Sins as Scarlet – Nicolás Obregón

Former homicide detective Kosuke Iwata is on the run from his past. Living in LA and working as a private detective he spends his days spying on unfaithful spouses and his nights with an unavailable woman. Still he cannot forget the family he lost in Tokyo. But that all changes when a figure from his old life appears at his door demanding his help.

Meredith Nichol, a transgender woman and his wife’s sister, has been found strangled on the lonely train tracks behind Skid Row. Soon he discovers that the devil is at play in the City of Angels and Meredith’s death wasn’t the hate crime the police believe it to be. 

This is dangerous territory. But Iwata knows that risking his life and future is the only way to silence the demons of his past.  Reluctantly throwing himself back in to the dangerous existence he only just escaped, Iwata discovers a seedy world of corruption, exploitation and murder – and a river of sin flowing through LA’s underbelly, Mexico’s dusty borderlands, and deep within his own past.

*********

I enjoyed Nicolás Obregón’s debut novel Blue Light Yokohama which was set in Tokyo. and featured Inspector Kosuke Iwata.  You can find my earlier review HERE.

In Sins as Scarlet there have been big changes in the life of Inspector Kosuke Iwata.

He is no longer an inspector with the Tokyo Homicide Department. He’s no longer a Police Detective. Having left Japan in 2011 with almost nothing, he’s now living in Los Angeles and working as a private investigator, mostly providing evidence of cheating husbands and wives to his clients. He has also reconnected with his mother Nozomi although the relationship still seems a bit distant and a lot of things are left unsaid. You get the feeling Iwata is fairly self-contained.

When his late wife’s mother comes into his office demanding that Iwata investigates her son’s recent murder, he feels he has no choice but to investigate. Julian had transitioned into Meredith years before and the Police were treating it as just another hate crime, saying terrible things about Meredith and basically doing nothing.

The investigation takes Iwata into some dark, dangerous and violent places and also

across the US – Mexican border. He uncovers crimes involving more missing transgender women and is taken into a world of corruption, exploitation and human trafficking and puts himself in extreme danger.

As well as the present day investigation, we’re also taken back to Tokyo 1975 to learn of his mother’s story and everything she endured; how she came to abandon Iwata in a Japanese orphanage and then came back to get him with her new husband years later. I liked this as it filled in a few things that were hinted at in the earlier book. We also got a little bit of Iwata’s back story and what happened to his wife and child and I think this helped explain some of Iwata’s issues and later actions.

It’s quite a complex, layered story. At times there was more violence and brutality than I would normally want to read about but I find Iwata quite a compelling character. He’s tenacious and a skilled detective but also very self contained and reluctant to let people get too close but by the end of the book I thought I could see a hint of some softening at the edges.

If there’s a third book in the series I suspect we might find a slightly different Iwata.

[My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for providing a digital review copy.]

The Quaker – Liam McIlvanney

A city torn apart.
Glasgow, 1969. In the grip of the worst winter for years, the city is brought to its knees by a killer whose name fills the streets with fear: the Quaker. He takes his next victim – the third woman from the same nightclub – and dumps her in the street like rubbish.

A detective with everything to prove.
The police are left chasing a ghost, with no new leads and no hope of catching their prey. DI McCormack, a talented young detective from the Highlands, is ordered to join the investigation. But his arrival is met with anger from a group of officers on the brink of despair. Soon he learns just how difficult life can be for an outsider.

A killer who hunts in the shadows.
When another woman is found murdered in a tenement flat, it’s clear the case is by no means over. From ruined backstreets to the dark heart of Glasgow, McCormack follows a trail of secrets that will change the city – and his life – forever…

*********

The Quaker is set in 1969 Glasgow.  It’s a fictional account of the hunt for a serial killer, very loosely based on a real case. Three women, each raped, strangled and dumped; each believed to have met their killer, reported to be a respectable looking, bible quoting man, at the Barrowland Ballroom.

