A French idyll - I don't think so!

In Trespass, by Rose Tremain which I read in print, Anthony Verey, a disillusioned antiques dealer from London, goes to visit his beloved sister Veronica in southern France. After a few days, the old Anthony seems to be returning, and he realises he hasn't felt this positive about anything in a long time, so decides that he should try to capture this feeling for longer and starts looking for a house of his own. An isolated farmhouse really takes his eye - the Mas Lunel - but it is owned by the disturbingly shabby Aramon Lunel, who has a violent past. Within view is a poor looking bungalow owned by Aramon's sister, Audrun - who cannot tear herself away from this place despite being haunted by the events of the past. Little does Anthony realise that he is about to become centre stage in the familial battle between brother and sister. This is a really good book, and whilst the subject matter can be a little on the disturbing side at times, it feels anchored in reality and is believable. Love and hate - close companions in many families - is portrayed to stunning effect in this novel. It's definitely a page turner and I feel able to recommend it to you.

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 372 print pages.
Price I paid: 50p (from a charity shop)
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; Ebook.

Ken Follett - why have I not found you before now?

Let me tell you about The Key to Rebecca, by Ken Follett which I read as an ebook. It was gripping from the get go. With an incredibly evocative first line of "The last camel collapsed at noon" ... I was taken straight to the heat, dust and thirst of the desert and I just knew I was in for something special. It's 1942, and this is the story of the "Sphinx" (real name Alex Wolff), a German spy who arrives in Cairo with his radio transmitter and a copy of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. As his activities start to affect the course of the war in North Africa, one man is determined to catch him - Major William Vandam, an English intelligence officer. Egypt is a complex country, occupied by the British, but whose presence is resented by many of the local population. Rommel is out in the desert, bringing his panzers and troops nearer and nearer to Cairo, using the information provided by Wolff. Can Vandam save the country from being overrun? We have action, adventure, history, geography and a bit of romance thrown in for good measure. This is a great read - it zips along with vim and vigour and I found it hard to put down. If you like war time thrills and spills, this is definitely for you.

I had been getting a little dispirited with recent ebooks - but now I realise that this is not due to the format per se, but with the overwhelming temptation to download stacks of free books and give them a go. This is all very well, but there seems to be a fair amount of chaff before you get to any wheat! There are affordable gems in this format - and The Key to Rebecca is absolutely one of those (although I have noticed that the price has gone up since I purchased my copy). I have aleady downloaded another two Ken Follett books which were on offer this past weekend and I'm really looking forward to reading them.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 381 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.00 (was on offer the day I bought it).
Formats available: print; unabridged adio CD; unabridged audio download;

Mugby Junction - a book with a split personality

Mugby Junction, by Charles Dickens is, I discovered after reading it, a collection of short stories. I read it as an Ebook and felt that it was a bit up and down to say the least. I really enjoyed the first two sections which were based around a man who gets off the train at Mugby Junction one night and can't quite decide where to go from there. He reflects on his past, which includes a lost love and betrayal by his business partner. He befriends the signalman and his daughter. There is some good writing here and I enjoyed the exchanges particularly between the daughter and the main protagonist. However, this was followed by an exceptionally dull story of  the railway cafe at Mugby Junction. When reading it I couldn't work out why this odd tale was tagged onto the previous, but now I come to realise they were short stories which were linked (by the railway), but not dependent upon each other. I didn't really warm to this one at all. I'm really trying to get into your writing Mr Dickens, but you do make it hard at times. Other people seem to rate this title and maybe my edition didn't have all the stories of the print edition, but couldn't recommend it.

My STAR rating: TWO.

Length: 61 print pages.
Price: Free.
Formats available: print; ebook.

Is there Death after Death?

If you haven't read any Terry Pratchett, then I don't know what is holding you back. In Reaper Man, which I read in print, Pratchett is on form as we follow Death - a character we have experienced in other Discworld books - given the sack! The skeletal figure who had thought he would be there both at the beginning and end of time is suddenly faced with something that he has only been the witness to - mortality. In the time that he has left before the new DEATH is in place, he starts to work on a farm - using his scythe to harvest corn instead of people. Meanwhile, with the absence of death in the world, strange things start to happen, where inanimate objects become animate - look out for those shopping trolleys. Only those who aren't "traditionally" alive - zombies, vampires, werewolves - seem to have the tools to deal with this. On the farm, Death is a big hit with the locals, especially when he saves a little girl from a fire. He realises that he doesn't want "to end" and takes the fight to the gods who had decided his fate ... great book, lots of chuckles, and deep themes wrapped up in humour and sheer silliness. I love Terry Pratchett and know it won't be long 'til I grab another volume from his very special world!

