The Book Of Lost Things

I am a huge John Connolly fan, I was hooked from the first few pages of his first novel Every Dead Thing, and although this book wasn't part of the Charlie Parker series I wanted to read it.

Synopsis

Set during the war, the story follows David who is a young boy who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, he is compelled to tap items such as the tap an even number of times before and after he uses them. He does this in the hope it will help his mother, who is very ill. Unfortunately for David it doesn't work and his mother dies.

Not long after her death his father takes up with another woman, David doesn't like her because he thinks his father is betraying his mother's memory. David is forced to move away from the house he grew up in, and where the memories of his mother reside, when his father moves into the home belonging to his father's girlfriend (Rose). Eventually his father gets remarried and pretty soon David has a half brother.

David feels alone in this new situation and he is angry at the world, and is angry at his new brother Georgie. After a huge fight with Rose, David is lying in his bed, when he hears the voice of his mother calling him. He follows the voice as it leads him through the garden, but suddenly a german bomber is hurtling towards him and he dives into a gap in a tree truck to avoid it. The gap in the tree is a passage though to another world.

A world ruled by a king who has lost control, and full of mysterious monsters and strange fairytale creatures.

My Thoughts

Th first word that springs to mind when I think of this book is strange, but it's then changed to strangely compelling. The story is weird to say the very least, but it's the sort of story that you just have to carry on reading because you just don't know what's going to crop up next.

Some things are really amusing like the alternative Snow White who's a total chav hag and the dwarves who are uptight about perceived sizism. Then other parts are quite disturbing, for example the use of lost children to fuse with the bodies of animals in order to hunt for sport, or Red Riding Hood sleeping with wolves to create a wolf/human hybrid.

The book also raises the issues of how parents deal with the death of another parent, in this case David's father cared little about David and his feelings, and was only interested in his life and how he was affected. This is a situation many real life children of David's age find themselves in, and as with David, many find themselves shoved to the sidelines as the new partner and partner's children take centre stage.

Connolly adapts very well to this new style of book, and makes the book just as interesting and compelling as the Charlie Parker series.
Because his writing is so good I felt a great deal of sympathy for David, as well as some of the characters who helped David on his journey, and Connolly can also make you really detest the bad guys.

I would definitely recommend this book, but on the basis you are buying a great fiction novel, not on the basis that you're buying a John Connolly book, because it's so far removed from his others, you might find yourself disappointed if you're hoping for anything similar to Charlie Parker.

Lost

I was very wary of this book, and I've had it on my shelf for ages. The reason why! Because it came as a freebie from Mills and Boon, so I immediately thought it would be a lovey dovey, soppy romance, and those books just aren't my thing. Then one day I was sorting out and I noticed on the front it said 'More Gripping Than Grisham', so I thought I'd give it a try.

~Synopsis~

The book begins with a short prologue, which describes Ricky Lang being somewhat vile toward his girlfriend, whilst at the same time having visions of his children, whom he can no longer see.

From there we skip to part one, which begins the story of Jane Hartley, who's a single mum, and a wedding dress designer. Jane has 16 year old daughter called Kelly, who as a child was in an out of hospital receiving treatment for cancer. Now on her way home from work Jane spies someone who looks distinctly like Kelly, riding on the back of a motorbike with no helmet on. Pulling alongside she realises it is Kelly and is horrified. when Kelly returns home that night, they discuss the risks Kelly was taking, and Kelly goes off to her room to think about what she did.

That is the last time Jane sees Kelly. The next day Kelly has gone out already, or so Jane thinks. Then she receives a call from Kelly, frightened and whispering that she needs help because she's made a big mistake. The line goes dead and Jane's nightmare begins.

The police put it down to Kelly being a runaway, and make all the right noises about how it'll turn out okay. But Jane is not convinced and hires ex FBI agent Randall Shane to help her find her daughter.

The search leads them to cross paths with Ricky Lang, and various other unsavoury characters.

~My Thoughts~

I have totally mixed feelings about this book. Some parts are very good, but some parts are clichéd and predictable. As with many books it is written from two perspectives. When Jane is at the forefront it is written in the first person, when Ricky is the main character it is written in the third person. That actually works well, until Jane occasionally starts 'talking' to the reader, rather than just tell her story. When she is talking to the reader, it makes it seem like the book is written by a 5 year old.

The characters are varied, and you can get a feel for them, enough to feel sorry for Jane, after all the heartache of having a child so ill, for them to disappear and the police not to care, you feel she deserves a bit of happiness.

Randall Shane is probably the least interesting character, he has some secrets he's keeping close to his chest (don't they all!), but I was never really that bothered, that I was rushing onward to find out what they were.

Ricky Lang, is the type of bad guy you don't even love to hate, you just hate. There are no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

As I said earlier the cover states that the book is 'More Gripping Than Grisham', now I would say it's more gripping than a entomology book by Gil Grissom (CSI-Vegas), but it's absolutely nowhere close to being in the same league as John Grisham. It's a bit like saying a local boys football club compares to Liverpool FC!

I have to say I'm a bit short on opinion here, but mainly because the book was just okay, nothing especially good, and nothing particularly bad.

Overall I would say it's a reasonable read, the type of thing you might take on holiday when you don't want anything that's going to tax your brain. But if you like depth, twist and turns, thought provoking novels, then give it a miss.

Gene

This book was outside of my normal crime fiction genre, but it was recommended to me so I thought I'd give it a try.

~Brief Synopsis~

The book starts on the day Cyclades dies, killed in battle on the day the Trojan horse brought destruction to Troy. After being injured during the fight Cyclades was tended to by a wild haired women. Cyclades dies at the moment he witnesses his own conception!

