The Girl Who Fell From the Sky - something and nothing

Hmm ... am feeling ambivalent about The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, by Simon Mawer, which I read in audio format. It started well ... when Marian Sutro, half French, half British, brought up in Geneva and fluent in French, is recruited by SOE to go undercover in occupied France, she suddenly feels that her life has finally got some purpose. She goes through intense training, learning about sabotage, and how to kill someone up close and personal. She meets fellow recruits Yvette and Benoit - the former, a vulnerable French women who just wants to "go back home"; the latter, a cocky French man, who takes a shine to Marian and with whom she decides to have a one night stand prior to them being shipped out. However, Marian has been holding a candle for an old family friend and scientist, Clement Pelletier, who she fell in love with when she was still at school. Clement, it turns out, is of special interest to the British, who hope to extricate him from France to help the allies create a nuclear bomb in order to "bring the war to an end faster" - and Marian is told that she may well be asked to help with his extraction! Marian is finally parachuted into South West France and settles into her work with the French Resistance, feeling useful and safe, and hooking up with Benoit from time to time. She is then sent to Paris for two reasons ... to make contact with Clement and persuade him to escape to Britain, and also to try and make contact with Yvette, whose own Resistance Group have been uncovered. Paris is a dangerous place and she finds it difficult to be aloof in the presence of Clement, who is now married. Things, inevitably get complicated! I was enjoying this book, the recruitment phase and then the training, but I became a bit disenchanted as it progressed once our heroine actually got to France - which is when I thought the action would really go up a level. However, Marian seemed to become a weaker character from that point on and I stopped warming to her and just wanted to shake her! Don't get me wrong, there ARE patches of real tension, with danger lurking around every corner, and there is a really threatening undertone in Paris, where no one is able to feel safe. But as the threat got bigger, Marian seemed to get smaller ... it was as if all that training was totally wasted! It may be that I was overly influenced by the narration of the audio version I read, but I felt the book kind of fizzled out right at the end, and I was left a bit deflated and disappointed. But as always, that could just be me!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.00.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Towers of Midnight - Trollocs a-plenty!

Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is the penultimate book (and number 13) in The Wheel of Time fantasy series. There is, at long last, real pace and a great sense of urgency running throughout this part, something which had been lacking in books 7-11. Everything and everyone is being pulled together in readiness for The Last Battle ... which will determine the fate of the entire world. The Dragon Reborn - Rand Al'Thor - has finally defeated his inner demons, and has flowered into a calm, but determined, leader. His power is truly awesome, but he is no longer in danger of being distracted or tempted away from his main goal which is to defeat The Dark One, once and for all, and free the world of such evil. Most of the world is barren, food is scarce and mostly rotten, the weather is awful ... except for when Rand appears - then the sun shines and the food tastes good once again, and people start to hope once more. However, the grizzly Trollocs - the endlessly vicious creatures sent to cause suffering and mayhem throughout the land - are more widespread and numerous than ever. Desperate skirmishes are taking place everywhere to try and prevent them from over-running the entire world. And even Rand cannot defeat such hordes by himself. And so, we find that all those companions who were with him at the very beginning - Mattrim, Perrin, Egwene and Elayne - start to gravitate towards the same place, at the same time. And, amazingly, Moraine, the Aes Sedai who first recognised Rand and his friends for what they are, is found alive and is bravely rescued from captivity. She will no doubt have a vital part to play in the denoument. It's not going to be plain sailing, there is still disagreement with Rand about how to tackle The Last Battle, and there are powerful people still determined to try and manipulate him for their own gain. Despite this, nearly all the pieces are in place for what I'm really hoping is going to be a cracking finish to this epic of all epics!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 861 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from local library.
Formats available: print; audio download; audio CD; ebook.

The Last Hundred Days - a curate's egg

I finished The Last Hundred Days, by Patrick McGuinness, a couple of days ago, and I have to admit, I am struggling a little with what to write about it. It's not that it is a bad book, it's just that I didn't find it particularly memorable ... which I'm not sure whether is a little damning for me or the book! And even now I'm being distracted by the sudden hail storm happening outside my window ... March is definitely going out with a bang in the UK! The story is narrated by a recent university graduate, who finds himself being offered a job at Bucharest University, despite the fact he hasn't actually had an interview. He takes the job and soon finds himself mixed up with the corruption and politics of the last few months of 1989, when communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu was desperately holding onto power within Romania. Very much in the shadow of the previous incumbent of both the job and the flat he is living in, he is befriended by the larger than life Leo, who is a bit of a wheeler-dealer black marketeer, with a hand in many pies, but whose main focus of attention is to try and keep a record of the fantastic buildings in the city which are being systematically destroyed, only to be replaced by grey, miserable and poorly built blocks of concrete. The country is broke, but not according to the propaganda output by  Ceausescu, a communist who would have made Stalin proud! As the weeks go by, the country slowly disintegrates and our narrator is swept up in the chaos and characters. There is brutality, fear, food shortages, back-handers and treachery all around, but never does our narrator want to leave the country, despite everyone telling him he should do so. I think I found the narrator way too passive ... he just seemed to let stuff happen, not initiating nor even having a strong opinion on anything much. Perhaps this way a deliberate ploy to enable the author to paint such vivid characters and action around him, without the narrator getting in the way ... thus he was able to shine a light on the last days of a horrible regime that ruled with an iron fist without the narrator getting in the way. I read the audio book which was ably voiced by Cameron Stewart. Others have given this book 5 star reviews and it was long listed for the Man Booker Prize, but I'm a bit ambivalent towards it, and I feel slightly guilty about that.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 356 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Terry Pratchett - goodbye and thank you for the joy that is Discworld!

