General fiction
Repeat It Today With Tears by Anne Peile
Repeat it Today with Tears follows the story of Susanna, a sixteen year old girl from a broken and loveless home who obsessively collects information in the back of a notebook about the father she has never met. When by chance she discovers that he still lives nearby she sets out deliberately to find and seduce him. Full review...
Goldengrove by Francine Prose
On a hot day Nico and her older sister Margaret take a boat out onto Mirror Lake, but only Nico returns after Margaret dives off the boat and doesn't resurface. Margaret's sudden death tears through Nico and her parents' lives, and each mourn for her in their own way. Unable to find the help she needs from her parents, who are both consumed by their own grief to help Nico to come to terms with her loss, Nico turns to the vast array of books in Goldengrove, her father's bookshop, for answers, and soon embarks on a dangerous relationship with Margaret's boyfriend Aaron, the only person who seems to understand her grief. Full review...
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
In a story that takes us from the elegance of Paris, through the streets of Budapest and on into the Hungarian countryside and the Ukraine this is an epic tale, masterfully told. It is 1937 and Andras Levi, a young Hungarian Jewish student, is about to leave his brother Tibor to go and study architecture in Paris. Andras' story unfolds first amongst the beautiful buildings of Paris, the theatres and the bars, as he struggles in his studies and falls in love with a beautiful ballerina who has a terrible secret to hide. As the tragedy of World War 2 edges ever closer to Andras, the book moves back to Hungary, to the little village where Andras and his brothers grew up, to Budapest where his new family live and then on into the forced labour camps across Hungary. Full review...
Thief by Maureen Gibbon
It’s summer, and school teacher Suzanne is renting a cabin by a lake. Spending her days reading and swimming, she also finds time to engage in some old fashioned letter writing with a stranger who responded to a personal ad she placed. He’s currently an inmate at the state penitentiary, but Suzanne’s not one to judge, and agrees to give their correspondence a shot. Then she finds out what he’s in for – and it’s not pretty. Breville is a convicted thief and rapist, and Suzanne herself was raped as a teenager, by a friend’s brother. That should be the end of it: any sensible person would cut off all communication and turn their back on the situation. But Suzanne is different and though she’s acknowledges that it might not be the healthiest of relationships, she maintains the back and forth with Breville. Full review...
Avenging the Dead by Guy Fraser
It's 1863 and the Superintendent covering the inner city area of Glasgow has his hands full. First off an alarming forgery scandal has just been discovered and no sooner has he drawn breath than one, two and counting suspicious deaths occur. Instinctively, I want to say that it's all good, clean fun. Because it is. The language Fraser uses is very much of that era which lends the book a particular old-fashioned and rather twee, charm. It's all over the book in spades. On almost every page. Let me give you just one endearing example of the flavour of the book 'None of Mrs Maitland's four regulars at her superior guest house for single gentlemen would even dream of taking another's seat ...' Full review...
Hailey's War by Jodi Compton
At the beginning of the book, Hailey Cain is a 23 year old cycle courier living in San Francisco. The story then takes a step back in time and we discover that she had to leave West Point Military Academy during her final year, for reasons she prefers to keep to herself. I continued to read under the assumption that Hailey had done something which forced her to leave. Her next move is to L.A, where she spent the latter part of her childhood. During these years, her mother with whom she has, at best, a very strained relationship is no source of comfort and Hailey develops a very close attachment to her cousin CJ. Aspects of this relationship make for uncomfortable reading at times. Full review...
Die Twice (David Trevellyan) by Andrew Grant
The title is very much at home and in keeping with the thriller genre and it's both eye-catching and also has a perfectly reasonable explanation which comes right at the very end of the story. I must admit to thrillers generally not being my most favourite reading material. Some can be a bit flashy, a bit trashy even. But not this novel. Right from the start I felt I was in for a good, intelligent read. There were pointers to this all over the place. For starters, David Trevellyan has a nice line in witty humour. There are numerous snazzy one-liners. It all went down very well. Full review...
Who Is Mr Satoshi? by Jonathan Lee
The novel opens somewhere in the Home Counties and Rob Fossick is attending his mother's funeral. The event in itself is extremely distressing and also depressing for him; factor in that he's become a bit of a recluse lately and I could feel the sheer loneliness creeping into Rob's very bones. Lee describes the event as 'Zimmer frames, bifocals, trifocals, dark grey coats with yawning shoulders. The apparatus of old age.' Full review...
Remember Remember by Hazel McHaffie
The story starts at the end and works back in time. This works extremely well as we see Doris Mannering, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother now living in a residential home. The decision to 'put mother' into a home was very, very difficult and had been put off time and time again. We come to realize that this was a heart-wrenching decision. The daughter and carer, Jessica, will always be asking herself if she'd done the right thing, made the right decision for the right reasons. A veritable minefield. And here is where many an ethical dilemma lies for many families in real-life similar situations. Full review...