Glasgow is in the grip of one of the worst winters and months of police investigation into the murders is getting nowhere. There are posters everywhere showing an artist’s impression of the Quaker’s face – a respectable looking man; the victims faces are splashed across the newspapers; rumours abound as to the Quaker’s identity. Thousands of police hours are spent following up every call, every letter written by members of the public, taking statements, crossing the city to interview possible suspects but still the investigation is getting nowhere. Following the death of the third victim, there have been no further murders but the investigating team are still going through boxes and boxes of statements trying to make connections that might solve the case. Stirred by the Press, the public are demanding results.

Against this background DI Duncan McCormack arrives on secondment from the Flying Squad to review the investigation and make recommendations. He’s not made welcome by the Quaker team. He’s an outsider in more ways than one and the team make life very difficult for him. They suspect McCormack is meant to write a report that will shut the investigation down. He gets a particularly hard time from another officer, Derek Goldie.

In the meantime safebreaker Alex Paton who has been living in London for a while is returning to Glasgow to take part in planned auction house heist. Following the robbery, Paton goes to ground in an empty top floor flat in a building due for demolition. He’s still hiding out there when a body is found in one of the ground floor flats. Police believe she’s the fourth victim of the Quaker. With the discovery of Paton’s hideout they feel they’re making progress in catching the Quaker.

There’s a lot to get your teeth into. The author manages to weave the various threads into a gritty, dark tale set in a time before social media and mobile communications. Gathering evidence was a painstaking task. It was only when I got to the end that I realised how many clues I had missed. There are also quite a few red herrings. The murder victims have a voice too, each one relating what was happening in their life around the time of their murders.

I often enjoy stories set in locations I know and I know Glasgow. I think when you are familiar with a location it’s easier to visualise events and you get more involved in the story. (Good writing helps too of course!) I hope this will just be the first of a series of books featuring DI Duncan McCormack. I think I want to know a bit more about him.

The Quaker was published on 28 June 2018 (kindle and hardback).  My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing a digital review copy.

No Further Questions – Gillian McAllister

The police say she’s guilty.
She insists she’s innocent.
She’s your sister.
You loved her.
You trusted her.
But they say she killed your child.
Who do you believe?

*********

Gillian McAllister writes great stories.  No Further Questions is her third novel and I loved it.  Gillian McAllister doesn’t mess about. I was hooked immediately.

The story centres round a court case but it’s also about a family and how everyone is affected by a terrible tragedy. The first voice is Martha’s whose baby daughter died. She’s in Court and it’s the first day of the trial. The defence says cot death; the prosecution says murder. They can’t both be right but her sister Becky, who was minding baby Layla at the time, has been charged with murder.

The story is told through witness testimony and flashbacks and observations of the lawyers, the judge, family members and of course the two sisters, Martha and Becky. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so conflicted. I was pulled in all directions. I would go from, “there’s no way Becky murdered her niece” to “oh, I didn’t realise that, maybe she is hiding something” then something would be said that turned everything on its head again. As the story unfolded doubts crept in (on a regular basis) as to what really happened.

There are no good or bad characters. Nothing is quite black or white. They all have their flaws and their good qualities. I liked them and cared about what happened to them.

Although the story centres round a tragedy, I really enjoyed it. It’s quite an emotional roller-coaster but the writing is good, the characters are interesting and believable and I felt involved all the way through.

A book I found difficult to put down; I’d definitely recommend it.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a digital review copy].

You can find my earlier reviews of Everything but the Truth HERE and Anything You Do Say HERE.

THE BEST LAID PLANS …… or, time to return to pencil and paper?

Why is it when you make plans to get up to date with admin (and blogging), technology lets you down – again!

I know I’m easily distracted but I really did intend to catch up with drafting book reviews and post a couple (I’ve read three really good books in the past month).  I had some rough notes jotted down in a Word document ready for me to transform into a few paragraphs that made sense.

Went upstairs on Friday evening, switched on the PC ….. nothing.  The computer tried to start then spluttered and died.  Tried a few things ….. still nothing.  Of course my notes are not on a shared platform, just on the PC.  Typical.

