The Farm by Tom Rob Smith

review by Maryom

Daniel's parents have sold up their garden centre business and retired to a remote farm in his mother's native Sweden. For one reason or another, he keeps putting off visiting them, but believes them to be happily settled and enjoying their new life. Then out of the blue he gets a phone call from his father to tell him his mother is ill - in a psychiatric hospital. She's been imagining things, making all sorts of allegations against her new neighbours and eventually it was decided she should be hospitalised for her own good. This is shocking enough news on its own but then Dan gets a phone call from his mother - she's out of the hospital, on her way to London and everything his father said is a lie! As he listens to his mother's side of events, Dan doesn't know who to believe. One of his parents must be lying..but which..

You might have encountered Tom Rob Smith's Soviet Russia based thrillers featuring secret police officer Leo Demidov, the first of which Child 44 is currently being filmed with Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace. Well, The Farm is a rather different sort of read; a psychological thriller of words rather than action. The tale is told mainly from Dan's mother point of view, from a series of notes that she has ready prepared almost as if giving a lecture. The style is rather formal too and I found the start a little slow so it took me a while to really get involved. His mother has a dreadful tale to tell, but should we believe her? That's the question at the heart of this story; who is telling the truth? As I read, I first believed the mother, then doubted her, went back to believing and so on. As is to be expected with a thriller, the twists and turns are saved till the very end, so, if you're wondering where the story is going, hang on in there.

Maryom's review - 4 stars

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Genre - psychological thriller,  adult fiction,  

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Spare Brides by Adele Parks

 review by Maryom

It's New Year's Eve, 1920 and four friends are getting ready for an extravagant ball to usher in the new decade. There's hope that it's now time to move on to happier, more hopeful times, but the shadow of the War still lingers in the horrendous loss of so many lives and the guilt felt by the survivors.
Spare Brides is the story of four very different friends; of how, in a world radically altered by the First World War, their lives, hopes and expectations have changed too. All come from privileged, wealthy backgrounds but there the similarities end. Ava is the daughter of an industrialist, made richer by the War; glamorous and fashionable, she turns heads where-ever she goes and can get away with almost anything but her life of parties and shallow love affairs is beginning to pale. Lydia, married to the Hon. Lawrence Chatfield, is sheltered and cosseted, living a life where harsh realities rarely intrude except for her one big disappointment, that after 8 years of marriage she remains childless. Sisters Sarah and Bea live very differently; after the death of first their parents, then Sarah's husband, they are now dependant on their crippled brother for house and home. Sarah with a war-widow's pension and two children is slightly better off but feels that life is over for her. Bea's life never really got started - all her dreams of marriage and a home of her own went out of the window with the death of her only suitor; she's too tall and too plain to find another in a world where eligible bachelors are in such short supply and so poor that she has to alter her old dresses to fit new fashions, . Their pre-war connections still see the sisters invited to fashionable parties but only out of sympathy and as favours to their richer friends.
What does the new decade hold for them? These are desperate times, when a woman needs to catch at every chance of happiness no matter where it may lead, so a chance meeting with a mysterious, extraordinarily attractive soldier shouldn't be overlooked.

Spare Brides has got everything you expect from a conventional romantic novel - glamorous parties, gorgeous clothes, an enigmatic hero and a passionate love affair - but it's far from a piece of light fluff. Alongside the glitz and glamour lies the heartbreak and devastation of the War, and it's continuing emotional impact. The story also takes a shrewd look at the changing roles and expectations of women in this period. All four women have been brought up to believe that their role in life will be as wife and mother, nothing more. But times are changing; husbands are few and far between, and women have more freedom and possibilities; hopes and ambitions need no longer be confined to the drawing room and nursery.
It's another great, absorbing read from Adele Parks. One that once started you won't want to put down, I certainly didn't.
The ending might be a little predictable but so what? Show me a Jane Austen ending that wasn't obvious a mile off!

