Gold Fame Citrus

Gold Fame Citrus is a strange tale.  Although they are already damaged when we are introduced to them, no-one in this speculative tale survives the journey unharmed.

Upon reading the first few pages, I was completely intimidated by Watkins' use of language.  However, once I settled into the rhythm of her prose, I found Watkins choice and structure to be completely on-point, with each sentence actualising and emphasizing the arid, desolate, land that her story takes place in.

The characters are well drawn, with their flaws on display for everyone to see.  The sections that take place within the cult are more disturbing than the description of how the American government allowed  the South West to be devasted by drought and the sand storms that followed.  Although when reading, I felt as lost as Luz, I was also angry at her for falling for Levi and the rest of the commune.

The ending does not provide any real resolution, and I was not expecting one as this is not the sort of book to provide any closure for the reader.  If you like dystopian tales with a more literary slant and unlikeable characters, then Gold Fame Citrus will be the book for you.

Last Bus to Coffeeville

Last Bus to Coffeeville by J. Paul Henderson follows Doc upon his journey to fulfil his college sweetheart Nancy's last request: to help her die before her Alzheimer's worsens.

I wanted so much to like this book. It has a dark sense of humour, and a old folk story vibe.  However, the charm can only last so long.  Too much space is given over to minor characters histories. I was okay learning all about Nancy, Doc and Bob.  I was sort of okay reading about Doc's godson and his troubles at the news station. But once I reached the section about Eric's parents, and then Eric's parent's friends, my patience ran out.  Superfluous not only in the words compacted into sentences, but in sentences packed into chapters, for me Last Bus...could have benefited from a major edit.  There was no focus, and you know it's bad when the main event, the main plot of the story mentioned in the blurb, still hasn't happened 200 pages in.

I understand that the author was trying to fit in everything synonymous with America throughout the decades (small village life, war, secret government missions, the secret life of the neighbour, race issues, cult issues, cuba, etc etc.).  However, he was so concerned about packing all this in that the main focus - a friend helping another to carry out her wishes - got lost, and that is a real shame.

Never Coming Back

Having left London after a near-fatal stabbing, private investigator David Raker is recuperating at his dad’s old cottage, located in a costal town in Devon, when he is asked by a former girlfriend to investigate the disappearance of her sister Carrie, Carrie’s husband Paul and their two daughters.  The whole family vanished without a trace, leaving their house as if they were about to return at any moment.  With the police being no help, having given up their own investigation after the case kept leading to a dead ends, and busy with a body that has washed up on beach, it’s up to Raker to find out just what happened to this family.    

Never Coming Back, the fourth David Raker novel from Tim Weaver, has a slow start, and I did feel at  disadvantage for not having read the previous three novels featuring this character.  This feeling soon lessened once Raker begins to unfurl the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Ling's. This is when  Never Coming Back became a real page turner, and I was devouring pages to discover where the story would head next.  There were plenty of moments of uncertainty, Weaver making you think that you know what's about to happen and then completely taking the plot in another direction.  I thought that the pacing was brilliant, and a good balance between explanation and action.  Also the two completely different settings of Las Vegas and Devon made for an interesting dichotomy and varied reading.  While there are some clichés (and I am never a fan of seeing the book title in the body of the novel itself) I thought that Never Coming Back was a solid crime story, something that would be a great holiday read, and I am excited to read more of Tim Weaver's work. 


Never Coming Back is out on the 29th of August.  Thank you Real Readers for my advance copy.

Brother Kemal

Set in Frankfurt, the fifth Kemal Kayankaya novel, Brother Kemal, sees the private investigator hired for two separate cases.  First Kayankaya is employed by Valerie de Chavannes, a woman who comes from money, to find her missing 16-year-old daughter.  The second job is to provide protection to author Malik Rashid whilst at a local book fair from potential fanatics who disapprove of the content of his latest novel.  Although Kayankaya initially believes both cases to be uncomplicated, he is soon proved wrong with his presumptions potentially causing disastrous consequences.

I hadn't read any of the previous books in the Kemal Kayankaya series from Jakob Arjouni, and this posed no problem when reading Brother Kemal.  The only instance where I felt unprepared was at the point where I realised that Kayankaya is not one to abide by the rules of the law, which occurs early on in the novel.  Perhaps if I had read some of the previous novels I would have already expected this, but at the time Kayankaya's actions did come as a bit of a shock.
 
