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Wolfen by Whiley Streiber
I’ve read Wolfen before - in fact I’ve probably read it more than once before - so the message is that this book is good and sticks in the mind. It was written way back in 1978 and stands the test of time. Even modern technology wouldn’t make much of a difference if it was given a facelift. It says in my version of the book that it was turned into a film starring Albert Finney. I shall have to look out for it. No spoilers: but this is a genuinely scary little tale and the only fault I could find with it on the umpteenth reading is that everything focuses very quickly on one particular police duo. Nobody seems to believe them, but they uncover evidence at a rate of knots, which is a bit surprising given the secretive nature of the Wolfen over the last few centuries... Enough. Read it for yourself.
Star king by Jack Vance
Written way back in the 1960s, this book creaks a bit but just about manages to hold out. It features Kirth Gersen (wrongly called Keith Gersen on the back cover), who has five people on a hit list. The hit list grows a bit during the adventures in the book, which tries to marry an sf theme with a whodunit story. It also features a lot of ‘quotes’ from various fictional futuristic tracts, some of which are interesting, some of which I suspect are merely fodder for the page count. It’s interesting in that the other worlds described by JV are weird and wonderful, as are many of the creatures both on and off planet. The different societal structures, only superficially explained, aren’t bad, either. And of course we turn the pages because we want to find out who the baddie is and how he will get his comeuppance. So if you see this going for 20p in a second hand bookstore, go for it. £1.20? Hmm, you might like to save up for a better buy.
Serpentine by Thomas Thompson
Written in 1979, this tells the story of Charles Sobhraj. It’s a fictionalised true story - you can look Charles up on the internet and find what he got up to. Basically, he was a psychopath who started off as a con artist, robbing people all over Asia, and ended up as a serial killer. He was not a pleasant guy. He had a genius for convoluted and largely successful plans; he seemed to hook people effortlessly. The trouble is, the book itself is pretty convoluted; almost every page starts off with some (new) character doing something... perhaps something of their backstory... then eventually meets up with Charles, who is probably using one of his zillion aliases. Then we meet another character, with a different backstory, who eventually meets up with... It’s quite well written, and interesting in its own way, but becomes a bit stolid. I’d say this is one to read only if you are a fan of fictionalised true stories, and have a penchant for finding out how this serial killer became so notorious... and, of course, what eventually happened to him.
Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott
This is a good romp, carried through at a manic pace, almost stem-punk in style. There are a lot of characters, and a lot of intertwining sub-plots, but all the various threads come together well enough at the end. There’s plenty of dry humour scattered throughout the pages, too. I noticed a few comma splices in the early pages, which mildly annoyed me. The copy-editor should have picked them up. But apart from that I thought this a ‘spiffing good read’ and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who likes a fantastical story (rather than a fantasy story) to read. .
The outsider by Stephen King
My oldest son got me this for last Father’s Day - I confess I hadn’t even noticed it existed. Unusual, as I have most of the Stephen King novels on my bookshelf: I think he’s one of the most underrated writers of the last thirty years or so. Having said that, this book is perhaps the first one where his techniques show through. One of SK’s skills is that he launches into a sub-plot or even somebody’s maunderings, and you get totally involved in that, until he jerks you back to the main plot. And you think, ‘Oh yes, that was just a side issue.’ The thing is, when he’s at his best, you don’t even notice this is happening. But in The Outsider, you do. Or I did, anyway. Especially with people giving evidence: they wittered on about not very much before getting to the main point(s). All of them. I was still gripped by the book, still couldn’t put it down. Especially in the first half or so, where the mystery is laid out. In the second half we get caught up in SK’s own tropes - no mean feat, that, to have your own tropes. As usual for a Stephen King novel, I recommend it as a read. Just perhaps not quite as enthusiastically as some (most) of his earlier books.
Killing floor by Lee Child
Dylan and I watched a couple of Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) films from Sky Cinema. I’m not a great fan of Tom Cruise, but the films weren’t bad. I knew they originated in a series of books, so when I was in Waterstones in London, I checked them out. Killing Floor> is the first Jack Reacher book, so I bought it to read on the train back to Scotland. I enjoyed it. It’s direct. The characters are well drawn. I like Reacher’s uncompromising, unwavering drive to whatever happens to be on his mind at any one time. The plot is good - better than I expected. At a third of the way through I thought it was all pretty obvious and despaired that the good guys would ever see the light. But at two thirds of the way through the plot tightened up, and wasn’t quite as simple as I had thought. Some of the action is slightly unlikely - but what do you expect from a thriller? Some of the tech has dated - but not so much as it ruins the story. It’s not at all bad. I think I shall be getting some more of the series - there’s loads of them - perhaps for my upcoming birthday.
