with destiny foretold in the book’s prologue.

Along the way, through boarding school and into his life in London, Henry’s timid, shy naivety ensures he is bullied and beaten, nurtured and comforted, encouraged and feted, but it is the relationships that he forms and the decisions he must live by, which intrigue the reader. That and the heady blend of supporting characters, so well drawn, as to remind me of Dickens, long before the author’s nod to “A Christmas Carol” in the final chapter.

While I accept that, at times, Ansbro’s extravagant use of language, with a liberal sprinkling of adjectives, similes and metaphors may not be to every taste, for me such flourishes added to the charm of this book. The underground train’s “doors closed with a matron’s shush…”, simply an example of well-crafted writing. Indeed, the style (except for the repeated use of “Omigod”) felt part of some glorious former era, which of course may say as much about my reading preferences.

However, in a happy coincidence, my review also now chimes with #IndieApril and pays tribute to an often neglected well of writing talent. Moreover, I am grateful to Kevin Ansbro for a tremendous diversion in these troubled times and do not hesitate in loading this novel onto my ‘favourites’ shelf. I hope that when I return to it in future, I shall recall the contrasting real-life circumstances surrounding this first reading.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Blunt, Heads & Laughter in Gloomwood!

14:04, 8 November 2020

For Twitter followers of Ross Young (@InkDisregardit) it may be unsurprising to learn that his debut novel, “Dead Heads” is an irreverent comedy. Notwithstanding the contested nature of the afterlife, the author’s depiction of ‘Gloomwood’ (a city located somewhere beyond the living sphere) is a far cry from the common expectations of paradise. Yet, it is perhaps consistent with a realm overseen by the Grim Reaper – grey, depressing….grim.

Still, though populated by the dead, when members of the great and the good start being mysteriously decapitated, the city administrators look to the newly-arrived Detective Augustan Blunt to stop the carnage and unravel the strange ethereal events. Such a surreal premise might discourage some readers of contemporary urban fantasy, but the characters are well-drawn and the world constructed by the author is fascinating in all its detailed weirdness. However, it is the dialogue and crisp one-liners that give full rein to the author’s dry humour and the inventive nature of his story-telling. For example, I just love the idea of being collected from the ‘deathport’ by a reaper in a hoodie!

Ross Young is an unfamiliar indie writer to me, but this outing has fuelled my curiosity and this first Gloomwood novel is a promising platform for future stories and the further development of a funny cast of characters. Somehow this book just seemed to resonate with the surreality of our time and laughter born of dark humour may be our best antidote in the face of the COVID tragedy, at least for now.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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The Hostess, the Actress and the Duchess…

Another triumph from indie author Jane Davis in this gloriously gritty novel that engages head-on with a post-war London struggling to re-boot itself and wider society, amid ongoing privations. Against this authentic backdrop, the dawning realisation that Britain needed to change and to challenge former ingrained inequalities (particularly the structural disadvantage of women) is deftly explored by the author, through the lived experiences of three fictional women in the 1950s. Moreover the reader discovers that Caroline, Ursula and Patrice are each held hostage by their very different respective circumstances and perceptions of duty to family (parents, children, husband). Such traditional values are also cleverly juxtaposed with the tragic real-life story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK. The sensationalised accounts of her crime carried in the press at the time (Ellis shot her lover, killing him) succeeded in vilifying Ellis, but drew a veil over the scandalous and violent behaviour of the ‘innocent’ male victim.

The format of the book reflects multiple points of view and rotates between the key characters’ perspectives. Indeed, it sounds like the start of a joke, ‘the hostess, the actress and the duchess’, but despite the disparity in their social positions, their common experience of abuse (financial, emotional and physical) at the hands of men, is something of a leveller. But for quirks of chance, all three might not be so far removed from the fate awaiting Ruth Ellis, yet they are drawn inexorably together, bonded by a shared sense of being social misfits. The intertwining of their journeys also offers touching examples of support, without judgement.

Far from being a tale of ‘doom and gloom’, the writing is sumptuous and though perhaps not intended as a feminist commentary on the period, the author has provided the reader with a genuine depiction of a society in transition and three strong and courageous female characters equal to their time. 

Indeed, time, as measured for the nation by the iconic notes of ‘Big Ben’, provides a wonderful symmetry to this book. From August 1949, when the bongs failed to appear on cue, to July 1955 when sections of London held their collective breath in anticipation of the nine o’clock salvo, the author locates each of the women and enables the reader to follow their discrete but convergent journeys. It is true there are no male role models to speak of, which perhaps begs the question whether the period also presided over the demise of ‘gentlemanly’ conduct, or leastways diminished capacity to do the ‘right’ thing? But, the dilemmas the book exposes and the moral conundrums posed make for a fascinating and stimulating read, irrespective of the reader’s gender.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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Detonating a Taboo

8:15 PM 24 OCTOBER 2016

This book was listed for World Book Night 2016 and though an unusual storyline (at fist glance recovery from teenage mental illness may not seem fertile territory for humour), Holly Bourne has successfully woven together a really positive ‘rite of passage’ novel, which reinforces the notion that a diagnosed condition need not define the person. In this instance the sixteen year old person is Evie and the start of a new college offers the prospect of a chance to re-boot her adolescent life, no longer identified as ‘that girl who went crazy’. Still, in her efforts to re-invent herself with new girl friends and prospective boyfriends, Evie is cautious about how much she reveals about the past, or even her experience of the present. By contrast, her family have lived with Evie the darkest lows and with her psychologist, try to help navigate the return to ‘normal’.