Looked out an old (ancient) laptop.  I’m pretty sure it was still working when I stopped using it but it was old and slow.  Plugged it in …… nothing.  I could hear it trying to start but again, it just died.  There wasn’t even a flicker on the screen.

I have an android tablet and a smartphone but I find it incredibly difficult to type meaningful paragraphs without making mistakes.  The keyboard part of the screen is so tiny and it’s not so easy to cut and paste and swap things around.

Late last night I found another old device and I’ve managed to get it working for now so I’m kind of using this post as a typing practice. I’m so not used to this keyboard.  Small Notebook keyboards are not great to type on (but better than a tablet!)

Oh well.  Time to get on with drafting my reviews.  Perhaps I should go back to pencil and paper.

Days of Wonder - Keith Stuart

Description:

Tom, single father to Hannah, is the manager of a tiny local theatre. On the same day each year, he and its colourful cast of part-time actors have staged a fantastical production just for his little girl, a moment of magic to make her childhood unforgettable.

But there is another reason behind these annual shows: the very first production followed Hannah's diagnosis with a heart condition that both of them know will end her life early. And now, with Hannah a funny, tough girl of fifteen on the brink of adulthood, that time is coming.

With the theatre under threat of closure, Hannah and Tom have more than one fight on their hands to stop the stories ending. But maybe, just maybe, one final day of magic might just save them both.

*********

What a wonderful book!  I did wonder if Days of Wonder would be as good as Keith Stuart's first novel,  A Boy Made of Blocks (one of my favourite books) but it is just as enjoyable.  You can read my review of A Boy Made of Blocks HERE.

It's a story about Tom, a single father and manager of a small provincial theatre and Hannah his 15 year old daughter who was diagnosed with a serious heart condition at the age of 5. Tom and Hannah tell their story in alternating chapters supported by a wonderful cast of characters – mainly members of the local drama group who are like Tom and Hannah's extended family having always been there for Tom and his daughter. It's Tom and these friends who make the magic happen for Hannah.

Hannah knows her health is failing and her life could be cut short at any moment. Not only is Tom worrying about his daughter, his theatre is threatened with closure. While Tom is constantly worrying about Hannah she just wants to be like a normal teenager and do the things young people do. She also wants her dad to find a girlfriend so he will have someone when Hannah is no longer around. Her efforts to set her dad up with someone are very funny.

It didn't take long for me to become hooked. Keith Stuart has a great writing style, easy to read and yet there is so much in it. I felt as if I knew the characters and I would have loved to have been part of the group.

It's a story of fathers and daughters, friendship, love, family, community. The words that come to mind are: funny, tragic, joyous, glorious, triumphant, magical, heart warming and more. It brings out lots of emotions.

You might think that given the nature of Hannah's medical condition and her prognosis it could all turn out rather depressing. It's anything but. It's wonderful. (And it's a book I will definitely read again!) 

Publication date (hardcover and kindle)  - 7 June 2018

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital review copy]

I can see clearly now …..

Well…. in one eye at least!

This isn’t a book review but I suppose it has a connection to reading.  I just have to share my joy.  I can see again!

In the second half of last year I noticed that I was losing focus when I was reading.  I usually get through books very quickly but these disappearing words were slowing me down.  I already knew from a previous eye examination that there were signs of early cataract in both eyes but they were so small as to make little or no difference to my sight.

I was pretty sure that this was no longer the case so I booked an eye test which showed that the cataract was the cause of my problem and was prescribed new glasses.  Unfortunately the new glasses didn’t help so in February my optician wrote a referral to the hospital.  I live in the UK and the eye test and hospital referral are covered by the NHS (in my case NHS Scotland) but I expected it might be a while before I would get an appointment.

However I got a letter giving me a pre-assessment appointment in April and the next day I got a letter confirming I would be offered cataract surgery within 12 weeks.  Lo and behold I got the appointment letter last Saturday and I had the surgery on Friday – just two months after my initial hospital visit.