Jack Reacher series
I admit it. After reading The Killing Floor (see previous post) I’ve binge-read the existing Jack Reacher books and I enjoyed them all. No 3 son and I watched a Jack Reacher film from Sky Cinema, starring Tom Cruise as Reacher, and thought it was - well, better than we expected. So I got a book, enjoyed it, got another one, enjoyed it.... No 3 son now has the complete set in his room, though he hasn’t started reading them yet. I read recently that Tom Cruise isn’t going to feature in future film productions. Why? Because he’s only five foot something in his cotton socks, and Reacher is supposed to be six five and built like a barn door. Will be interesting to see who finally fits that bill. The books are macho thriller-cum-mystery excitement, with plenty of violence but some thoughtful plots too. Try one. If you like it, there are another 19 or so to keep you busy for a while.
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
This book is... complicated. It reminds me of when somebody rang up Raymond Chandler when they were making a film of Farewell, My Lovely and couldn’t follow the plot. He said, ‘Don’t ask me. How should I know?’ Quite. I expect Gnomon does hang together, but I didn’t have the zillion hours needed to try to follow every strand of the plot. But here’s the thing - I still enjoyed it. There are great characters, and you soon get to choose some favourites that you especially enjoy reading about. There are great situations, and every now and then... zing! - something ties up and you feel like cheering. No doubt I missed most of the zings, but I still thought the book was a good read. Good enough that I shall be putting ‘Books by Nick Harkaway’ on my birthday list. So you could do worse that buy a copy of Gnomon. Just don’t expect to understand it! .
Forever and a day by Anthony Horowitz
This is AH’s second foray into the world of James Bond. Like practically anything written by him, this is an enjoyable read that romps through all the usual Bond tropes, with a couple of twists thrown in. One of the early twists caught me unawares - me! someone who suspiciously watches out for twists and engineered surprises. I don’t have much negative to say about Forever and a Day. Maybe Bond is a bit passive. Things happen about him, and he seems rather inefficient at times. But even Fleming wrote Bond like that, Casino Royale being the obvious example. And maybe there was a tad too much introspection on the part of a couple of the characters. Minor blips only. If you are a Bond fan, you won’t find this Horowitz addition to the franchise disappointing you.
Ghost by Helen Grant
A few months ago I (proof)read a story in Issue 40 of Supernatural Tales and thoroughly enjoyed a story in there written by Helen Grant. So when I saw on Twitter that she had written a book called Ghost, I downloaded it forthwith. Here is a review. No spoilers here. The writing, as I pretty much expected, is solid. The descriptive narrative is very strong, conveying a great sense of place and time (especially hard to do in this case as most of the action happens in one building and its environs); the dialogue is mainly realistic, occasionally a bit too perfect for genuine speech. The characters are also very strong. The strength of the book, in fact, is the development of the main character(s) and that feels extremely (and sometimes horribly) real. The plot is perhaps weaker than the writing and character development. It’s quite mysterious to start off with, but the explanations turn out to be... not prosaic exactly, but not as dramatic as the reader expects. Maybe I read too may Agatha Christies, but I figured out the ending before it happened. Thinking back, I can see lots of little pointers that make the ending more believable, but the basic premise and the development of the plot, it seems to me, to require a little suspending of disbelief. That said, the early mystery and the gradual discovery of past secrets is well observed. I enjoyed reading Ghost. I can recommend it as a good read. Oh, and the only points that my proofreader radar picked up were 1) there’s a set of speech quotes missing (who cares?) and 2) any more is spelled anymore throughout. .
The Darwath trilogy by Barbara Hambly
I just finished this for the umpteeth time over the weekend. Wait. Let’s quantify that. It came out in about 1985 so it’s around 35 years old; say I read it every 3 years. Okay, I finished reading it for approximately the eleventh time over the weekend. I don’t really need to say much more. This is one of the best fantasy series I have ever read. Ten out of ten every time. The ‘other world’ is brilliantly envisaged and described. The plot is relentless rather than convoluted. The characters leap off the page. If you are not shivering and clutching a hot water bottle after reading the worldview descriptions, there’s something wrong with you. The ending is unexpected; you guess something unexpected is going to happen but when it does happen... it’s unexpected. There is no excuse if you are a fantasy fan. This has to be on your CV.