Indeed, the book is something of a roller-coaster from emotional highs to poignant lows, the reader follows the central character’s progress and setbacks in her burgeoning relationships and ongoing mental health challenges, but the author deftly avoids any mawkish tendencies. Alongside some laugh-out-loud moments, Bourne also explores interesting insights and manages to balance the interplay between the potentially crushing effects of illness, with the shared ‘madness’ that so often characterizes the human condition. A thoroughly enjoyable and compelling read, it turns out we are all a unique version of ‘normal’, just moving along our respective paths. If we are lucky, there are people who care alongside us on the journey. 

I’m passing my copy on, fully endorsing the World Book Night listing as a genuine celebration of reading and books in all its diversity. Remember the name. Holly Bourne is a very promising young writer.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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The road to enlightenment

12:46 AM 15 OCTOBER 2016

‘The Pilgrimage’ has the distinction of being Paulo Coelho’s first major book and relates his extraordinary and at times mystical quest along the medieval route to San Tiago de Compostela. The mental and physical trials the author experiences and the insight he derives from this challenge are perhaps deliberately obscure, but also makes this a challenging read in parts. Complex metaphors wrapped around the enigmatic author and his strange guide (Petrus) give the impression that this book is multi-layered and yet I’m not convinced that careful unwrapping is necessarily worthy of the implied effort.

Certainly there were some interesting concepts introduced, such a ‘agape’ – total love. “…the love that consumes the person who experiences it… the highest form of love”. Moreover, enthusiasm is considered as “agape directed at a particular idea or a specific thing”. Still, Coelho postulates the ultimate challenge for each of us is how to harness these underpinnings of faith and happiness on our respective journeys. Invoking a term coined by St. Paul, the author examines what it means, “to fight the good fight”.

What should we be seeking to achieve with this wonderful gift of life and the talents we each possess? This is philosophical stuff and encapsulating the ‘bigger picture’ within the boundaries of a walk, albeit a very long one, was interesting, though somewhat dull. Rather than lift a veil on the meaning of life, Coelho has perhaps suggested we are each on a pilgrimage of sorts, to discover our own meaning and purpose. Still, my personal search for happiness is likely to include fewer such weighty or prophetic books. Life is afterall rather short.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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Life is partly Survival…

2:42 PM 24 SEPTEMBER 2016

‘Life of Pi’ made the World Book Night list for 2011 and rightly so. Martel has created a modern masterpiece, which is beautifully written. The storyline is unusual and all the more absorbing for it. The ending too is intriguing and though the movie interpretation is good, it can’t do full justice to a wonderful book.

Notwithstanding the general assumption of the superiority of the human race, the author holds up an interesting mirror for the reader, which reflects man’s inherent, but potentially ugly, animalistic desire for survival. 

Rating: 5 out of 5.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521143932

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Servants No Longer De Rigueur…

2:16 PM 24 SEPTEMBER 2016

I was honoured to be given the opportunity to give this book, as part of the World Book Night 2012. This was my first choice and enabled me to wax lyrical about this deceptively simple story, which explores in detail the reflections and experiences of a butler, Stevens, as he contemplates his life in service and the relevance of a life spent in service at a time of profound social change. Empathetically written, Ishiguro’s prose is a sheer delight and his attention to detail and fine emotional expression is quite touching. Certainly not a thriller, yet I feel the intentionally pedestrian pace merely accentuates the absolute quality of the writing. A truly exceptional read! 

Rating: 5 out of 5.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521144071

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Dark Matters

12:21 AM 24 SEPTEMBER 2016

A challenging read which plumbs psychological depths and questions the morality underpinning ‘crime and punishment’. I found the brutal killing and attendant emotional turmoil both disturbing and fascinating in equal measure and the abundant food for thought truly marks this book out as a classic.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/BOOK/SHOW/7138

Rating: 5 out of 5.
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‘Champion’ Heroes

13:10 PM 30 August 2020

In his thrilling fantasy novel, indie author Jeff Lane introduces two strains of superhumans, in effect the Yin and Yang of seemingly contrary forces, locked in a perpetual existential struggle for survival. That the conflict between the ‘champions’ and the ‘spoilers’ rages alongside the humdrum existence of the vast majority of the human population is interesting. That such extraordinary beings are hidden in plain sight among the general population and their activities go largely unnoticed is also slightly unnerving! Both groups are relatively small in number and co-opt lesser mortals to their respective causes, however, the enmity between the two factions is palpable. For the champions it is driven by the predation of the spoilers, whose hunting style resembles that of hyenas. The spoilers seek to harvest power from their superior opponents in a gruesome and tortuous process, draining the very life force from a lone champion, most often isolated and overwhelmed by numbers. Still, for the reader, this insatiable appetite for the ‘consumption’ of champions’ energy, in what is essentially a parasitic existence, readily casts the ‘spoilers’ as villains and the battlelines drawn between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are clearly marked throughout this opening book in the series.

