Notebook - Tom Cox

I didn’t think I could love Tom Cox any more than I did but then I read this exquisite little volume and I realise I can. There is nothing more affirming than reading words that express so succinctly, not just how you feel about things, but what you do and how you live your life. I suppose it stands to reason that as a devotee of Tom’s writing much of that is because I am in tune with his values and his thought processes.  But it is also because he has such an accessible, conversational, inspirational and even educational style that his works are so substantial. There is always such warmth in his work. He also makes me feel less weird because he does things that I do.

This particular book really resonated with me because I am an acquirer of notebooks, all shapes and sizes.  Wherever I go I’ll buy one. And I can’t believe how many end up in charity shops. I’ve picked up some beauties. So from the start I loved the concept of this book.

There is so much in it to make you laugh, to make you think, to pique your interest and to admire someone who is such a pertinent observer of life and people. It’s full of love, too, love for the natural world and love for family. The illustrations are done by Tom’s parents which is just such a lovely thing.

If you’re a notebook keeper yourself you won’t need any explanation of what this book is ‘about’. If you’re not, well, it’s about everything and anything. You might call it ‘random’ but life is random. It’s full of insights, opinions, theories and philosophies, self examination, anecdotes and much information. It’s the kind of book you can dip in and out of. I read it in all in one go but I’m looking forward to revisiting it and selecting parts to ponder more deeply. It’s compact with a wonderful blue cover.

I also think it’s a courageous book. I can’t think of a viable comparison except, perhaps people who have passed away and subsequently had their diaries published whether they wanted that or not. For it’s a man laid bare offering himself up for readers to take or leave, I guess. I’ll take.

Find You First - Linwood Barclay

 Egad, but he certainly knows how to write ‘em doesn’t he?! Surely he is master of the convoluted plot that on the surface defies credibility but once the reader becomes enmeshed within the storyline and the narrative they are completely enveloped into the situations. I found the desire to unravel the shady goings on in this story became almost obsessive and I fairly raced through it. I always find it fascinating when I read a book of  500 odd pages much more quickly than a book half that length. I think it’s because, no matter how complicated the plot might be, it’s very easy to read.

‘It’s a deadly race against time…

Tech billionaire Miles has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of – except time. Now facing a terminal illness, Miles knows he must seize every minute to put his life in order. And that means taking a long hard look at his past.

Somewhere out there, Miles has children. And they might be about to inherit both the good and bad from him – possibly his fortune, or possibly something more sinister.

So Miles decides to track down his missing children. But a vicious killer is one step ahead of him. One by one, people are vanishing. Not just disappearing, every trace of them is wiped.

Number One Sunday Times bestseller Linwood Barclay returns with his electrifying new thriller, Find You First.’

It’s a pretty big cast of characters and easy to get muddled with some of them. In fact I did spot one place where the author, himself, got muddled and his editor didn’t spot it either. Slapped wrists. But it just shows you how on the ball you have to be to keep up with everybody. With this many characters it can become hard to engage with any of them fully. I guess ultimately you’re rooting for both Miles and Chloe and it isn’t that you don’t care about the others it’s just that their roles within the story tend to be more functional.

This is reading for entertainment. There may be readers who get picky about the realism and the plausibility of the plot. I admit it’s far-fetched and, if I’m honest, a little unsavoury. But does it matter? I was entertained. It’s a thriller. You can’t produce a good thriller by sticking to the ordinary. There are twists and turns. People you thought you could trust you find you can’t. People you thought were instrumental in bringing about a certain outcome you suddenly find they weren’t. And, of course, the conclusion -  full of excitement and tension. So suspend your belief, settle back, strap yourself in because this is a white knuckle ride of a book and probably perfect for the lockdown situation.

My thanks to HQ stories because I won this copy!

The Smash-Up - Ali Benjamin

I read this book as part of the buddy read organised by riverrun and Quercus books. Would I have read it if I hadn’t wanted to participate in a buddy read? Yes I would. It’s been on my radar for some time. And why? Well, I’ll tell you.