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Headline
Genre - Adult romantic historical fiction

Icefall by Gillian Philip

review by Maryom

Seth MacGregor and his clan have been kicking their heels in exile in the mortal world for too long. Both they and their arch-enemy, Sithe queen, Kate NicNiven are growing bored and restless. The Veil which separates the two worlds is weakening with time but Kate still needs the powers of the Bloodstone to destroy it and see her world domination plans come to fruition. With this is mind she's attacking Seth's clan in the mortal world, picking them off one by one, with the hope of provoking a retaliation that will put them all back under her control. Power seems to have gone to her head though since we last encountered her, and she's no longer satisfied with the idea of ruling both Sithe and mortal realms but wants to be worshipped as a god - and is prepared to strike a deal with anyone or anything, no matter how evil, to achieve it.

I started Icefall with more than a little trepidation - I've loved the Rebel Angels series but it's always been billed as four books in length, and here we are at Book 4. It'll all end happily, won't it? The hero and his lady-love will walk off hand in hand into the sunset? Well, unfortunately that's not the Gillian Philip way; Icefall means another round of pain and suffering, anguish and heartache for characters and readers alike.
If anything, this felt grimmer than the previous books; the habitual violence of the Sithe spilling over into the 'real' world and, with Kate slowly draining Seth's soul away, emotionally bleak. It's a book where happiness is brief and only come by at great cost, so 'enjoyed' isn't the best word to describe it. Nonetheless, it's a gripping, fitting end to the story. I'm just sad to leave the Sithe and their world.

The problem always with reading a series as it's written, so to speak, is that there are inevitable gaps while waiting for the next book to be published. So in a way I envy the readers who are discovering the series for the first time - they can pick up the first book Firebrand, and work their way through with no long pauses.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Strident
Genre - fantasy, teen/YA /adult

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The Dig by Cynan Jones

review by Maryom

The Dig is a raw, bleak story of two very different country dwellers and the inevitable collision they're heading for.
Daniel, a farmer, is desperately trying to cope with bereavement. Worn down and devastated by his loss he's still determined to carry on tending to his birthing sheep. He life is tied up in the farm, in nurturing the land and his livestock despite the harshness of his life and the setbacks encountered daily.
On the other hand, the anonymous 'big man' earns his living in the most violent way imaginable, killing rats on local farms and digging badgers out of their setts and supplying them to people for 'sport'. The only glimmer of affection he shows is for his dogs, though even then it's linked to their ability as rat-catchers or badger-baiters.
The Dig isn't about a sunshiny, cows-in-pasture, rural idyll but takes an unblinkered look at the harsh realities of the countryside; the sheep aren't cute bundles of fluff gambolling in the fields but animals made of blood and guts; badger-baiting is no country 'sport' but pure vicious brutality.
Jones has an astounding ability to conjure feelings and sense of place by a few well chosen words. I felt I could share Daniel's grief and his commitment to the land that is part of him, the big man's animal cunning and fear of being trapped, and also the sheer terror of the tormented badger. At times, because of how immersed I felt, it was a hard book to read.
There are many disturbing passages but two stand clear for me; the horrible violence done in the name of sport to the badger and, to a lesser extent, the dogs in the baiting pit - what people find to enjoy in maiming animals or encouraging them to fight each other is beyond me -  and the chapter where a boy is taken along to a badger dig as if initiating him into becoming a 'man'. It isn't the fun experience the boy had expected but, to avoid losing face, he forces himself to join in and is persuaded that he's enjoying it.

It's a grim, shocking and stomach-turning read; the one brief moment of pure happiness that lights up the end casts the rest into even deeper darkness. It's not for the faint-hearted or squeamish. And yet, I'd say 'read it'. You'll come away moved.


Following on from this, I interviewed the author about The Dig, badger-baiting and not twisting the story to reach a happy ending Cynan Jones - author interview The Dig

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Granta Books
Genre - Adult literary fiction

Perry Angel's Suitcase by Glenda Millard

Illustrated by Stephen Michael King
Review by The Mole

Perry is a quiet little boy who comes to live in the Kingdom of Silk - at least for a while. Since being orphaned he has had many new homes and there's always one more. He doesn't speak to anyone lest he lets out his secret but he hasn't reckoned on the power of the Silks (not to forget Layla, the honorary Silk) and the secrets that they hold in their hearts.