The Half-Life of Hannah - light and airy

I have been experiencing disrupted sleep over the last few days, and to while away some of the wee wakeful hours in the morning, I needed a book that wasn't going to tax me too much, or require a great deal of concentration. In this frame of mind, I happened upon The Half-Life of Hannah, by Nick Alexander which I had purchased on Kindle ages ago for just 20p (can't really go wrong at that price can you?) and, for some reason, its cover spoke to me at 3am. For my energy levels right now, I could hardly have chosen better. Hannah Parker is on holiday in the South of France with her husband - the boring Cliff - and her beloved son Luke. The rest of the party is made up of her wild sister, Jill, together with her grumpy, teenage daughter and their gay friend Tristan. Things are going okay, with the sister setting her cap at the "pool guy" and Tristan (a chef by trade) cooking up tasty meals to help the holiday go with a swing. So far, so good. However, mixed in to the "now" are some vignettes from Hannah's past, specifically the time when she and Cliff were about to get married ... and Cliff's brother James bounced into their home and almost changed her life completely ... almost! When James disappeared, went travelling and then was killed overseas, Hannah put all those "what if" thoughts behind her and got on with her married life. When the villa receives a phone call, from James, to ask if he can come to see them, Hannah is more than a little gobsmacked, and things start to unravel. This is a very quick read, light and airy, but totally enjoyable. A bit of fluff it may be, but this book got me just at the right time. The bickering between the two sisters is totally believable, as is the tension between Hannah and Cliff, who try to keep up appearances in front of the others, particularly the children, but the stress and strain of doing so soon bubbles up. Whilst I might have guessed where some of the story was going, it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the book. A great book if you are on holiday, or, like me, too tired to be doing with Dickens! I will definitely look out for the sequel, Other Halves, as I would like to know what happens next.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 256 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.20.
Formats available: print; ebook.

Without Fail - Jack Reacher on cracking form

I was a little disappointed by the previous book in the Jack Reacher series, so I approached Without Fail, by Lee Child, with a little trepidation. I need not have worried. This is an excellent thriller, with the action coming thick and fast. When threats are made against the new Vice-President of the USA, his protection detail are, understandably worried. His head of security, M.E. Froelich, wants someone from outside the services to test how tight their security really is, and she hunts down Jack Reacher and persuades him to take on the role. Why Jack? Well, M.E. had dated his brother Joe for a number of years and had heard tales of our favourite maverick's prowess at handling difficult and dangerous situations. Reacher decides to help - for a fee - and asks an old colleague to tag along. Almost as soon as they take on the project, things start to escalate and the body count begins! But can the threat be coming from inside the Security Services, or is it something more personal? This is a taut tale and pushes many of the right buttons to keep the reader gripped from the outset. Amongst the action, the thorny issue of Jack's estranged relationship with his brother Joe, and his guilt over Joe's death are tackled. Jack is forced to confront these by M.E. who, it seems, hasn't really got over Joe. The only weak element for me is the "romantic interest" - though it could hardly be called that - which I felt was not entirely believable and was the weakest part of the book. Unfortunately, this is often the case within thrillers ... the writer seems to feel obliged to let the male lead, no matter how unlikeable they might be, to be a wow with the ladies and always manage to get someone into bed. There is no heart in this particular element of the story and I think it could have been omitted completely. That aside, this is definitely one of the better books in this series to date (this is number 6) and had a few surprises and I especially enjoyed the interaction with the female sidekick who I hope we'll see again. This has put Lee Child back in my good books and he will now rest on my "go to" pile for when I want to be pulled along at breakneck speed by a man who travels so light that he regularly has to stop and buy new clothes (surely he could invest in a couple of changes of outfit?)

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 560 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

Me Before You - surprisingly enjoyable

Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time will have got the distinct impression that the books that tick all my boxes are more than likely going to be either a good thriller, fantasy, crime procedural or a humorous tome. However, it is always good to branch out now and again and for this reason, I delved into a book that kept popping up on bestseller lists over the last couple of years and slowly attracted my attention. Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes is, at its basic level, a romance. However, it is so much more. Louisa Clarke is a home loving girl, still living with her parents, still with her boyfriend of 7 years and still working in the local cafe. She is comfortable with her life. This all changes when the cafe closes and, with limited employment opportunities available, she accepts a 6-month contract as the daytime carer of Will Traynor, a quadriplegic who is tired of his life. Once a high-flying all-action business man, Will cannot come to terms with how his life has changed. Louisa is at first scared of him, but then determines to try and make his life a bit more bearable in her own inimitable fashion. Slowly but surely, they start to enjoy each other's company and form a real bond. When Louisa finds out however, that her contract is only for 6 months because Will is planning to commit suicide at the end of this time frame, she is devastated. Can she change his mind? At first, I wasn't at all sure about this book and thought I knew exactly where it was going, but as I persisted, it slowly got under my skin and I started to care about the characters. This is a romance with a real difference, and tackles very challenging issues, such as disability and assisted suicide. At times uncomfortable and at others uplifting, this is not always an easy book to read, but is one that will surprise and touch the heart of anyone who tackles it. Oh, and it may not sound like it, but there is plenty of humour in it too. I read the audio edition, which had multiple narrators, not all of whom I liked, which I think detracted from the story for me, it might be better to stick with the print or ebook editions for this one so that you can create your own voice for the characters. Have just found out that there is a sequel planned for Autumn 2015, which I might delve into.

My STAR rating: THREE (due to the narration).

Length: 528 print pages.
Price I paid: £4.00.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.