In an act of self preservation, some champions are loosely connected through a national network and this story follows the transition of eighteen year-old, Jim Hunt, from college student to elite champion-in-the-making. Jim is the prodigy of his neighbour, the enigmatic Nathaniel Parker, who had identified the boy’s potential at a young age (and the need to protect it), but until now never disclosed why he was so special. However, the importance of the young man does not go unnoticed and when spoilers audaciously organise to trap Nathaniel and use him as bait to feast on two of the most powerful champion ‘batteries’, Jim has a life-changing decision to make. 

This, will he, won’t he, journey to potential ‘champion’ undertaken by Jim is exciting and at times comical, as the hero is supported by his college roommate, Eric Warner, who exhibits all the more familiar traits of a hapless mortal teenager. In fact, at times, Eric reminded me of Sancho Panza, with his squirely regard and selfless support for his friend, though he is also weighed down by a substantial secret, his ‘sanchismos’ provide a useful lighter tone amid the surrounding tension.

In the broader arc of this compelling story, can the champions survive this coordinated attack on their existence? Maybe even counter attack the unusually organized incursion into their established, but intentionally nondescript lives? No doubt which side the reader is on, but the grandstand finish raises plenty of new questions, which will have me reaching for Book 2 (“This Burning World”). The author has also confirmed that Book 3 (“This Champion’s World’) is currently being edited, so more to look forward to. For fans of thrilling fantasy tales, this is a very welcome addition to the bookshelf and I am obliged to Jeff Lane for a welcome diversion in this time of COVID-19. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Sumptuous Secret

12:08 AM 24 SEPTEMBER 2016

An enchanting tale of children growing up in a private space unencumbered by the troubled and sometimes burdensome world of adults. Uplifting and heavy on the feel-good factor, beautifully written, a classic book for adults and children alike.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/152114455

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Classic Adventure

11:48 PM 23 SEPTEMBER 2016

Wonderful classic novel of adventure and unadulterated escapism. As I was reading, the news was full of the latest activity in Icelandic volcanoes, which just seemed to add to the vivid descriptions crafted by Verne. Meanwhile the interplay between the key characters was both moving and intriguing. Quite a short book, the pace of the story is brisk, which fuels the incessant sense of excitement and perhaps a slight sense of guilt at a very sedentary life by comparison! In any event, a very satisfying read.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521144597

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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A Novel or a Series of Short Stories?

10:28 PM 23 SEPTEMBER 2016

I am a great fan of Sebastian Faulks work. Although we will all form attachments to particular books, he rarely disappoints and within the body of his work he has set the bar wonderfully high. However, as a ‘novel in five parts’, I’m not sure ‘A Possible Life’ works. The writing is superbly crafted and the sweep of the book is clearly ambitious, but seems most effective as five short stories. Certainly, for me the ‘novel’ is not greater than the sum of its parts, which is disappointing, but should not detract from the quality of the writing, which is at times sumptuous. I intend to read it again, in case I am doing the book an injustice, but I would encourage anyone to make the effort, in any case.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521144712

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Not the Mountain, but the Climb

10:09 PM 23 SEPTEMBER 2016

The notion of a story about Elijah may not be an obvious choice for the secular majority. Yet, such is the depth and quality of the Brazilian’s writing that the author successfully draws the reader in and through this profound parable invites the curious to reflect on the path of his/her ‘Personal Legend’ and the various stages that living one’s own destiny entails. Moreover, how should one respond in the face of the ‘unavoidable’. As Coelho observes,”…the unavoidable has touched the life of every human being on the face of the earth. Some have rebounded, others have given up – but all of us have felt the wings of tragedy brushing against us.”

To illustrate the point, the novel is set in the year 870 B.C. in Phoenicia (latterly Lebanon) and relates the exploits of the prophet, Elijah, fleeing persecution in neighbouring Israel, at the hands of Phoenician, Princess Jezebel. Since childhood, Elijah had heard voices and conversed with angels, but the massacre of the prophets and direction by the Lord, caused him to to seek refuge in the city of Akbar. Notwithstanding Phoenicia had enjoyed a lengthy period of peace and prosperity, underpinned by strategic alliances and a talent for trade, the presence of an enemy of of their countrywoman, Jezebel, placed Elijah under a constant threat. Throw in that the Phoenicians’ worship of pagan gods inhabiting the Fifth Mountain, the threat of Akbar’s invasion by an Assyrian army and a love interest with a native citizen and the possibilities for conflict are manifold. Indeed, the story of Elijah is a study in resilience, determination, compassion and the positive power of love, as well as an examination of doubt, fear and corrupted morals, all of which beset the human experience over millenia.

