UNRAVELLING OLIVER

TITLE: UNRAVELLING OLIVER

AUTHOR: LIZ NUGENT

Pages: 240

Date: 07/03/2014

Grade: 4+

Details: Received from Penguin Ireland

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The blurb:

“'I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her.'

Oliver Ryan is a handsome and charismatic success story. He lives in the leafy suburbs with his wife, Alice, who illustrates his award-winning children's books and gives him her unstinting devotion. Their life together is one of enviable privilege and ease - enviable until, one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice and puts her into a coma.

In the aftermath, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those whose paths he has crossed over five decades. What unfolds is a story of shame, envy, breath-taking deception and masterful manipulation.

Only Oliver knows the lengths to which he has had to go to get the life to which he felt entitled. But even he is in for a shock when the past catches up with him.”

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What a way to start a book:

‘I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her.'

And it sets exactly the right tone for this book. This story is really a mystery, although not one in which we anxiously read on to find out who perpetrated the crime. No, the big question in this book is what on earth possessed Oliver to beat up his wife. The answer to that question is revealed at a slow, almost leisurely pace.

This book is told by Oliver as well as several people he has encountered during his life. Oliver tells his story after he has been arrested for putting his wife into a coma and doesn’t, at any time, try to make himself look or sound nice.

“I’m aware that I am not the easiest of people. Alice has told me so. I have no friends, for example. I used to, many years ago, but that really didn’t work out. We drifted apart and I let them go – voluntarily, I suppose. Friends are just people who remind you of your failings.”

Having said that, if you ignore the very first chapter, in which Oliver rather coolly describes how he hit his wife and his surprise at his own action and the lack of reaction on her part, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot wrong with him.

“My wife had finally brought out the worst in me. It was most unexpected. I had always been fond of her, in my way.”

For a long time it was almost possible to feel sorry for Oliver and the life he lived before he got famous. In fact, that is probably the only thing that stopped this book from getting five stars; I fully expected to be horrified by Oliver by the time I reached the end of the book, and I wasn’t. I didn’t like him, didn’t approve of the things he’d done and couldn’t sympathize with him, but he never quite turned into the monster I was expecting him to be either. And, to be honest, I’m not sure if that is a missed opportunity on the author’s part or a very clever and balanced portrait of a socially unadjusted personality.

Having said that, this was one of the more fascinating and well plotted books I’ve read this year so far. I got completely caught up in the story and had to keep on reading in order to find out what had caused this man to turn violent. The writing in this book is very good. I was impressed with the very distinctive voices the various narrators had. For example, Veronique, the French lady, sounded distinctly French, even if her story was told in English.

Ultimately this is a story about secrets and the damage they can do, both to those who can’t find the answers they need and to those who are hurt as a result of that. This was a very impressive debut by an author I will be keeping an eye on from now on.

THE SLEEP ROOM

TITLE: THE SLEEP ROOM

AUTHOR: F.R. TALLIS

Pages: 372

Date: 09/06/2013

Grade: 4

Details: ARC received from Macmillan

              Through Nudge

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“A man dreams that he is a butterfly, and in the dream he has no knowledge of his life as a human being. When he wakes up he asks himself two questions: am I a man, who just dreamed that he was a butterfly? Or am I really a butterfly, now dreaming that I am a man?”

James Richardson, the narrator of this story, is a young and promising psychiatrist in England in the 1950’s. When he is offered the opportunity to work under the esteemed Dr. Hugh Maitland he accepts the offer immediately. Without a second thought he says goodbye to his old life and travels to Wyldehope Hall in Suffolk to take up his new post. In Wyldehope Hall, Dr. Maitland is running an experimental new form of treatment for patients with long term and extreme disturbances. The patients, six women, are kept asleep for months on end in the hope that they will, eventually, wake up cured of their problems. If the experiment were to be successful it would bring professional glory for both doctors involved in it.

It isn’t long after arriving in Wyldehope Hall that Richardson is starting to notice strange and at times disturbing occurrences. It is nothing he can put his fingers on, but something about the place feels wrong and some strange happenings aren’t easily explained through logical reasoning.

More worrying is Dr. Maitland’s reluctance to discuss the medical history of the women they are treating in “The Sleep Room”. And how is it possible that the six women appear to be dreaming at exactly the same time?

Although it is clear that there are others in the Hall who are uncomfortable in their surroundings, Richardson can’t find anybody who is willing to share their experiences with him. How can he discuss the disturbing things he’s felt and seen with others without having his own sanity questioned? And is the danger he senses real or something Richardson is only imagining? Is there something wrong with the house or is our young doctor losing his mind?

