THE MADNESS UNDERNEATH

British Cover

TITLE: THE MADNESS UNDERNEATH

AUTHOR: MAUREEN JOHNSON

Pages: 352

Date: 02/01/2013

Grade: 5

Details: no. 2 Shades of London

              Received from Harper Collins

              Through NetGalley

              Young Adult

Own/Kindle

Please note that this book won’t be published until February 26 in the USA and March 28, 2013 in England.

It has been three weeks since Aurora (Rory’s) almost fatal encounter with The Ripper Killer and she is in Bristol with her parents recuperating. Except that being away from London is not helping Rory at all. She can’t tell her parents, never mind the therapist she’s seeing, the truth about what happened to her. The only people who she can talk to are Stephen, Callum and Boo the other Shades who, like her, can see and communicate with Ghosts and they are still in the capital. Then the unexpected happens; Rory is given the opportunity to go back to school, back to London and it is an opportunity she grabs with both hands.

Back in London it becomes clear that Rory’s encounter with The Ripper Killer may have unleashed new horrors into the area surrounding her school. And Stephen appears very reluctant to allow her to get really involved with the work he and his two colleagues do. To top it all off Rory also finds that life at school is as hard as life with her parents; she can’t tell the truth there either. On the upside, Rory’s new power makes her feel more secure and she meets a new therapist. And talking to this woman does make Rory feel a lot better.

But danger lurks. There are two unexplained deaths to resolve. And danger does not always come from the place you’d expect.

American cover

This was a wonderful paranormal thriller. I mean the first book, TheName of the Star, was good but this one is better. Rory, the main character is still feisty and funny but now that she has big issues to deal with she is also a lot more interesting. Her sense of isolation and her despair at not being able to talk to anybody about her special abilities is completely believable and make her a more rounded character. She is a real teenager; not a kid anymore and able to think things through most of the time, but not quite patient enough to give things time to develop; she needs her solutions now! I also love Rory’s voice. While reading the book I felt as if she was speaking straight to me, I could hear her and the things she thought and said had me laughing out loud on several occasions.

The writing in this book is smooth and easy to read while the events in the story ensure that it is almost impossible to put the book aside, even for a short while. This story has the right balance of fun, action, tension and emotional issues. This is a well-plotted story with well-rounded characters, but boy what an ending. Where the first book can be read as a complete story in and off itself, there is no doubt that this book a part of a series. There are a host of unresolved issues when this book ends and I know that it is going to be a long and frustrating wait for the third book and the chance to find out what will happen next.

A HALF FORGOTTEN SONG

TITLE: A HALF FORGOTTEN SONG

AUTHOR: KATHERINE WEBB

Pages: 416

Date: 26/12/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: Received from Orion Books

              Through Nudge

Own / ARC

Zach Gilchrist’s life is falling apart around his ears. His ex-wife is moving from England to America and taking their six year old daughter with her, his art gallery is failing and he can’t bring himself to sell the three pictures he has that might actually save his business. The three pictures are all by the same painter: Charles Aubrey. A painter whose life was cut short by the Second World War and whose last few months alive were shrouded in mystery. A painter who may or may not have links to Zach’s own family. When Zach is reminded of the book about Aubrey he is supposed to be writing he decides to travel to Blacknowle on the Dorset coast, the place where Aubrey spent the last three summers of his life with his mistress and their two daughters; Blacknowle where the answer to all Zach’s questions about Aubrey’s life and death may lie.

Mitzy Hatcher has lived in Blacknowle all her life. She once went on a foreign trip but that was in 1938, when she was sixteen. Since then she hasn’t left the village where she was born and spent a miserable childhood with her mother - the gypsy who never showed her any love or affection - and surrounded by people who didn’t accept her.  Happiness did visit Mitzy’s life once. When she was fourteen Charles Aubrey arrived in Blacknowle for the summer with his beautiful mistress and their two daughters. Mitzy soon becomes fast friends with Aubrey’s eldest daughter as well as a regular figure in his drawings and his family’s life. Over the course of three years Mitzy’s love for this family that accepts her just as she is, turns into something else, an obsession with the famous artist. And it is this obsession that will lead to an unspeakable act with devastating consequences and secrets that will stay hidden for almost seventy-five years. Secrets that are threatened by the arrival in Blacknowle of a very determined and curious man. And she is not the only one in the village staying quiet about certain things.