Instantly I was struck by the detail laden prose and analytical narrative style, with Ajourni leaving no room for assumptions (even if his characters make plenty of  them throughout the course of the book).  Although in no way does this impact on the pacing of the plot, which is continually engaging,  punctured with moments of violence that come quickly, almost out of the blue, but never read as obscene or gratuitous, and the touches of humour sprinkled throughout the novel.  These wry moments further emphasise just how self-confident Kemal is and adding to the overall structure of a complex and fascinating character.

After enjoying reading Brother Kemal, I find it a shame that this is the last novel from Jakob Arjourni, as he sadly died earlier this year.  However, I am going to seek out Jakob Arjouni's back catalogue, as I was really impressed by this last novel.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls

In 1930, 15-year-old Theodora Attwell is sent to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls for reasons of a scandalous nature.  While trying to adapt to her new surroundings in the mountains of North Carolina, Thea recalls the events that led to her banishment from her privileged, yet isolated, life in Florida with her beloved family.

The title for Anton DiSclafani's debut novel is misleading.  The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls is less about the everyday life at a boarding school, and more about a young girl entering adulthood, turning a bit risqué in places.  The narrator Thea is complex to say the least, and reads older than her 15 years.  I thought it was interesting that DiSclafani chose to portray Thea in an almost unlikeable way.  Thea has snobbish tendencies that have resulted from her isolated upbringing.   She treats others horribly if they are unnecessary, and her fatal flaw is making rash decisions, putting her own needs before that of others.  For all her faults, and they can be infuriating at times, this makes Thea a much more interesting character to read about.

What stood out for me was Anton DiSclafani's prose, which is wonderfully atmospheric; although this makes for slow reading as every detail has to be savoured.  DiSclafani has successfully captured the essence of two completely different places through her writing, as well as effectively detailing the uncertainty that the Great Depression caused for people in that era.

The only problem I had was with the lack of originality plot-wise.  I was hooked by the mystery of why Thea had been sent away in disgrace, DiSclafani teasing me with hints for the first portion of the book.  However, once I found out the reason, and then reading about Thea's subsequent actions at the Riding Camp, I found myself less in a hurry to finish the book and more of a struggle to stick with it until the end.

Overall, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a decent summer read, but probably nothing than that.  Still I look forward to reading more of Anton DiSclafani's writing in the future, as she certainly has a fantastic writing style.

The Gift of Darkness

In Seattle, a few weeks before Christmas, a family of four are horribly murdered in their own home.  All evidence points to one man.  A man already wanted by the police, but who had also been through a traumatic event years earlier with one of the victims and was supposed to be one of his closet friends.  It's up to Detective Alice Madison, who has only been with the Homicide unit for little over a month, to untangle the secrets and impossibilities of this strange case.

V. M. Giambanco's debut novel gets off to a slow start.  There's a lot of information to process regarding not only the crime scene and the resulting investigation, but core character back stories, too.  However, don't let this put you off, as halfway through the majority of the explaining stops and all of those details begin to make sense.  This is when The Gift of Darkness becomes a proper page-turner.

Giambanco has created fantastic characters, all with their own set of moral ambiguities, and placed them within a clever plot.  I was kept guessing why the Sinclair family was murdered for the majority of the book.  When Giambanco finally revealed this information, I found the reason behind the murders slightly anticlimactic; although I did wonder if this made the killers actions even worse?  In the end it is not so much the reveal of the killer's motive, but as to how the final show-down unfolds provides an exciting, and somewhat horrifying, conclusion.

After reading I am still left with questions about certain aspects, but I always welcome a book that makes me think long after I have finished reading.  I would love to read more from V. M. Giambanco in the future, especially if she carries on with Alice Madison as her lead character.

The Dead

Set in Newcastle, Howard Linskey's The Dead follows mob boss David Blake as his control over his criminal empire is tested to the limit.  A dead police officer's daughter, a dodgy accountant, a group of Serbians and a crazy Russian Oligarch are all causing problems for Blake.  Not to mention that his wife Sarah has started asking questions as to what really happened to her father, the former head of the firm, just as Blake starts looking for answers about his own missing dad.

The Dead is not a book that I would typically buy or check out from the library, and I haven't read Linskey's previous two novels that feature the character of David Blake.  Yet I couldn't stop reading and found myself swept away by Linskey's narrative.  There's a lot going on plot wise, but each strand is handled well and the momentum just keeps pushing you forward into finding out just how Blake will handle all of his problems.