Part medical and part ghost story this is a fascinating book. What appears at first to be a purely medical story, focusing on dubious and controversial medical practices, slowly but steadily turns into something completely different. The ghostly manifestations are mentioned in an understated manner. The narrator, James Richardson, is very uncomfortable with the idea that something otherworldly might be going on around him. His logical mind and training don’t allow him to accept that the things he is experiencing might have anything other than a logical conclusion. And even when he reaches the point where he can no longer deny that the manifestations have to be supernatural he goes out of his way to find a logic based explanation for them. While this makes perfect sense as far as the character of Richardson is concerned, it does mean that this story isn’t nearly as ghostly as it might have been.

The medical side of the story on the other hand is, for me, the real thriller. The absolute power of Dr. Maitland, the unquestioning way in which those working for him go along with his ideas and treatments and the way in which the women in the Sleep Room are treated is the stuff of nightmares. Especially since everything described in this story sounds very credible and realistic. This story combined with the little I know about the normal practices in psychiatric hospitals in times past makes it all too easy to believe that what is happening to the women in this story is probably not as far-fetched as I might like to think.

I liked the way the tension in this story creeps up on the reader. In an almost imperceptible way this book gets darker and darker. So imperceptible in fact that by the time it all comes crashing down I was taken somewhat by surprise. And then, just when I thought the story was finished and things had come to a dramatic but overall satisfying conclusion the author threw me for a loop, leaving me uncertain about what exactly had happened and what to believe. It made for an impressive but not entirely satisfying conclusion.

I like that Tallis, who in his previous books has a fervent follower of Freud’s theories as his main protagonist, chose to have the main characters in this book debunk Freud and Jung as unscientific.

Mr. Tallis produces good books. His writing is smooth and his stories and characters are fascinating. Through his descriptions of the area surrounding Wyldehope Hall he gives the story exactly the right atmosphere for ghostly manifestations. And his knowledge of medical procedures and theories is obvious although not surprising considering that he is a clinical psychologist. The fact that he clearly knows what he is writing about makes this story more disturbing, rather than less.

Overall I would call this a fascinating combination of medical thriller and ghost story. The completely unexpected revelations at the end of the book only strengthen that fascination, although they also left me with one or two, unanswered, questions.

THE PERFECT GHOST

TITLE: THE PERFECT GHOST

AUTHOR: LINDA BARNES

Pages: 320

Date: 28/04/2013

Grade: 4+

Details: Received from St. Martin’s Press

            Through NetGalley

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The Blurb:

Mousy, timid, and shy to the point of agoraphobic, Em Moore is the writing half of a celebrity biography team. Her charismatic partner, Teddy, does the interviewing, the negotiating, the public schmoozing. But Em’s dependence on Teddy runs deeper than just the job—Teddy is her bridge to the world and the only source of love in her life. So when Teddy dies in a car accident, Em is devastated, alone in a world she doesn’t understand. The only way she can honor his memory and cope with his loss is to finish the interviews for their current book—an “autobiography” of renowned and reclusive film director Garrett Malcolm.

Ensconced in a small cottage near Malcolm’s Cape Cod home, Em slowly builds the courage and strength to interview Malcolm the way Teddy would have. She finds Malcolm at once friendlier, more intimidating, and far sexier than she had imagined. But Em soon senses trouble between Malcolm and one of his former stars, the washed-up Brooklyn Pierce, and she hears whispers of skeletons in the Malcolm family closet. And then the police begin looking into the accident that killed Teddy, and Em’s control on her life—tenuous at best—is threatened.

This book was my introduction to Linda Barnes and a bit of a revelation. To say this story is something of a slow burner would be a gross understatement. The story, told by Em as if she is talking to Teddy – or since he is dead by the time the story starts, his ghost – seems to be about a young and very insecure woman living an almost agoraphobic life, slowly coming out of her shell. And, since this is something she needs to do if she wants to make sure her future as a biographer doesn’t die with her partner, her venturing out into the scary world makes perfect sense. Her transformation from virtual hermit to almost “normal” young woman may seem a bit fast at times, but then she is tied to a deadline, so that makes sense as well.

There is a lot more to this story than the smooth telling of it seems to suggest though. Under the surface there is a tension that is hard to understand. The reader knows there is something not quite right with at least some of the characters in this story, but what that something may be and exactly who can’t be trusted is never clear. The reader may have their suspicions but they may well prove completely wrong by the time the book ends. Cleverly plotted and very well told this book managed to take me completely by surprise. I had not seen the revelations coming at all and that is something I love in a good thriller. On the other hand, the suspense in most of this story was a bit too covert for my liking. It really didn’t read like a thriller until the latter part of the story. Not that I disliked the earlier parts; they were fascinating but not in a thriller sort of way. It is almost as if I started reading one book – the story of a young woman finding her way in the world – to be thrown into another.