Arrived at the hospital for 9 am and was out before 11 am.  There was a moment when I almost didn’t go through with it.  Just before my turn the surgeon called my name and took me into a room to speak to me.  He just wanted to confirm that I understood that because of an issue with my corneas (that I was unaware of) I was at greater risk of permanent damage to the cornea during the cataract surgery and I could lose the sight in that eye. I was shocked to say the least.  I am pretty sure I would have remembered if someone had told me that at the pre-assessment!  It certainly wasn’t something I wanted to hear just before going into surgery.  Anyway he went off to deal with his next patient on the list and I had a serious think and when he came back said I had decided to go ahead.

The actual procedure didn’t take long.  I don’t think it was any longer than 15 minutes and possibly less – and it was painless.  More importantly, it had gone to plan.  A clear plastic shield was taped over my eye, I was taken round to another area and given a cup of coffee and biscuits.  A nurse spoke to me about aftercare, gave me two bottles of eye drops with instructions on how often to use them and I was free to go.  I was glad that part was over.

By the time I got downstairs, even with the eye shield, I already felt things were brighter and clearer but I was to keep the shield on until the next morning then start using the drops.

The effect the next morning was amazing. It was as if everything was in high definition and so much brighter.  I could read the number plates of the cars in the car park, the wooded areas around my house now have depth.  I hadn’t realised how much better my eyesight could be.  I was ecstatic.  I couldn’t quite believe it.  I kept looking out of the window.  I couldn’t stop smiling. Remember this was just 24 hours after the surgery.  At the back of my mind I know there could still be complications over the next few weeks but today, Sunday, things are wonderful.  I’m still smiling.

The National Health Service gets a lot a criticism but I am just so grateful to NHS Scotland and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.  I understand in the USA basic cataract surgery can cost $3000 – $3500 (although hopefully medical insurance pays for some of this).  Paying privately in the UK is not cheap either.  In Scotland however we get this free at the point of delivery.  Thank you NHS Scotland.

Letters to Iris – Elizabeth Noble

Description:

Tess has a secret – one which is going to turn her life upside down in just nine months’ time. The only person she can confide in is her beloved grandmother. But Iris is slipping further away each day. Then chance brings a stranger into Tess’s life. Gigi’s heart goes out to Tess, knowing what it’s like to feel alone. She’s determined to show her that there’s a silver lining to every cloud. As their unlikely friendship blossoms, Tess feels inspired to open up. But something still holds her back – until she discovers Iris has a secret of her own. A suitcase of letters from another time, the missing pieces of a life she never shared. Could the letters hold the answers that Tess thought lost for ever? An uplifting, unforgettable story about keeping secrets, taking chances and finding happiness where you least expect it. 

*********

I enjoyed this book very much. I think the first thing that attracted me was the cover. According to the description it’s “a gloriously uplifting story about love in all its forms… “ This is definitely true!

Letters to Iris is about family relationships, friendship, secrets, old love, new love, the beginning and ending of love, rekindling of love, Loss, joy, hope.. Wonderful.

Tess is 35 and unexpectedly pregnant. When she eventually tells him, her boyfriend Sean doesn’t want her to have the baby. He has been offered a job in New York and wants Tess to go with him. They break up. Tess is very close to her 95 year old grandmother Iris who brought her up but now has dementia. She has a difficult relationship with her mother Donna.

Gigi is married to Richard and has three adult children and a baby granddaughter. She’s beginning to feel that she’s taken for granted and that she and her husband Richard are growing apart.

Iris is taken into hospital and subsequently moves into a nursing home. The dementia is getting worse and her capacity to understand is disappearing. Tess tries to tell her about the baby but knows her gran doesn’t really take in what she’s saying.

Tess and Gigi meet by chance at the nursing home when Gigi is visiting her father in law who also has dementia and despite everything become friends. Both have made huge changes in their lives – Tess broke up with Sean and moved into her mother’s house while her mother was overseas. Gigi separated from her husband Richard and moved into a flat on her own.

Gigi is a lovely character: caring and warm-hearted. She’s concerned about Tess and and as their friendship grows, Tess starts to open up a bit.

There is a bit of depth to the main characters. I felt as if I knew them. The other characters are interesting too – Gigi’s family, Tess’ friend Holly and her family and Donna. They also have their stories.

