It’s pretty disturbing to be inside the head of Mike, who can’t let go of his love/obsession with Verity. Even though she’s about to marry another man, he thinks it’s all part of an elaborate game they play. Mike is an original character, a psychopath but not entirely evil. This book is a notch above […]
Uncategorized
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If the Brontes taught us high school English students how to love with passion, Jane Austen taught us how to choose our great loves with intelligence. Eliza Bennett chooses Fitzwilliam Darcy with her head before her heart, after freeing herself of pride and prejudice. This one stands up to multiple rereads because it’s thick with […]
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
Just read the first story in this collection and you’ll get it. The power and horror and the beauty of the short story, perfectly encapsulated.
Heartstone by CJ Sansom
Samson’s account of the sinking of the King’s warship, the Mary Rose, in Hearstone is unforgettable. Sansom renders it real, compete with rats frantically clambouring over the netting as the ship sinks into the water with the trapped men beneath. This is what Samson is so good at; history so vital and compelling it makes […]
The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah
Written in the style of Agatha Christie with the fastidious Hercule Poirot investigating, this little murder mystery almost convinces. The ending, however, is so convoluted you may come away glad that someone knows how the murders occured and who the murderer is, even if it’s not you. Hannah is trying a little too hard. I […]
No Place Like Home by Caroline Overington
As much as I wanted to like this book, something about it just didn’t jibe. It has good intentions- highlighting, for example, the vulnerability of refugees- but doesn’t quite ring true. The SPOILER ALERT death of schoolboy Mitchell does however leave a lasting sadness so some of it gets under the skin, but unfortunately it’s […]
Say Nothing by Brad Parks
The six year old twins of a US Federal court judge are kidnapped and he is told he will have his children’s body parts returned to him one by one if he contacts the police or the FBI. Pretty horrifying stuff. His only chance to get his children back is to deliver the verdict dictated […]
The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly
Difficult to love a novel when you find the characters in it so selfish and pathetic you want to wring their necks. Such is the case with The Poison Tree, Erin Kelly’s first novel, in which the solidly middle class protagonist Karen becomes inexplicably enthralled with the needy, hopeless, manipulative and unfortunately named Biba and, […]