rapid reading

hello reader

well, blimey. i had not expected, realistically, to finish reading another requisite two (2) novels before the fall of the year (2022, look you see), but i gone done so. and thus we are here, with me still inexplicably compelled to pass, or make, comment on each. 

to the usual, then. which is to say an image of the novels, some of them spoiler free comments, and then further musings which may well contain "spoilers" of sorts. fear not, for another warning shall be yours on the off chance you missed the subtle one here. 

from left to right, which just so happens to be the order in which i gone done read them, A Line To Kill off of Anthony Horowitz is one of the most entertaining novels what i have ever read. remembering that i rather like his novels, Finders Keepers off of Stephen King was a bit of an emergency read what turned out to be on that quite good to excellent line. 

as was promised (or written) earlier (rather than later), here you go - a lovely and clear *** SPOILER WARNING *** in respect of any words what may follow. unless somehow you have determined that one or two of such (spoilers) have already appeared. which might happen if you for some reason read these things backwards, or from the bottom if you will. 

commencing, or starting, where i did is to begin with the magnificent A Line To Kill off of Anthony Horowitz. this is the third (3rd) in a presumably ongoing series in which the author presents a, so far as i am aware, fictional(ised) version of himself as the narrator of travels with a detective who is either eccentric on enigmatic or neither or both. 

provenance of my copy? looking at the lack of any sticker for price (i would not peel such off) gives me every indication that i bought it off of Tesco, likely on sight and probably as part of some reduced deal. maybe it was cheaper if bought in conjunction with a newspaper, could be that it got some pence knocked off via being a "club member". which is a free thing to sign up for, and if they want to track the fact that i buy fags (not what you think, americans) and meal deals, well, good luck to them and i trust they shall use the information wisely.

as interesting, or perhaps as exciting, as all this clever talk of provenance is, what of the plot? leaving, if you will, aside some of the "meta" qualities of it all (also possibly post-post-postmodernism), rather straightforward really. our narrator, along with his detective chum (whose name escapes me) have been invited to a literary festival on a small(ish) and somewhat reclusive island. writer is of course eager to go; detective is suspiciously as keen, if not more so, to be there too. and then (as you may expect) the very first murder (ever) just so happens on the island whilst they are there. 

reading isn't really a race, or something that should be measured in time. take as long as one feels comfortable in reading. but, that said, i simply could not put this one down and read it within 3 days. so yes, then, this really really is a most wonderful, excellent read. full praise to the author, he has a most remarkable writing style, making me as a reader wish for nothing more than to keep on reading. 

with regards to this being, ostensibly, number 3 (three) in a series, a fair and reasonable question is do you need to read the previous ones? i only read the second, which i am pretty sure was The Sentence Is Death, and have survived just fine. but i would strongly suggest reading that one before this. so far as i can ascertain skipping the first was unfortunate, for it now has all sorts of "spoilers" in the next two, but no enjoyment or understanding felt missing. 

much of the same, strangely, is true with the second novel here, with it being Finder's Keepers off of Stephen King. nothing on the cover at all suggested that it was a sequel, perhaps because it is and it isn't, kind of. for those who prefer some precision in clarity, this novel does feature characters from a previous novel called Mr Mercedes, what i never (ever) read and had no issues here. 

this was an emergency read, then. as i was away on my verk travels i didn't have another book (novel) to hand to read after finishing the previous one somewhat quicker (or faster) than assumed. oh. i got this either from a charity shop, then, or a charity book sale at a supermarket. my short term memory appears to be totes f****d so i don't recall, sorry. likely the cost was a donation, be it 50p, £1 or a figure somewhere between those two. didn't look like anyone had actually gotten around to reading this copy before me. unless this is the one i bought and commented to the person selling that i wondered if i would get past page 40, for it was on that page someone had left an improvised bookmark. might be thinking of a different one. 

giving much of the plot is tricky, as i really would not wish to spoil this one. as much as, at times, it all tends to be a bit predictable. but in a good way. well, here goes. a criminal sort ends up (ahem) obtaining an unpublished manuscript by a celebrated writer. he ends up in prison before he can read it, but all the same had the good sense to hide it. and of course someone else finds it........

yes, certainly, some (as in many) of the twists and turns in this one are as inevitable as they are on the predictable side of the predictable scale. once again, for instance, we have Stephen King using his most favourite device of having children in peril and/or danger. well, it's worked for, what, close to fifty (!) years or so, and still does here. for those interested in further content, or ticking off a list, plenty of horrific stuff, some (predictable) suspense and only limited 'supernatural' stuff. 

a more direct(ish) sequel to this one exists, apparently. my understanding is that it is called, or named, End Of Watch. i would be interested in reading it, but let's see if i either find a copy, or if i even remember to have a look around for it.

well, that's that. two (2) very satisfactory reads, which one cannot ask all that much more from novels. not sure i shall be doing a "best" thing for this year, for i seem (perhaps momentarily) quite tired of writing. should i do so, well, perhaps from recency or just timing, i suspect the Anthony Horowitz one shall be my "favourite" or best of the year. yet the John Connolly one i read, and the John Grisham one, would feature. also that Paula Hawkins one. 

forever it shall be so that i have no clue if any of this has been of use or interest to anyone, but also as it shall eternally be many thanks for stopping by and reading. or just looking at the pictures.

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