Hodder & Stoughton

Our beloved Uncle Stevie always has many wise things to share with us, his constant readers, and continues to faithfully inserts these pearls into the storytelling matrix of each new novel.  Sometimes they may be bashed directly into your psyche and at other times they may merely brush against you in passing but at whatever level of introduction, there will always be a direct appeal to his reader’s hearts at some point.  King writes ‘everyman’ like no other. 

King has an inexhaustible supply of wry observations to dole out via the mouths of his creations and you will find plenty of these in THE OUTSIDER.  This is a classic King piece and whilst wildly entertaining, could have done with a trim to reduce some ‘waffle’.  King’s skill at spinning out his fantastical yarns always involves a lot of inclusions that don’t necessarily advance the plot but will have us smiling anyway.  

How are with the science on this ‘woo-woo’ stuff in THE OUTSIDER?  Not entirely sold.  This is primarily written as a crime novel and the introduction of supernatural elements is always a handy out to logic, if there arises the need to explain something away.  But we need to remember we are reading Stephen King, so that usually comes with the territory.

There’s a nice surprise awaiting King fans in THE OUTSIDER. For those readers lamenting the end of the Bill Hodges trilogy, fear not. THE OUTSIDER will catch you up with what’s been happening with one of your favourite King characters.

This review is written by a fan who can be critical of her favourite authors, including King, and can state hands down that THE OUTSIDER, with all its dark magic and violence, is a delight to read.  Pure escapism written by the world’s greatest living author is never a waste of your time and THE OUTSIDER slides on up alongside the reader with a knowing smile and wink.  Uncle Stevie knows what we need, once again.

Women - those who bear the ‘thought burden’, those who do the nurturing, those who are responsible for the “reining in” of erratic behaviour.  Stunningly simple, the thematical concept behind SLEEPING BEAUTIES is not to visualize the horror and drama as the world is slowly broken down, but more to realize how simple and obvious making this happen might be.

As you would expect with the epic novels of this size, SLEEPING BEAUTIES has a cast of thousands and the reader will need to keep on top of all that, in particular as the siege of the women’s prison continues.  Lots of guys with guns all fighting what they think is the good fight. Stephen King has obviously been here before (not necessarily geographically - though any fan of King knows that many of his towns and folk do crossover in a freakishly satisfying way) as his legacy novels like THE STAND set new benchmarks for post-apocalyptic works.  Benchmarks, that just quietly, may never be vaulted over by other authors.   King is King.   He does these “rise above the common doom” novels extremely well.

It is easy (and quite fun!) to imagine that a savage edit might have taken place to remove the odd literary swipe at present day government and industry leaders.  Messrs King masterfully duck and weave around the particulars and instead illustrate the domestic oppressions and expectations still placed on women via poignant little vignettes that strike uncomfortable and familiar chords. 

The identifiable everyday and the supernatural are fully meshed in SLEEPING BEAUTIES and it’s a testament to the writers skill that soon we don’t question when the otherworldly inclusions appear.  It is not a full scale good versus evil battle here in this novel but the take home will unsettle regardless.   Allow a few days to switch off and take it all in.

The author of THE GLORIOUS HERESIES, Lisa McInerney, has a bio around the traps that's worded:

"Lisa McInerney is from Galway and is the author of award-winning blog 'Arse End of Ireland'. The Irish Times has called her 'the most talented writer at work in Ireland today'. Her mother remains unimpressed."

Get that tone and there's every chance you're going to love this book. 

As the blurb says - "one messy murder affects the lives of five misfits who exist on the fringes of Ireland's post-crash society". It doesn't mention that the murder's not the only messy thing here. These are so many messed up, screwed up, f**ked up people, families, relationships, and ways of life in this book that you're going to need to sit up and pay very close attention.

Which is no trial at all given that this is madness on the page, written with a wonderfully dry, laconic sense of humour that doesn't pull punches. Although it does seem to have a finely tuned ability to pick just when there is the smallest possibility that the reader attention is wavering. So it can throw a couple of those punches and make damn sure that you're focused. Or else.

Needless to say, opponents of swearing, mucky sex, drug dealing, and reality in all it's nastiness should step away. There will be so much here to offend that you'd be hard pressed to tell what would horrify more. For this reader, however, there was so much to love. The style of the writing, the rawness and the brutality of the message, the searing honesty of the revelations and the fast-paced, in your face way of bringing it all together work. In amongst some stellar characterisations. Ryan and his father, each battling their own crusades are equally sympathetic and needing a bloody good talking to. Young Georgie is no prostitute with a heart of gold. She's strong, and whilst she might be a good person at the core - that heart of gold stuff is bullshit when it comes to a young woman trying to survive in a dog-eat-dog world.