Coelho’s gift is to invite the reader to gain inspiration from the story of Elijah, contemplate our own responses to the unavoidable and embrace the inevitable potential for learning and growth on our respective journeys. A very thought-provoking read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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Industrial Heart-lands

3:12 PM 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

Often described as an important/landmark novel, the story of members of the Morel family is a fascinating expose of period industrial working class life, made even more compelling through the author’s examination of the main character’s relationships. Lawrence consistently critiques social convention in his works and in this book covers the historic taboo of adultery and unmarried sex, but more importantly sheds light on the roles of women in society, juxtaposed with the male dominance of the period, born of paid work. Indeed the three central women in the novel – Mrs Morel (mother), Miriam and Clara (two lovers) are the stronger characters, albeit fatefully attached to the respective men in their lives. Still, their influence is testament to the dependence conferred upon son and lover. There is perhaps a suggestion that the emotional attachment of the female characters makes them potentially vulnerable to the whims of their male counterparts. However, in the most moving scenes, when Mrs Morel has to cope with the tragic loss of her eldest son, it is the contrasting ineptitude and emotional confusion of her husband that elevates the matriarchal figure to new heights of superiority and dominance. Overall a wonderfully thought-provoking read, which rightly sits among a select collection of books that might be labelled as ‘important’.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/BOOK/SHOW/17567570-SONS-AND-LOVERS

Rating: 5 out of 5.
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Great Heights to Unnecessary Depths

11:31 PM 12 SEPTEMBER 2016

Any contemporary story set (even partly) in Afghanistan runs the risk of appearing bleak, at least to western eyes. However, in spite of a sobering glimpse of life under the talaiban, it is Hosseini’s examination of a series of overlapping relationships, which reveals the frailty of man and the attendant capacity for tragedy.

At the outset, the narrator, Amir, is aged just twelve and has a close relationship with Hassan, the son of his father’s servant. The characters are all subject to a social structure which ensures they know their respective places (Pashtun are the dominant tribe locally, while the Hassari are commonly regarded as inferior) but privately such boundaries are blurred. That is, until an incident witnessed by Amir challenges his ability to openly support his erstwhile friend. Amir and his ‘Baba’ are members of an elite class, but following the death of his mother, giving him birth, Amir grows up feeling distant from his father and desperate for his affection. However, he is no ‘chip off the old block’. Baba is charismatic and courageous, a stalwart of Afghan society and Amir’s sense of inadequacy is fuelled by the very positive attributes shown by Hassan and admired by his father.

Kite flying, we learn, is an important pastime in Kabul culture and offers an interesting metaphor for life in the differing strata, contrasting the fliers with those subject to gravity, scrabbling for victory among the ‘also rans’. Ironically, it is with Hassan’s encouragement and help, Amir is able to excel at flying and inspire pride in his father. In a touching show of loyalty, Hassan even seeks to run down the last defeated kite in a kite-battling festival, to seal a memorable triumph for his friend. Yet, the euphoria is short-lived.

In an impulsive and childish act, Amir deliberately sweeps Hassan aside, but in so doing unleashes a lifelong sense of personal guilt, magnified by the dignified self-sacrifice of his victim. In spite of everything, Hassan, by fluke of birth a member of the lowly Hassari tribe, demonstrates a superior magnanimity and notwithstanding the consequent prospect of destitution, stoically accepts the betrayal.

Fast forward, and the overthrow of the royal family by the forces of extreme Islam and with it the social order that has secured their privileged positions, sees Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan.

In the USA, notwithstanding their attendant poverty, Baba exhibits the drive to start again, though father and son are sustained by the cultural traditions preserved in the local Afghan community. Still, there is an inevitability in the need for Amir, the young man, to be confronted with circumstances in which he must return to his birthplace and seek to atone.

This book is clearly well written and offers an interesting insight into Afghan society , both home and abroad. However, there is also the troubling spectre of child abuse, which is explicitly referenced and to my mind, diminishes the narrative. Not because it challenges some taboo, but rather it adds little value to the story and gives the impression that it has been included for gratuitous shock impact. Moreover, in the context of the book, such behaviour only occurs on foreign soil and could be construed as symptomatic of an inferior society, which given western trials of recent years, seems more than a little hypocritical. I acknowledge it could be argued that this may be a courageous addition on the part of the author, but on balance, for me, it detracts from an otherwise compelling read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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‘O’ level debate

4:44 PM 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

This was one of my course books at school and we pored over the adventures of ‘Fiver’ and ‘Bigwig’, et al and the underlying social systems of the respective burrows. It was one of those classroom unknowns, but discussed at length, whether it was the author’s intention to provide a critique of democracy vs authoritarian rule, or simply a children’s adventure book to be enjoyed.
It was not until my thirties that I was able to get a definitive answer from the author, Richard Adams. I was lucky enough to live for a time in the same village, not far from the legendary down and was invited round for tea. Of course, I had to satisfy my curiosity, but it was quite a relief to learn that it can be enjoyed as simply a classic piece of fiction and the news did not diminish it one jot!

