Project 1001: Two Book Reviews

My two 1001 Books projects have got off to a flying start.  From my adult list, I picked up Michel Faber's Under the Skin, which I received for Christmas.  I was already a Faber fan before starting this novel, the fourth of his that I have read.  And it's completely unlike the others, being dramatically different in tone and content to his more famous work The Crimson Petal and the White. 

The story opens with Isserley, who spends her time driving along the roads of the Scottish Highlands, looking to pick up male hitch-hikers, but only the large, muscular ones.  Apart from that, there's nothing else I could say about this novel without ruining how unexpected, different, surprising and chilling it is. There's so much I could rave about, particularly concerning Faber's brilliant use of language, but the reveal in this book is so wonderful that I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone.  Just trust me when I say that it is an amazingly gripping book, one that will lodge into your brain.  There's one scene in particular that I can not get out of my head, and that has made me completely re-evaluate a certain aspect of my life.  Under the Skin is a book that seeks to challenge and confront, and it does so very cleverly.  It's a book I will remember and think about for years to come. If you like thrillers, sci-fi, or books about ethical issues, you really need to pick this one up. 5 out of 5 stars.

From my children's list, my first selection was Lian Hearn's Across the Nightingale Floor, mainly because it was readily available in my library.  The main character, Takeo, is a member of a secretive religious group called the Hidden in a fantasy world based on Japan, when he witnesses the massacre of his friends and family. Escaping with the assistance of the mysterious Lord Otori, Takeo comes to learn more about his past, and the supernatural talents he has inherited from his ancestors.  When he discovers who is responsible for the massacres of the Hidden, and for the autocratic rule large parts of the island are suffering under, he becomes involved in a plot to assassinate the tyrannical Lord Iida.

Across the Nightingale Floor is best described as a crossover novel between YA and adult.  It's shelved in the adult section of my library but the two main protagonists are teenagers, and a lot of the plot deals with Takeo finding out who he is and what is important to him.  What I liked about the novel was that Hearn didn't shy away from darker issues or pretend that everything was always going to be OK.  Death and grief are handled sensitively but straight-forwardly, without talking down to the reader at all.

I enjoyed reading Across the Nightingale Floor, as it's always good to find fantasy set in non-Western contexts.  I liked reading about the belief systems of the people in Hearn's worlds, and the different approaches to marriage and politics.  Although the beginning and end sections of the novel were pacy and engaging, the plot did seem to lag in the middle, and sometimes I had trouble keeping track of who was related to who, and what others thought of them, as there was much in the way of intrigue going on.  Still, I enjoyed it enough to want to continue with the series.  3.5 out of 5 stars.

Blood of the Lamb by Sam Cabot

Father Thomas Kelly, a Jesuit priest, is happily based at a university when he is called to Rome by his former mentor.  A mysterious yet important document, the Concordant, has gone missing from the Vatican Library and must be recovered at all costs.  Kelly sets to work alongside an art historian, Livia, who claims to be representing a group who are just as interested in recovering the Concordant as the Vatican are.  But Livia has her own secrets, and the contents of the document are powerful enough to shake Kelly's faith to it's foundations.

Blood of the Lamb is marketed as The Historian meets The Da Vinci Code, so I was keen to get my hands on it as soon as possible!  There are certainly massive similarities with The Da Vinci Code; in both a male lead uncovers a deeply buried religious secret with the help of a female sidekick, but happily I found Cabot's writing much better than Brown's.  Despite there being a supernatural element to the story (the comparison to The Historian is a big clue), the mythology of the supernatural community felt authentic enough for the book to somehow pull off being realistic.

In addition to this, Cabot weaves in enough twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes.  I don't read many thrillers but I love intelligent, well written ones like this.  In fact, until about 97% of the way through the book, I was convinced that I had found a new favourite.  I loved everything about it, from the plot to the characters and the writing.  But then something happens in the end that stretches the credulity of the reader to breaking point and consequently, the whole story feels false.  The ending just went too far and unfortunately it ruined the book for me.  Honestly, it felt a bit silly.

The ending makes Blood of the Lamb hard to review and rate.  I do think the book had many, many positive features but they were ultimately over-shadowed by a bad ending.

Source: From the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: 6th August 2013

Score: 3 out of 5

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Cathy Bailey meets Lee one day at a nightclub and for a while, everything is perfect.  Their relationship is good and all her friends are jealous that Cathy has found someone to settle down with.  But then things start to change.  The signs are small at first - minor jealousy about Cathy going out on her own, a ridiculous suggestion that she give up her job so as to be always there when he has a day off, direct suggestions about what to wear.  But Lee becomes increasingly controlling, taking away Cathy's passport, following her around town and finally becoming violent.  Cathy's caught in a net with no one to turn to as all her friends think Lee is wonderful, that she's lucky to have such a man.  She starts to plan a desperate escape but the violence in the relationship is escalating - will Cathy ever be able to break away?