Secrets from the past are revealed when Tess is clearing out her gran’s house. Tess and her friend come across an old suitcase containing photos and letters to her grandmother. As Tess went through it she discovered things about her grandmother’s earlier life she had never known about. Tess had never met her grandfather Wilfred but Iris only talked about him and their small family – Donna and Tess – no other family. That was all quite emotional.

I thought the letters that Tess wrote each month to her unborn baby were lovely – a sort of progress report of the pregnancy and other thoughts.

The author skillfully brings all the various threads together to create a well-written, ultimately heart-warming, story.

[My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for providing a digital review copy].

The Valley at the Centre of the World – Malachy Tallack

Description

‘The thing he felt ending was not just one person, or even one generation; it was older, and had, in truth, been ending for a long time . . . It was a chain of stories clinging to stories, of love clinging to love. It was an inheritance he did not know how to pass on.’

Shetland: a place of sheep and soil, of harsh weather, close ties and an age-old way of life. A place where David has lived all his life, like his father and grandfather before him, but where he abides only in the present moment. A place where Sandy, a newcomer but already a crofter, may have finally found a home. A place that Alice has fled to after the death of her husband.

But times do change – island inhabitants die, or move away, and David worries that no young families will take over the chain of stories and care that this valley has always needed, while others wonder if it was ever truly theirs to join. In the wind and sun and storms from the Atlantic, these islanders must decide: what is left of us when the day’s work is done, the children grown, and all our choices have been made?

*********

The Valley at the Centre of the World was on my wish list so I was delighted when the publisher approved me to download a preview copy.

I have to confess.  I have an interest here.  I love visiting Shetland.  My grandmother was born and brought up in Dunrossness and although the family moved to mainland Scotland in the 1920s when she was in her teens, I still have relatives who live in Shetland.

I found the book an enjoyable and easy read about the inhabitants of  one remote valley in Shetland over the course of almost a year – the ones who were rooted there, the ones who arrived and left, the ones who arrived and stayed a while.  While it is not a fast, exciting read I liked the style and enjoyed reading about the various characters and their interactions.  For me there was a sort of familiarity with the people and place.  There is just the right amount of back story for each of the characters too.

It’s just a fact that there are some who can’t wait to leave Shetland and others who can’t imagine wanting to settle anywhere else.  My grandmother was one of those who went ‘hame’ to Shetland for her holidays most years until she was well into her 80s.

Some of the dialogue is written in Shetland dialect but there is a helpful glossary at the beginning of the book.  I loved the lines written in dialect.  It brought these characters to  life.  I could picture the scenes and the Shetland humour comes through too.  I didn’t find it difficult to understand but perhaps I had the advantage of growing up listening to my great grandfather, my grandmother and her eight sisters.  Don’t let the dialect parts put you off.  I think it makes the characters seem more real.

[My thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Books for providing me with a digital review copy].

The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne

Forced to flee the scandal brewing in her hometown, Catherine Goggin finds herself pregnant and alone, in search of a new life at just sixteen. She knows she has no choice but to believe that the nun she entrusts her child to will find him a better life.

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or so his parents are constantly reminding him. Adopted as a baby, he’s never quite felt at home with the family that treats him more as a curious pet than a son. But it is all he has ever known.

And so begins one man’s desperate search to find his place in the world. Unspooling and unseeing, Cyril is a misguided, heart-breaking, heartbroken fool. Buffeted by the harsh winds of circumstance towards the one thing that might save him from himself, but when opportunity knocks, will he have the courage, finally, take it?

*********

I’m not sure where to start with my review of The Heart’s Invisible Furies to do this wonderful book justice. I loved it, right from the start, even before Cyril Avery officially appears (although he is the narrator in the story). It was a delight to read. There is a wonderful kind of rhythm to the writing. John Boyne’s characters are so vivid and real. I could see them. I could hear them speak. I felt as if I knew them.

