quite decent reading

hello reader

so here we go once again. i have (relatively recently) finished reading two (2) books, look you see, and so i feel obliged (or compelled) to write of them here. certainly it remains very much so that i have absolutely no idea who(m) may be interested in such words, but here we are. 

as the title gives you every indication, then, two particularly enjoyable books this time. yes indeed i do read all of them "to the end", even if they are clearly not good (or plain dreadful). part of me always wishes to see it through, to understand why a "bad" book made it to print. 

usual, then, as in a picture of the two, some spoiler free comments, and then more detail. with (of course) the more detail bits running a real risk of "spoilers".

from left to right, then, or the other way around (vice versa, if you like) should i have that one wrong, and it was so that The Knight's Pledge off of Scott Mariani was "frustratingly good", because it felt way better to have read than i expected. meanwhile The Widow off of John Grisham is brilliant. not, i must add, all flawless, but up there with his finest. 

if it was so that you needed another spoiler warning then this sentence is for you. 

to begin where i did with these two (2) is to do that (begin) with the second Will Bowman novel off of Scott Mariana, The Knight's Pledge. actually not (entirely) sure on provenance. well, certainly Tesco, but don't recall if it was their £4.50 "book of the week" thing or if it was slightly south of that when purchased with the Daily Mail. possibly the former, maybe the latter. 

plot? after seeking (and gaining) the revenge he sought Will Bowman remains bound by oath (or what have you) to King Richard and the Crusades. he commits an act of exceptional bravery to save much of the fleet as they head to (attempt to) reclaim Jerusalem, and for reward he is made a knight. however, Will's unflinching, unbowed morals bring him into dangerous conflict with a King who does not tolerate hearing "no"......

earlier (rather than later) i said this was "frustratingly good". by this i mean that i wasn't really expecting to enjoy it all that much, especially with the start being something of a pedestrian plod. yet as it went on, the better it got, and the more i found myself going no hang on, i am quite enjoying this. pretty sure i have the third one sat here in the "to read" pile somewhere, and that one might get moved up a bit as a consequence of this one being what it was. 

what parts did i enjoy? mindful (once more) of the spoiler warning, there was an ace bit where Will and his chums were led into a trap which took the form of a crocodile infested river. a creature none of them would ever have seen before and had scant (if any) knowledge. it just happened to be a rather enjoyable section to read. no massive "literary value" or what have you, but, you know, reading is supposed to be a fun thing to do. 

not sure if the Will Bowman books have been "as" successful as the Ben Hope ones, but then i wouldn't have the first idea of what books of his sold how many. the above, which i spotted, though, might suggest that the Bowman books have not "caught on" as much as he may have hoped, since we appear now to be in a world where Ben Hope "prequels" exist. oh, sorry, as per the cover, origin stories. no, i did not purchase, i believe i am all Ben Hope-d out, thanks. 

bit of an odd provenance story on The Widow off of John Grisham. whereas it turned out that it was on offer at Tesco for £4.50 (with a club card), for some reason i purchased it the moment i saw it, at Morrisons, for £6.50. no, i have no idea why i was not a bit more patient and just waited until i was at Tesco, it is not like i immediately started reading it. 

having already given it a good (great) review earlier, i shall try and do some plot stuff. mostly, though, i went into it without reading the back cover, and would strongly suggest you do the same. but, if you insist, Simon Latch is a so so lawyer, doing mundane things in "middle America", when an elderly lady approaches him to do a will. he discovers that the lady is tres (as in extremely) wealthy, and her existing will was done in such a way that the lawyer who(m) prepared it did very well out of it all. he decides that she needs a much fairer one, and that he needs to do rather well out of it.......

the characters are the real treat here. one does not get any nice, neat clear cut hero or villain. all of them have serious flaws and faults. really, for the first couple of hundred pages (or so) you don't particularly like any of them, yet their story (actions, what have you) are remarkably engrossing. it's on a par with, from the top of my head, The Firm, The Rainmaker and to a slight (with one obvious exception) extent also The Chamber in that you don't really "care" for anyone depicted, yet you are very quickly invested in finding their fate. bravo, John Grisham. 

with respect to my occasional "100 page test", as in how feasible does a plausible ending "feel" coming once you get to one hundred pages to go, well, as i said, it is not a flawless novel. although the conclusion is (highly) satisfactory, a great many things get "crammed in" at the end. not contrived or forced, but all the same with a feeling of a greater rush when compared to the pace of the rest of the novel. oh well. indeed this does feature "social commentary" off of Grisham for some things, the nature of which i shall refrain from stating, but it is his book. quite a few twists, turns, false leads, misdirection and what have you. actually, a brilliant novel, and i would not hesitate to give to anyone to read. 

righty-ho, that's that, and of course i finish off with a look at the backs of the novels, which is quite clever when i have suggested that you do not read it in the case of The Widow. very much doubt that you would be able to make out all that much of the text anyway. 

once more, and as ever, many thanks (indeed) for taking the time to read this. should it have been of any use at all, nice one!

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!