The Amateurs by John Niven
Gary Irvine only wants two things out of life. He'd like to have children and he wants to reduce his golf handicap. Nothing extraordinary there, you might think except for the fact that his wife, Pauline, is planning to leave him for a self-made carpet millionaire and Gary is a dreadful golfer. His handicap is eighteen – but I'm not entirely certain how he got it down to that level in the first place. His family doesn't give him much solace either. His brother Lee is on the fringes of the local criminal underworld and hasn't the wit to keep himself out of trouble with Ranta Campbell, the local overlord. Ranta could be quite likeable if it wasn't for his penchant for a certain type of violence designed to keep the others in line rather than to teach the victim a lesson. Full review...
Mr Peanut by Adam Ross
The main couple who tend to take centre stage here are called David and Alice Pepin. They live a kind of comfortable, middle-class life in busy and bustling Manhattan. After more than a decade of generally happy married life together, they want to take the next step and have a family. Easy to say but things don't quite work out according to plan. We are taken on various 'dark' journeys within their marriage. These are situations which most of us can identify with. Some of these situations are painful, stressful, unhappy. Full review...
Inheritance by Nicholas Shakespeare
Andy Larkham's life and career are going nowhere. He works for a small publishing house, Carpe Diem, that specialises in publishing self-help books, his fiancée is about to dump him and he has no money and mountains of debt. And that's before we begin to talk about his dysfunctional family. His only real role model was the Montaigne-loving teacher, Stuart Furnivall, whose funeral he is late for. But an unexpected inheritance of £17 million has a habit of changing one's outlook on life. But while he trades self-help for help yourself, Andy also realises that he has inherited a mystery. Full review...
The Kindest Thing by Cath Staincliffe
Imagine that your partner of twenty or so years discovers that they are dying from a terminal disease. Now imagine that they've asked you to help them to die a little sooner, on their own terms. What would you do? This is the dilemma that faced Deborah and, after she went ahead and helped her husband Neil to die, she found herself charged and standing trial for murder with her own teenage daughter, Sophie, testifying against her. Full review...
Jubilee by Eliza Graham
As the village celebrates the Queen's Golden Jubilee two people can't help but think back to the Silver Jubilee. Evie Winter and her niece Rachel have vivid memories of the day when Evie's daughter Jessamy wandered off and the mystery of her disappearance has never been solved. She was eleven years old, bright, athletic and loved by her mother and cousin. There would seem to be no explanation as to why she might have disappeared of her own free will and no evidence that she was abducted. Life has carried on, but it has not been the same. It has not been easy. Full review...
Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham
An ex-detective is found dead in a pool of blood in his teenager's bedroom. She runs from the scene of the crime. Is this the easiest cut-and-dried case ever? This novel is told in the first person by the investigating psychologist, Professor Joe O'Loughlin. He's got a lot going on in his life right now. His health is not good so he's to keep popping pills to try and get through another working day. He's also newly separated and his daughters seem to talk a completely different language. He feels old and very ragged round the edges. Into this mix, he discovers that the teenager everyone is talking about, the teenager who's been discussed and described as a cold-blooded killer, is his daughter's best friend. Could his life get any worse, he thinks. Yes. Big-time. Full review...
The News Where You Are by Catherine O'Flynn
The main character in this novel is Frank Allcroft. Husband, father, son and also a bit of a minor celebrity as he's beamed into the region's television screens nightly, presenting the local news. Make that minor with a small 'm'. He comes across as a likeable, middle-aged man, content with his lot and with his home life. But he does have some personal issues to attend to. In particular, his grumpy, sometimes forgetful, elderly mother who is now living in a retirement home. Mother and son give each other lots of grief on a regular basis. Full review...
Six Graves to Munich by Mario Puzo
In the dying days of the Second World War Michael Rogan, an American Intelligence officer was captured and tortured by a group of seven men, most of whom were senior Gestapo officers trying to obtain the secrets which Rogan could give them. His wife was in another room and he could hear her screams. Ten years later, when he had recovered from the appalling injuries he suffered he made up his mind that he would avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the seven men. It's no easy task as he doesn't even know who they are. Full review...
Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai
The book opens on a disturbing dream sequence (or is it a memory?) that sets up the murder which is to be at the centre of this book. Durga, a young girl living in Julundur, is instructed by a mysterious male character to return to the house from which she has just fled, the house in which her whole family lies dead- poisoned, stabbed and partly scorched. There Durga is tied up, having been attacked and raped. Full review...