And the murderer, and the murder at the core of THE GLORIOUS HERESIES is so apt for this sort of scenario. Life in this post-crash, gangsters rule, society on the edge world can go tits up in oh so many ways, for the victim, the murderer, her son, and the people who get dragged into the vortex of stupid. It all makes sense. It's not pretty, it's not necessarily comfortable, it's certainly not cosy and tidy and all neatly concluded so everyone can dust themselves off and trot home for a spot of tea.

Brutal, funny, dark, difficult, discomforting and a hell of a ride, THE GLORIOUS HERESIES (and you just know this has to be said) was utterly glorious.

DEADLY CODE is the 3rd book in the Dr Rhona Macleod series, a series, which up until now I've really enjoyed, but for some reason this one didn't work. Mind you, terrific sense of place, very atmospheric what with Macleod off in the remote Scottish Isles battling the evil menace of a cult of Scottish extremists. Or I think that's what they were. The big problem was that the plot was a bit too silly at points. Not that the idea of extremists of any kind is a bad concept, but not where there needs to be so much coincidence and frankly, a whole heap of heavy lifting to get Macleod into the action, get her to the various locations, and keep her involved. And the resolution is one of those extreme leaps of science that, sure, could happen. But hasn't as yet. And I kind of like my crime fiction to stay away from the realms of speculative / science fiction. Having said that, my main problem with this book was the enormous leaps of coincidence and a certain feeling of convenience about the whole thing that meant it didn't work. Onwards to the next in the series for this reader. (I understand there's 6 of them now).

Mons Kallentoft is not making any bones about using the weather conditions as a feature in his books - MIDWINTER SACRIFICE, and now SUMMERTIME DEATH. Given that temperatures of 45º+ aren't exactly record breaking in these parts, it's a real testament to the way that this book is written that makes the reader almost physically experience the effects of that heat in such an overwhelming manner. But there's also an ongoing device which is fascinating - the lead detective, Malin Fors, was told many years ago by a mentor to listen to all the voices in an investigation. Kallentoft uses that device - the voices of so many of the characters - to great effect.

Having now read both of these books, it's difficult not to be struck by how strongly character driven they are - obviously with the emphasis on the leading detective Malin Fors. Even allowing for the predictability of a separation from her husband, and the problems with raising a teenage daughter, she's an interesting character with flaws and foibles that make her very human. There's also something very subtle going on in the use of the voices of the investigation - at points it's somehow the voices of minor characters that make them real. It's also the voice of the victim - giving the character often incidental in crime fiction a personality, a life, a reality. It doesn't hurt that there are points at which the writing of these voices, in particular, is simply beautiful, often poignant and definitely moving.

The emphasis on the characters, and the use of the voices, does create a more measured, careful, studied exploration of the plot in SUMMERTIME DEATH though, so fans of quick fire, high tension thriller style books are probably going to find the journey a little too slow. For this reader, however, the use of those voices is engaging, thoughtful and almost haunting at points.

This is more of an immersion reading book than a roller-coaster ride to a conclusion. Whilst there is definitely a plot building in SUMMERTIME DEATH, and there is an imperative to solve these dreadful crimes, it's not until very late in the book that the pace really does ramp up, and to be honest, the threat at the end didn't really come as that big a surprise. But by then I was completely hooked by the voices, and looking forward to more of this series.

You'd think, on the face of it, that this would be a book that would be right up my dark and twisty alley but for some reason A DENIABLE DEATH took an age to read, and I came away from it with a mild sense of disappointment.

And try as I might, I can't quite put my finger on why, as there was much about the book that I did like. It's very much a contemporary thriller, with a very strong idea as the central plot, delivered with pace and authority. I suspect what didn't quite work for me was the contrivance of the classic lone wolf - Badger - trudging through a very dangerous mission with a partner in tow that he can't stand. For some reason that didn't quite gel. Perhaps it's a device that seemed designed overtly to create a bit of tension. Whatever it was, the sniping and bitching got me flipping too many pages, and struggling to maintain focus at points.

Which was annoying as the idea of C.R.O.P. agents somehow seemed very realistic, possible, interesting. I just couldn't get the whole scenario to make sense - even though it is perfectly feasible that at some point in your life, everybody is going to be stuck in some sort of boat with somebody you'd happily rather throw overboard. On one level the whole thing seemed like a reasonable situation - yet at the same time it just refused to work for me in this book.

