A Funeral For An Owl - touching tale of friendship

A Funeral For An Owl opens with the unexpected and shocking stabbing of a teacher in the school playground on the last day of the summer term. As Jim Stevens lies bleeding, fellow teacher Ayisha comes to his aid along with one of the pupils, a boy called Shamayal, who seems to be treating Mr Stevens more as a friend than a teacher. After the initial shock, and with Jim in hospital, Ayisha discovers that the strict rules of conduct that apply to teacher/pupil relationships have been broken by Jim, who, we learn in flashback, has taken Shamayal under his wing. Ayisha likes Jim, and doesn't want to get him into trouble so sits on this information, but when Jim asks her to look out for Shamayal, she is torn between her friend and colleague and The Rules. Into this, we also find out about Jim's difficult upbringing, and how he found solace by becoming a serious bird watcher - something that led him into a traumatic experience when he happens upon the troubled Aimee, a girl who becomes a firm friend over a few weeks, only to suddenly disappear amidst rumour and scandal. The story is teased out in a very satisfactory way and the characters are likeable, if not always believable. There are touching moments and a dash of humour too. I found myself rooting for the main protagonists through all their troubles and the fact that I cared what happened to them speaks volumes. This is a story about how intensely you feel about things when young, and how some of us can overcome the troubles of our past and others cannot. I would recommend this book to you, and I will definitely look out for more books by the author, Jane Davis, who has produced a story that lingers in your subconscious long after you have finished it.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: Free (it was on offer at the time)
Formats available: print; ebook.

The Hanging Garden - It all gets very personal for Rebus

After what feels like a long time, I am back in the world of Detective Inspector John Rebus. In The Hanging Garden, the ninth outing for our troubled hero, the action opens with Rebus having a night out with his daughter Sammy. Once they part, he goes to work on a stake out to try and get evidence against local hoodlum Tommy Telford, but it all goes to pot when there is a vicious assault. In hospital with the victim, Rebus stumbles upon a hit and run case ... his daughter Sammy! We now go slightly back in time to when Rebus starts an investigation into a man who could be a WWII war criminal. Around the same time he comes across Candice, a Bosnian who has got herself caught up in prostitution via a Chechen gangster. Rebus tries to help but fails. Pockets of violence start to take place as there seems to be a power play between Telford (egged on by the Chechen) and Big Ger Cafferty (despite the latter being in prison) and as we catch up to the day his daughter is run down, Rebus is wondering whether this was no accident, but was someone warning him off. Is it the war criminal, or one of the gangland bosses? And how can he possibly keep all these balls in the air AND keep off the booze? As usual, Ian Rankin has written a compelling and gritty novel set amongst the shadows of Edinburgh. With each book, we find out a little more about DI Rebus and how he came to be the man he is today, which is great for any reader following the series in order. Things can get a little confusing from time to time as there are a heck of a lot of characters (some Japanese Yakuzu members are thrown in here for good measure in this book), but you always want to keep turning that page to find out how Rebus will foil the baddies in the end. Definitely one to recommend, but as always, not for those of a delicate disposition due to the violence.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 411 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from my husband).
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Wise Man's Fear - immersive and exceptionally pleasing!

This book is the second part of The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss, and I was not sure it would live up to its predecessor (The Name of the Wind) which I absolutely loved. However, I was NOT, I repeat, NOT disappointed. This is a great follow up and we continue the format of the previous book in that we have two narratives - the first is in the present, with events taking place in a tavern run by Kvothe, who is a "legend in his own lifetime". The other narrative is where we find out how and why Kvothe became that legend as he relates his life story to The Chronicler. The Wise Man's Fear picks up where we left off, with our hero continuing his life at the university, rubbing up against his arch enemy, Ambrose, and also spending as much time with the love of his life, Denna. He has successfully got himself into The Naming class with the eccentric professor Elodin, but becomes frustrated when he feels he's not learning anything. Continually getting into some kind of trouble, usually due to his feud with Ambrose, and always battling against not having enough money, he is given the opportunity to take a gap year and try his hand at securing a patron in the form of The Mayor of Severen. Kvothe saves his life, finds him a wife and then heads up a force to tackle a deadly set of bandits. During this adventure, he crosses paths with one of the mysterious Chandrians, who killed his family. He also falls into the Fae world and learns the ways of a man, so to speak, with the dazzling Fae seductress, Felurian. She makes him a shead (a cloak that will become vital to his legend). He also trains with the Adem, an intriguing people who I'm pretty sure were inspired by the Samurai. Here he learns skills that will benefit him in a very short space of time. Finally, Kvothe gets back to the university with no more money troubles and catches up with his friends and begins his studies once more. But trouble is brewing ... There is so much going on in this book that I could go on and on, but I won't. It was as enjoyable as the first, although for me, the section in the Fae world went on a little bit too long. We are already seeing aspects of how this young teenager is fast becoming the central figure of tales of adventure and daring do. There is plenty of action, but also plenty of time to reflect and a good deal of scene setting. As before, the excellent Rupert Degas who narrated the audio version I read was fantastic and I could listen to him all day. Yes, this book is a long one, but it's worth the time. Roll on part three ... which isn't out yet, but will definitely be a book that I will hunt down when it is released!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 1000 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.84.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; MP3 CD; ebook.

Gone Girl - not sure what all the fuss was about!