I did enjoy the references to and from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the links with that play. I can’t help wondering though if I would have gotten more out of this book if I had been better acquainted with that work. Since I’ve never read Hamlet and only know the basic story-line that is a question that will have to be answered by other reviewers.

Having said all that, I did like this book a lot. Em’s voice and story captured me from the very first page and the further I got into the story the more hooked I became. The extent to which the last few chapters of this book managed to surprise me only proofs how accomplished an author Linda Barnes is. There are times when I think that by now I must have read it all, only for a book like this to come along and show me that original and surprising stories are indeed still being written.

LIP SERVICE

TITLE: LIP SERVICE

AUTHOR: M.J. ROSE

Pages: 320

Date: 24/09/2012

Grade: 5

Details: Received from Simon & Schuster

            Through NetGalley

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(Before I start the review I should probably disclose that once upon a time, around the time this book was first published in fact, I used to be in an online book-group with M.J. Rose. This, rather distant, relationship has NOT influenced my review in any way, shape or form.)

Julia Stirling has been content in her life until recently. Married to Paul, a psychiatrist turned professional fund-raiser, she has willingly assisted him in his efforts to promote his charity for Fathers In Trouble as a charming, if shy hostess. As a student Julia had a nervous break-down after a period during which she indulged in various and short-lived sexual encounters. Marrying the cool and emotionally detached Paul and allowing him to make her decisions for her while keeping her on medication has for a long time been her refuge from that past. Recently though she has started to question her detachment from life. After obtaining a degree in journalism she has been writing articles on a free-lance and part-time basis and this return to self-sufficiency is awakening other needs in her. Needs her husband won’t acknowledge or tolerate. When Julia meets Sam Butterfield during a charity dinner she is fascinated by what he tells her about his work at a renowned sexual research centre. When he invites her to write a book about the work the institute does with the aid of telephone-therapists Julia jumps at the opportunity and asks to be trained as such a therapist as a form of research. She is slightly taken aback when she discovers that the therapy provided is in reality a form of phone sex but, once her initial shock wears of, she discovers that she is enjoying the way those phone conversations with sometimes desperate men make her feel. When one of her clients confesses to harming his step-daughter and needing her help in order to stop Julia is confused and conflicted. And because she has been keeping her research a secret from Paul, who doesn’t want her involved with the Butterfield institute at all, she is facing her confused feelings alone. And then there are the accusations made against Sam; is it possible that he is not just the charming therapist he appears to be? Julia has to make a decision that requires the sort of strength she hasn’t displayed in years; a decision that will have far-reaching consequences not just for her but also for a lot of people around her.

I loved this book. I really enjoyed this story about a woman who has been repressing her true self for years and slowly awakens to everything she really is and can be. There is enough background information for the reader to understand why Julia has been happy to allow her husband to rule her life for so long, just as it is easy to understand why that has changed for her at this particular point in her life.

In fact, I am very impressed with this book. This story embraces so many genres; psychological thriller, mystery, erotica and romance all intertwine to bring the reader a powerful, seductive and suspenseful read. And M.J. Rose’s achievement is even more impressive when you realise that this was her first published novel, back in 1999. I did read other works by this author in the past and knew I liked her writing-style and stories, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that her earliest work is as good as those later books are.

M.J. Rose manages to create realistic characters it is easy to identify with even if their experiences are very different from the readers'. The main character in this book comes across as a real person. The reader may not agree with every decision she makes but will be able to understand why she makes them.

The writing in this book is smooth and descriptive. The pictures painted of the surroundings are as easy to picture as they are symbolic of what is going on inside Julia’s head and heart.

The tension in this story slowly creeps up on the reader. What at first appears to be a rather sedate story almost imperceptibly turns into a full-blown thriller. I found myself rushing to turn the pages while at the same time being very careful not to miss a single one of the well chosen words.

In short this was a fascinating and engrossing read by an author who has yet to disappoint me. My only regret is that it can be rather hard to find books by M.J. Rose in the bookshops here in Ireland.

THE UNINVITED

TITLE: THE UNINVITED

AUTHOR: LIZ JENSEN

Pages: 302

Date: 17/09/2012

Grade: 5

Details: Received from Bloomsbury Circus

            Through Book Geeks

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It starts with one child, a young girl, taking a nail gun and killing her grandmother before injuring her father for no apparent reason. It seems to be a random occurrence, a one-off event, tragic and shocking but unique. Hesketh Lock hears about this murder while on his way to the airport. He is travelling from England to Taiwan to investigate a bizarre corporate scandal.