My STAR rating: FOUR.
Price I paid: FREE (borrowed from my local library).
Formats available: print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; Ebook.

Nothing left to lose ... but my time!

I have mixed feelings about Nothing left to lose, by Stuart Allison, which I read as an ebook. By no means the best of books, but it was, nevertheless, a page turner. I was irritated by the poor quality of the text of the ebook edition which had both typo's and the odd sentence which didn't quite make sense. This thriller started with middle-aged Ian West contemplating wrapping his car around a tree, but thinking better of it. His life is a mess following the breakdown of his marriage and the resulting depression causes him to be sent home from his work as a history teacher. When an old student - the beautiful Lisa Mann - contacts him to ask for help with some research for a documentary, he decides that this distraction might be just what he needs. They embark on a journey to uncover the story of William Miller, an enigmatic Englishman who helped Hitler’s rise to power. As Ian and Lisa pick away at the story, it takes them from the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War to the gates of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. But when barriers to their research, and threats to their person start to materialise, it becomes clear that someone does not want them to uncover Miller’s story. Ian is determined to discover why and whilst he feels he has nothing left to lose, he is determined to protect both Lisa and his own family. There is a lot crammed into this book - it's almost a potted history of fascism in Europe - and it is hard to credit that one man (Miller) would have had such a journey. Unbelievable situations, together with characters that are not fully rounded made for a few tuts from me along the way. Yet, for all its faults, I really wanted to keep reading to find out what happened in the end. I think this book had great potential, and maybe with a bit more editing it could have been a triumph. As it is, it's a romp that won't tax the brain too much - so I can recommend it as an easy read with some thrills and spills along the way - high literature it is not.

My STAR rating: TWO

Length:260 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.44.
Formats available: Print; Ebook.

A re-awakening of political consciousness in Portugal

Pereira Maintains, by Antonio Tabucchi is an unusual book. It's written as if it is the report of a third party who has been interrogating the central character - Doctor Pereira - about his life. This brings a certain menace from the very beginning. Set in a sweltering summer of 1930's Portugal during the Spanish Civil War and the early days of the fascist regime in Germany, we find Doctor Pereira, editor of the cultural page of The Lisboa newspaper, just getting on with life. He talks to the photograph of his dead wife, eats omelettes almost exclusively and drinks lemonade, in between translating French stories into Portugese for the paper. That's pretty much it. Morbidly obese and with a heart problem, he is drifting along in his own little world until he meets a young couple who slowly but surely turn his life upside-down. They open his eyes to what is starting to happen in his own country and wake him up to  the insidious march of fascism - and that he can no longer turn a blind eye to it! I read this in audio with Derek Jacobi narrating, which was an absolute pleasure. He brought all the poetry of the text to life (this is translated from a Italian novel) and it slowly sucks you in and is an absolute pleasure to read. I will definitely seek out more books by this author who sadly died earlier this year.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 208 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; ebook; unabridged audio download.

Death of Kings ... a treat from the master of historical fiction

Ahhhh, Bernard Cornwell, you are an absolute hero. There are some writers that never seem to put a foot wrong. And Mr Cornwell is one of them ... at least in my eyes anyway. I have just finished Death of Kings, which I read in print. It is part of his Saxon series, which has Uhtred of Bebbanberg as it's main character. Uhtred is Saxon, but was brought up by Vikings and is still very much a Viking warrior at heart, despite him becoming embroiled in Alfred the Great's attempts to unite all the people of  England under one Saxon kingdom. In this book, we are at the end of Alfred's life - a man who Uhtred dislikes, but admires in equal measure - and the fear is that the Danes are going to exploit this event and take over Wessex and Mercia in the anticipated void that his death will leave. Uhtred is known and feared by the Danes, and hated by many of the men who Alfred had surrounded himself with - particularly the clergy. Uhtred readies himself for battle, but it doesn't come, despite the Danes not hiding the fact that they are amassing their forces around Chester. After surviving an ambush, and fighting for his place in the new King's court, the inevitable happens. Will Uhtred prevent disaster to the fledgling kingdom and be able to keep the hordes at bay? Fantastic writing brings the dirty, smelly and dangerous world of Uhtred and his contemporaries to life. I laughed and winced, and my heart rate went up in the heat of the battles. It's visceral stuff, and I simply can't get enough of it. I raced through this book and am gutted to have finished it so quickly. Come on Bernard, writing one book a year is just not enough!

My STAR rating: FIVE

Length: 335 print pages.
Price I paid: Free - borrowed from my local library.
Other formats available: Ebook; audio CD; audio download.