Bitter Leaf by Chioma Okereke
Jericho, (who's female by the way), is a beautiful young woman. She's curious about the outside world so like many before her, she's taken the brave step of sampling life in a big, bustling city. She returns to her home village with some rather pretentious airs ... and a rich suitor in tow. By sheer coincidence Jericho's mother had attended an interview in her past at her daughter's new boyfriend's family home. A veritable mansion with ' ... sweeping rooms that took longer than a river to cross.' What a lovely way of describing luxury in an essentially poor area of Africa. Everyone thinks the next natural step is marriage and babies but is it? Full review...
Five Deadly Words by Keith Colquhoun
Five Deadly Words follows the story of charismatic former dictator Lucas, as he charms and 'collects' people during his exile in London. The story is seen mostly from the point of view of Helen Berlin, the bright young Detective Constable who is put in charge of Lucas' safety. Helen finds herself caught up in matters which become increasingly out of her depth as she falls further into the former dictator's world. Full review...
Margot's Secrets by Don Boyd
Margot is a psychologist who specialises in sexual disorders and obsessions. She lives and works for herself in Barcelona amongst the ex-pat community, and although she only has a dozen or so clients at any one time, spends much of her week living at her office. Her clients, both male and female, are bewildering and fascinating in equal portions, and the description of the therapy sessions make fascinating and revealing reading. Full review...
The Art of the Engine Driver by Steven Carroll
Carroll has chosen a bygone era in the 1950s and also a bygone but much treasured mode of transport, whether it's Australia or the UK. Immediately I'm drawn in to the story. Both the title and book's front cover are arresting and original. The novel centres on one evening in this suburban neighbourhood when all its residents are invited to a celebration party. Carroll see-saws back and forth as he shares the individual lives with us. It is an engaging style. Full review...
The Forbidden Temple by Patrick Woodhead
Luca, a mountaineer trying to escape from his disappointingly unsupportive parents and a past accident, witnesses something strange in the distance, while watching his climbing partner Bill put the kibosh on their latest sky-bursting Himalayan ascent - a mountain shaped like a perfect pyramid, circled by other peaks he's never seen before. Back in England nobody else seems to have seen them either, but colleagues mention mysterious Shangri-La style Buddhist sanctuaries - could this be the prime one, hidden from prying eyes for centuries? Nobody wants to declare it actually exists at all. Meanwhile, Himalayan natives are trying to pull the wool over Chinese occupiers' eyes regarding a very sacred personage. Full review...
Dust to Dust (Steven Dunbar) by Ken McClure
John Motram is a cell biologist. He's a promising and well-though of academic and his pet subject is - Black Death. Intrigue is high on the agenda right from the beginning. Motram is invited to a meeting along with other high-fliers in their respective fields. This meeting is top secret. Motram is, however, mystified. The situation appears pretty straightforward, so why all this cloak-and-dagger stuff, he wonders. And why has everyone to refer to the patient only as 'Patient X?' Full review...
Signal Red by Robert Ryan
Ryan has certainly researched thoroughly for this novel - and it shows. Straight away the blurb on the back cover tells us there's an 'afterword' by Bruce Reynolds, no less than the ringmaster/leader of the Great Train Robbery gang. Notice how it's always given capital letters. Even all these decades down the line, those readers of a certain age remember it and perhaps shake their head in amazement. And there's also a very useful 'aftermath' section as Ryan painstakingly sets out all the robbers' names and what's happened since that date in the summer of 1963. Perhaps, like others, I also assumed the leader, the top man if you like, was Ronnie Biggs. No so, apparently. I also remember television footage of his release from prison on compassionate grounds only a year or so ago. The crime seems to have achieved almost mythical proportions - some would say it's up there with what were you doing when JFK was assassinated? Full review...
According to Arnold: A Novel of Love and Mushrooms by Giles Milton
Arnold Trevellyan’s ordinary life as a charismatic auctioneer is about to change in ways he could never have imagined. Encouraged by his wife Flora to take a sabbatical, the two head to a remote region of France to indulge Arnold’s passion for mushrooms. Whilst out in the forest hunting for rare mushrooms Arnold stumbles across a secret hidden for centuries. This secret makes him abandon Flora and their life together for the island of Tuva in the South Pacific where he soon finds himself married to Lola, its queen. Full review...
Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk
Meet Katherine Kenton. A movie star of great renown, she's always on TV as someone famous - or the wife of somebody who happens to be famous and male, whether they were actually ever wedded. She herself has had copious real-life marriages, making somebody out of a nobody on many an instance. Her shelves of 'best lifetime' awards are groaning, and their dusting is a job akin to painting the Forth bridge. The person who dusts them is narrator for this book, but she does more than that. She is everything to "Miss Kathie" - general housekeeper, housemate, and string-puller. But what might those strings be being pulled for? When Katherine meets a new toyboy, and our narrator seems to get in the way, to what purpose might this be? Full review...
