GRAVE SIGHT

TITLE: GRAVE SIGHT

AUTHOR: CHARLAINE HARRIS

Audio: 7 CD’s / 8 Hours /

           Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan

Date: 17/02/2012

Grade: 4-

Details: no. 1 Harper Connelly

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Ever since Harper Connelly was hit by lightning she has a special gift. She is able to locate dead people and tell how they died. She can tell the cause of death and whether or not it was natural, although she can’t see who caused a death in case of murders.

Using her gift to make a living, Harper travels with her step-brother Tolliver, from place to place. She gets in, finds the body, cashes the check and then gets out again. Because although people do want their dead found, they are not comfortable with what she can do and often don’t like what she discovers.

When Harper and Tolliver arrive in a small town they have been hired to find the body of a missing teenage girl, which Harper does without much difficulty. But when she determines that the girl has been murdered, and subsequently uncovers that other people didn’t exactly die in the way people had thought, things get tense. And it isn’t long before Tolliver and Harper find themselves under threat from all sides. And although it is not in their job description and all they really want to do is drive on to the next job, they have to discover what has been going on in town before they can safely move on.

I enjoyed this story. I liked the idea of someone being able to find dead people and revealing the cause of their death. I also enjoyed the mystery which was written in such a way that the reader had as good a chance of discovering the truth as Harper had.

I wasn’t too impressed with Harper and Tolliver though. Harper especially didn’t ring quite true for me. She is complete mess once separated from Tolliver yet very capable of defending herself while under attack. She feels scared and helpless without her brother, yet that doesn’t stop her from putting herself in dangerous situations. As a character she didn’t make a lot of sense and her frequent whining didn’t make her a very sympathetic character either.

Tolliver didn’t quite get off the page for me. I couldn’t get a real feel for him but what I did get didn’t make me like him very much.

Harper and Tolliver come with a heavy and depressing back story, and although I can see how that may provide the basics for future stories, it did feel a bit like overload to me.

Overall I enjoyed listening to this book but I can’t see myself rushing out to get my hands on any sequels. When it comes to Charlaine Harris, I think I prefer the Sookie Stackhouse stories.

RUSSIAN WINTER

TITLE: RUSSIAN WINTER

AUTHOR: DAPHNE KALOTAY

Pages: 459

Date: 17/02/2012

Grade: 4+

Details: Received for Review from Random House

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The blurb on the back:

“When Nina Revskaya, once a great star of the Bolshoi Ballet, decides to auction her jewellery collection she believes she has finally drawn a curtain on her past. Instead she is overwhelmed by memories of her life a half-century before.

It was in Russia that she fell in love – and where, spurred by Stalinist aggression, a terrible discovery led to a deadly act of betrayal.

Now living in Boston, Nina has kept her secrets for half a lifetime. But two people will not let the past rest: Drew Brooks, an inquisitive young associate at the auction house, and Grigori Solodin, a professor who believes the jewels may hold the key to his past. Together these unlikely partners unravel a literary mystery whose answers hold life-altering consequences for them all.”

This is a fascinating story. The parts of the narrative set in 1950’s Moscow had me enthralled. On the service it is just a story about ballet, love and jealousy. It is almost possible for the reader to forget that the ballet and the meeting of two lovers is taking place in an atmosphere of suspicion and constant danger.

And that makes sense, because people living under such circumstances do have jobs they are passionate about, do fall in love and feel all the emotions connected to sharing your life with someone else.  They wouldn’t constantly think about the political system under which they happen to be living, they would mostly just try to get on with life and be as happy as they could possibly be.

But between the lines the suppression of people, the fear those people live with and the constant vigilance they had to keep up just to avoid being arrested and exiled are evident.

Once the reader stops to think about it, it becomes clear that the setting and the political situation at the time are as much a character and driving force in this story as the humans involved in the story.

The Bolshoi Ballet made for a very interesting setting, even for me who doesn’t know a lot about and isn’t very interested in ballet. With Nina Revskaya the reader initially concentrates on dance and love only to slowly discover and recognise the evil and duplicity of Stalin’s regime. And through Nina it is possible for the reader to understand why and how a person would be so caught up in their passion that the knowledge of that evil would remain in the background most of the time.

I wasn’t as impressed with the modern day part of the story. It is good, and it provides a great handle for unravelling what exactly happened in the past, and why Nina has stayed silent about that past for so long. The Boston background however, just didn’t provide the same tension or level of interest that Stalin’s Moscow gave.

While Nina and her Victor had me rooting for them from the moment they met, even though it is clear that there won’t be a happy ending, I just didn’t care as much about Grigori and Drew. The magic attraction I could feel between the dancer and her poet wasn’t quite there for the professor and his auctioneer.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this book. With Drew and Grigori I wanted to find out what exactly had happened and why. And I was glad and impressed that, although I had a good bit of the answers figured out before the end of the book, it didn’t work out quite as I had suspected.

