Gone Again by Doug Johnstone

review by Maryom

Mark and Lauren have a happy marriage, a 6 year old son, Nathan, and are now expecting another child. When Mark is phoned to pick up his son from school, he just thinks Lauren has forgotten that it's 'her' day for this. But when she doesn't appear by Nathan's bedtime, Mark knows something is definitely wrong. Lauren has done this before, just after Nathan was born, and Mark fears that her pregnancy may have sparked a similar reaction. Then, in the first of several well-timed reveals, the reader discovers that Mark has a history of violence ...and we begin to wonder what exactly happened and can we believe what Mark says....

Gone Again is another great read from Doug Johnstone - a story about a perfectly normal family that get dragged into something sinister and find life spiralling out of control. In a way, it's a book of two halves, certainly of two moods. Things start a little slowly, exploring Mark's relationships with his wife, his son and his mother-in-law, and I wondered if this was going to be a different style novel to Doug Johnstone's usual fare; more of a psychological thriller with less action. But, as the reveals keep coming and Mark takes matters in hand in a d-i-y vigilante way, things really kick off. Many of us would just leave things in the hands of the police - not want to take on the world single-handedly as Mark does -  and this is where the slow build-up pays off. It seems logical with the earlier insights into Mark's character, and his grudging admittance to his violent streak, that this is how he would react.

It's a book that I raced through, each twist and turn making me want to read faster to reach the all-revealing conclusion. 

Like Hit And Run it's set in Edinburgh but in a different part of the city - the beach area of Portobello with its views out over the Firth of Forth.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Faber and Faber
Genre - Adult crime thriller

 

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Stormclouds by Brian Gallagher

Review by The Mole

It's 1969 and the setting is Northern Ireland - Belfast to be more precise - amidst "the troubles". In fact, the marching season approaches and the violence will reach new heights culminating with troops on the streets of Britain policing and keeping the two factions apart. And amidst this children are growing up and trying to be "normal". Maeve, a Catholic and Nationalist by birth, has a friend called Emma. Emma, who joined the same running club as Maeve, is new in town with her family having just come from the USA in order for her father, a journalist, to report on what's happening in N. Ireland. Emma's brother, Dylan, has a friend called Sammy who is a Loyalist. All four children meet up and become friends. But Sammy is a Loyalist and Maeve, a Nationalist. Can they be friends together through thick and thin? Will their families permit them to try? And will children be immune from the forthcoming violence?

The story starts with a prologue that creates a terrifying scene of Maeve inside a house that is rapidly becoming a raging inferno. She needs to get out but the terror of the fire is only slightly greater than the terror of the mob on the street. The story then goes back to telling us how this scenario came about.

This an eye opener as to how the youngsters, who just wanted to get on with enjoying life, must have felt at these troubled times. We also get to see how some of the wives and girlfriends felt about the violence as well. It's a sad, terrifying tale that still has a relevance today around the world.

Once again "enjoyed" is certainly the wrong word but I am glad I read this book.

Publisher - O'Brien Press
Genre - Children's Historical Fiction

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Theft of Life by Imogen Robertson

review by Maryom

London, 1785 - A man is found dead near St Paul's Cathedral; the body staked out as if to be whipped, and with a slave punishment mask forced onto his face. When the deceased is identified as a former West Indies plantation owner and slave trader, Trimnell, it's immediately assumed to be a revenge killing by one of his former slaves but the answer isn't that simple.

Theft of Life is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of Georgian London, where high fashion and slavery walk side by side. There may be no slavery as such in England but the lifestyles of wealthy tradesmen and their fashionable wives and daughters depend upon income from West Indian plantations, which inevitably involves slavery. Among them live freed slaves, in various roles from footmen to business owners; always living precariously, in danger of being snatched and re-enslaved despite the law.
It isn't just a loosely disguised history lesson though but a compelling thriller - maybe not as dark as some but with twists and turns to the very end. I thought I had it all worked out - who killed whom and why - but was still surprised by the final twist.

Imogen Robertson is a new historical thriller find for me and I'm coming rather late to this series - this is the fifth - but I soon slipped into the world of anatomist Gabriel Crowther and Harriet Westerman, a widow with an unusual taste for crime-solving. There's obviously an ongoing story arc regarding Mrs Westerman and the household of Jonathan Thornleigh, the eleven year old Earl of Sussex, but enough is sketched out in the opening chapters to bring a new-comer up to speed, hopefully without spoiling the previous books too much.   

Maryom's review -  4.5 stars

Publisher -Headline
Genre - Historical fiction, crime

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Lenny series by Ken Wilson-Max

 Review by The Mole

In this series of early reader/picture books we meet Lenny doing things that children do. In "Where's Lenny" he plays hide and seek with his dad and we meet his family, his pets and the different rooms in his house so exploring quite a range of vocabulary. The pages of each book are quite robust and feel quite durable against sticky fingers and even feel like they would take a wipe down when necessary. The colours chosen are bright and the drawings are cartoon-like without being too simplistic.