It’s 1945, West Cork, Ireland. The book opens with a young girl, 16 year old Catherine Goggin, being denounced by the priest in front of the congregation at Sunday mass and cast out by Father Monroe and her family. Her crime? Being pregnant, unmarried and refusing to name the father. She’s told to go and never return and so leaves for Dublin where she manages to get a place to stay and a job and later gives birth to a baby boy.

Cyril is adopted by a rather eccentric couple who had no children of their own. They are not bad people but Cyril grows up, often being left to fend for himself and there isn’t much affection shown to him. Charles Avery would always make it clear that Cyril was adopted and not a real Avery.

He realises he is not like other boys. He has no interest in girls and even at the age of 7 he becomes secretly obsessed by his friend Julian who had no idea of Cyril’s infatuation.

I felt lots of different emotions – anger at the hypocrisy and small mindedness of the church and state, and sad at Cyril’s plight – he had quite an unconventional upbringing and he seemed lonely and in need of a friend. He just wanted to live his life but of course at the time it was a criminal offence to be homosexual. It’s horrific the way homosexuals were treated. But the story is also very funny and witty and a joy to read.

The book is divided into three parts and an epilogue: I Shame, II Exile and III Peace. It spans 70 years, moving from Dublin to Amsterdam where Cyril meets his future partner then later to New York where he has to face a terrible and unexpected tragedy. However during these 70 years Cyril and Catherine’s paths cross several times without either of them realising. It also took 70 years for Cyril to realise he is finally happy.

This has to be one of my favourite reads of the past year. It’s also a book I would be happy to read again and there aren’t too many of those.

Everything is Lies – Helen Callaghan

No-one is who you think they are  –  Sophia’s parents lead quiet, unremarkable lives. At least that is what she’s always believed.

Everyone has secrets  –  Until the day she arrives at her childhood home to find a house ringing with silence. Her mother is hanging from a tree. Her father is lying in a pool of his own blood, near to death.

Especially those closest to you  –  The police are convinced it is an attempted murder-suicide. But Sophia is sure that the woman who brought her up isn’t a killer. As her father is too ill to talk it is up to Sophia to clear her mother’s name.

And to do this she needs to delve deep into her family’s past – a past full of dark secrets she never suspected were there . . .

What if your parents had been lying to you since the day you were born?

*********

I really enjoyed her debut novel Dear Amy, and Everything is Lies is another cracking story from Helen Callaghan.  It’s well written, tense, and with some good twists.  (You can find my review of Dear Amy here).

Right from the first chapter I felt myself being drawn into something dark, a feeling that something bad was going to happen to Sophia.

Sophia is an architect in her late 20s.  Her parents run a garden centre and coffee shop in rural Suffolk.  They live a quiet, unremarkable life.  Sophia has ‘escaped’ and lives in London and has just started a new job.  Her mother calls her one night when Sophia is out with colleagues and Sophia brushes her off.

The next morning, feeling rather guilty, she drives down to Suffolk and comes across the horrific sight of her mother’s body hanging from a tree and her father lying in blood and near to death. The Police suspect it is an attempted murder-suicide; that Sofia’s mum had tried to kill herself and when Sofia’s father had tried to stop her, she had stabbed him.

Sophia is sure her mother isn’t a killer and wants to clear her mother’s name.  After her mother’s funeral, an elderly couple appear who turn out to be Sofia’s maternal grandparents.  She didn’t know them and they don’t seem very nice.

As she tries to find out more about her parents she discovers she didn’t really know them at all.  She learns from Rowan who works for her father that they had been burgled several times in recent months.  From a letter she also found out that her mother had written a memoir and had been been in touch with a publisher who had seen part of the handwritten manuscript and was keen to publish once they had the final part.  Sophia knew nothing of this.  After a fruitless search of the house she finds two of the notebooks hidden in her father’s shed but no sign of the third and final part of the manuscript.  However during her search she comes across a recent receipt for the purchase of a gun and cartridges and a shotgun licence in her mother’s name but no sign of the actual gun.

Everything is Lies is really two books in one.  Much of it is her mother’s memoir.  Her mother’s manuscript starts with a message for Sophia but ominously, the first line is “Everything is lies and nobody is who they seem”.  Then she starts reading the memoir and learns of some shocking things. Could the revelations in the book have contributed to her mother’s death?