This was a fascinating story and not one that is easily categorized. Between the covers of “A Half Forgotten Song” we find a mystery, several love stories as well as ghosts, obsession and betrayal. Both the story and the way in which it is told reminded me a bit of the books by Kate Morton. Both authors present their main character and readers with a mystery, the answer to which lies buried in the past and is well guarded by those who could resolve it. And both Morton and Webb know how to surprise the reader. Just when you think you know the answer to all the questions, they manage to shock you with a revelation you never saw coming.

All these aspects make this an intriguing story and a gripping read. The tension in the story is slowly build up, almost imperceptibly, until it reaches the stage where putting the book down becomes an impossibility because the need to find out exactly what is going on has gotten too strong.

The characters in this book are vivid and multi-dimensional. Katherine Webb’s characters are not either good or bad. While it is easy to like some characters more then others there are no purely hateful or completely blameless players here, which makes the story all the more interesting. Having said that, I found it very hard to sympathise with Mitzy to the same extent that the characters in this book do. Despite her horrific childhood and other circumstances that might explain or excuse her behaviour I still felt she should and could have done better and I really didn’t understand the ease with which other characters in the story were able to forgive her. But that is the only less than completely positive comment I can make about this book.

Overall I would call this a fascinating and engrossing novel; a page-turner that will keep the reader enthralled.

THE PERFECT HOPE

TITLE: THE PERFECT HOPE

AUTHOR: NORA ROBERTS

Pages: 308

Date: 18/12/2012

Grade:  5

Details: no. 3 The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy

Library

Please accept my apologies for the following gush-fest.

When Hope and Ryder first met, she got the distinct impression he didn’t like her on sight and didn’t want her to get the job as innkeeper in his family’s inn. And Hope isn’t sure she likes Ryder that much either. He’s stand-offish and sulky; definitely not an easy person to get along with. And one, rather good, kiss not withstanding, she is definitely not attracted to Riley.

The resident ghost, Lizzy, has other ideas though and forces Hope and Ryder into a situation where only another hot kiss will allow them to leave the room they happen to be in. When a rather unpleasant blast from Hope’s past pays an unwelcome visit to the Inn it is Ryder to whom Hope turns when she needs to get her point across. And kissing Ryder passionately just happens to be the best way to make herself clear.

Slowly the innkeeper and her builder slip into a “thing” neither is willing to call a relationship. But through more confrontation with Hope’s past and at last finding out exactly what happened to the love of Lizzy’s life, Ryder and Hope find that they may be completely different, they are also completely perfect for each other.

I’m starting to repeat myself but I will say it again: I love Nora Roberts’ books. I love the way she writes her stories and draws me into the world her characters live in. It only takes a few pages before I feel as if I know this world and these characters. I like that she writes strong, independent female characters who experience real emotions and are not afraid to show them. I love that she writes realistic yet oh so yummy men. And what is not to like about a ghostly character as realistic as Lizzy?

What I really appreciate in the romances by Nora Roberts is that she doesn’t resort to protracted and senseless arguments and misunderstandings. Yes, her characters may end up in some sort of fight at one point or another in the story, but they are, always, grown-ups. They fight, storm of, and maybe sulk for a while but then they deal. They talk to each other, come to understand each others point of view and get on with life and love. Roberts’ characters respect each other and treat each other as such because:

“You didn’t love and try to change.”

Too many authors of romances feel the need to create what reads like false drama or childish behaviour in an, often desperate appearing, attempt to keep the story emotionally gripping. Not so Nora Roberts. The interactions between her characters, their friends and the things going on in their lives are enough to keep the story moving and fascinating. And this is what makes her stories work for me. Because her characters are and behave like mostly reasonable human beings I don’t get upset with them, I don’t want to slap them around for making stupid decisions, and most importantly I don’t want to throw the book at the wall. I’m just glad to be able to spend time with them and watch them work their way to the inevitable happy ever after.

I love it!

Just as I love that the Inn, Boonsboro is real. The characters in these stories may be fictional, the setting isn’t. The town, the Inn and the bookstore actually exist. In my dreams I am in a position to cross the Atlantic and see this wonderful sounding place for myself. In real life I can only hope that one day it will be possible for me to stay in one of those wonderful sounding, romantically themed rooms and maybe, just maybe meet a ghost?!