Hesketh Lock has Asperger’s Syndrome and isn’t good at relationships or reading people. He is however very good at spotting and reading behaviour patterns which explains his job as trouble shooter for a company specialising in investigating corporate fraud, exposing it and eliminating it forever. However, his investigation in Taiwan doesn’t provide him with any useful or logical answers. If anything, his meeting with the man who exposed the scandal leaves Hesketh with more questions than answers. When his Taiwanese contact subsequently commits suicide the case becomes even murkier. Then things quickly escalate. More bizarre cases of corporate fraud are exposed, all apparently conducted by the most unlikely suspects who tend to be confused after their fraudulent acts and end up dying shortly afterwards. And at the same time more children, all over the world, are attacking and killing adults. With no apparent reasons for these murders and the children going through a dramatic change immediately before and after the violence, authorities are at a loss to explain what is happening. But the violence is spreading and panic, as well as all sorts of (conspiracy) theories are becoming rampant. When Hesketh establishes a link between the disruptions in the corporate world and the crimes committed by the children it appears to be an impossible proposition. With his stepson starting to exhibit troubling behaviour, Hesketh finds himself in a situation that could as easily overwhelm him as bring him to the realisation of what exactly is happening.

This story is shocking on several levels. First there is all the violence committed by children. It is never easy to read about children as the perpetrators of violent crime and since that is the central story-line in this book it is hard not to get emotionally involved. What makes the story even more disturbing is that it is written in such a way that you end up feeling that something like this could actually happen. Yes, it is a fantastical story line, but one based on enough fact to make it just about plausible. While reading this book I felt my heart breaking on several occasions; how could a parent, a family, the world ever hope to deal with children turning against the adults in their lives? And would we really react in the way as described in this book?

In Hesketh Lock the author has created a fascinating protagonist. Because of his Asperger’s he is logical to a fault. This makes him the perfect narrator for this story in which the events taking place are so horrific that non-sentimental descriptions are necessary if the reader is going to stick with the story. Hesketh has a linear way of thinking which is brutally honest and at times heartbreaking. He is very aware of his shortcomings and completely unable to do anything about them. That is not to say he should be pitied; Hesketh is very secure in the knowledge that there are certain things he can do better than most people because his special make-up means he’s better equipped to do them. He is, for example very quick to observe patterns where others see none.

“Perhaps she pities me. It’s a frequent mistake. People misunderstand who I am, and assume I want to be like them. I don’t.”

Hesketh’s former partner and the mother of his stepson used to call him “A robot made of meat.” And although he doesn’t think he is such a robot there comes a time when Hesketh thinks that being just that might be what he needs.

This book is very well written and almost too easy to read. A story like this should be read slowly, but Liz Jensen’s writing is so fluid that I found myself turning the pages at a quick pace regardless of the horrors that were taking place on them. And maybe that is exactly what is needed with a story as shocking as this one. I think I might have put the book aside if I had allowed myself too much time to linger on exactly what was happening. That would have been such a waste though. Combining several genres – mystery, psychological thriller, and dystopian-apocalyptical nightmare - this is a highly original, thought-provoking, very well written and intriguing story.

DARE ME

TITLE: DARE ME

AUTHOR: MEGON ABBOTT

Pages: 326

Date: 04/06/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: Received from Book Geeks

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Addy Hanlon and Beth Cassidy have been friends for years, inseparable and invincible they face the world side by side; Beth the leader and Addy her lieutenant. Both girls are tough and both girls are bad, they are in control of their world and the people around them as only teenage girls can be.

When the new school year starts the cheerleading team Addy and Beth are members of has a new coach, Colette French. Young, pretty and charismatic it isn’t long before the coach has all the girls in her thrall, inspiring them to be better, slimmer, harder and more ambitious. All the girls, that is, except Beth who finds herself upsurged, no longer the captain of the team and losing Addy to Colette.

But Colette is far from the perfect woman with the beautiful house, dedicated husband and cute daughter she appears to be. And when the coach crosses a line that should have been sacred it leads to death and destruction and a world of confusion and pain for Addy.

Torn between her long friendship with the ever darker Beth and her new admiration for the sophisticated coach who seems to favour her, Addy has to figure out not only what has been happening, but also where her loyalties lie and how strong and bad she actually is.

This is a story about growing up. About the time in your life when you discover that actions have consequences and that the only person you can really trust is yourself, if you’re lucky and strong enough to face the truth.