There are many reasons why we choose to read books. Sometimes it’s the hype. Sometimes it’s the social media buzz. Sometimes it’s other reasons. And sometimes it’s all of these! Ali Benjamin cites Edith Wharton as an influence.  A favourite author of mine, with whom I am on first name terms and interact with fairly frequently even if we don’t  get to meet up very often, lists Edith Wharton as someone who writes perfect books, including her short stories because of  ‘form, balance, weighting of each word in the line and line in the whole. Perfect as prose stylists mostly but also conceptually totally in control.’ So that piqued my curiosity even further. When you start to read the book and you see the name Ethan Frome all kinds of things go off in your head.I hadn’t read more than the first hundred pages of The Smash Up before I was reading Ethan Frome. I found the parallels in terms of setting, characters and story line fascinating. And I loved the idea of using something that means a great deal to you as the basis for your own work. But be in no doubt, this is no act of plagiarism, Benjamin takes a thematic essence and develops it beyond the initial premise and ends up with a piercingly satirical look at life. Predominantly life in the USA but it’s universal. And as for the writing? Is it as ‘perfect’ as Wharton’s? Maybe.

‘After years spent in the city, working with his business partner Randy on Bränd media, Ethan finds himself in the quiet, closed-off town of Starkfield. His wife Zenobia is perpetually distracted by the swirling #MeToo politics, the Kavanaugh hearings, and her duties to the feminist activism group she formed: All Them Witches. Ethan finds himself caught between their regular meetings at his home and the battle to get his livewire daughter Alex to sleep.

But the new, stilted rhythm of his life is interrupted when he receives a panicked message. Accusations. Against Randy. A slew of them. And Ethan is abruptly forced to question everything: his past, his future, his marriage, and what he values most.

Unrelenting in its satire, The Smash-up jolts you into the twisted psyche of successful brand advertising, where historic exploitation is only ever a panicked phone-call away. With magnetic energy and doses of comic wit, Benjamin creates a world of social media algorithms, extreme polarization, the collapsing of identity into tweet-sized spaces, and the spectre of violence that can be found even in the quietest places.’

It’s book of paradoxes for it’s witty in places and will have you chuckling but there are some searingly brutal moments, heart dropping and heart lifting parts as the reader accompanies the almost hapless Ethan through his fragile marriage and previous career battling his wife’s anger and his own confusion. Throw into the mix a daughter probably on the spectrum, challenging and endearing in equal measure  plus a baby sitter who presents with some allure for him. The narrative moves steadily forwards from an enigmatic opening through pasts and presents, with an explosive climax that is so well written it's as if you are witnessing it in slow motion. I found the book did have a very visual quality. It was easy to picture the events and situations.

It’s crisp, dynamic writing that sparkles. The author gets right under the skin of each character. Uniquely, because you can identity with each one even if they are operating from staggeringly different motivations. And your impressions and responses see saw as the story unfolds. Characters who confound initially redeem themselves by the conclusion.  The book throws up questions of feminism, parenting, morality, education, the responsibility of one generation to another - it’s dripping with discussion material. Obliquely it also demands we look deeper, look beneath the outward veneer of who and what we see. Then somehow given the events in recent days it seems even more pertinent. I don’t want to dwell on that other than to say how literature can offer a kind of commentary to our ever challenging world. But it’s an entertaining read, too.

My thanks to riverrun for a gifted copy and the opportunity to participate in a most  enjoyable buddy read. 

The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer - Joel Dicker translated by Howard Curtis - Social Media Blast

 

I had misgivings about this book. Because I had to read it as an e-book rather than a physical book. I’m not good with e-books. May not be rational, may not be logical,  may not even be practical but there you have it! However when a book is as complex and intriguing as this one it wasn’t nearly such a problem as it could’ve been. I fairly raced through it because I was desperate to know “who done it“. 

‘In the summer of 1994, the quiet seaside town of Orphea reels from the discovery of four murders. 

Two young police officers, Jesse Rosenberg and Derek Scott crack the case and identify the killer.