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/BOOK/SHOW/10258076

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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‘His Dark Materials’

4:31 PM 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

An utterly absorbing tale, which sparkles in its creativity and reaches young and older readers alike, with the quality of Pulman’s writing. The characterization is exceptional, the plot intriguing and the pace superb. A modern classic series which really does deserve the description, page-turner.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521145388

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Four-legged Hero

4:26 PM 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

This was my first introduction to Jack London’s work and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The storyline was gritty and very in keeping with the period and the tough life for pioneers in the wilderness of north america. But, it was also gripping and offered a really satisfying read. On the strength of this book, I aim to read more from this author.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521145435

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Workout for the little grey cells…

4:18 PM 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks in the middle of Yugoslavia. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for this time of year. But by morning there is one passenger less. A ‘respectable American gentleman’ lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside . . . Hercule Poirot is also aboard, having arrived in the nick of time to claim a second-class compartment — and the most astounding case of his illustrious career.

Series: Hercule Poirot (#10)

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Contemporary Christianity

3:46 PM 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

I came to this book, mindful of my spiritual frailties and yet, aspiring to better understand how to move forward. In that context, Dave Roberts has provided an inspirational and thought-provoking insight into the development of Ffald-y-Brenin and the foundation of faith, which has enabled the creation of a thriving ‘house of prayer’. Indeed, so engaging was the book that I drove to West Wales to see for myself, such was the allure of the exciting groundswell of activity described. I was not disappointed.
Doubtless it helps if the reader is a ‘believer’, but even if not, I fancy one cannot help but be impressed by the sheer dedication and outpouring of faith writ large on the page, which also suggests a courage and conviction which is increasingly rare today. A common charge is of ‘mainstream’ Christianity being a bit ambivalent and less forthright in it’s moral assertions. Whilst this book might not be the antidote, it does at least imply that there remain strong voices, with clear messages, not least concerning the value of prayer and an ongoing need to develop our relationships with God. An uplifting read.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/BOOK/SHOW/18912000-THE-GRACE-OUTPOURING

Rating: 3 out of 5.
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Can do better….

9:50 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016

I have come to expect a polished story from JG, pacy and with a concise opening, which hooks the reader from the off. ‘The Racketeer’ fits this pattern and yet in my view it is not one of his best. The plot seemed more contrived than usual and the characters less plausible somehow. I do not regret reading it, in fact I read it voraciously, but even as an erstwhile fan, this book will not be near the top of my favourite Grisham’s.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521146142

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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To Bee-keep, or Not to Bee-keep

9:30 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016

A charming journal following the exploits of wannabee bee-keeper James Dearsley, in his first year as a novice. The book is full of ‘well I didn’t know that’ moments and offers some interesting insights into the trials and tribulations of establishing successful hives. Of course, it is a timely introduction too, as there is much handwringing around the international decline in the bee population and the potential impact on man, from such a threat to bio-diversity. I suspect readers are likely to include some people weighing the possibility of enlisting into the beekeeper ranks and though the book is not a manual, it does offer some pros and cons for what might seem an idyllic notion. Intriguingly the author does also draw parallels with that other seemingly eccentric British pastime of morris-dancing, complete with the need for a customary costume. Still, he makes a very compelling case for the hidden community of enthusiasts and a rewarding way to get back in touch with nature. For those wishing to take their exploration of bee-keeping further there is also a useful list of additional resources in the back. One for the curious to crawl over.

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521146731

Rating: 3 out of 5.

And Now the Shipping Forecast…

It is perhaps the destiny of the island nation/s to become a little obsessive about the state of the waters lapping its shores. Particularly if the nations are heavily dependent on trade and particularly if the surrounding bodies of water are as notoriously changeable as the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea and the English Channel! Indeed, as I learnt from Charlie Connelly’s book, “Attention All Shipping”, it was the consistent threat to vessels navigating the fickle waters off the British Isles and beyond that led to the introduction of a national institution designed to mitigate the perceived perils. The shipping forecast, first broadcast in 1920, has been informing the nation of impending storms and gales for generations, suffusing the airwaves of the BBC at daily, time-honoured intervals and like the bongs of Big Ben, succinctly assuring seafarers and landlubbers alike that all is well. A simple formulation of around 350 words, the forecast starts with ‘Viking’ and proceeds in a roughly clockwise direction, around the 31 areas, to SE Iceland. Familiar names such as North Utsire, Cromarty and German Bight, Biscay, Fitzroy and Rockall. There’s a certain irony that the communique is drafted by the Met Office in landlocked Bracknell (Berkshire) and yet despite the proliferation of multi media, the forecast has retained its imposing position, rather like the network of lighthouses around the coastline, aged, but retaining a certain utility, as well as fondness, in the public’s imagination.

I first became familiar with the shipping forecast, on BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service), a quintessentially British reminder of home, but though I loved the lyrical rendering of the report and feared for the sailors battening down hatches in gale force winds and high seas, my mental map of the respective areas was at best sketchy. Step forward, journalist, Charlie Connelly and a year-long adventure to “travel the shipping forecast”, starting and finishing at the Cutty Sark pub, at the heart of Britain’s maritime heritage in Greenwich. The challenge, to visit each area (including those with no coastline) and take the reader along for the ride.