Having read the two notebooks Sophia wants to try and track down the people her mother had been involved with to fill in some gaps but is she about to put herself in danger?

There’s a lot going on in this book and the tension mounts as doubts creep in.  Who can Sophia trust?  She’s dealing with her mother’s death, her father in hospital in a coma, the fact that Rowan seems to know more about her parents than she does.  Her mother has written a book (a memoir) revealing a completely different life before Sophia was born.  Meanwhile Sophia is trying to hold on to her job and also trying to keep her parents’ business afloat; there’s even an attempt on her life; and she’s also trying to trace people who may or may not have had something to do with her mother’s death.

There are enough twists and sub-plots to keep the book interesting.  An excellent psychological/crime thriller.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a digital ARC]

Anything You Do Say – Gillian McAllister

WOULD YOU RUN, OR STAY AND CALL AN AMBULANCE, IF IT WAS YOU THAT PUSHED HIM?

It’s the end of the night. You’re walking home on your own.

Then you hear the sound every woman dreads. Footsteps. Behind you. Getting faster.

You’re sure it’s him – the man from the bar who wouldn’t leave you alone.

You make a snap decision. You turn. You push. Your pursuer tumbles down the steps. He lies motionless, face-down on the floor.

Now what?

Call 999
Wait for the police to arrive. For judgement, for justice, whatever that may be. You just hope your husband, family and friends, everyone you love, will stand by you.

OR:

Run
Stay silent. You didn’t mean to do it. You were scared, you panicked. And no one saw. No one will ever know. If you leave now. If you keep quiet. For ever.
Which will it be?

*********

Anything You Do Say is the second novel from Gillian McAllister and is another excellent read.  (You can find my review of her debut Everything But The Truth here) …….

I suppose it could happen to anyone. Well maybe not anyone but it happened to Joanna.

It all started on a night out with her friend Laura; a few drinks; a random guy trying to be friendly and taking a selfie with them on his phone. He stands a bit too close, buys them drinks. The girls move away, he follows. He persists, tries to introduce himself. Laura ignores him, Joanna takes the business card he presses into her hand not wanting to offend him. Laura tells him straight they don’t want his company. He’s not put off. They move away to continue their conversation. Sadiq however just won’t take a hint and when they move again he follows, grabbing Joanna as she moves away then grabbing her hand as she turns to leave with Laura. Then he lets go.

The girls part company agreeing to text when they get home. Joanna sets off towards the canal and as she crosses the bridge she hears footsteps behind her. She varies her route and the footsteps follow. She calls Reuben, her husband, and tells him she’s being followed but then the signal disappears. She’s sure it’s the guy from the bar but is too scared to turn round. She tries to call her husband again but the calls fails. Joanna’s imagination is running riot, and as he comes up on her right she pushes him hard and he falls down the stairs and lies motionless on the towpath.

What should she do? Help him? Call for an ambulance? He’s not moving. Or should she run home and pretend nothing has happened? It’s all very tense.

Joanna is good at not facing up to things. She’s an avoider. She’s bright but has no idea what she wants to do. Her head is in the sand and she never finishes anything. She also has a fertile imagination, pondering the what-ifs, making up lives/background for random people she meets.

What would Reuben do? He’s loving and supportive but would always do the right thing even if that was the harder thing to do. She ponders what will happen if she calls 999.

This is where the story gets quite clever. It splits into two with chapters headed Reveal and Conceal. Reveal is the story of what happens when she calls for help and the ambulance and police arrive. Conceal is what happens when she panics, doesn’t help him, doesn’t call for help. She turns and walks away assuming someone will find him.

Each action has consequences and there are no easy answers. Doing the right thing means she ends up having to face the British justice system with potentially devastating consequences. Walking away means she has to live with the guilt and the lies. She can’t tell the truth, she is increasingly anxious, relationships start to unravel, there is increasing paranoia. Is doing the right thing always the best decision?

I really enjoyed the book. I liked the characters and the storytelling. I found both strands of the story gripping and had to stay up till the early hours to finish it.

