A wanted man, by Lee Child [audiobook]. Read by Jeff Harding. Whitley Bay: Soundings, 2012.
Lee Child and Jeff Harding are pretty much the dream team as far as I'm concerned; but this is also a really gripping book. Reacher, still with the injuries incurred in The Affair, is hitching a lift to Virginia, hoping to meet the FBI agent he'd connected with during those events. After a long time, he's picked up by three strangers, ostensibly work colleagues on a marketing trip. But are they? And why have they picked up Reacher, whose facial injuries make him look even more dodgy than usual? Something is wrong, and by the time Reacher works out what it is, he's in it up to his neck. Classic Lee Child; not a word wasted (certainly not by Reacher, who characteristically "says nothing" many, many times) and gripping to the end.
LA confidentiel: les secrets de Lance Armstrong / Pierre Ballester et David Walsh. [Paris]: Editions de la Martinière, 2004.
This one took a while - my French cycling/drugs vocabulary needed a bit of brushing up - but definitely worth a read. Written in 2004, this book was the first journalistic exploration of Lance Armstrong's use of EPO and other banned substances, and interviews a selection of people including Frankie Andreu, Greg LeMond, and several other less famous cyclists whose careers were ended either by the side-effects of banned drugs, or the refusal to take them. Several interviews with Armstrong himself are included. Walsh has written since on this subject, but the fact that this book accelerated the investigation into Armstrong and the US Postal team makes it a powerful document.
I'll catch you, by Jesse Kellermann [audiobook]. Read by Adam Sims. Oxford: Isis, 2012.
The world's best-selling thriller writer, William de Vallée, disappears from his luxury yacht; his friend and fellow writer Arthur Pfefferkorn decides to pick up where Bill left off, and steals his manuscript (and leading man, Dick Stapp, a Reacher/Mitch Rapp hybrid). Pfefferkorn has no idea where this theft will lead him, and descends into more and more farcical adventures in East and West Zlavia, including several escapes, a brace of resurrected dictators and a lot of unlikely facial hair. This is an extremely funny parody of the hard-boiled spy novel, with the knowledge of thrillers picked up both from Kellermann's own previous novels but also those of his parents Faye and Jonathan; Lee Child meets Tom Sharpe in a picaresque adventure.
Village of secrets: defying the Nazis in Vichy France, by Caroline Moorehead. London: Chatto and Windus, 2014.
I heard an interview with Moorehead on the BBC History podcast and was intrigued by this book, which tells the story of the people of the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon and particularly the town of Chambon, who sheltered hundreds of Jewish children during the Vichy period and helped thousands more Jewish people to escape to Spain, Italy and Switzerland. Moorehead was intrigued both by the story of these ordinary people who, inspired by their Protestant faith, set out to protect vulnerable Jews, and who subsequently went unacknowledged for many years. It's a fast-paced, moving account of individuals in a terrible time; and while there has been a lot of argument in recent years as to the degree of collaboration and resistance which went on, the basic goodness of people who had very little themselves in quietly defying the authorities shines through.
At death's window, by Jim Kelly. London: Severn House, 2014.
A family out on a sand-bank discover the tethered body of a man; meanwhile burglaries with a political dimension have been happening to second homes all around the area. Initially, the murder looks like the act of gangs of rival samphire pickers, but Peter Shaw and George Valentine aren't so sure. Then a second body is discovered, and everything becomes, if anything, less clear. As ever, this is set on the North Norfolk coast; while this is a well-written, intriguing thriller with a genuinely good twist in the tail, Kelly's ability to describe the villages and skies of the coast is alone worth reading this book for.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
2015 books, #6-10
A willing victim, by Laura Wilson [audiobook]. Read by Séan Barrett. Oxford: Isis, 2012.
In 1956, DI Ted Stratton is investigating the death of Jeremy Lloyd in London; his enquiries take him to the countryside, to the Foundation for Spiritual Understanding founded by a Mr Roth. There, he's bewildered by a cast of rather strange characters, including an immaculately-conceived child, Michael. When a woman's body is found in nearby woods, Stratton presumes that it's Michael's mother, but events become steadily stranger. Well written and with a twist in the tail.
A blind eye, by GM Ford [audiobook]. Read by Jeff Harding. Whitley Bay: Chivers/BBC, 2006.
Frank Corso and Meg Dougherty are ostensibly heading out for a photography shoot for Corso's latest true crime book; it isn't until a little later that Corso reveals he's skipping town to avoid a grand jury subpoena. They're caught in a blizzard driving between airports, and shelter in a semi-derelict house; when they tear up some floorboards to make a fire, they find the bodies of a family. Minus the wife, who turns out to have a string of aliases. Corso teams up with the local sheriff (an attractive woman) to investigate. Tightly plotted, a lot of humour, and you can't go wrong with a Jeff Harding reading...
Fathomless riches, or, How I went from pop to pulpit, by the Rev Richard Coles. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2014.
This was a lovely book; despite many of the events depicted in it! Richard Coles has written this autobiography and confession telling about the absurdities of 1980s pop-stardom (doing Red Wedge gigs between tours of unimaginable excess), the horror of living in the generation decimated by AIDS, the years between where he was lost and drifting, and his religious reawakening and eventual ordination. He brings wit and extreme honesty to his story, and describes his religious experience with a combination of matter-of-factness, incredulity and joy with which I could really empathise. And it sounds like him speaking, which isn't the case with all autobiographies.