I think this is a very impressive debut novel by an author I will be keeping an eye on from now on.

NEW YORK TO DALLAS

TITLE: NEW YORK TO DALLAS

AUTHOR: J.D. ROBB

Pages: 450

Date: 13/02/2012

Grade: 5

Details: no. 33 Eve Dallas

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Eve Dallas’s first ever arrest as a rookie cop in New York was an accident. During a house-to-house investigation she stumbled across a depraved paedophile who was collecting young girls in his apartment for his enjoyment. This arrest kick-started Eve’s career in homicide and brought back the first memories of her own, horrific, childhood.

Now, twelve years later, Eve is a lieutenant in New York’s Homicide squad and that sick criminal, Isaac McQueen, has escaped from prison with two goals in mind. He wants to get back to his depraved habits and he wants his revenge on Eve.

When McQueen escapes to Dallas, Texas, and abducts a young woman who was one of the girls rescued by Eve, she feels she has no choice but to follow him there, find him and re-arrest him.

But Dallas is where Eve’s past lies and it is a place she hoped to never have to go back to. With her husband, Roarke, by her side Eve thinks that she’s able to keep her own feelings and memories under control while hunting down McQueen. She couldn’t have known that her past still holds surprises for her and that she’s not only putting her life in danger but also her sanity.

This is the 33^rd instalment in the Eve Dallas series and while it can easily be read by someone who has never read a book by J.D. Robb before, this story leans on past story-lines maybe more than other books in the series did. During the previous 32 books Eve’s memories of her horrific early years have slowly been returning to her and coming to terms with everything that happened to her has been an even slower process. In many ways that past comes to a climax in this book, and I think the reader who is familiar with the emotional rollercoaster she’s been on would get most out of this book. Having said that, Robb includes enough details from earlier books for a novice to her series to be able to keep up and get the full picture.

As expected, this was a fast, thrilling and exciting story. J.D. Robb rarely disappoints me with one of her Eve and Roarke adventures.

Robb’s characters are strong, recognizable, clever, and fun. Conversations sparkle, the action is descriptive and exciting while the intimate scenes are hot. What’s not to like?

The ingredients are familiar; horrible crimes, a deprived but clever criminal, Eve’s dark humour, Roarke’s technical wizardry and an explosive finale. And yet, even though I know exactly what to expect before I pick up the book, these stories never fail to completely grab a hold of me and keep me hooked until the very last page, leaving me wanting more as soon as I close the book.

You would expect such predictability to lessen my reading enjoyment, but it doesn’t. If anything, the experience is quite the opposite. I look at these books as a sort of homecoming, a safe read when I need something to lift my spirits.

J.D. Robb is of course the pseudonym Nora Roberts adopted when she decided to try her hand at a mystery series set in the not too distant future. Fans of Nora Roberts’ romance novels will recognise a lot in these stories and characters. The main difference between Robb and Roberts is that the Eve Dallas books are proper mysteries and plotted as such. While romance does play a big role in these books, it takes a backseat to the crimes committed and the process of solving these mysteries.

I can only hope that Robb will continue with this series for as long as I’m able to read.

BEAR IN MIND THESE DEAD

TITLE: BEAR IN MIND THESE DEAD

AUTHOR: SUSAN McKAY

Pages: 412

Date: 12/02/2012

Grade: 5

Details: Book club read for Dialogues Through Literature Project

            Non-Fiction

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This is a horrendous book. It deals with violence, death, grief and pain.

This book is about the victims of the troubles in Northern Ireland. It is about those who lost loved ones and those who survived attacks but wear the scars, both physical and psychological for the rest of their lives. It is a book about Protestants and Catholics, about people who were actively involved in the armed struggle and those who only found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is a book about those left behind, carrying a loss and a pain that never lessens.

When atrocities happen the news media are always eager to talk to the victims or their relatives, to splash the sensational story all over the front pages, catch the headlines and the attention of the rest of the world. Once the news has been reported though, it is no longer news. The reporters move on to the next big story, the next big headline, while the victims suddenly find themselves deserted. The pain of loss as big as ever, the rest of the world suddenly doesn’t want to know anymore.

This book acknowledges the fact that the pain and loss are something the victims carry with them for life. It tells both the stories of the murders and non-lethal attacks as well as the story of the aftermath, of what the survivors are still going though, 5, 10, 20 and even more years after the fact. Suicides, clinical depression, alcoholism, heart-failure, the damage done to those who survived is horrendous and almost unimaginable. It is a story worth telling and a story that should be read by the rest of us who almost never find out what happens after the spotlight switches to the next story. Because, while this is a book about the people who suffered as a result of the troubles surrounding Northern Ireland, this is of course a universal story about all people who ever had to live through violent conflicts, see the devastation and still try to live a “normal” life afterwards.

