Book Review - Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
The third book in Michael Connelly’s Jack McEvoy series works just as well as a stand alone thriller, with the investigative reporter on the trail of a serial killer. Feels up to date, with issues such as genetic research, the dark web, and Incel groups. Literally a cracking read.
Book Review - Stephen King - Fairy Tale
Stephen King’s new book is about a boy and his dog, who set out on high stakes adventure in a strange world. King has a lot of fun with elements of fairy tales, but how does it compare to previous efforts?
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
A classic for good reason, this gothic psychological thriller has stood the test of time.
Book Review - The Daughter of Doctor Moreau - Silvia Moreno Garcia
Intriguing and very readable book, best described as Historical gothic fiction, about a secluded estate where a doctor who conducts mysterious experiments lives with his daughter, overseer and extended family. A new arrival upsets the balance in this idyllic place and things will never be the same again.
Bad Relations - Cressida Connolly
Wonderfully written and well paced multi generational story that moves from the Crimean battlefields to an English summer in the seventies. An evocative, well paced story with interesting characters in a book I devoured in a couple of days.
Book Review - The Island - Adrian McKinty
Rip roaring and fun thriller about a family on a trip to Australia who just want to see some Koalas. What could go wrong?
Book Review - The Night Watchman - Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel tells the story of a Native American tribe via a varied cast of characters and their fight to resist eviction from their ancestral homeland, and the problems they faced during the 1950’s.
Book Review-Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is an wonderfully immersive work of fantasy, set inside a world of halls and vestibules, water and statues, that soon grabs you with its strangeness. Wonderfully compelling.
Book Review - Grand Hotel Europa - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
A book which uses the faded glory of the Grand Hotel Europa to tell a story of how the continent trades on it’s past but at the expense of what? Also looks at populism and tourism, it’s a long book but informative and readable.
Book review - Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
After the world collapses following a devastating pandemic, this book follows the lives of some of the survivors and how their lives intersect. A moving and thought provoking book that contains moments of real beauty.
Book Review - Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart
‘Shuggie Bain’ was an immersive reading experience, set in the Glasgow in the 80’s. ‘Young mungo’ takes place in the 90’s, but in the same setting. How does it compare?
Book review - Songbirds - Christy Lefteri
‘Songbirds’ tells the story of Nisha, a migrant worker who leaves her homeland to work as a nanny and maid in Cyprus, but who vanishes one evening. A book about the plight of the vulnerable and invisible in society.
Book Review - The Law of Innocence - Michael Connelly
The latest instalment in the Mickey Haller series is an engrossing legal thriller, with ‘The Lincoln lawyer’ finding himself on the opposite side of the law, facing a desperate fight for his freedom.
Audiobook Review - The end of the affair - Graham Greene, read by Colin Firth
Graham Greenes story of a love affair in Post War London is masterfully narrated by Colin Firth.
Book Review - The Paris Apartment - Lucy Foley
From the bestselling author of ‘The guest list’ comes another mystery thriller, this time set in a Paris apartment block with some of the residents trying to prevent dark secrets being revealed. How does it compare to Lucy Foley’s previous effort?
Book Review - Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro’s dystopian novel about a Artificial Friend called Klara is beautifully written, as you’d expect, but is it up there with previous books by the Nobel Prize winning author?
Book review - Winterkill - Ragnar Jónasson
Ragnar Jónasson’s final book in the Dark Iceland series finds Ari Thor investigating the death of a nineteen year old student - was her death murder or suicide? Another entertaining, claustrophobic tightly plotted thriller that takes place in the middle of a blizzard.
Book Review - No One is Talking About This - Patricia Lockwood
Patricia Lockwoods book bristles with energy, and is both sharp and funny. What starts off as somewhat ironic take on the online lives we lead gives way to a story that is genuinely moving, with wonderfully lyrical prose. Haven’t read anything like this all year.
Book Review - To Paradise - Hanya Yanagihara
Hanya Yanagihara’s latest spans two hundred years and 720 pages. It’s large in scope and at times unwieldy and this is my attempt to review it. Is it any good? As long as it is, best not to read if you are entering isolation……….
Book Review - Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen
Franzens brilliantly written saga, set in the seventies, is a warm, deep and funny exploration of the family dynamics of the Hildebrandt clan and the choices they make in their lives and their relationship to each other and God.
