Category: Genres

Hitler’s Secret

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Hitler’s Secret by Rory Clements is a “what if?” spy thriller set in 1941.

Martin Bormann is desperately trying to locate and kill Hitler’s illegitimate daughter before Hitler and the rest of Germany learn about her existence. Tom Wilde an American academic based in Cambridge is recruited by British intelligence services and their US counterparts to get into Germany, find the child and get her to safety. Of course things aren’t as simple as they appeared, who are Tom’s allies and helpers in Germany? Why are they helping?

This tale of intrigue amongst the different factions of the German leadership, competition between the British and the US has plenty of twists and turns and is quite easy to read but overall it is both unbelievable and predictable. Might make a good film script for the streaming factories.

2.5/5

Girl Woman Other

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Girl Woman Other by Bernadine Evaristo was the joint winner of the Booker prize in 2019. I thought I ought to read it even though it didn’t appear to be my kind of book.

Half way through the first chapter I knew I’d made a mistake. The first character introduced is a black lesbian feminist theatre director (reorder those however you wish), I didn’t think I was going to get to the end of this novel, Booker or not. But I did and I’m glad that I did.

Girl Woman Other is a series of sketches of women who are all interconnected. It gradually unfolds in a narrative which comes full circle at the end. It’s elegant and held my interest but overall it’s not very rewarding and I can’t see why it won the Booker.

3.5/5

Unknown Male

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Unknown Male by Nicolas Obregon is the second in the Iwata series, it is worth starting with the first in the series Blue Light Yokohama.

Skye Mackintosh, a young English student is found brutally murdered in a “love” hotel in Tokyo. Several prostitutes have disappeared off the streets with no trace. How are the two linked?

Iwata has been away from Tokyo for a decade after the Akashi case (Blue Light Yokohama) he is summoned back by his old commander to lead the search for the murderer of Skye assisted by Anthea Lynch, a detective sent to Tokyo by the Met police who also has some skeletons in her closet.

Combine the twists and turns of a murder investigation with a truly chilling serial killer and Iwata’s struggle for resolution with his long estranged father and you get a cracking novel.

4/5

Shamus Dust

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Shamus Dust by Janet Roger is a stunning homage to the noir novels of Chandler and Hammett. Set in a frozen City of London at the turn of the year in 1947, this is a compelling, twisting page turner that combines a hard boiled American detective in Newman, multiple brutal murders, corrupt city police, femmes fatales (yes more than one!) and more dark secrets than the average reader can cope with.

I loved this novel, the descriptions of London recovering from the blitz are outstanding, the lead character is pitched perfectly and the plot draws all of its threads together elegantly as it draws to a close.

I am looking forward to Janet Roger’s next book, she is a real find! This is as good as it gets – 5/5.

Bloody January

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Alan Parks is a new author to me, Bloody January is a bloody good read, Parks is a good new find.

“It became one of those cases cops mark their career by. Peter Manuel, Bible John and Bloody January” This is a sizzler, it bowls along at a good pace through the dark side of 70’s Glasgow, 6 murders in a week, a rebel cop (isn’t there always?), powerful hidden forces trying to stop the investigation. What’s not to like?

If you like Ian Rankin’s Rebus or Michael Connelly’s Bosch then read this, you won’t be disappointed. I definitely want to read the next McCoy from Parks.

4.5/5

Don’t Let Go

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I was blown away when I discovered Harlen Coben and I am still a big fan of his Myron Bolitar series but I have some reservations  about his one off’s and Don’t Let Go has not changed that view.

A cop who doesn’t play by the rules, a pair of unresolved teenage deaths, hints of conspiracy. coven keeps the pace up in this easily readable book but it just seems to unbelievable and by the end pointless. I wouldn’t bother, if you want to read Coben at his best go back to the beginning of the Myron Bolitar series and start there.

3/5

Stockholm Delete

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I am a sucker for Swedish noir so I settled in to read Stockholm Delete by Jens Lapidus with enthusiasm. Disappointment followed. It’s a legal/lawyer lead plot with a few twists and turns but it turns into more of an ordeal than a pleasure. Either the characters aren’t well enough developed or they just aren’t captivating.

This is the first part of a trilogy, I’ll pass on the next two parts.

2/5

The Last Hours

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I used to be a big fan of Minette Walters, eagerly devouring each of her chilling psycho thrilled. But that was a good while ago and I haven’t read her for ages, with more edgy American and Scandi authors replacing her.

The Last Hours breaks with Walters past work, it is a historical novel set in the time of the Black Death. Lady Anne is the compassionate and strong willed mistress of the Devilish (yes really!) estate which is quarantined to protect against the plague after its brutal master has succumbed to the disease. The Last Hours combines the evolving relationship between Lady Anne and her mysterious steward Thaddeus with a vivid description of the spread of the plague and the wasteland surrounding the estate.

It is quite readable but not outstanding, the plot meanders in a somewhat predictable way to a climax which is then snatched away with a “to be continued”. I am not sure that I will bother to follow this through to conclusion.

3/5

The Golden House

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I never really fell in love with Salman Rushdie, Midnights Children passed me by, The Satanic Verses I found underwhelming and I couldn’t understand the outrage or ovation that it received from different quarters. So I started Rushdie’s latest The Golden House with little expectation, which meant that I had a very pleasant surprise.

Nero Golden, a wealthy Indian, immigrates to New York from Mumbai with his 3 sons in curious circumstances. As the novel unfolds, the back story in Mumbai becomes clearer while the impending sense of disaster grows. The story switches between the challenges in adapting to New York life faced by Nero’s sons, the machinations around Nero himself and what happened in Mumbai. There are strong resonances with recent political events both in the US and India. The climax, while somewhat predictable, is compelling – this is a literary page turner.

If, like me, you haven’t read Rushdie for a while The Golden House is well worth giving a try – you might even want to go back to some of those old hits to give them a second read.

4/5

 

Dinner at the Centre of the Earth

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Dinner at the Centre of the Earth by Nathan Englander is intriguing, sensitive and difficult to put down.

The central character is an unnamed prisoner in a secret Israeli prison. Gradually Englander shares the story of an immigrant who spies for Mossad, betrays his country because of his dismay at some of it’s actions and becomes a non-person. It’s difficult to know who are the good guys in this shifting muddle of loyalties and it’s only as you near the end that you think you know what is going on.

It’s easy to groan at the thought of another novel about Israel and Palestine but don’t, this is a humorous and sad novel that is well worth reading whatever your views on the conflict.

4/5