It seems an absolute AGE since I posted anything and this has been down to two large books, one of which I have finally finished. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, has been a huge best seller and has also been made into a film, so I was looking forward to getting stuck into it. However, it does not live up to the hype. It started well enough with Nick Dunne coming home to find his house in disarray and Amy, his wife of 5 years, missing. When the crime scene is dissected and neighbours and friends interviewed, it turns out that all has not been rosy within the marriage of late. Suspicion soon falls upon Nick that he has murdered her and disposed of the body. As Nick tries to defend himself against the police, the press and the public, more damning evidence turns up. But is Amy dead, and if she is, who did it? The narrative is almost like a diary, switching between the present day for Nick and the past for Amy. I felt this was a clever device at first but it did get a bit tedious, although maybe that was because both central characters were thoroughly unlikeable. In fact, there were very few likeable characters throughout. I found it slow going and was becoming a bit demoralised by the nastyness both in the language and situations and was seriously contemplating giving up when, halfway through the book, there was a great twist and the plot lurched forward, giving me some hope. Yes, I thought, at last we have finally got going. But no, it soon descended back into the totally unbelievable, distasteful and flaccid exposition of the previous chapters. ARGH! This book could have been a slick thriller, but it just ground on and on. So much effort for such little reward ... I am actually struggling to remember exactly how this book ended, which just about sums it up!

My STAR rating: TWO.

Length: 512 print pages (felt like twice that!)
Price I paid: 99p
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden - bright and breezy

For fans of Jonas Jonasson, who gave us The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of The Window and Disappeared, this is a chance to sit back and let a master story teller take you on another long and involved journey that ultimately ends in deep satisfaction. In The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden, we follow the life of Nombeko Mayeki, a poor girl from the slums of Soweto who is determined to use her brain and make her life better. Unfortunately, it seems that the world has other ideas when she is run over by a drunken engineer. She survives, but in the South Africa of the 1970's, she is blamed for the accident and is sent to work for the engineer as a cleaner. It turns out that despite his complete incompetence, this man is in charge of South Africa's nuclear bomb project. When Nombeko demonstrates her capacity for learning, she outstrips the capabilities of everyone around her, and ends up keeping the project on track just enough to keep herself alive. When seven bombs are made instead of six, Nombeko does everything she can to avoid the extra one falling into the wrong hands ... foiling Mossad along the way and ending up in Sweden ... with the bomb. Surrounded by incompetent people that seem to gravitate towards her, she is thwarted at almost every turn to resolve the situation. Along the way she grapples with anarchists, prime ministers, the King of Sweden and she also falls in love. This is an epic tale, full of humour and observations on the human condition in all its ridiculousness, and it is a joy to read. The situations are ludicrous and the people all need some serious help, but you can't help but be glad that you have spent some time in their company. Let yourself go along for the ride and you won't be disappointed.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 421 print pages.
Price I paid: Borrowed from my brother.
Formats available: print; audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

From Russia With Love - a real cliff hanger!

I think this might be my favourite James Bond book to date. This may come as a bit of a surprise, particularly because our hero doesn't really make an appearance in From Russia With Love until about a quarter of the way through! Instead, in the opening chapters of this fifth outing for Bond, we follow the fortunes of Red Grant, a man who discovers that not only is he good at killing people, but he positively revels in it. The only place where he can find as much of this work as he can get is with SMERSH - the Russian organisation that is out to kill all foreign spies. Determined to cut the British Secret Service down to size, SMERSH get their best people to come up with a plan to rid them of their best and most famous spy (yes, Mr Bond) in the most public and embarrassing manner they can come up with. Enter a chess master who comes up with the plan, and the gloriously disgusting Rosa Klebb to implement it using Red Grant as her assassin of choice. So then, what could possibly be the best way to entice Bond into a compromising position ... well, a beautiful girl (Tatiana) bearing gifts (a Spektor cypher machine) who claims that she wishes to defect. Finally, Bond enters the action, happy to have something to do. Off to Turkey we go for the rendezvous and it is from this point on that the pace really picks up and we get to see Bond in all his glory. The characterisations in this book are great, both heroes and villains, and there are some thrilling action sequences, especially on the Orient Express. Will Bond get the girl? Will he get the cypher machine? And will he escape from the evil clutches of SMERSH? Ian Fleming produced a great book that is tense, excellently paced and ends on a complete cliff hanger ... if you only ever read one Bond book, this is the one! I can highly recommend the audio version narrated by Toby Stephens who does a fabulous job ... is he the only actor to have played a Bond villain (on film) as well as Bond himself?

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.92.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Life: Keith Richards - not as exciting as you might think!

I had heard really good reviews about the autobiography of Keith Richards, so I took the plunge and bought it on audio format as part of a buy one, get one for free deal. It started well, dealing with Keith's childhood and how tough things were growing up in post-war Britain. There are great passages about his parents, his schooldays and the music that influenced him back then, and which still does today. Also, the birth of the Rolling Stones and their very early days is a great read too. However, I found myself becoming completely bored by the endless sections about Keith's drug taking ... as well as the conveyor belt of "chicks" that he, and the rest of the band indulged in while on the road. I know that these things are very "rock and roll" and Keith has a well-deserved reputation for the former, but I found them to be the least interesting thing about him! Luckily these passages are interspersed with titbits about how various songs and albums came into being, and the tricks of the trade he learnt from others about playing the guitar the way he does. The process that Keith and Mick Jagger went through to produce such amazing songs as Jumping Jack Flash, Angie, etc, is fascinating. I wanted more of that and less of the rock and roll lifestyle which started to feel empty and soulless for all those involved or affected by it. One good thing about these sections are that Keith doesn't hold back on listing the casualties of this lifestyle as he goes along, nor about how grim it often is. Keith does quit the drugs (hoorah), but not the epic drinking (boo!), and works hard at his marriage and fatherhood and also trying to keep the Stone's together through some sticky years when the relationship between Mick and the rest of the band were incredibly strained. So then, Life, by Keith Richards, is a no-nonsense, warts and all autobiography in which I think you can really hear the author's voice ... and nowhere is this more true than in the last section of the audio edition where Keith takes over from Johnny Depp to narrate his own story.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 640 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.