Stormlight archive by Brandon Sanderson
I have not long ago finished Books 2 and 3 of this series. A word of warning: you cannot read these books in the bath unless a) you have bigger biceps than I do or b) you don’t mind drowning or c) the books aren’t yours and getting them wet isn’t a problem. They are BIG. And therein lies my only complaint. You can have too much of a good thing. Sanderson did a good job of finishing off the Wheel of Time series; he managed to tie up loose ends and rein in all the petty details that Jordan had got too fond of. And here, in the Stormlight series, I fear Sanderson himself is becoming a bit self-indulgent. You can also tell, occasionally, where he or a reader has spotted a slight inconsistency, and he has papered over the crack. I like the characters; I like the concepts; I like the action. But it’s beginning to go on a bit. You can’t describe everything about a world, or even everything that happens to a cast of characters. You have to make your choices, as they say in the scriptwriting business. And I feel Sanderson hasn’t made enough of them. Choices. That said, they’re a good read and I admit I want to know what is going to happen in the next - wait for it - seven volumes. If I can stay interested for that long.
Death of an expert witness by P.D.James
I’ve always been a sucker for a good detective story - especially if it comes with an iconic detective thrown in. Here, of course, it’s Commander Adam Dalgliesh. I had four thoughts about this book. First, as always it is very well written. P.D.James writes stylishly with casual ease. To that extent, her books stack up better than those of Agatha Christie. On the other hand, her plots aren’t quite as strong. In a way they resemble those of Ruth Rendell: both authors have the irritating habit of introducing new snippets of information right up until the end. They are never in a position to say, as Ballinger used to do with his Sexton Blake stories, ‘You have all the clues at this point, dear reader. Solve it for yourself.’ Agatha could have done that if she had wanted to. P.D. can’t, and as well as that, Dalgliesh and some of his cronies keep saying things like, ‘Well, that settle it, then’, and we think, ‘What?’ I am not saying the plots are poor. Far from it. I just wish we had a better chance of solving the thing for ourselves. Published in 1977, the book seems to be lost in a pocket of time, set in a period not long after the war, when various fathers and mothers mentioned in the book were actually Victorian, and living conditions were pretty much still Victorian. That actually makes for good reading and, perhaps unintentionally at the time, is one of the strengths of the book. Lastly, of course, there is the presence of Commander Dalgliesh. He’s an iconic figure who seems to be a walking Wikipedia and mainly doesn’t bother telling anyone else what he’s thinking, except to say that he disagrees with them. The minor characters are well drawn, too, but Dalgliesh towers over them all. Overall, a good read. It even furnished me with a typo to add to my Errata page on my professional site! That apart - and as with all P.D.James books, really - I can recommend it to any reader, even those who are not especially addicted to crime stories.
Magic by Tami Hoag
I had it in the back of my mind that this author wrote edgy crime novels, with good plots and characters. So I grabbed this from my shelf on the way out to somewhere, thinking that’s what I would get. And I was wrong. Magic is readable enough but, frankly, it’s a fluffy piece of nonsense. It’s a stereotyped love affair, a rather stereotyped mystery, and a very stereotype portrayal of the characters involved, especially the older ones. It’s quite funny in places, and you can see it playing out on a screen quite easily. But it’s not exactly an enthralling read, and, unlike other books by this author, I don’t recommend it - unless you are in the mood to read a fluffy piece of nonsense, of course. [The book seemed brand new, as if it had never been read, and I certainly don’t remember it. Magic, eh?].
To the last man by Zane Grey
The Zane Grey stories are set in a different world. I knew that before (re)read To the Last Man, of course, but it struck me especially forcibly this time around, perhaps because I have also been reading science fiction. It was a brutal era. Death was commonplace. Law was noticeable by its absence. Women were represented as physically weak but spiritually strong. Grey had a wonderful knack of writing dialogue with all the ‘doggone’s and other slang, as well as the accents, seemingly perfectly natural. It’s not something modern authors try. He also brings alive the vast scenery and the slow but remorseless playing out of human conflicts. To the Last Man isn’t my favourite Zane Grey book, but it’s nonetheless remarkable. Even if you are not a western fan, his books are well worth reading.