Psychological thrillers are not something I am generally familiar with, I chose to read this one as I wanted something fast, gripping and escapist to stop me thinking about going back to work!  And Into the Darkest Corner certainly did what I had hoped it would; it sucked me into the story and had me turning the pages as fast as I could to find out what would happen to Cathy.  I am very fortunate to have never experienced domestic violence but for the millions of people across the world who have, Into the Darkest Corner will definitely strike a chord.  Haynes does a good job of portraying how abuse and control slowly creep in, how Lee slowly isolates Cathy from everyone around her so she has no way of leaving him.  He charms her friends to the extent that no one will believe how horrific his behaviour really is.  At first Cathy doesn't even notice the small signs of abuse and the build up is realistic to the extent it's sometimes painful to read.  You want to jump into the book and shout at Cathy to run away without looking back.

Into the Darkest Corner has an unusual structure.  Short sections about Cathy's relationship with Lee are alternated with sections about Cathy's life much later on.  Although this removes some of the tension as we immediately know Cathy survives it also creates tension as the later version of Cathy is clearly physically and emotionally damaged.  She suffers with OCD, particularly relating to checking her flat is secure, is constantly looking over her shoulder for Lee to hunt her down and is unable to properly take care of herself or enjoy life.  She's covered in scars and for the reader the questions from the opening sections are 'what happened to Cathy to leave her like this?  How did the relationship finally end?'  Wanting to find out the answers to these questions kept me reading as quickly as possible, this book was never boring.

The writing in Into the Darkest Corner isn't fantastic or particularly beautiful, but that isn't what this book is about.  It's all about the story and suspense and fear and these parts are executed very well by Haynes.  Anyone who enjoys thrillers would appreciate this book, particularly those who liked S.J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep as there are lots of similarities in style.

Source: Kindle (personal copy)
First Published: 2011
Score: 4 out of 5

Cold Lonely Couarge by Soren Paul Petrek

This is the first review book I have had where I have been directly approached by the author, so reviewing it will be a new experience for me.  Cold Lonely Courage tells the story of Madeline, a young French woman who becomes desperate for revenge during WW2 after her brother is killed and she is raped.  Along with a cast of supporting characters, we follow her as she is trained to be a British Special Op spy and then becomes involved in the war effort against Germany.

Petrek is a good writer.  The first few chapters did feel a bit stilted but it soon picked up and was an enjoyable read.  I didn't feel obliged to pick it up and read it; I enjoyed it.  The chapters were short, but this fit with the thriller genre and made reading easy.  The story idea was good too, and I could tell that lots of historical research had gone into writing the novel.

However, the problem I had with this book was the characters.  Apart from the German police officers Willi and Stenger, everyone was either good or evil, with not much in between.  I found it hard to believe that Madeline could ever go back to being a normal person, that she wouldn't have been deeply affected by what she was doing.  The romance part felt a bit like an uncessary add-on, as the thriller sections were much more enjoyable.  Things tied together a bit too neatly, especially compared to the gritty realism I was expecting.

Verdict: An enjoyable read but not the book for me personally
Score: 2.5 out of 5
Source: From the author, in exchange for an honest review

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

After reading Emma, which required a bit of concentration at times, I decided I wanted something a bit more easy-going & face paced.  I read The Da Vinci Code a few years ago when everyone was going crazy for it, so when I saw this for £1.50 in a charity shop I couldn't resist.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: Harvard Professor Robert Langdon is called to the CERN scientific research facility when a scientist is murdered in a gruesome way linked to the Illuminati.  He uncovers a plot against the Vatican and must work against time to stop the worst from happening.

I very much enjoyed this book.  It was easy to read, and although I guessed who the 'bad guy' was about half way through, there were so many twists and turns that there were still surprises.  It was obviously well researched and quite complex things were explained clearly (especially to do with CERN).  While Langdon was a bit bland, lots of the more minor characters just leapt off the page and were both interesting and well written.

As with The Da Vinci Code, I thought it got a bit silly/unbelievable towards the end, but that's OK because I was enjoying the book.  The plot was better than the writing style, which was a bit corny at times (my favourite was: "Langdon didn't need to be a symbologist to interpret the signs Vittoria was giving him" - smooth!). 

My only real issue with the book was the main female character, Vittoria.  She was just too perfect to be believable - beautiful, best physicist in the world, randomly knows lots about the Vatican & the Illuminati, tough, never gets tired etc.  I thought that about the Da Vinci Code too, that the female characters Dan Brown writes are just too amazing to exist and despite of all Vittoria's intelligence, she's still just a side-kick.