From the blurb I thought that Linskey would have filled his novel with tons of gratuitous violence. However,  even though there are moments that made me flinch, there's no examples of violence just for violence's sake.  This coupled with Blake not being your typical mob boss made for a much more interesting read.

David Blake's third outing is a perfect holiday read, and there is no need to have read the first two books to be able to enjoy Howard Linskey's latest tale.  Although be warned; you may need to pack another book in your suitcase as you are likely to finish The Dead within a day.

Stop Dead

I had not read any of the Geraldine Steel series prior to Stop Dead, this is the fifth instalment, and nor at any point during reading did I feel that I was at a disadvantage for not having done so.

Having recently transferred to London, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel is investigating the murder of a wealthy businessman, Patrick Henshaw.  His body was found in a car, brutally mutilated.  At first it is thought to have been a crime of passion conducted by either his wife or her lover.  It is not until Henshaw's business partner is found dead, murdered in the same horrible way, that Steel realises that there's possibly more to these murders than what it originally seemed.
 
In the beginning, I was reminded of Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series, as Russell was mixing her murder case with details about her detective's home life.  However, unlike one of Gerritsen's impeccably paced novels, the narrative of Stop Dead was bogged down by multiple (and sometimes needless) P.O.Vs and the details of Steel's life outside of work.  At no point did I feel that rush to find out who was committing these grizzly murders. 

In fact, all those red herring's that are so heavily promoted in the blurb were needless; halfway through the book it becomes rather obvious as to who the real culprit is. 

Another flaw of Stop Dead is that I felt characterization was completely off.  Many of the suspects are typical two dimensional stereotypical characters you'd find in any generic crime novel.  Then there's Steel's Sergeant, Sam, who reads like a stroppy teenager who only cares about her stomach and chips.  How on earth, in real life, would this girl be able to work in a homicide investigations department?  

One redeeming feature, for me, were the scenes where the bodies were discovered, often in odd places.  However, while Leigh Russell's latest offering would probably be a good disposable beach read, Stop Dead doesn't inspire me to read any of Russell's other books.


This was an ARC review for Real Readers, Stop Dead is published by No Exit Press on the 30th May.

The River of No Return

Just before he is about to die on the battlefield in the 19th Century, Lord Nicholas Falcott jumps forward in time.  He awakens in 2003 and finds that he has been recruited by a mysterious organisation known as the Guild.  They teach him how to adapt to life in the 21st Century and then leave him to his own devices for 10 years.  Then in 2013, he receives a letter summoning him to return to their London headquarters.  On arrival Nick learns that although he had been previously told that he could never return to his family; he is now being sent back to the 1800's on a mission to investigate a mysterious group working against the Guild, known as the Ofan.

Meanwhile, in 1815, Julia Perry is trying to cope with the death of her Grandfather.  He too, had powers that could bend time to his will.  Now that he has passed, her loathsome Cousin (who inherited her Grandfathers estate) is determined to find something called the Talisman in order to garner these powers for himself.

With The River of No Return, Bee Ridgway has created something special.  She has perfectly balanced all the elements of her story: history, timey wimey shenanigans and love.  There is a warmth that radiates from the pages, and a self awareness for when events get a bit ridiculous or twee.

Both of the lead characters were interesting, both completely flawed, and not the simpering duo that would normally inhabit this type of book.  I liked that the focus of the story wasn't on the romantic relationship between Julia and Nick; their falling in love was more of a side note.  As people, they were defined by much more.  For example: Nick's struggles between his past self and the role of which he filled, compared to the person he had become in future, was conveyed superbly.

Bee Ridgway's The River of No Return is a marvelous debut. There is a lot of information to put across in order to explain her story, but Ridgway is more than adept, and has created a fantastic world of which I would be more than happy to visit again.

The Book of Summers

Emylia Hall's debut novel The Book of Summers reads as a fairytale without the conventional use of make believe.  Reality is twisted into fiction, creating a beautiful, and most importantly readable, hybrid.

The story begins with (and is all about) Beth, who has been given an unwelcome package from her father.  Upon opening said package The Book of Summers is revealed to her, as well as some sad news.  This causes her to reflect on her childhood and the seven summer vacations she spent in Hungary.

To read this book on a holiday would be like taking a double vacation.  The descriptions of Summer in rural Hungary left me warm, intrigued and slightly jealous.  The passion for the country oozes from Hall's  prose; which in the beginning felt convoluted but eventually provided Beth with a clear voice I felt emotionally engaged with such a simple story.  I was so impressed that I hope The Book of Summers is not a fluke and that Hall's next offering is just as, if not more, magical.