I remember, years ago, watching a programme on Dutch television about two families from Belfast who had become great friends during a holiday in Spain, only to tell the interviewer how they wouldn’t be meeting each other when they returned home again. Because they were from different religions, it just wasn’t safe to be seen to be friends. I couldn’t get my head around that concept at the time, and if I’m honest, I still don’t completely get it. I don’t think it is possible for anyone who hasn’t lived through the situation to completely get it.

This is a very difficult book to read, the pain and devastation are heartbreaking while, for me, the violence feeding on violence and growing ever bigger and more intense is incomprehensible. It is probably not a book to read back to back without interruption, like I did. Since this was a book club read and there were others waiting to read it after I finished it, I felt I had to keep on going. Were I to advise anybody on the best way to read this book I’d probably tell them to read it in small portions. That way they wouldn’t have to deal with the constant stream of pain and loss, and it would give them time to deal with the feelings these personal stories evoked in them.

As for me, I am glad I read this book. This is a story that needs telling and, more importantly, a book that needs to be read and maybe some of us will take something from the book. Some understanding we didn’t have before, a nuanced view where previously we only saw black and white. If this book opens the eyes of just one person who was blind before it will have achieved its goal.

While most of the book left me with a feeling of despair, the last 30 pages or so did lift me up. The words there seem to indicate that although prejudice and anger are by no means over, there are signs that people, especially the younger generation, have a broader view and a more positive outlook. I hope that is true, and that it is an attitude that’s growing and winning ground because if so then maybe the words that kept on running through my head while I was reading this book won’t apply anymore. 

The line I kept on hearing in my head may be from a song written for a different conflict but the words: “men’s blind indifference to his fellow men” seemed to fit what is described here all to well.

THE HOLY THIEF

TITLE: THE HOLY THIEF

AUTHOR: WILLIAM RYAN

Pages: 341

Date: 10/02/2012

Grade: 5

Details: no. 1 Alexei Korolev Historical Mystery

Own; Copy received from author

Alexei Korolev is a criminal investigator with Moscow’s Militia in 1936. When he is told to investigate the murder of a young woman who was found, horribly mutilated, in a disused church he has no idea how much trouble he is going to end up finding himself in.

Although this is a criminal investigation, a political investigator from the NKVD takes an active interest in the case and the investigation, demanding daily updates from Korolev and providing titbits of information when he feels like it.

When it turns out the woman was American, the case gets a whole lot trickier. And then another body is found, mutilated in a similar way but this time the victim is a member of the Thieves, the rulers of Moscow’s underworld. Now the case is not only a political minefield but also highly confusing. What could possibly be the connection between the American woman and the seasoned criminal?

Korolev and his young partner Semionov slowly gather clues and try to make sense of them while around them political power-games are played out and one false move on their part could send them into exile or an even worse end.

This was a very good mystery. Korolev is a plausible main character. He is likeable, but not too good. He really wants to be a loyal communist and believe in the system, although he’s not blind to its faults and has some feelings which don’t quite fit the new doctrine.

A credible picture is painted of the fear and uncertainty that ruled everybody’s lives in those days, although it doesn’t make this a depressing read.

The mystery itself is well plotted and credible. The story provides tension as well as lighter moments in exactly the right balance and the pace of the story makes this a book that is very hard to put down.

I haven’t read any other reviews for this book, but without a doubt comparisons will have been made to Tom Rob Smith’s trilogy. And to some extend those comparisons would be right. However, I prefer this story over the ones by Smith.

While Smith’s books felt more like political stories build around a man who happened to be an investigator, this is first and foremost a mystery, despite its setting. Underneath it all, the book is about a police detective trying to solve horrendous murders as best he can despite the circumstances he has to investigate under and the political minefield he finds himself in.

And although the politics of the time and the ways in which they determine what people can say, do and even think are always present, the mystery remains the main focus of the story. And that for me made this book a fascinating and riveting read.

I’m going to have to get my hands on the next Korolev mystery, The Bloody Meadow, real soon. This is a mystery series I will be following faithfully from now on.

READY PLAYER ONE

TITLE: READY PLAYER ONE

AUTHOR: ERNEST CLINE

Pages: 372

Date: 08/02/2012

Grade: 4.5

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The year is 2044 and the world is a mess. We’re out of oil; famine and poverty are wide-spread as are crime and disease. Most people spend as little time as possible in the real world, instead living their lives in OASIS, a fantastical and limitless virtual world, created by James Halliday, the ultimate geek and software designer with a passion for the 1980’s, the decade in which he grew up.

Wade Watts is a teenager whose real life circumstances are desperate. Living on the top floor of a stack of mobile homes with an aunt who doesn’t want him and only allows him there for the food tokens he’s entitled to, he spends most of his time in his hide-out, logged into OASIS. That is where he goes to school, spends his free time and meets the few friends he has. And, for the past few years, that is where he, like millions of people, is on a treasure hunt.