In the Falling Snow by Caryl Phillips
We are introduced to the central character Keith right away and discover lots about him. His personal and professional CV is laid bare before us. He's one mixed up, middle-aged, not-quite-middle-class man. He appears to be rather weak-willed and almost seems to fall into situations, rather than choose to be part of them. When in his marital relationship (now on a downward spiral), his wife most definitely wore the trousers. I found Keith a very infuriating person. I wanted to take him by the scruff and give him a good old shake and then shout 'wake up and smell the coffee, before it's too late.' Full review...
The Valley of the Vines by Mark Neilson
The reader discovers that Sophie, the central character is living in rural isolation. She's supposed to be living the dream. She's separated from her husband and her two daughters are at boarding school back in the UK. She's also now a one-woman organization. And she's failing practically and financially for many reasons. Apparently, according to Neilson, there's a very small window in which to carry out the vital work of harvesting the grapes for wine. We are also told at frequent intervals about the enigmatic 'Old Ones'. They are 'The timeless custodians of the vines.' I'm afraid I found their too-frequent references rather annoying. Full review...
The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell
Lexie Sinclair was sent down from university for the crime of going through a door reserved for men. She could not graduate until she apologised and this she was not going to do. Home was not an option either but when she met the sophisticated Innes Kent she made up her mind to go to London and make her way there. It was the nineteen fifties and Lexie and Innes made a life for themselves in Soho.
In the present day Elina and Ted are struggling to recover from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina is an artist and she’s finding it difficult to come to terms with being a mother. Ted does his best to help but he is having to cope with disturbing visions and memories of his own childhood which don’t seem to agree with what he’s been told by his parents. The further he looks, the stranger are the links which he uncovers. Full review...
The Death of Lomond Friel by Sue Peebles
Rosie was a successful radio presenter when her father, Lomond Friel, had a stroke. Whether or not Rosie was always reckless and impulsive isn't entirely clear, but once she heard about the stroke she took a break from work and began to build her life around making a future for herself and her father. There are two problems here: Rosie isn't really all that capable of looking after herself, never mind her father and Lomond is quietly plotting his own death. He might not be able to speak, to move very much, but he has plans. Full review...
The Last Patriarch by Najat El-Hachmi
Najat El-Hachmi's debut novel, The Last Patriarch is a difficult book - both in terms of content and style. It's a story of physical and sexual abuse in a patriarchal Moroccan family, an immigrant story, when first the father and then the family move to Catalonia, and ultimately a story of the narrator, the patriarch's daughter, breaking free of her past as she takes on different cultural values. Narrated entirely from the perspective of the patriarch, Mimoun Driouch's unnamed daughter, the story is also concerned with cultural and imagined histories, and the importance of origin stories. Full review...
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
The reader is in no doubt that a war is raging. 'And bombs were falling on Coventry, London and Kent. Sleek metal pellets shaped like the blunt tipped ends of pencils ...' The Americans however, are carrying on with their daily lives regardless. They are completely unfazed and uninvolved. Apart from one or two, namely radio reporter Frankie. She reports from London as it happens and she is gradually becoming more and more concerned that her fellow Americans will be called upon. But she seems to be a lone voice blowing in the wind. Also, as you may expect, there are plenty of raised eyebrows as to why a woman is doing a man's job. She should be at the kitchen sink or having babies, shouldn't she? Full review...
April and Oliver by Tess Callahan
After spending their childhoods together, April and Oliver haven't seen each other for many years. It is only after the death of April's little brother that they find their lives overlapping again. April is reckless, damaged, and struggling from one day to the next whereas Oliver is mature and sensible. He is now a law student, engaged to the sweet, gentle Bernadette who is the antithesis of April. Seeing April's life in tatters, Oliver tries to rescue her from herself, yet the more entangled he becomes the more his own seemingly perfect life starts to fall apart. Full review...
The Waiting Room by F G Cottam
On the outskirts of ex rock star Martin Stride's country estate lies the disused Shale Point Station. Abandoned in the 1960s the railway line has been dug up and removed and all that remains is the crumbling platform and eerie waiting room. Martin is quick to employ Britain's top ghost hunter Julian Creed to investigate the strange and threatening occurrences of the waiting room that he and his children have witnessed – the sound and smell of a steam train, male voices singing a famous World War One song, and most frightening of all, the leering face of a soldier at the waiting room window. Full review...
Light Boxes by Shane Jones
You will have to go a long way to find a more magical and quirky novella than ‘Light Boxes’. Set in a far off land, as all good fairy stories should be, the balloon-loving residents suffer a ban on all forms of flight. But the culprit is not some unpronounceable Icelandic volcano, but rather February. And this February - who takes both the form of a person and a season - has lasted for more than three hundred days. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he has also started making children disappear. One man, Thaddeus Lowe, is determined to do something about it. Full review...