more reading

hello reader


that's a couple of more books (novels) what i have read, then. which would make it time, look you see, to reflect on them, passing some comments that may well be interpreted as reviews or judgements, the latter being to various levels of scathing, scorn or praise.

yes, that's right, with the style and flair i have used them thus far i have, clearly, elected to not follow the newly (recently) installed laws of the land with respect to, but not exclusively, commas. should the lawmaker who impose the rules object, and let us not hide away from it being Lord Rees-Mogg of Jacob, well he can simply stop reading, i guess.

anyway, getting back on track, here's a look at the two (not three, not one, not four) novels i have most recently completed, followed by some overall observations for those of you in a rush.

a quite frequently invoked quote, both here on this blog and in the greater world, is that of "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". that feels reasonably appropriate here. in that order, really, for An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena was excellent, Careless Love by Peter Robinson not so much. at all. to help you out, or clarify, i would say that An Unwanted Guest is reading that i would say has immediate appeal (go find it instead of reading this) and Careless Love, much like certain Australian table wines, is a book you are far better off simply laying down and avoiding.

right, with sufficient but all the same limited advice given on either title, time to move on. but, before we do, know now that a celebrated *** SPOILER WARNING *** is alive, well, and in place for the remainder of this post. as much care as possible shall be used, but don't say i didn't tell you.

there are, or is, a suspicious and peculiar number of you who would simply not read any of this if i did not provide the provenance of the copies of my novels. very well. in this first instance, so far as i am aware and so far as the sticker on the cover reminds me, An Unwanted Guest was purchased at Tesco. from what i recall, it was one of the £3.50 "books of the week", for it has been some time since i indulged their 2 for £8 deal.  as point of fact i don't think i ever have, me still feeling annoyed that it was increased by one hundred pennies.

plot? a number of people make their way to a remote(ish) hotel for a weekend away. to various degrees they all bring baggage which is not limited to their luggage. disagreeable weather conditions and geography means that the guests huddle and bond more on the first night that you might imagine hotel users usually would. everything is going quite well despite the circumstances. until guests wake the next day to find one of the patrons dead, and on closer inspection not really dead via what at first seemed to be an unfortunate accident. are they misreading the situation, or is there a killer in their group.......

quite a few comments i have seen of this book have compared it to Agatha Christie, with the book either being "in the style of" or it being described as some sort of "homage". well, i have really not read enough of her work to comment. what i will say, though, was that this was superb. brilliant. an engaging, enjoyable, keeps you guessing and all is rather plausible novel. for any mystery /  thriller lover this is essential reading, and if that genre is not your usual thing i dare to say that oh, but it soon very much shall be once you have read this.

saying anything further about An Unwanted Guest feels as though it would be wrong and something of a betrayal. let me leave it at that, then.

oh, dear. i probably have a good deal more that i am prepared to say of the latest DCI Banks "adventure" off of Peter Robinson. not much of it shall be good. actually, that is not true. let me confess that it is rather well written, and does make for (at times) (and in this case conditional) good reading. even if Careless Love generally strides from preposterous to ridiculous via the lane called "there never was a novel in this premise but let us go with it".

provenance? as it happens this was a well intentioned Father's Day gift. but, that said, i also happen to know it was just 1p south of £3 at Sainsbury's, which for those of you who do not know the place is sort of a bit like a Tesco for posh people. or people who wish to be seen as posh.

the plot? well, let me try. the bodies of two people are found. it seems there is absolutely no connection between the two, except for the bizarre, peculiar and seemingly impossible nature of where they are found and what condition their bodies are in. everything suggests not murder, but all circumstances say that this was more than likely so. when another body, similar but not quite so bizarre, peculiar or impossible, is found, off DCI Banks and his merry band of coppers go to investigate and bring the scoundrels responsible to book.

it's just poor, really. even the title makes little sense. there is not much of a story here in terms of a full novel, and this would seem to be exemplified by just how frequently the same information is repeated during the first 150 or so pages of the novel. and reading them is made all the harder by Peter Robinson's peculiar decision to punish readers with needlessly long chapters, some of them exceeding 25-30 pages. not good for those of us who do not like placing a novel down mid-chapter.

you all saw that spoiler warning, yeah? good. because this novel does indeed follow the standard pattern of Peter Robinson's DCI Banks novels. this would be - crime happens, Banks called out, Banks a bit flummoxed, Banks sits in pub and has a little think, then in the last few pages, under the accepted rules of the English way of doing things, the villain takes actions which sees them give themselves up for no apparent reason, for the coppers were nowhere close to an arrest.

one cannot but help wonder if Peter Robinson was under some nasty contractual obligation based pressure to deliver this novel, as surely he himself must have known it was all rather flimsy. perhaps he just isn't that interested, confident that it shall sell anyway. more fool me for reading, i guess, but then i suspect the next one will be bought, as the hints at the plot to come were somewhat interesting.

yes, indeed, i am all too aware of how i have spent more time writing of the novel which i liked the least. that would be normal, though, no? if there's a really good novel there is not a great deal for me to say beyond go ahead and read it. alternatively, should one not be quite so good, then best be fair and explain why not.

right, well, fine. that's just about that for this post. as ever, most happy day and nice one if this has been of some use to anyone out there somewhere!




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