I’ve been reading quite a few books this summer, a sign that I’ve finished writing my new book and it’s gone off for proof reading. I’m not one of those who only reads on holiday, although I do that too, as I read most of the time – mostly to give me a break from writing and last thing at night.
Here’s a list of my summer reads in no particular order.
Hide and Seek – Ian Rankin
The second outing for John Rebus sees him chasing the truth about an assumed suicide, a case which eventually touches the upper echelons of Edinburgh society. Excellent. Click here for more information.
The Mine – John A Heldt
A geology student goes down a mine and travels back to 1943. He falls in love and faces a dilemma. The conditions that send him back in time will reappear in a few days time. Does he stay in 1943 and marry the woman he had fallen in love with or travel back to the 21st century without her? Good. Click here for more information.
The Twelve – Stuart Neville
The premise of the book – an IRA killer, Gerry Fegan is followed around by the ghosts of 12 people he killed – reads like a paranormal thriller, but it’s not. To keep his sanity, Fegan has to kill the people who ordered him to kill the 12 and as he does so, one by one the ghosts disappear. A gritty novel set in Ireland during the Troubles. Excellent. Click here for more information.
Collusion – Stuart Neville
This is the follow-up to The Twelve (above) when the killer comes out of hiding to protect a woman and her child. Good in its own way but essentially a re-hash of The Twelve. Click here for more information.
I Let You Go – Claire Mackintosh
Winner of the Theakston’s Novel of the Year, tells of woman who disappears after a boy is killed in a hit and run. To tell you more would reveal too much of the story but the book is a worthy award winner. Excellent. Click here for more information.
The Black Ice – Michael Connolly
The second book to feature detective Harry Bosch. Who says you don’t learn from crime novels? In an effort to eradicate a medfly pest desimating California’s fruit crop, every year millions of sterile fruit flies are released to mate with the medfly and produce no offspring. Clever, eh? Excellent. Click here for more information.
The Reader on the 6:57 – Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
A man working in book pulping factory reads pages he rescues from the pulping machine every morning to commuters on the 6:27. He finds a memory stick on his regular seat, and on it a lavatory attendant in a shopping mall, reveals details about her life in a book that she is writing. Our hero falls for her and eventually tracks her down. Do they fall in love? That would be telling. Quirky but interesting. Click here for more information.
The Harder They Come – TC Boyle
A gritty drama about a family with a son who has mental problems, and how his grip on reality gradually slips away with tragic consequences for all involved. Excellent. Click here for more information.
Started but Didn’t Finish
The Strontium Factor – Mason Forbes. Badly written,
Rise of the Enemy – Rob Sinclair. Too much introspection.
The Various Haunts of Men – Susan Hill. As above.
Kiss Me Quick – Danny Miller. Didn’t take to it.
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