It proved to be quite the odyssey and the author’s amiable style manages to thread together the patchwork of areas through an interesting blend of historical detail and contemporary anecdote. Eccentric (how could it not be), extraordinary (certainly), but also awe-inspiring and funny. A simple idea, but well executed and a dead ringer for Radio 4 Book of the Week. For those of us unlikely to put to sea any time soon, the shipping forecast may appear quaint, an anachronism, in a world of satellite navigation and yet it has been a trusted part of the maritime infrastructure for more than a century, alongside lighthouses and lifeboats, designed to protect ships and crews and thereby support our connections to the wider world. Along the way, doubtless saving countless lives. Reason enough then to explain the significance of the shipping forecast as a cultural reference point. However, I am obliged to Charlie Connelly for reinforcing the concept in our national consciousness and lifting the veil on some of our seafaring tradition.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Bosch Rises in the East!

I have returned to the Harry Bosch series (Book 14, originally published in 2009) to follow the irascible detective as he steps out of his home environment of L.A. (albeit for just a short visit) to Hong Kong., where his ex-wife (and ex-FBI agent), Eleanor Wish and their 13 year-old daughter (Madelaine) are living.

The murder triggering the involvement of Bosch and his current partner, Detective Ferras, is on home soil and whilst fairly mundane on the face of it, suggests the work of a local triad.

In trademark fashion, the author examines a different strand of the rich social tapestry that is Los Angeles, through the eyes of her most driven law enforcer, albeit distracted by his own familial concerns. Bosch, the maverick this reader has come to regard with a mixture of admiration and incredulity, is again tested, almost to destruction, besieged by a less committed partner and the rule of law, for which the main character so often needs a workaround.

Given the panoply of characters, developed across the series, there’s always a frisson of excitement when the plot enables paths to cross again and the reintroduction of Eleanor Wish and Mickey Haller (defence attorney and half-brother to Harry Bosch), even for cameo appearances, keeps the pot bubbling.

Not the best novel in the series perhaps, but the forensics are interesting and the foundation for a profound change for Harry Bosch moving forward has been set. Bring it on!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Blue-Eyed Dissident

There is something fascinating about Russia. For so long hidden behind the ‘iron curtain’, the world’s largest nation (geographically speaking) is an enigma, a private, pariah state. Indeed, for an entity so colossal it seems odd that our impressions in the west are largely forged by the dominant presence on the international stage of Vladimir Putin and a few oligarchs drifting around the world in super yachts, buying up football teams and the most expensive property in vulgar, ostentatious displays of wealth. However, we also know that in its cultural heyday, Mother Russia has contributed some of the most profound works of literature, music, art, philosophy and dance, the world has ever witnessed. Still, the country that gave us Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Chagall and Nureyev has also cultivated an important line of dissident figures: Solzhenitsyn, Sakharov, Nemtsov and most recently Alexei Navalny.

This compelling biography is Navalny’s life in his own words. New York Times bestseller, Sunday Times bestseller, British book awards 2025, the international accolades all the more remarkable, when the reader remembers the poisoning of the author in 2020 by the Russian security services. It was a global event, in the wake of which, Navalny began to write. Once recovered that he was driven to return to his homeland, in spite of the consequences, is a measure of the man and the book includes his prison diaries, published here for the first time. In 2024 Navalny died in a brutal Siberian prison. Yet, this book is remarkably uplifting and speaks to the spirit of a man unwilling to be silenced, unwilling to look the other way, determined to challenge the corruption that he believed has blighted his nation.

“The only moments in our lives that count for anything are those when we do the right thing, when we don’t have to look down at the table but can raise our heads and can look each other in the eye. Nothing else matters.”

I listened to the audiobook version (which I had reserved on ‘Borrowbox’ and it was well worth the wait), narrated superbly by Matthew Goode. 16 hours, 47 minutes. Harrowing at times, bleak and at the same time absorbing, unfailingly positive and to my surprise, inspirational. 

I immersed myself in ‘Patriot’ soon after ‘Politics on the Edge’ by Rory Stewart and while I was struck by the courage of the British politician, Navalny assumed the status of a different order. Few men (or women), in my lifetime, have reached genuine ‘hero’ status – Mandela; Obama; Churchill; but I am now minded to add Navalny! Perhaps, we can still count on Russia to fascinate… and to horrify at times, but even in adversity, we may also find voices to amplify and admire. This posthumous critique of contemporary Russia, is a fine example, from a self-confessed patriot.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A Love Letter to the ‘Bard of Avon’

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Can there be a finer advocate for the joy of Shakespeare than one of the plays’ greatest contemporary performers? Dame Judi Dench is undoubtedly a ‘national treasure’ and this book (part biography) reads like the transcript of a conversation between friends, or a very informal interview, but alights on various plays by the Bard and enables Ms Dench to reminisce about her career in key roles, but also to unpack the stories from the actor’s perspective. There is more than a hint of nostalgia and given her long career, the author has played alongside a who’s who of British theatre (e.g. Olivier, Gielgud, Branagh) and worked with the finest directors, but the book is far more than a vehicle for name-dropping, replete with thoughtful insights into Dame Judi’s approach and her actor’s take on the emotional underpinning of a range of characters. The to and fro with Brendan O’Hea also gives the narrative depth and keeps it interesting throughout. Much more than a simple bio’ (though clearly the author has the material), it felt like eavesdropping a far more interesting exchange.