Of course, it's also very very possible that this simply was the wrong book at the wrong time, and something about those two central characters just got up my nose for no particular reason. Stranger things have been known to happen, and despite any slight sense of disappointment in A DENIABLE DEATH, there are lots of other books by this author that I have loved, and will continue to seek out.

WINK MURDER is the debut book from ex-journalist and sub-editor Ali Knight.  Given that the book is set within the cut-throat and odd world of tabloid television, perhaps her background has informed the way that the world of the media (albeit she worked in print) works.  

There was so much about the run down and the early part of this book that didn't appeal, I wasn't at all sure I'd be able to get to the end of it.  The high-flying husband returning late at night, drunk, covered in blood, muttering.  The stay at home mother with the part-time, lesser job in her husband's world, waiting at home for him to return - unsure of her marriage, convinced that her husband is having an affair - but unable to do anything about that.  Questioning her mothering ability, worried about the state of the house, guilty for working part-time; a stereotype of the little less-attractive woman married to the gorgeous high-flying husband.  Mostly I think it was the whinging, self-absorbed, kind of useless first person voice that was getting to me.

But really... "do not assume" should be displayed on a poster in front of my nose, right below the one that says "stop reading blurbs and media releases....".  From the absolute start of this book Kate, who is the main voice of the novel, is tricky.  Caught in a spiral of wishing problems under the carpet, trusting and mistrusting her husband, believing he could be capable of everything from infidelity to business corruption to murder, she fights her own paranoia with an increasing sense of desperation and lack of self-belief.  I don't think she ever quite loses that slightly whingy, disbelieving tone, but there is a point in the book where she decides, somehow to take matters into her own hands.  Not by confronting the husband mind you, she opts for a considerably more complicated path to finding out the truth.  Which unexpectedly works.  Which, given the personality that has revealed itself in her own voice, actually makes a lot more sense.  I think I would have been profoundly disappointed if Kate actually grew balls and stepped up to the mark, but somehow her panicked, suspicious, vaguely lunatic behaviour made a lot of sense - had bucket loads of credibility if you like.

I'm not really sure what it was that made me pluck WINK MURDER from the teetering stacks of unread books around here, as when it first arrived, unsolicited, I will confess to being underwhelmed with the blurb and the media release.  Which is exactly why I think I'll stick up those two posters, and maybe spotlight them.  This is actually a very good book, involving, car crash fascinating and not at all as simple as it seems.  Right down to the last page.

"An investigation consists of a mass of voices, the sort you can hear, and the sort you can't.  You have to listen to the soundless voices, Malin.  That's where the truth is hidden."

The quote at the start of the blurb of MIDWINTER SACRIFICE intrigued.  The opening of the book with the naked, mutilated body of a man hanging from a tree in a frozen, snow covered location was startling.  A new detective character, Malin Fors, single mother of a teenage daughter engaging.  But ultimately it was the concept of the "voices" of an investigation that weave their way through this book, that delivered an unusual, compelling perspective.

Slow moving, immersion reading in the very best tradition of Scandinavian styled mysteries, this book has an additional aspect in that it's narrated by voices, including the victim himself, whose voice pleads, cajoles and guides Malin (not that she can hear him!).  But the point is well made.  The victim in a case has a voice.  Obviously, an investigator rarely hears the victim of a murder, but their life, as well as their death, can "speak" to the investigating team if they are prepared to listen.

Alongside the use of the voices, there's a solid police procedural moving through this book - from the difficulties of identifying the victim, to the explanation of why they would become a victim of such a violent crime.  To the past that informs the present.  But we are talking dark, intricate, reserved, thoughtful and sinister.  We're talking cold and atmospheric - partially because of the weather, partially because of the characters who inhabit the story.  

We're also talking a good central character - investigator Malin Fors has a complicated personal life, a strange history with her ex-husband, and a realistic relationship with her teenage daughter.  There's enough of the personal elements (good and bad) of her life built into the story to give a sense of the balancing act that a major investigation has to become.  Perhaps some of her work colleagues are less strongly drawn - although to be honest I didn't think that was an obvious problem or even inexplicable.

Undoubtedly MIDWINTER SACRIFICE is one of those books that you have to sink into, allow it to spin out the story, go with the voices and deal with the reserve.  Fans of that particularly thoughtful, considered, reserved, Scandinavian style will definitely find something in this book.  Personally I found the idea of the voices within an investigation fascinating and the book particularly difficult to put down.  There's real balance and believability about Fors, her family, her private and professional struggle, but at the same time, there's a sense of the victim here that gives the book a different dimension - a connection with the normally voiceless.

It's very pleasing to read that his "first book" in the Malin Fors series went straight into the bestseller charts.  Sounds like there are more around to look forward to.