This is a book with a dark aura, a story laced with menace. While on the surface we’re reading about teenage girls being as mean and selfish as they can be, underneath it all is a lurking threat. Dread creeps of the page and into the reader. A feeling of impending doom, and a girl, stuck in the middle, with nowhere to flee to, digging herself deeper into trouble while looking for answers no one is willing to provide.

In this book nothing is quite how it seems. The characters don’t share all available information with each other and even Addy, whose point of view is showing the way, isn’t completely honest; not with herself, not with the other characters and not with the reader.

The answers to the questions are implied at but remain just out of sight. The reader constantly feels as if they should know what is going on and why the story is unfolding in the way it is, and yet they don’t, not completely.

The look this book gives at the carelessness of teenage girls when it comes to loyalty and friendship is chilling. Were we all that callous at one point in our lives? Did we pick up and disregard people with such lack of thought for others and their feelings? Do we really want to know the answer to those questions?

This is a strangely compelling story. The darkness of the interactions between the characters made me want to look away, put the book down and take a break from the feeling of impending doom, and yet I had to keep on reading, needed to find out what was going on, had to discover who or what had caused this downwards spiral.

This is the sort of story that will capture the reader and make them think. It is a tale that will be with you even when you’re away from the book, and will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading it. This story doesn’t come with easy answers, nothing is completely black or white and nobody is exactly who or what they seem.

This is one fascinating novel.

GHOST FLOWER

TITLE: GHOST FLOWER

AUTHOR: MICHELE JAFFE

Pages: 358

Date: 23/05/2012

Grade: 4+

Details: Received from Book Geeks

            Young-Adult

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Eve Brightman has been in and out of foster-families ever since she lost her mother. She is tough and knows how to look after herself, but it isn’t easy. Living in a cheap hotel and working in a Starbucks for little money and under a creepy manager, her prospects are bleak.

When she is approached by Bain and Bridgette, two rich and glamorous looking siblings, with an offer that sounds both too good to be true and dubious her first instinct is to ignore it. But when her boss subsequently tries to assault her and she has to flee she reconsiders. The offer of $100.000 to impersonate somebody she apparently resembles closely for a little while suddenly seems impossible to pass on.

During the next few weeks Bain and Bridgette tell Eve everything she needs to know about their cousin Aurora. 

Aurora disappeared three years ago but is supposed to come into a huge inheritance on her 18^th birthday, which is only a few months away. The plan is to have Eve convince The Family that she is the missing Aurora returned home until she receives her money. After she passes the money on to the two siblings they will give her the promised share and she, and therefore Aurora, can disappear again.

In principle the plan is simple enough, but Eve/Aurora soon discovers that in practice it is a lot more complicated. It soon becomes clear that Bain and Bridgette didn’t give her all the information about Aurora she needs. They also didn’t tell her that on the night Aurora disappeared Liza, Aurora’s best friend, died. Although the death has been ruled a suicide, the police still have questions about what exactly happened; questions they would like the newly returned Aurora to answer. While feigning amnesia helps Eve/Aurora to cover most holes in her story, she does get curious about what exactly is going on herself. And when she starts receiving messages from what appears to be Liza’s ghost, messages that seem to imply that her death was not self-inflicted and that Aurora may now be in danger, Eve/Aurora knows that she either has to flee or find out what happened three years ago.

Not knowing whom to trust and unable to tell anybody the truth about what is going on, Eve/Aurora is completely on her own in a situation that may well end up killing her.

This was a fun psychological thriller. The Eve/Aurora storyline was interesting and compelling. Flashbacks and dream-sequences give tiny hints at what may be going on but leave the reader with enough questions to eagerly turn the pages in order to discover how everything fits together.

The hints at ghostly and supernatural occurrences give the story an extra edge, especially since Eve/Aurora is as sceptical about such phenomena as the reader is.

Eve/Aurora is a well-rounded character. She is neither too good nor too bad. While she is looking out for herself, she can’t help caring about others, even if that means risking her own safety. The other main characters in the book are multi-facetted as well which both makes the story more realistic and gives it an extra edge. The contrast between down-to-earth Eve and Aurora’s rich and self-absorbed family is fascinating, as is the fact that nobody is exactly who or what they appear to be.

The writing in this book is smooth and the images used are descriptive, adding a richness and literary quality to this story.

My only, minor, issue with this book is that the twist at the end of the story didn’t come as a surprise to me. But then again, I’m not a young adult, so maybe I shouldn’t be worried about that.

Overall though I have to say that this book was a lovely find by an author I’ve never read anything by before. And any day that happens is a good day.