When any child goes to nursery school for the first time they are likely to find it a bit daunting - no matter how well you try to prepare them but in "Lenny Goes to Nursery School" we see, and can show, youngsters that nursery is fun with lots to do and friends to make.

There are also a couple of other books in the series: "Lenny Has Lunch" and "Lenny In The Garden" and all can equally be shared, read aloud or simply be an early reader.

A really nice collection of books.

Publisher - Frances Lincoln
Genre - Picture Book, early reader

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The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson

review by Maryom

Nombeko Mayeki was born in a shack in Soweto, South Africa, and expected nothing remarkable to happen in her life  - so how did she end up in Sweden, on the run from the Israeli secret service, with twins who share the same identity, an extremely angry young woman and an elderly potato-farming Countess. And how did the fate of the world - and the King of Sweden - come to rest in her hands?

I'm struggling slightly to describe this book without just going ahead and retelling it - is it a comedy, a thriller or a bit of everything; in part, the title's a bit of a spoiler as it's a long way through the book before the King of Sweden appears. What it most definitely is is a delightful, quirky tale full of serendipitous happenings and accidental meetings that takes Nombeko and the reader from 1960s South Africa to Sweden today via a look at apartheid, the arms race, Swedish monarchy and seemingly a million and one other side topics.

Nombeko is an amazing character; one I quickly warmed to. Her life has been full of troubles -  starting work at the age of 5 as a latrine emptier, getting run over by a drunk driver and then being made to take the blame for it, finding a way to escape to Sweden to a life free from oppression and then finding herself responsible for an unwanted nuclear bomb (as you do!)  -  through it all she remains remarkably upbeat, hoping things will take a turn for the better but not feeling down and beaten if they don't. A genius at maths, engineering and languages, Nombeko is a puzzle to her South African white 'superiors' - a black cleaning woman who's cleverer than they are? Impossible! Fortunately not all the world shares their point of view.

From farce to narrowly-averted tragedy, it's a highly entertaining read full of strange events and even stranger characters.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Fourth Estate
Genre - adult fiction, humour

Translator - Rachel Willson-Broyles

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Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Review by The Mole

With her brother dying of cancer Tella is offered a chance to win a cure for him by entering a race called the Brimstone Bleed. Knowing nothing whatsoever about this race she takes up the challenge to save his life. But she doesn't know how much she is risking her own to save his.

Clearly Tella is the heroine - the first chapter tells us that - so we expect her to be with us at the end, particularly as this is a series although I did find myself wondering how she could have survived to page 366.

The summary automatically had me thinking "Hunger Games" but here the scenario differs in that it's not last man standing, rather first past the post. But sometimes there are conditions to getting past the post...

Each competitor gets to choose an egg at the start and from that egg comes a "companion" or protector to help them through the race and this part had me thinking "His Dark Materials", particularly Tella's cute little fox. But each has additional capabilities that the animal can not do naturally - like a fire breathing lion. The animals are created by genetic engineers and so there is nothing magical or fantasy about this story - just sci-fi - in fact the reader ends up suspecting that her brother's cancer is no accident.

One thing that did bug me big time was the love aspect (or is it lust?)... I like my heroes/heroines to be strong, to be needed, supportive and focussed but Tella was too needy and school-girl-crushy for my taste.

That to one side, the book was an excellent read with elements from other stories combined to make a unique and original story that was extremely compelling, fast and tense.

Publisher - Chicken House
Genre - YA dystopian, action adventure

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Operation Sting by Simon Cheshire

Review by The Mole

Swarm is a group of micro-biotic robots that is the latest weapon in the Secret Intelligence Agency's arsenal. The trouble is that it's so new it's full potential isn't known nor how to use it most efficiently. During the trials they protect a man carrying a top secret weapon that is so secret no-one knows it exists so cannot be interested in stealing it. But that's what happens and despite the Swarm's best efforts they manage to get away with it. In order to ensure that Swarm has a future they need to redeem themselves.

As I read this story I found that I constantly imagined that it was a children's TV series I was watching. I even cast some of the characters! The real characters in the book of course are the Swarm and each of the highly sophisticated robots has it's own voice and character. The story line, though never in doubt that they will redeem themselves, is not as obvious as I expected and some blind alleys are created.

At only 144 pages long there isn't a great deal of time to really get to know them and pick a champion but I'm sure the young readers will soon have a favourite. There is something about the writing and story line that says this series could so easily become a cult and clearly the publisher feels this way too as there are trading cards to go with it all. Although aimed at the 9-11 readership the story is all action with very  low level violence (where needed) and so is suitable for any child who can cope with the vocabulary and lack of pictures so advanced readers as young as 7 would thoroughly enjoy it.

The second book (Project Venom) comes out in July.

A really great action adventure series for youngsters that, hopefully, will become a cult.

Publisher - Little Tiger Press
Genre - Children's (9-11) action adventure

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