“There’s something for everybody in Shakespeare. Everything you have felt or are yet to feel are all in there in his plays: oppression, ambition, loneliness, remorse, everything. If you need to understand jealousy, read Othello or Winter’s Tale; if you’re in love, listen to Romeo and Juliet……his writing has the capacity to make us feel less alone.”

Of course, over her career, Judi Dench has nurtured a special relationship with the work of William Shakespeare (he is after all credited with paying the author’s rent), but for those of us who have not had that opportunity, or might be curious, this book provides a wonderful glimpse into why Shakespeare remains a cultural and literary touchstone, over four hundred years after his death. And for those who are familiar with the plays, the perspective of one of the bard’s greatest living exponents offers fascinating insights into his continuing relevance.

Check out too, the grand dame’s accompanying sketches, which lend a further informality and interest to a really worthwhile read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Eva Molenaar – Hunted & Hunter

Overall I have enjoyed the five book series describing Eva Molenaar’s wartime adventures, which, in this final episode, tracks into an uncertain post war period, wherein powerful forces are seeking to dominate a new international order. With intrigue aplenty, there’s still a role for the diverse skillset of Eva, Brandt, de Witte, et al, drawn together, despite the diminishing drumbeat of conflict, for one last hurrah.

The book has the feel of a finale, with the familiar cast of characters reassembled for one last bow. Even spymaster, Chainbridge, is winkled out of retirement, but having survived the war, can their luck hold? For Eva and Brandt particularly, their relationship having withstood recent years of separation (the latter having been incarcerated in some Russian hell hole), the stakes are set high. It’s to the author’s credit that Mr Craven manages the plot threads of drama and romance, turmoil and poignancy, humanity and tyranny with the assuredness of an accomplished storyteller. The villains are despicable, the heroes unassuming, but determined and similarly ruthless.

The ending also takes no prisoners, though having bought into the group’s journey across five volumes, the culmination of their collective sacrifice seemed somehow deflating. Perhaps, the message is deliberately philosophical, when it comes to war, there can be no ‘winners’….

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The Ingenious Gentleman of LA…

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I picked this book up in a charity shop, buoyed by my recent enjoyment of ‘Victory City’ (see October 2024 review) and a vague recollection of my introduction to ‘Don Quixote’ at school. Indeed, Salman Rushdie acknowledges the Cervantes classic provided inspiration and underpinning themes for this contemporary take, but set in modern USA, the journey taken by Quichotte ( pronounced ‘Key-Shot’) plunges the reader into a fascinating and at times surreal odyssey, which explores the very nature of reality in a world where ‘truth’ is so relentlessly contested. Given the gravity of the author’s body of work, the reader was not surprised by the depth of the tale’s scope. However, the evolution of the plot gave the impression of a Russian doll, each layer of the complex story-within-a story providing sumptuous food for thought, yet willing the key characters on through their respective mirages.

In-keeping with it’s illustrious forebear, Quichotte lends itself to cerebral challenge on multiple levels. That the author has taken “a travelling man of Indian origin, advancing years and retreating mental powers” and set him on a romantic quest in pursuit of the most unlikely recipient of his love is curious. That Quichotte’s fictional journey towards his beloved should enable the reader to explore so many strands of contemporary life, meticulously interwoven with the parallel story of ‘brother’ (Sam Duchamp), the author/inventor of Quichotte, so intricately plaited together, tapering to a satisfying and beribboned end, is quite miraculous!

Still, underlying the fiction is also a thinly veiled commentary on the erosion of culture and the apparent willingness of society to be in thrall and to indeed collude with its manipulation. “The world before the birth of the monster the internet became, before the age of electronically propagated hysteria, in which words have become bombs that blow up their users.”

Through the invention of Sancho (Quichotte’s son) the reader is afforded a blank canvas, a child’s eye view, trying to make sense of a confusing world, an ‘age of anything-can-happen’, even when it’s nonsensical. Indeed, Sancho wonders whether the human race is “mistaken, or perhaps deluded, about its own nature. It has become so accustomed to wearing its masks that it has grown blind to what lies beneath…”

The author’s caustic observations tinged with apparent dismay at the immersion of society in ‘junk culture’ and the castigation of its architects, in the guise of Evel Cent, appear to rail against a dementing process underway. In that sense, Quichotte may represent a metaphor for the addled confusion through which he experiences the world. “Yesterday meant nothing and could not help you build tomorrow. Life had become a series of vanishing photographs, posted every day, gone the next. One had no story any more. Character, narrative history were all dead. Only the flat caricature of the instant remained….” Pessimistic perhaps, but at least the existence of love is portrayed as a potentially redeeming possibility.

This reader found the dystopian and acrid dissection of western culture uncomfortable at times and even belying the simple retelling of a classic tale and yet the aftertaste burns and the author may have a point, such perceptions should be unpalatable. Certainly this book forges an extraordinary take on the genre of magical realism. What a fascinating dinner guest Sir Salman Rushie would be!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Sounds Like a Breakthrough….