This is the third book in the series of The Kingdom of Silk books and before I picked it up I wondered how it could not repeat itself from either of the first two books... but it doesn't. Once again we see the kindness that people can afford others and just wish that everyone could be like that.

A lovely story that's dealt with in a gentle and delicate manner showing that everyone has their own story to tell and should be respected for that. It's also a beautiful book, with frequent black and white illustrations to engage the young reader and the story will challenge them and make them think.

A very enjoyable book and it leaves me wondering where book four will go.

The Naming of Tishkin Silk (Book 1)
Layla Queen of Hearts (Book 2)

Publisher - Phoenix Yard Books
Genre - Children's fiction

Buy Kingdom of Silk: Perry Angel's Suitcase from Amazon

Burn by Julianna Baggott

review by Maryom

Well, here we are at the end of Julianna Baggott's Prime Trilogy - Pure, Fuse and now Burn. If you haven't caught any of it, (though why haven't you?) it's set in a brilliantly-conceived post-apocalyptic dystopia, where the Detonations have changed the world, dividing the population into two groups - the Pure who took refuge in the protected environment of the Dome, and the Wretches who were forced to stay outside and were altered by the blasts, often fused to objects or other people they were near to at the time of the blasts. A bleak world with little hope for either side unless a way can be found for them to live together.

I don't want to talk too much about the plot because almost anything will give away spoilers for the earlier books - and you do have to have read them first. Pressia now feels she has found a possible cure for the Wretches' sufferings but the only people with the knowledge to apply it are inside the Dome - with Partridge returned there, is it possible that the Pure will help? Well, sadly, with Partridge in charge it's not very likely. Power hasn't quite corrupted him, but it certainly seems to have taken away his ability to make decisions; dithering between options he ends up led by others. While Pressia wants to save everyone, and Partridge wants to preserve the status quo,  El Capitan and Bradwell are both determined, for differing reasons, to bring down the Dome whatever the personal cost, and Lyda wants to save herself; after her experiences outside, the Dome now feels fake but she's virtually imprisoned there.

I thought things started out a little lumpy and bumpy - there were so many separate threads up and running that none went far before swapping to another. As events brought the threads back together and the story picked up pace, I became as gripped as before. For a novel of slightly over 400 pages, it certainly flew past!
I had half dreaded that after the first two books, the author might choose to round everything off in some easy, unrealistic, happy ever after finale  - I'm decidedly pleased that she didn't! I think how you view the ending will depend on which character you had most sympathy for, but for me it was a satisfying 'in character' climax, desperately sad but still filled with hope.


Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Headline Publishing
Genre - YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian

Buy Burn (Prime Trilogy 3) from Amazon

Other reviews; For Winter Nights, 
                       Curiosity Killed the Bookworm

The Templar Prophecy by Mario Reading

Review by The Mole

The first part of the story timeshifts back to 1190 when the Holy Lance is given into the care of Johannes von Hartelius and his descendants. We then timeshift again to Hitler's Bunker 1945 and Hitler has now gained control of the Holy Lance but entrusts von Hartelius' descendant with conveying it, along with other materials, to Bavaria. The plane gets shot down and shifting back to modern times the lance has found it's way to Guatemala.

John Hart gets a message from his estranged father - a man he hasn't seen since John was 3 - to visit him urgently in Guatemala, but when he does, he finds him murdered - crucified - and the lance gone. John is befriended by his father's common law wife before she too is brutally murdered and her home ransacked. He follows the trail back to Bavaria and tries to recover the lance but falls head over heels in love instead.

I have to admit that at times I couldn't see the trail that Hart follows or how assumptions are made - it just seems too easy at times. And can anyone place so much trust in someone while ignoring all the evidence?

Putting these quibbles to one side, I enjoyed the story as we encountered sex, violence, betrayal, chases and love (although the sex did outnumber the others). I became truly involved and wanted to keep telling him where he was obviously going wrong. And when the story of the lance ended I felt a little cheated by the way the main characters were left with their lives hanging. Described as a "suspenseful, page-turning conspiracy thriller" and it certainly ticked all those boxes for me!

Publisher - Atlantic Books
Genre - Adult conspiracy thriller

Buy The Templar Prophecy from Amazon