I do love a blog post where the writer gives a little summary/review of the books they've read or just dipped into that month - it's often not the sort of books I'd read myself, but that's fine, we're all different and never more so than in our reading tastes! Anyway, I was inspired to see if I could start doing the same thing - mostly because of just finding them interesting sorts of posts, but also because I wonder if it will actually encourage me to read a bit more, and scroll a bit less...
The book I started the month with was Lianne Moriarty's Truly Madly Guilty - I've read her books before, she has a real talent for writing a suspenseful book, and this one is no exception. The subject is an event that occurred at a barbecue, and the fallout created by that event - yet cleverly it isn't until two thirds of the way through that you find out what the event actually was. The chapters before that fill in background, and deal with some of the aftermath - but all without giving even the faintest of clues as to what actually happened - very skilfully written! I did find I struggled a tiny bit with this one - in part because I struggled to actually like some of the main characters very much - that said, it was gripping enough that I did persevere. Not one for me to keep - I'll pass it to my Mum to read and she will then send it back to the charity shop.
Next up, Val McDermid “The Last Temptation” - a favourite author and genre of mine, I love a police based crime thriller, and Val writes an excellent story with cleverly constructed characters - invariably including the supporting cast. This was no exception - weaving two separate strands together in a way that allows the lead characters to do their thing. The twin storylines allow the suspense to continue right into the final few pages as well. This book was picked up from a book exchange and I will be keeping it as it’s definitely something I will re-read in the future.
Moving on - T.M.Logan's The Daughter was similarly full of suspense and I barely wanted to put it down, rocketing through it in just a few days. The premise of a missing person that the Police weren't interested in investigating because "they're an adult who can make their own decisions" - in this case a young woman in her first term at University - felt perfectly believable as we've all heard of stories like that after all. The full picture gradually becoming apparent and building to a gripping last few chapters with a really unexpected twist made this a real page-turner, for me. The Author's name felt familiar to me but as far as I can see I've not read any of their other novels - I will certainly be keeping an eye for them in the future though. This one, meanwhile, will head to my Mum to read as I think she'll enjoy it, too.
The last book I finished this month was David Baldacci’s The Fix - another from an author I’m quite a fan of, and again in the Police/thriller genre. This is part of his series featuring Amos Decker - an FBI agent with a photographic memory - along other quirks. Whilst not entirely a likeable character, he has a backstory that enables the reader to feel sympathy for him and that, combined with a gripping storyline, makes these extremely readable books. Baldacci has a particular talent for keeping the suspense going the the final pages too - something he makes good use of here. An excellent read which will go to join the others from the same author on the shelf.
Robyn
