Now the nights are drawing in - time for some reviews of recent novels:
Do Me No Harm - Julie Corbin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When her teenage son Robbie's drink is spiked, Olivia Somers is
devastated. She has spent her adult life trying to protect people and
keep them safe - not only as a mother, but also in her chosen profession
as a doctor. So she tries to put it down to a horrible accident, in
spite of the evidence suggesting malicious intent, and simply hopes
no-one tries to endanger those she loves again. But someone from the
past is after revenge. Someone closer to her family than she could
possibly realise. Someone who will stop at nothing until they get the
vengeance they crave. And, as she and her family come under increasing
threat, the oath that Olivia took when she first became a doctor - to do
no harm to others - will be tested to its very limits.
I loved
the ‘writing’ in this book – it feels like it’s in ‘full-colour’, lots
of real-life detail so that you are actually there, rather
than ‘reading about’ it. That’s lovely in a writer (although there are
also times when I want to read the kind of book when I can be more
aware of the writing style itself; the poetry, rhythm, imagery,
originality etc).
I sailed through this book, although I didn’t
feel the plot itself had me by the throat. It’s a familiar theme; a
family drama about the way in which a mistake in the past creates a problem
(revenge) in the present. It didn’t throw up many twists or shocking
moments, but nevertheless, it felt real and involving. One issue,
however, is that we know the identity of the culprit very early on and this
leads to a bit of an anti-climax. I also found some aspects of the book rather unlikely - the main character jets off to Ireland leaving her two
teenage children behind when they are clearly in danger - somewhat
implausible given that she’s portrayed as a deeply caring mother.
Otherwise, the main character is well-rounded and worth rooting for. I
would certainly read more by this author.
The Good Girl - Mary Kubica
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the colour of her eyes or what they look like when they're scared. But I will.
Mia Dennett can't resist a one-night stand with the enigmatic stranger she meets in a bar. But going home with him might turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life...
A lot of comparisons have been made between this novel and
Gone Girl - perhaps partly because of the title and also because it's about a missing woman. I'm not sure any similarities go further than that - but it's a useful marketing ploy! I really enjoyed this book and it picked up as it went along. The story
is about Mia Dennett, an art teacher, who goes to a bar to meet up with
her on/off boyfriend. When he doesn’t show up, she takes off for a
one-night stand with an enigmatic stranger. Mia thus walks into a trap,
abducted as part of an extortion plot to deliver her to the perpetrator's employers.
But things take an unexpected turn when he changes his plans on a whim
and takes Mia to a remote cabin in the woods, steering clear of his
menacing superiors as well as the police.
The story follows the
‘before’ and ‘after’ views from three of the main characters – Mia’s
mother, the abductor and the detective. We know who has taken the
daughter, so that’s not a mystery, but the unfolding of the story is
what counts, with shifts in the key relationships and backstory that
gradually reveal motives and new threads. In a slow-burn style, it forces the reader to
re-examine the situation. And there's a neat twist at
the end which turns everything on its head. An absorbing read.
Thursday's Children - Nicci French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've always loved the novels by the duo that make up Nicci French and have read their
books right from the first one,
The Memory Game in 1997. After all, their books
introduced me to the world of Psychological Thrillers! Sadly, however, I haven't taken to the latest
series (using the days of the week, with psychotherapist, Frieda Klein). Estranged from her family, an insomniac, Frieda walks the streets of London
at night in an attempt to tame her own demons, but she's too cool
and clinical for me. In
Thursday's Children, I found her character humourless, cheerless and
nothing warmed me to her or the story. If a character is not particularly
likeable, she has to be compelling in other ways - and I didn't find this either.
Her dialogue is clipped and stilted, keeping the reader at a distance. It was
hard to get involved when I wasn't particularly interested in the
lead character.
The storyline isn't terribly fresh or exciting, either. Most
of the novel is spent raking over sketchy memories of Frieda's contemporaries
from the school in her old home town in Suffolk where Frieda left a 'painful
memory' behind. In the present day, an old classmate appears in London seeking
Frieda's help with her teenage daughter and 'long buried memories resurface.'
The quality of the writing (apart from some stilted dialogue -
and presumably that's intentional) is good, solid and admirable 'French', but unfortunately, I didn't find
myself rooting for Frieda.
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AJ Waines is the author of Psychological Thrillers:
The Evil Beneath and Girl on a Train.
Both books went to Number One in 'Murder' and 'Psychological Thrillers' in the UK Kindle charts.
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