What would I do? Like Joanna I hate making decisions so I really don’t know.

This title has been available on kindle for a few months but it’s now available in paperback.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a review copy}.

New Year – Old Resolutions?

I don’t really do resolutions. Well apart from deciding every January that I’m going to get my act together and post regular reviews of the books I get from NetGalley AND post on time!

Every year however I soon realise that reading the book is easy; writing a review takes me a bit longer…. and if I leave it too long between reading and reviewing I end up having to read bits of the book again.

Oh how I admire the bloggers who post several times a week, sometimes daily. I’ve tried writing two or three at once and scheduling the posts. It sort of worked but then I sat back, pleased that I was up to date and indeed ahead of schedule, and made the mistake of not keeping ahead of schedule and then realising I had quite a bit of catching up to do.

I suspect I’m just too keen to start reading the next one on the list – just a quick peek you know but I’ll write my review of the previous one before I start properly on the new one. Hah! No chance. Before I know it I’m engrossed in the new one.

So then I think, I’ll not request any more books from NetGalley for the rest of the month and I’ll catch up. So what happens then? That’s when I usually get an invitation or two to read a new book – and those publishing folk know what I’ve enjoyed before, and are so good at tempting me to accept what’s on offer.

For what it’s worth this will be my resolution for 2018: once again I’m going to at least try to be more organised however I’m almost 64 and I’ve never managed it yet. My intentions are good so here’s hoping.

Happy New Year!

On the Bright Side – Hendrik Groen

Description

85-year-old Hendrik Groen is fed up to his false teeth with coffee mornings and bingo. He dreams of escaping the confines of his care home and practising hairpin turns on his mobility scooter. Inspired by his fellow members of the recently formed Old-But-Not-Dead Club, he vows to put down his Custard Cream and commit to a spot of octogenarian anarchy. But the care home’s Director will not stand for drunken bar crawls, illicit fireworks and geriatric romance on her watch. The Old-But-Not-Dead Club must stick together if they’re not to go gently into that good night. Things turn more serious, however, when rumours surface that the home is set for demolition. It’s up to Hendrik and the gang to stop it – or drop dead trying . . . He may be the wrong side of 85, but Hendrik Groen has no intention of slowing up – or going down without a fight. 

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On the Bright Side is the sequel to The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen aged 83¼, one of my favourite books of 2016. The Secret Diary was such an unexpected delight. Set in an Amsterdam care home, it’s a wonderful book, full of interesting and sometimes wacky characters and you can read my earlier review HERE .  On The Bright Side is another year of Hendrik’s observations and thoughts on life and many of the wonderful characters are back plus there are a few new acquaintances too.

Who is Hendrik Groen? I know it’s an alias and it’s allegedly a work of fiction.  Is the author really an old person living in a retirement home?  I don’t care. I love both books and there certainly seems to be a bit of truth to the writing.  I hope the author is just like Hendrik.

On The Bright Side continues with the escapades of the 8 members of the Old but Not Dead Club. The members of this club might be getting older and in some cases frailer (Hendrik himself is now 85) but they are all still embracing life and embarking on their outings, enjoying new experiences (often involving lots of food and alcohol) and still causing mayhem in the care home. According to the club rules new members can’t just ask to join, they have to be invited by the members after careful consideration – and there can’t be any more than 8 members at any time. So yes, given their advancing years and health issues, there is a possibility that the club membership could change over the course of the year. Why only 8 members? That is the number that will fit comfortably with walking/mobility aids etc into the minibus.

Hendrik’s diary entries are observant, funny but also at times heartbreaking, especially when they lose members. There is also a serious side when there are rumours that the home may be down for demolition and that they might be forced to move. There are still plenty of laugh out loud moments but perhaps fewer than in the first book. He also reveals a bit more of himself and his life before retirement. Hendrik is just such a lovely character.

Hendrik mentions towards the end of the year that he is of a mind to write a novel next.  I do hope he does.  I look forward to it.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for providing a review copy]

On the Bright Side is due to be published 11 January 2018.