I have not always got on with audiobooks. It’s not that I am sniffy about them, one of my favourite reviewers, Mike Finn, is an excellent advocate for the form, it’s just something about how I prefer to ‘consume’ and ‘digest’ books. For example, I listened with rapt attention to “The Handmaid’s Tale” and its sequel “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood, spoken by Ann Dowd et al. Despite their huge profile, I hadn’t ‘read’ the books previously and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience….and then went and bought my own copies! Somehow, it didn’t feel like I’d done the work – the reading – and I guess I enjoy it. Imbibing fiction through my ears was not as complete, or satisfying (for me) as poring over the written word. However, I have persevered and in “Victory City” by Salman Rushdie, I can report something of an epiphany.

It may be that I inadvertently alighted on an excellent example, as the book won the AudioFile Earphones Award 2023, but the reader, Sid Sagar, is just perfect to my Anglo-Saxon ears and the 11 hours 49 minutes it takes to recount the epic saga was simply breathtaking at times.

The book relates the 247 years of life divinely granted to the heroine, Pampa Kampana and shares the rise and eventual fall of the city and empire of Bisnaga, the ‘Victory City’, from its mythical foundation, its kings and queens, lavish culture and the familiar human frailties that eventually erode its pre-eminence. Across her two centuries, Pampa Kampana enjoys a ringside seat for the creation of regional history, while her husbands, lovers and children arrive and depart, a necessary consequence of the main character’s accursed longevity.

The sheer scale of the author’s ambition in this tale is extraordinary and must surely endorse Salman Rushdie’s reputation as one of the finest storytellers of his generation. That he should transport a formerly unenlightened audio ‘reader’ so completely is also to be gratefully acknowledged!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Cementing Early Promise

This first novel by Ian McEwan, first published in 1978, is short (just 152 pages), but in common with much of the author’s work, it packs a disproportionate punch and is deliberately disturbing. 

The story relates the experiences of four siblings, Jack (13) – the narrator, Julie (17), Sue (12) and Tom (6), who are forced to adapt when they find themselves orphaned by the unexpected deaths of their father and mother in fairly quick succession. Mindful that they needed to avoid the attention of the authorities, but ill-equipped to cope with the mundane expectations of the adult world, their respective struggles reflect the characters’ disparate ages and natures. Yet, their collectively grim existence is lightened only by the the macabre unfolding of the kids’ latent vulnerability and the attendant black humour, which staves off, at times, the fear threatening to engulf them all.

There are perhaps faint echoes of ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1954), but the reader’s unease stems in part from the worryingly plausible actions of the teenagers, drawn into a parentless world with no safeguards to deter some guileless decisions. What has subsequently become the trademark flourish of McEwan’s use of language is in evidence in this debut novel and marked him out as an author to watch. Some seventeen novels and six nominations for the Booker prize (to date) later, the author rarely disappoints.

Moreover, in this example, the titular ‘cement garden’ offers a metaphorical legacy of the main characters’ late father, a brutally minimalist approach designed to blanket the natural outside space, but also inadvertently incarcerating the children’s lives within.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Low Calorie, High Quality Fiction

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I came across this slim volume of short stories in the Monmouth ‘Health & Social Care Facility’. Written by local veteran, John Mason and also published locally, the profits from the sale of this book are pledged to military charities, which immediately sparked my interest, but in fact these stories are worthy of much wider attention.

The first half of the anthology is dedicated to the theme of ‘Last’. Last … ditch; straw; refuge; laugh; man; gasp; resting place; minute; call; bus; night; chance; judgement; exit; and word, through which the author has imaginatively plumbed a rich seam to good effect. But, then he moves on. As though not satisfied with a paltry fifteen stories, the remainder of the book comprises a similar number of stories under the titular banner of ‘Hopes’. Yet, there is a cogency to the two halves, perhaps two sides of the same coin. The ‘Last’ stories pay tribute to human resilience, the capacity to ‘dig deep’ when circumstances demand and simply not give in. Meanwhile, the complementary ‘Hopes’ stories speak to the human capacity for positive ingenuity, to overcome the unexpected setbacks of life and mash those lemons into lemonade! A combination of self belief, positive perspective and an optimism that reaches beyond wishful thinking, enabling the determined individual to tilt fate in his/her favour, or at least attempt to.

As a veteran myself, I relished the authentic references to varied military experience, but the broad themes and diverse settings for the stories ensure a wider appeal too and the collection is much more thought-provoking than stale war-time parodies and wreaked of unsentimental realism. Indeed a large proportion of the stories are set in civilian life, but I suspect for veteran readers, the tales of re-imagined ‘active service’ may prove the most resonant.

A purist might suggest that some of the examples have strayed into ‘micro-fiction’ territory, that is extremely short stories, but I prefer not to get hung up on story length. After all, the crafting of concise and engaging narratives remains a valuable skill in its own right and almost without exception the author’s instinct for ‘nonfat storytelling’ just feels right. In dedicating his collection to “those brave men and women of our armed forces who daily risk their lives for us in the darker places of this world”, John Mason has shone an interesting light into the gloom and makes a fascinating case for bitesized fiction.

Rating: 4 out of 5.