When James Halliday died his will stipulated that the person who could find the three keys he had hidden in OASIS and open the gates connected with them would inherit his fast fortune. Ever since the terms of the will were made public millions have been trying to decipher the clue that should lead them to the first key, but after five years the hunt appears to be going nowhere. And then Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, finds the first key and unlocks the first gate. Suddenly everything changes. While others are hot on his heels, Wade finds the whole world interested in the person behind Parzival and while most of that interest is good-natured there are those who want to find the keys at all cost in order to change OASIS into something it was never meant to be.

Officially the real identities of avatars on OASIS should be secret, but as Wade soon discovers that is not actually the case. He finds himself threatened both in the virtual and in the real world, and when real people start dying he realises that he has far more on his hands than just the quest for the keys.

Parzival/Wade’s quest for the keys and the ultimate price will not only changes his life it will affect the whole world.

This is a book about and a must read for geeks, especially those who grew up in the 1980’s. Having said that, this was a fascinating read for me, who doesn’t qualify as a geek in any way shape or form.

Although I had a hard time getting my head around the idea of a virtual world as fast and integrated as OASIS and wasn’t always able to keep the virtual and the real world separate, I did find myself completely caught up in the story, the quest and all the references to the 1980’s.

In fact, for a large part it was all the links to the 1980’s that made the book so fascinating for me. Although I would know next to nothing about computer games during that (or any other) period, I got a great kick out of the movie and music references. I can’t help feeling that either the author is a dedicated geek with a preference for the 1980’s himself or did an amazing and impressive amount of research. I didn’t check any of the references in the book, but the few I recognised we’re all spot on.

This is a very well written book. Nothing happens that doesn’t have significance at some (sometimes much later) point in the story. The story deals very well with the advantages and down-sides of living in a virtual world and the picture it paints of the real world in the near future is realistic enough to be scary. At the same time the book does a great job showing that no matter what environment you put them in, young adults have the same concerns, hopes and fears everywhere and at anytime. The characters of Wade and his friends make this a book about growing up as much as a fantasy about virtual living.

THE LITTLE SHADOWS

TITLE: THE LITTLE SHADOWS

AUTHOR: MARINA ENDICOTT

Pages: 527

Date: 05/02/2012

Grade: 5

Detail: Review copy received from Hutchinson through Random House

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The year is 1912 and after the death of their father and baby brother the three Avery sisters, Aurora, Clover and Bella hit the road with their mother to start their career as vaudeville stars.

Flora Avery, the girls’ mother, worked in vaudeville before she married their father and gratefully uses contacts from the old days to get her girls started. But, it is by no means plain sailing.

The world of vaudeville is highly competitive and knows no mercy. If you don’t entertain the audience you are out, no matter who you are or how bad your circumstances.

Aurora Avery, aged 16 when the story starts, is the eldest of the three sisters and the clever one, shrewd and determined to do whatever it takes to make sure her family and she will not only survive but prosper. Clover, one year younger is thoughtful and quiet, but determined once she makes up her mind. Bella, the baby, is full of fun and good natured but headstrong and single-minded when push comes to shove.

The vaudeville world will take the Avery’s through ups and downs, expose their weaknesses and enhance their strengths. It will bring them into contact with a host of characters some good and dependable, others who would use them and others again who look down on them.

When the girls start on their career they have little but their hopes to sustain them, but as the years go by and they grow up they learn about life, about themselves and about the world. Ultimately they emerge as strong, independent women while never losing the close bond that was forged through blood, shared experience and a deep love.

This is a wonderful story about what ties a family together, about learning to deal with life and keeping your chin up no matter what obstacles you find in your way. Through ups and downs, and individual and joint interests the four women always have each other to fall back on. Innocence, pride, fear and naïve carelessness all combine to make the three Avery girls irresistible characters. By the time I finished the book I felt I knew the girls personally and would have been proud to call each one of them my friend.

The book shows the compromises that need to be made in order to gain or keep the life you want, and the rewards as well as the disappointments you might meet on the way.

This is also a fascinating insight into the world of vaudeville. Filled with intimate details the life of the artists on the stage is shared with the reader to such an extent that it is easy to visualise the settings, the performances and the hard work that goes into making it all look easy.

Readers will recognise some of the songs mentioned in the book, and quietly hum along as the lyrics appear on the page.

This is a book to read at your leisure, unrushed while savouring every word. Allow yourself to join the stars on the stage, let the descriptions of acts and sets transport you to the world of vaudeville in the early 20^th century and enjoy the applause of the appreciative audience.

And, once you finish the book you will want to put your own hands together to applaud Marina Endicott for the wonderful book she has gifted her readers.