Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
This is the fourth instalment in Robert Galbraith's (aka J.K. Rowling) detective series based on former war veteran and now PI, the fabulously named, Cormoran Strike. This book, Lethal White, picks up from the moment the last one ended – at Robin's imminent wedding and will she/won't she. From there, the novel then jumps to a year later, and a rather strained relationship between Strike and Robin has developed.
Before we can plume the depths of this, a new case presents itself, a new case that involves the blackmail of a current minister – the one responsible for the London Olympics as it happens. Seemingly unrelated to this is the strange tale of a young man who seeks Strike's services to uncover the mystery of a murder he saw years earlier. Intrigued and concerned, Strike cannot let this young man's request go, even if the story appears to be the product of a disordered mind.
As the case around the minister throws more leads that become increasingly complex and appear to be misdirections rather than aiding a resolution, it's not until a murder occurs that Strike and Robin understand they're dealing with desperate and dangerous people. So dangerous that, the closer they get to solving this tangled web others have weaved, the more other lives, including their own, are put in danger.
Once more, this is a slow-burn, gum-shoe detective story that relies heavily on old-fashioned plodding police and brain work rather than technological devices and DNA to be solved. Galbraith takes the reader into London, Westminster and the heart of dysfunctional families and relationships, including Strike's and Robin's in order to bring sense to this series of senseless crimes. Not only does London become as much a character as do the various homes and offices to which we're privy, but class plays a big role as well. The way Galbraith captures the smells and sounds of the city or class differences and prejudices with just a word or brief description is magical.
Longer than the other Strike novels. I absolutely loved losing myself in Robin and Strike's world and the differing viewpoints. Understanding how Robin and Strike regard each other, how they attribute certain motivation and even actions, is really well done. So too is seeing how they operate successfully and unsuccessfully in their relationships with others. Causing pain or having it inflicted upon them seems to be par for the course for these integrity-rich pair. You'll find yourself bleeding for them as what's apparent quickly to the reader takes longer to become clear to the one in the thick of it. Nevertheless, you champion their decisions and actions – even wrong ones – because you know they come from either a good place or they're the right ones for them at that time. This is what Galbraith has given the reader – characters that live and breathe on the page and thus ring emotionally true. We care deeply.
Equal parts frustrating and rewarding, the further we get into the main tale, the more complicated and twisty it becomes, but never does Galbraith lose the plot. She also manages to expose the vulnerabilities and fears of her main characters without weakening them – on the contrary, their foibles give them additional strengths and make them so very human.
I was so disappointed when I finished this book. Not so much because the plot was amazing (which it was), but because it's so very easy to care for Strike and Robin and want to be a part of their world. I guess even for a short time is better than none.
But now I have to wait so long for the next book… again, waiting is better than having nothing to wait for. Another fabulous read.
Tags: class, Cormoran Strike, danger, detectives, infidelity, J.K. Rowling, Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, London Olympics, love, marriages, mental health, murder, relationships, Robin
3rd Sep 2018
Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland
A book about a second-hand bookshop with a quirky owner and the dry, snippy young woman who has sentences from books tattooed on various parts of her body who works for him? Set in England? With a mystery and, maybe, a love story as well? With references to literary and genre greats? That celebrates the written word? What's not to love? Certainly, the wonderfully titled Lost for Words is a book to capture your heart.
Centred on Loveday Cardew, a woman with a mysterious past and an inability to speak of it, we follow her slow awakening to trust and her dark memories. Invited to a poetry reading – more a slam contest – in an old pub in the village where she works, Loveday attends against her better judgement. Listening to the words of others, and one person in particular, Loveday finds herself, as many of us do through the power of words, transported and moved. Over time, she slowly begins to understand she's not the only one with an uncomfortable past and memories she's tried to forget. Nor is she the only person afraid of heartbreak and loneliness.
But it's not until, through a great act of courage and sacrifice, that Loveday learns the most important lesson of all.
Beautifully written and filled with whimsical, clever and unforgettable characters, this is a rich and haunting book that will move and charm you and often both at the same time. When I'd finished it, there was a sense of loss so great, I almost started reading it again so I didn't have to leave this wonderful world Stephanie Butland has created. Delightful and deep.
Tags: books, friendship, literature, Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland, memories, poetry, relationships, romance, second-hand books, trust
2nd Jul 2018
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
Encouraged by son to read this book, I have to say, it's been a while since I've been so thoroughly fascinated, challenged, made to feel worried, guilty, ashamed and then infuriated by my reading material, and often in the course of a page.
The sequel to his phenomenal Homo Sapiens, in Homo Deus, Harari writes about where humans were in history, what we've become and where we might be heading. Drawing on a range of discoveries and thoughts in fields as diverse as the sciences, economics, philosophy, psychology, politics, humanism, liberalism, religion etc. he posits a series of facts alongside possible scenarios and invites the reader to think – deeply. Going back into early history, when humans formed an agricultural and quite violent society, he takes us forward to where we are now, a species that values not just information, but our ability to access and share it. Whereas once upon a time power was contingent on having access to a range of organic and the kind of resources that could develop strong (as in mighty) cultures, Harari argues that nowadays, alongside some traditional forms of power, knowledge is the key. He argues that historians study the past not to repeat it, but be liberated from it.