Then, twenty years later and just as he is on the point of taking early retirement, Rosenberg is approached by Stephanie Mailer, a journalist who believes he made a mistake back in 1994 and that the real murderer is still out there, perhaps ready to strike again. But before she can give any more details, Stephanie Mailer mysteriously disappears, and Rosenberg and Scott are forced to confront the possibility that her suspicions might have been proved true.

What happened to Stephanie Mailer?

What did she know?

And what really happened in Orphea all those years ago?’

There’s a lot going on in this book. And there are a lot of people. And you need to keep on top of them all if you are to have a real shot at keeping everything clear in your head. I’m afraid, rather smugly, I did figure out who did do it. But I didn’t figure out all of the hows, the whys and the wheres. What a plot though! 

Obviously the murders form the main thrust of the narrative. But as you read you find out that each character has their own story that is fundamental to their presence in Orphea. So it’s very much a multistranded story. The narrative style is quite novel too. There is almost something visual about it. As if you’re watching a police drama programme with a narrator. And although it’s a French novel I found myself hearing the American accent and that’s to do with the US location as well as the fact that it sounded like a black-and-white B film voice-over! And not to mention the superb translation by Howard Curtis. 

The unsuspecting reader is led down many garden paths and false trails to try and find out what’s been going on. It seems that many people have things to hide and things they choose not to disclose. It’s like a huge ball of twine that’s got tangled up within its self and everybody is pulling at different strands to try and sort it all out. 

It’s a slow, substantial read. And I guess it mirrors the progress at which a lot of police investigations progress. Some may find it overlong.  But I think there are enough subplots to keep the majority of readers interested. Well, it certainly kept this reader interested! I became almost frantic towards the end to know if I was right in my hunch about who did do it! And there is a happy ending. Regardless of the fact that the book is about murder, everything is resolved in the end.

My thanks to Milly Reid, MacLehose Press and Quercus Books for a gifted e-book and a chance to participate in the social media blast.

Doors - Markus Heitz translated from the German by Charlie Homewood

‘A unique concept in adventure fiction: three novels, each book starts at the same point but the story changes depending on which door you go through’

I think of ‘doors’ and I conjure Aldous Huxley and his perceptions. I hear Jim Morrison breaking on through to the other side but now I’ll add to those images Markus Heitz’s adventure trilogy comprising Colony, Twilight and Fields of Blood, collectively known as - Doors.

It’s like a Magic Faraway Tree, almost, for grownups although Enid Blyton might shudder at some of the language and violence. The closest comparison I can think of is Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s role playing books which offered the reader choices of a kind but whereas the roots of those books were firmly in video games and the choices were within the one book this trilogy has a more literary feel and offers the reader a choice of books! But I think many readers will be reminded of role playing games at some point in the reading of these books.

It’s a mixture of fantasy, historical fiction, adventure, thriller and mystery with an almost cinematic feel to the various scenarios and situations. In fact one character alludes to Raiders of the Lost Ark and from that point on the reader almost expects Indian Jones to pop out from somewhere because it’s an ‘anything can happen’ kinda gig!

For me it was a unique read. The first hundred pages of each book are the same! I can’t recall any other series that employs that device. So, effectively, if you read it once you can skip it for the other two books. But, cleverly, it allows any reader to pick up any of the books and get a ‘whole’ story as it were.

But things are never quite as they seem. I read all three books back to back and the thing that struck me was that you only get the full story if you do read all three books. But you could just read one and get a rollicking good yarn without feeling any kind of detriment whatsoever or even realising that by reading the others you get a complete picture. It’s very clever and unique and completely consistent with the maze like, labyrinth like plot and landscape of the books. What is even more astounding is that all three are to be published simultaneously. I’m sure that there are anoraks and statisticians out there who could reel off other occasions where this has occurred but for me it’s a first!!

Door ? Colony

‘When his beloved only daughter goes missing, millionaire entrepreneur Walter van Dam calls in a team of experts - including free-climbers, a geologist, a parapsychologist, even a medium - to find her . . . for Anna-Lena has disappeared somewhere within a mysterious cave system under the old house the family abandoned years ago. But the rescuers are not the only people on her trail - and there are dangers in the underground labyrinth that no one could ever have foreseen.

