more reading

hello reader

and once again i commence a post of this nature with an observation of benefit to no one in particular. it really, or truly, does feel like my book related activities (reading) have fallen away of late. by of late i suppose i mean the last couple of years, look you see. whereas i retain if not maintain a passion for reading, just feels like life, or what have you, gets in the way. distractions, mostly. 

so yes, then, i have read some more novels. no, not just one, and nowhere near so many as three or more, just the two (2). as has become my custom to do here, here we go with a brief look at them, followed by whatever comments come to mind. 

before progressing, if you have not scrolled down yet, indeed that is my smart new bedding on display in the background. yes, it's 'baby yoda', or grogu for the pedantic. indeed i am quite close to one half of one century of age, but never stop liking what you like; dig what you dig. 

first, of course, a 'spoiler free' overview, as it were. starting in the order as they are above and of how i read them, The Nameless Ones by John Connolly is - and is not - the latest in the series of Charlie Parker, who no longer gets called Bird so much, novels. i had reluctant and limited expectations going into it, and yet it turned out to be quite excellent. my second choice of reading is the "much anticipated" third novel from Paula Hawkins, A Slow Fire Burning. whereas no, not of the huge, immediate impact on a reader that her debut novel had, it seems (or feels) certainly closer to it than her second, which in truth i cannot on the spot recall much of other than i read it. 

with that being pretty much all you would need to know of the books (both were good, very much so), next comes some abstract musings. do take caution if you were to wish to read either (or both), though, and you should consider one of them *** SPOILER WARNINGS *** in place. 

to begin where i did, and indeed where the picture commences, is to have a look at The Nameless Ones off of John Connolly. many of you would consider the provenance of my copy of any novel to be quite important. in this instance, for those in the UK the tell-tale, distinct £5 sticker gives every indication of both cost paid and that it was off of Morrisons. purchased on sight, it was. sure, i could have waited and probably got it for 50p less, or fewer, at Tesco, but see it, get it, bought it. 

plot? revenge. long time friends (guardians, really) of Charlie Parker, Louis and Angel, get quite cross when a trusted contact in Europe, along with his family, get(s) brutally slain, viciously so, by notorious Serbian ganglords. and so, with a suspiciously large amount of assistance from the authorities, off they go to extract the revenge they see fit. 

it has been an interesting, or curious, spell for us Charlie Parker fans. we are, and i dare speak for a majority, all keen to see how the usual protagonist's story progresses. and yet prior to this we had The Dirty South (or The Reckoning, which i believe it got called in some place) which was a prequel, and now a set in present day sort of "spin off". indeed Charlie does feature and is somewhat pivotal, but this is predominantly Louis taking the lead. leaving the disappointment aside, i read anyway, and was soon rewarded with a brilliant, yet dark (at times close to unbearably so) read. 

make no mistake, John Connolly has not lost any of his penchant for being brutal and upsetting with how he presents, well, how it is. one can imagine, if he indulges such, a stiff drink by his typewriter as the words to describe some sections needed to be typed. stating the obvious, routine and regular readers of his work will know to expect no softening, and yet here all seems to go darker still than before. that said, in persevering, one gets a really, really good, gripping and indeed exciting thriller. 

as something of an aside, there does appear to be quite a subtext on the go here. in describing the horrors of the Yugoslav war and subsequent rise of Serbia (and the Serbian criminal gangs), particular disdain features for how much of the rest of Europe simply shrugged and elected not to trouble themselves too much with what was happening. for some reason (i shall confess ignorance to the specifics of history) it is the Dutch who get singled out as, to be as brutal as Connolly, the "most guilty" in this regard. perhaps this is an obvious thing to draw attention to, how Europe tends to do this, but then also quite timely with the current events happening not so much on the doorstep as right in the hallway. 

from what i can make out the next novel, the name of which i keep forgetting, shall indeed return us to what is wanted, the ongoing tales of Charlie Parker. although these last two novels have been superb reads, bring it. so much so in terms of bring it on, i nearly bought the hardback of it a month or so ago, but relented, for i am happier reading a paperback, thanks.

going on to the next book, then, and that would be A Slow Fire Burning off of Paula Hawkins. to get the issue, or question, of provenance out the way, surprisingly WH Smiths. they had it at a straight "half price" offer, which they generously rounded down, making it available for £4.48. lovely. also, or as an aside, this is a 'Richard & Judy' exclusive edition, whatever that means. looking at the back, some sort of interview by them with the author, and looking at the front some comments off of them. i think they do some daytime show. 

the plot? for risk of needless spoilers i am reluctant to draw it down to a word or two. as short as i can, a young man is found murdered on one of them canal boat things. witnesses alert the constabulary to some potential suspects, with their reasons being (of course, this is a thriller mystery) somewhat shrouded. the novel progresses in telling of numerous interconnections, motivations and reasons for actions. yeah, which again is kind of describing how a novel works, isn't it. 

no, to be honest or upfront, it isn't quite so jaw-droppingly brilliant as The Girl On The Train. being fair, asking any author to top or equal that would would be something. still, it feels close to it in some ways, and certainly a more better, more involved read that the previous. whilst i "get" why this novel has the name it does, from about halfway through i could not but help thing Stolen Stories would have been a more direct, symbolic and perfect title for the work. oh, well. 

plausibility of probability mindful of the suspension of disbelief when reading fiction, then. indeed that is rather a convoluted statement, but a pretty straightforward measure. at no stage did anything i read here feel "outlandish", or contrived, and nowhere near preposterous. one who lives a life where they encounter others shall certainly sense familiar themes, if (hopefully) not actions. 

how do i, following on from the above, word this carefully? the "twists" which are somewhat obvious tend not to be disappointing when they are revealed, whereas the ones one (at least i) did or do not see coming are plausible (oh for a better word). overall, a highly engrossing, most excellent read. i do indeed look forward to her 4th novel. 

so, a bit of a lucky streak there, what with me reading two (2) books which did not disappoint. true, going into them with slightly lower expectations than what i would normally have possibly, or even potentially, assisted that. but, still, these books "jumped the queue" of the dozen or so i have at any one time sat ready to read. there was a level of enthusiasm for reading.

where next for my reading exploits? i have that one by that bloke who writes of the copper what sits in a pub to have a little think on any particular crime, usually ending with the culprit handing themselves in and confessing for no apparent reason. although the last couple of novels have seemed to be less and less (or fewer and fewer to use a popular word randomly) about the usual protagonist. from there, who knows, but i see a former president (of the america) has had another bash at co-writing (ahem) a novel, and the first one was surprisingly very good indeed. 

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