Fast forward a few hundred years, and the book begins proper in New York City. Detective James North has been called to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a young man has grabbed one of the ancient Trojan swords and already killed one man and injured others. North cannot understand why he has been assigned, until he is told that the man has asked for him by name.

Not sure if the man is high on drugs or just mentally unstable, North attempts to strike up a conversation with him. The man only identifies himself as Gene, or Satan's Oath. North asks Gene how he knew to ask for him by name, but he doesn't answer, just shouts at North that he is the only one who can make it go away. A struggle ensues and Gene escapes, injuring a mounted officer in the process, he takes the officers horse and escapes through the park.

North manages to keep up with Gene until he is close enough to tackle him. But during the scuffle Gene stabs North in the thigh, Gene has injected North with something. This is where North's nightmares begin and he begins to find out precisely who and what he is.

The book not only follows Gene and North, but also flashes back to Cyclades and his arch nemesis Athanatos. And also a man called Porter who has lived many years in the Lebanon and surrounding areas seeking out the meaning of life, and reincarnation.

~My Thoughts~

As I said earlier this is an unusual genre for me, and although I read many, many fantasy novels in my early 20's, its been some time since I've read one. So it took me a long time to get into the book.

I wasn't keen on the way the book jumped around so much. First we were in Trojan times, then modern day, then modern day but the other side of the world. Some of it was written in the first person, but most of it was written in the third person, and whilst I've read other books written from two view points before, it didn't make this book gel together very well. At some points I found the book totally confusing and quite baffling.

However, I don't like to be defeated and trudged on with the book, and from around about one third of the way through I really started to enjoy the read.

I really wanted to find out exactly how Gene and North were linked, and what on earth they had to do with Cyclades and Athanatos, but I didn't find it a great page turner. I was quite happy to read a bit and then put it to one side and read more another night, whereas other books I've said to myself 'just another chapter' until its either morning or I finished the book!

I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters because the book jumped around so much. North is the main character but even he didn't elicit any feelings of sympathy or admiration.

I found the ending a tad disappointing as well, however I won't say any more about it as I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

So overall I'd say its a reasonable book, not great, and I wouldn't rush out to buy another by this author.

Relentless

I bought this book after reading a great review on this site, and have now had chance to read it. So here is my review.

~The Book~

The main character in the book is Tom Meron, whilst happily going about his own business, looking after his children, the phone rings. On the other end of the phone is Jack Calley, his best friend although someone he hasn't heard from in 4 years. Its obvious immediately that Jack is in trouble and there are people after him. In the last few seconds before the call goes dead, Tom hears Jack give out his address.

This leads Tom down a dangerous path of violence, corruption, betrayal, and most serious of all his children might be in danger.

~The Characters~

Tom Meron - A down to earth office worker, who's general level of excitement appears to be deciding what to watch on the TV that night. The character of Tom just makes you ooze sympathy, everything about him is normal. Yet here he is drawn into a dangerous world, but he has no idea why he's been pulled into it. He goes from Joe Average to man on the run within minutes of picking up a phone, his life changes forever.

Kathy Meron - Tom's wife, now this character doesn't give the reader any cause to feel sorry for her, in fact her actions make Tom seem even more sympathetic. And whilst she's not a hateful character, she's certainly not likeable.

DI Mike Bolt - The senior police officer instructed to investigate the suicide of a senior judge, who's case overlaps with others leading him towards Tom. There are several mentions of pain and suffering which Bolt has been through, but these don't become apparent until very late in the book. The references don't give enough depth for the reader to connect with Bolt, and he just comes across as your average detective who's hell bent on solving the crime.

Mantani and Lench - The baddies of the book. Neither of which have any redeeming qualities. Lench is basically a mercenary for hire and Mantani is his side kick. I've read other novels where there's a hitman who's killed goodness knows how many people for the money, and occasionally, even though they're bad guys, you can't help but admire their skills. Lench on the other hand does not bring out any thoughts of admiration.

~My Thoughts~

I've never read a Simon Kernick book before and this one I really enjoyed, I will certainly be looking out for his books in the future.

At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, I can't remember if the review I read mentioned it or not, but if it did I'd forgotten that it was set in England. Now I do have a thing against watching or reading any crime dramas set in England. I don't know what it is, maybe I just like to believe that all horrible crime happens away from our shores.

So at first I was thinking 'oh no, I'm going to hate this', and I also didn't like the fact that the blurb on the back is basically the first two pages of the book. That seems a little lazy on the part of the publishers to me.

However, once I'd read the first few pages I was hooked. The book is written in the first person where Tom is the major character, and in the third person when Bolt takes over. I have to say when Bolt first appeared my thoughts were 'No, aghhh I need to know what Tom is doing' and I was very tempted to skim read the chapters where Bolt was investigating.

Luckily I resisted this urge because Bolt's investigations are a major part of why Tom's life has been turned upside down like it has.

I think the author invests well in the characters of Tom and Kathy, but could have done a little more to bring out some sympathies for Bolt. I liked the fact I didn't feel any admiration for Lench's skills, I really don't believe a hitman should be the cause of any admiration.

Normally I would read the likes of James Patterson, John Connolly, Karen Rose, Patricia Cornwell for my crime drama fixes, and whilst I thought this book was good. I think Simon Kernick has a little way to go to get to their standards. As I've said it was the first book of his that I've read, so I don't know how long he's been around, but I would imagine he's got plenty of time to grow and become very successful.