In a gigantic cavern the team come across a number of strange doors, three of them marked with enigmatic symbols. Anna-Lena must be behind one of them - but time is running out and they need to choose, quickly. Anna-Lena is no longer the only person at risk.

They little expect door ? to take them back to the 1940s - but this is not the 1940s they know. In this timeline, Nazi Germany capitulated early, the US has taken control of Europe and is threatening the Russian-led Resistance with a nuclear strike. If the team is to rescue Anna-Lena - and survive themselves - they will have to stop this madness - at all costs!’

I guess from the blurb you can see where the Raiders of the Lost Ark thing comes in! What follows is an explosive genre fusion, tour de force as our ‘experts’ bring their various ‘skills’ to the table on their quest. It’s full of twists and intrigues with a fast paced narrative that allows the reader to become immersed in these disparate characters. And I’ll not give anything else away!

Door X Twilight

‘When his beloved only daughter goes missing, millionaire entrepreneur Walter van Dam calls in a team of experts - including free-climbers, a geologist, a parapsychologist, even a medium - to find her . . . for Anna-Lena has disappeared somewhere within a mysterious cave system under the old house the family abandoned years ago. But the rescuers are not the only people on her trail - and there are dangers in the underground labyrinth that no one could ever have foreseen.

In a gigantic cavern the team come across a number of strange doors, three of them marked with enigmatic symbols. Anna-Lena must be behind one of them - but time is running out and they need to choose, quickly. Anna-Lena is no longer the only person at risk.

The team knew their mission would be perilous - but how do you defeat your own demons? Trapped in their own nightmares, their only hope of escape is DOOR X, which leads to a threatening vision of the future . . .’

Not deja vu, it’s the same beginning as the first book! But there’s a note for you to skip it if you’ve read either of the other books. The pace, style and characterisations are sustained. And we go hurtling off on another action packed adventure. The unexpected occurs. More is divulged about our group of experts but that only applies if you’ve read book one! The exposition remains very clever. The author has covered the eventuality of readers who maybe only read one of the books and those who read all three.  Again I’m unwilling to say much more than that about what actually happens but it's riveting stuff and not for the faint hearted! 

Door ! Field of Blood

 
‘When his beloved only daughter goes missing, millionaire entrepreneur Walter van Dam calls in a team of experts - including free-climbers, a geologist, a parapsychologist, even a medium - to find her . . . for Anna-Lena has disappeared somewhere within a mysterious cave system under the old house the family abandoned years ago. But the rescuers are not the only people on her trail - and there are dangers in the underground labyrinth that no one could ever have foreseen.

In a gigantic cavern the team come across a number of strange doors, three of them marked with enigmatic symbols. Anna-Lena must be behind one of them - but time is running out and they need to choose, quickly. Anna-Lena is no longer the only person at risk.

Who could have imagined that the portal marked with ! would take the rescuers into a different time completely: it is now the early Middle Ages - and they are about to find themselves in the middle of a world-changing battle . . .’

This final tale sees our intrepid troupe floundering in mediaeval Germany and you begin to see that if there are any points to be made in these books it is the old ‘sliding doors’ chestnut. One moment, one decision, can define the course of history. For those who’ve stuck with all three books the rewards are rich; more detail on the previous escapades of the group and shall I just say there is more to all of them than meets the eye. Secrets a plenty. For those who are only reading this one book it’s a ‘histfic’ adventure in the style of the previous books, plenty of action and intrigue, detailed research complementing the authenticity.

Each book has a unique adventure but the umbrella plot covers all three books. Read them all and you get the bigger picture, read one and you get a complete enough picture because maybe you haven’t realised there’s so much more!! The books all have a visual feel to them. I often felt I was in a computer game scenario required to make the right choice; select the correct artefact or make the right decision to progress. And in common with gaming it’s entertaining reading.

Much credit must go to the translator, Charlie Homewood, who has done a sterling job of rending the German into the English vernacular without losing the essence of the original. 

I realised as I proof read this that I’ve use the word “unique“ many times. That should tell you something!

My thanks to Ella Patel and Jo Fetcher Book for gifting me all three parts of the trilogy.