bidding farewell to books on the bus

hello there

righty-ho, two more books read whilst travelling to and from verk on the bus, look you see, so here we go with the usual, obligatory reviews for those of you who for some reason find such things useful or interesting.

and yes, as the title suggests, as far as i know, or if you are young AFAIK, these will be the last two book reviews for quite some time, or at least in terms of reading them on the bus goes. more - much, much more - on that particular predicament soonish.

a look at the two books, followed by some sort of spoiler free quick, flash review? surely.

ah, i see google/blogger and apple are having their little ding-dong again about what way around pictures should be rotated. perish the thought that either just allow me to decide which way around pictures should appear here, that would be just silly.

OK, quick fire review - i know it's about 5 years old, but Sister is one of the finest novels i have ever read and rivals the brilliant The Girl On The Train as the best book i have read all year. The Forgotten Holocaust, meanwhile, was a lot less ridiculous than the last few Ben Hope adventures by Scott Mariani, and did what i expected it to with the subject of the title of the novel; both good and bad.

be warned, then, as a truly **** FABULOUS SENSATIONAL AWESOME POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD WARNING **** is now in effect. oh, and as was usual, links to the novels are purely for ease of reference and are not an endorsement or affiliation.

Sister was and indeed remains a novel i referenced in my previous books on the bus post in regards of the insane range of options i had with respect to what price i could pay for it. as things went, i paid the lowest, most modest fee possible. having now read it, i can honestly say i would have had no quarrel at all with paying the full price listed on the cover, or more than that if required, should literature be measured in coins of money.

plot? the novel is told in the form of a letter by a lady to her sister, who is missing. the writer, or if you like protagonist (strictly speaking maybe an antagonist, or 2nd person narrator - Faye, let me say crisp and ask you to bail me out and tell me which one), has returned home to London upon hearing the news that she is missing.

and that, frankly, is all that i am prepared to tell you. the story takes all sorts of very believable, plausible and engaging twists and turns. the conclusion was a massive hammer blow that i did not see coming at all, that made perfect sense and had the kind of emotional reaction in me, the reader, that writers dream of being able to create. i somehow doubt you need my praise in your life, or if you would even ever see this, but all the same, bravo Ms Lupton, what an astonishing work you have created.

as i said, i know i am late to this party as the novel is 5 or so years old. if like me you'd not read it or even heard of it, toddle along now, off you go, purchase, read and if not enjoy then be mesmerised by the sheer wonder of such a magnificent novel.

finally - really then, we have The Forgotten Holocaust, with it being the tenth or so adventure of ex-SAS, wildman hostage rescuer and apparently indestructible Ben Hope.

plot? having broken up with his fiancée and having pretty much everyone he knows turn their back on him as a consequence, Ben Hope has returned to his quasi-native Ireland to drink a lot. there he has a chance encounter with a writer who seems in slight distress, which as it happens to turn into major distress when she gets killed by death, violently, than Ben is too smashed to stop. this sets him off on a quest to find out why, which sees him find out all sorts of things about the Irish potato famine, one of the most suppressed information events in so-called first world history.

i had pretty much sworn off Scott Mariani books, as regular readers will recall. whereas they are intended as escapist, enjoyable entertainment, the last two i read turned out to be utterly ridiculous nonsense, featuring at stages Ben Hope vs Entire South American Drug Industry on account of his (then) fiancée reminding a major drug baron of someone, and of course Ben Hope vs massive laser that could cut the world in half. the idea, however, of using a sensitive, rarely spoken of historical event in the form of the Irish potato famine was interesting and intriguing, and so off i went.

the "conspiracy theory" or "alternate history" it provides about the Irish potato famine, and it's far reaching consequences, is so absurd and preposterous that i dare say even the most extreme and determined of Irish Republican would refuse to put it out as propaganda. that it dares to mention the event itself does, at the least, hopefully highlight for some this most shocking, sad and depressing episode of Irish history.

leaving that aside, as a pure escapist, entertainment novel, it's more right than it is wrong, and a good reminder of why i started reading the Ben Hope books in the first place. above average, at the very least, and well worth a go.

and that, dear reader, is that. decisions of others has determined that i shall no more ride the bus, so no more shall i be reading on the bus. i am very sad about this. over the last year or so i've had the chance to read more books than i had in the previous ten or so years. that time and luxury has now been taken away.

fear not, for i shall still be making my way to and from verk, but as i said, more on all of that later. for now, though, i need to go and contemplate which are the vibes that shall be played as a farewell to bus vibes.

if you try either or both of the novels here, or any of the others i've had a read of, i hope you either enjoy as much as i did, or in some cases considerably more than i did.





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