The cruellest month, by Louise Penny [audiobook]. Read by Adam Sims. Oxford: Isis, 2007.
It's Easter; but the egg-hunt isn't the only thing going on in Three Pines. Someone's attempting a resurrection of another kind, holding a séance at the old Hadley House, scene of previous crimes; and the result is another death, a woman apparently frightened to death. Armand Gamache is called in again with his team, but they have more than one worry. Someone is out to discredit and disgrace Gamache; someone very close to him. Another wonderfully written book by Louise Penny, with some excellent three-dimensional characters...
Etape: the untold story of the Tour de France's defining stages, by Richard Moore. London: HarperSport, 2014.
Moore has explored the Tour de France by selecting classic, representational or quite frankly bonkers stages over the last 40 years; and, with only one exception (that of Marco Pantani) interviewed the main players. This book features interviews with Chris Boardman, Mark Cavendish, Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond, Eddy Merckx, David Millar and, controversially, Lance Armstrong (who, as we now know, never won anything at all...) It gives a flavour of the biggest bike race in the world from the point of view of riders, trainers, coaches and administrators, and does it all wonderfully entertainingly. You get the stage, but you also learn about the background, what made this stage so important, and the repercussions; and you're also constantly reminded about the dark, doping days in cycling's history.
Of which, more in the next set of reviews...
In 1956, DI Ted Stratton is investigating the death of Jeremy Lloyd in London; his enquiries take him to the countryside, to the Foundation for Spiritual Understanding founded by a Mr Roth. There, he's bewildered by a cast of rather strange characters, including an immaculately-conceived child, Michael. When a woman's body is found in nearby woods, Stratton presumes that it's Michael's mother, but events become steadily stranger. Well written and with a twist in the tail.
A blind eye, by GM Ford [audiobook]. Read by Jeff Harding. Whitley Bay: Chivers/BBC, 2006.
Frank Corso and Meg Dougherty are ostensibly heading out for a photography shoot for Corso's latest true crime book; it isn't until a little later that Corso reveals he's skipping town to avoid a grand jury subpoena. They're caught in a blizzard driving between airports, and shelter in a semi-derelict house; when they tear up some floorboards to make a fire, they find the bodies of a family. Minus the wife, who turns out to have a string of aliases. Corso teams up with the local sheriff (an attractive woman) to investigate. Tightly plotted, a lot of humour, and you can't go wrong with a Jeff Harding reading...
Fathomless riches, or, How I went from pop to pulpit, by the Rev Richard Coles. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2014.
This was a lovely book; despite many of the events depicted in it! Richard Coles has written this autobiography and confession telling about the absurdities of 1980s pop-stardom (doing Red Wedge gigs between tours of unimaginable excess), the horror of living in the generation decimated by AIDS, the years between where he was lost and drifting, and his religious reawakening and eventual ordination. He brings wit and extreme honesty to his story, and describes his religious experience with a combination of matter-of-factness, incredulity and joy with which I could really empathise. And it sounds like him speaking, which isn't the case with all autobiographies.
The cruellest month, by Louise Penny [audiobook]. Read by Adam Sims. Oxford: Isis, 2007.
It's Easter; but the egg-hunt isn't the only thing going on in Three Pines. Someone's attempting a resurrection of another kind, holding a séance at the old Hadley House, scene of previous crimes; and the result is another death, a woman apparently frightened to death. Armand Gamache is called in again with his team, but they have more than one worry. Someone is out to discredit and disgrace Gamache; someone very close to him. Another wonderfully written book by Louise Penny, with some excellent three-dimensional characters...
Etape: the untold story of the Tour de France's defining stages, by Richard Moore. London: HarperSport, 2014.
Moore has explored the Tour de France by selecting classic, representational or quite frankly bonkers stages over the last 40 years; and, with only one exception (that of Marco Pantani) interviewed the main players. This book features interviews with Chris Boardman, Mark Cavendish, Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond, Eddy Merckx, David Millar and, controversially, Lance Armstrong (who, as we now know, never won anything at all...) It gives a flavour of the biggest bike race in the world from the point of view of riders, trainers, coaches and administrators, and does it all wonderfully entertainingly. You get the stage, but you also learn about the background, what made this stage so important, and the repercussions; and you're also constantly reminded about the dark, doping days in cycling's history.
Of which, more in the next set of reviews...
Sunday, February 01, 2015
Poem for St Brigid
I'm not sure this is still a Thing; but I realised today that it was St Brigid's day. And I said a prayer for the Brigids/Bridgets I know, and celebrated that it's Candlemas Eve and we may be able to see our way out of the dark from here. This was helped by a final Christmas celebration, eating and exchanging presents with a friend.
I was given a complete Robert Frost for Christmas 2013; this poem seems to sum up the fragility so many of us feel at this time of year
Peril of hope, by Robert Frost.
It is right in there
Betwixt and between
The orchard bare
And the orchard green,
When the boughs are right
In a flowery burst
Of pink and white,
That we fear the worst.
For there's not a clime
But at any cost
Will take that time
For a night of frost.
I was given a complete Robert Frost for Christmas 2013; this poem seems to sum up the fragility so many of us feel at this time of year
Peril of hope, by Robert Frost.
It is right in there
Betwixt and between
The orchard bare
And the orchard green,
When the boughs are right
In a flowery burst
Of pink and white,
That we fear the worst.
For there's not a clime
But at any cost
Will take that time
For a night of frost.
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