Some of the most thought-provoking and disturbing parts of the book, for me anyhow, were what he revealed about human's relationships with animals. I felt sickened and deeply disturbed by what he reveals and I found it shored up some personal decisions. Likewise, I found his contention (based on research and scientific evidence) that humans are basically, like all sentient beings, simply a series of algorithms at once perplexing and basic, fascinating. It's this idea, mainly (but not exclusively) that leads him to posit that the new religion of Dataism might be our future. After all, if all we are as humans is a series of sophisticated algorithms, like other creatures with which we share the planet but who we currently feel are less sophisticated than us, what's to stop computers, those powerful processors of data/algorithms in one day governing us? Might we, as intelligence and consciousness are uncoupled, go the way of the Dodo and other animals we have helped to extinction?
It's a scary yet real notion and one which this book puts out there, along with some other very credible ideas, for us in the here and now to contemplate. Whether we want to change what could be a catastrophic future for all the creatures who share this planet with us is, in the end, up to us. It's a huge responsibility – are we up for the essential challenge?
Excellent brain food which I think will nonetheless give many some indigestion!
Tags: agriculture, animals, control, Dataism, diet, future, history, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Sapiens, oppression, philosophy, power, relationships, responsibility, science, sentient beings, slaughter, technology
Dark Skies, DCI Ryan #& LJ Ross
This is the last instalment in the DCI Ryan series currently available (at the end we're told to expect the next o ne early 2018). In this novel, DCI Ryan investigates the case of a body at the bottom of a reservoir. Found by a tourist doing a diving course, its discovery is timed with arrival of Ryan's wife, Anna, and a mini-bus-load of her masters' students engaged in a history study of the region. Since the body has been there at least 30 years and this appears to be a cold case, Ryan reassures Anna it's OK to continue with her history trip. Only, when more bodies start turning up, both Ryan and Anna come to deeply regret their initial decision she remain.
To make matters worse, Ryan's new boss who is also an old, unstable and manipulative flame, is making her presence felt, driving wedges in both friendships and professional practice. Not only does Ryan have an unhinged killer to deal with, but a woman scorned and Shakespeare warned us what they are like.
The book is tightly plotted and paced and hard to put down and I did really enjoy it. However, I am a little concerned that once again, there's a rotten cop in the shop determined to bring Ryan and what he's built down, and though The Hacker has gone, it's like a carbon copy of him has been resurrected. More caricature than believable, I am very interested to see if he will be fleshed out and become the threat Ross clearly intends. Likewise, with Ryan's boss, whose motives and actions seem so transparent, it's ridiculous he and his friends appear to be the only ones to see it!
Still, it's testimony to Ross' prose and how much you come to care for the main characters that you simply have to have resolution and keep turning the pages. The repetitions could also be regarded as clever narrative devices, and I will reserve judgment to see where these two antagonists take the tale.
The descriptions of the area the crimes occur in are delightful and there's no doubt, landscape becomes as much a character in this book. I would have liked to have more character to the villains and less reliance on repetition, but that's just me. I like shades of grey instead of black and white, clear cut "goodies" and "baddies." But I do enjoy this series and hope it's not long before the next book appears.
Tags: cold case, Dark Skies, DCI Ryan #& LJ Ross, drowning, friendships, loyalty, manipulation, Police, relationships, revenge, serial killer
Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty
I couldn't wait to read Liane Moriarty's latest novel, Truly, Madly, Guilty as I'm a huge fan of her work and have been really happy to see her finally getting the media attention she deserves here in Australia (even though readers of her books have known for years what a huge talent she is). The moment it downloaded on my Kindle, I put the other book I was reading on hiatus and commenced.
Did I regret doing that? To be frank, yes, and more than a little. Truly, Madly Guilty, though good, was not the smack you in the face with recognition and wonder that her other novels have been. While in many ways it starts (as Moriarty's books often do) with a close-knit cast of characters bound by either familial ties, personal history, neighbourhoods or professional bonds and, like Big Little Lies, has these people share a crisis, that's where the comparison ends.
The crisis that unites these people isn't made evident until halfway through the book. Until then, the reader is treated to both prolepses (flash forwards) and flashbacks to the day of the BBQ when IT all happened. We're privy to both the innocence and naivety of people coming together with all their oh-so-important anxieties and foibles and then the impact the crisis has upon them personally, as couples, families and friends and the differing perspectives it gives them: on life, themselves and each other.
In some ways, this novel is Big Little Lies Lite. There's no doubt Moriarty has a huge gift for pluming the depths of personal neuroses and what makes people and families tick or implode, but for some reason, for at least two-thirds of the novel, I didn't actually connect with or care much about the characters. Such an alien feeling with one of her novels, where I'm usually heavily invested in at least the characters and entwined in the plot as well. The book dragged in parts and I almost gave up on it, but this was a Moriarty and you don't put her aside for anything!
So, I didn't. I persevered. But, I wanted the book to hurry up and finish so I could get back the one I'd abandoned. However, the last third of the book goes a long way for compensating for the plodding and rather bland pace of the first part. Suddenly, the tempo quickens, characters' motivations are both exposed and explored and actions make sense. Most importantly, I felt empathy for the characters, even those I didn't much like. Finally, I understood them.
In some ways, this was just the right conclusion, if a little too late, to make up for what was a slow starting novel. But I did end up feeling really satisfied and not nearly as disappointed as I feared I would be.
The writing is still lovely and there are some real laugh out loud and poignant moments, but overall, I have to say, this was an OK read, not like her other books, a sensational one.
Tags: Big Little Lies, children, families, Guilty, Lian Moriarty, lies, Madly, relationships, secrets, Truly