Mortal Causes - Rebus is back in the groove

Mortal Causes is the seventh outing for Inspector John Rebus, and I am pleased to report that it is a successful one. It is August in Edinburgh, and that means we are slap bang in the middle of the world famous annual "Festival" of comedy, drama and literature. Rammed with tourists, this is boom time for the local economy. So, when a body is found that has some of the hallmarks of sectarian violence, alarm bells start to ring - especially when there have been bomb threats targeting the Festival. With insight into such matters gained during his time as a soldier in Northern Ireland, Rebus is seconded to the elite Scottish Crime Squad to aid the investigation ... and needless to say, neither he, nor the members of the squad, are particularly pleased about that. Nevertheless, he starts to make headway when it turns out that the victim is the son of a notorious local gangster who is well known to Rebus. Our hero digs ever deeper and starts to suspect that not everyone who should be on the side of good can be trusted. He plays his cards very close to his chest and gets beaten up a few times for good measure. Throw into this mix a difficult relationship at home, and you have the makings of an unhappy and grumpy Rebus ... hence, the odd glass of comforting beer and whiskey chasers are never far away! As more bodies turn up, Rebus homes in on the perpetrators and tries to get ahead of the game to protect the city of Edinburgh from disaster. Ian Rankin has produced a well crafted tale, with lots and lots of threads which are slowly and skillfully untangled to reveal the final denouement. It's a good sign when I just wanted to keep on reading, despite really needing sleep, particularly towards the end! After a bit of a wobble in the previous book, I'm happy to report that Rebus is definitely back in the groove!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from husband!
Formats available: print; abridged audio download; MP3 CD; ebook.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - back on form!

After a bit of a dip in the previous book, JK Rowling is back on form with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This is the sixth book in the series and we find Harry and his chums entering his sixth year at Hogwarts School. Everyone is on edge, now that Lord Voldemort is back on the scene, but this doesn't stop the lessons at school. Professor Snape takes on the teaching of Defence against the Dark Arts and seems to delight in giving Harry a hard time (no change there!). Meanwhile, in his Potions class, Harry finds himself using an old textbook and discovers lots of extra notes that have been scrawled into it by someone calling themselves the Half-Blood Prince. Harry suddenly becomes the best student in the class, and even learns new spells that no-one else knows. Harry is convinced that Draco Malfoy - a particularly nasty bully from day one - is up to no good and is in the employ of the Dark Lord himself, with the help of Professor Snape ... but no-one seems to believe him. Professor Dumbledore really comes into his own in this book and starts to prepare Harry with one to one sessions where they dip into the memories of various people who have known Lord Voldemort at key stages in his life. We discover why the destiny of both Harry and Voldemort are so intertwined, and that ultimately, one must destroy the other to survive. Harry is also discovering his sexuality and finds himself drawn to Ginny, the sister of his best friend, Ron. Not wanting to ruin his friendship, he tells himself that she is off limits, but then goes through that familiar teenage angst as he sees her with other boys! Thrown into this mix is the relationship between Ron and Hermione. They both like each other, but can't seem to get it together and spend much of the year either shouting at each other, or not talking at all. This book really takes the reader by the hand down the twisty turny path that will lead towards the inevitable stand off that will be the final book of the series, and it does have a shocking twist, which I won't spoil. And who, exactly, was, or is, the Half Blood Prince? Unlike the last outing, there is very little wasted text in the Half Blood Prince. So much is revealed in an exciting way, and by weaving in the regular coming of age stuff for young men and women, it still feels familiar and touching, despite the epic magic going on! I am really looking forward to next and final instalment.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 608 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - the plot darkens

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth outing for the boy wizard with the scar on his forehead, things are getting tougher and more dangerous. The book opens as usual, with our hero struggling through the summer vacation from Hogwarts school at the home of his aunt and uncle. He is feeling isolated, with no one to talk to about the battle which took place at the end of the last book, in which his arch enemy, Lord Voldemort, came back in bodily form and killed one of Hogwarts' pupils. Then, one evening, Harry and his cousin are attacked by Dementors. Harry uses magic to save them - but it is forbidden to use magic outside school and Harry lands himself with the threat of expulsion. He is rescued by his friends and taken to the house owned by his godfather, Sirius Black, which turns out to be the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix - a secret society of wizards and witches determined to rid the world of Lord Voldemort. Harry escapes expulsion with the help of Professor Dumbledore and heads back to Hogwarts, but all is not well - as there are attempts by the Ministry of Magic to interfere, for they do not believe that Voldemort has returned at all! And so we see the appointment of Dolores Umbridge - a ministry stooge - as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Her teaching method is to get them to read the textbook and just learn the theory, without any practical lessons at all. In desperation, Harry is persuaded to teach fellow pupils jinxes and hexes to protect themselves against the dark forces. In the meantime, Dolores becomes headmistress and Hogwarts becomes a place of restriction and regulation. Harry is dogged by nightmares and his scar is hurting all the time. It becomes apparent that he is emotionally linked to what Voldemort is feeling. Afraid that when Voldemort realises this, he will try to influence Harry's actions, Professor Snape is commissioned to teach Harry the skill of "Occlumency" - which would build a barrier against this possibility. During the lessons, Harry learns why Snape hates him so much, and the lessons end somewhat abruptly - leaving Harry dangerously exposed, with devastating consequences. Once again, JK Rowling has produced a book full of action and interesting characters, whose back stories are continuing to develop, helping to explain why people are the way they are. I did think that a bit of judicious editing would not have gone amiss - some elements felt a bit repetitive at times and I wanted things to get moving more quickly. However, there is peril, and humour and you are left eagerly awaiting the next instalment. High literature this is not, but a good, solid page-turner it definitely is.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 768 print pages.
Price I paid: free - borrowed from the library.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.