Book 80: Under the Dome

This is the last in my Cannonball Read books for this year, and I doubt I’ll be doing it again. Still didn’t make it to 100, but I did better than last year and more than met my target of 52, so I’m happy.

For my last one I went with more Stephen King, since I’d been on a bit of a roll with him and had really enjoyed the books I’d read recently. I imagined that Under the Dome would be similar to The Stand, an epic novel I could get my teeth into with characters I would follow and be sad to leave behind. Sadly, I was wrong. I was so disappointed by this book. It took me forever to get into it, the writing felt lazy and wasn’t remotely engaging, and I was tempted to give up several times. It really didn’t pick up until the last third, and at a book this size that’s really not a good thing.

The small town of Chester’s Mill is suddenly and myteriously enclosed within a dome one Saturday afternoon, a dome that is unpenetrable and causes devastation as it falls – killing many of the town’s inhabitants and cutting off others from their loved ones. Dale Barbara, or Barbie as he is known, was on his way out of town after a fight with some locals, but was trapped before he could leave. Junior Rennie spends the first few hours of the Dome oblivious as he commits murders and hides the bodies. His father, Jim Rennie, is a used car salesman and second selectman, using his influence to bully the townspeople while funneling funds and supplies into a meth lab. As the Dome continues, Big Jim takes over, employing new policemen, causing a food riot and many more problems in his quest to run the town. Barbie is appointed the man in charge by the military, but is soon arrested and in danger of being executed to shut him up and keep him out of the way.

A whole lot of not much else happens, as it felt like much could have been omitted to make it more interesting and quicken the pace. There are a lot of characters to keep up with, but none of them are that distinguishable from each other, especially in the beginning, so it’s hard to care as much as you probably should. Plus Barbie is behind bars for a good chunk of the book and therefore outside much of the action, which doesn’t help matters. Yes there are other characters, but to me he was the main one we were following and rooting for, and his absence did have an impact on my enjoyment. I also had issues with Rennie and his power over everyone and how limited their response was to him. He’s just a man, and yet people are afraid of him, and he manages to assert his influence and bring the town to its knees in less than a week. Yes people would be afraid, but enough to completely lose their minds and follow someone like Rennie? Especially as he comes across as so blatently untrustworthy? I just didn’t buy it. I understand trying to make the story more engaging and have a villain, but it didn’t work for me. I did find him hateful and wished someone would put a bullet in his head, but when people kept trying to bring him down yet were completely inept at doing so, I got bored. How many times can you lose an envelope with incriminating evidence? And don’t even get me started on the dog’s point of view… And then you don’t even get a big final confrotnation between the ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ of the town, it ends with a total whimper. You can’t string your audience along for almost 1000 pages and have your main adversaries end up on opposite sides of town not knowing or caring what happened to each other. Talk about frustrating.

I feel like the story had a lot of potential, but it didn’t live up to it, and it never really goes anywhere. It just limps along for an age and then has a cop out ending. So not what I was expecting from King, and a lame way to end my Cannonball Read.

Book 79: Stargirl

A colleague kindly lent this to me saying I had to read it, but the book itself gave little away. The cover was bubblegum pink with a white stick figure drawing of a girl with a star over her head. How can you not want to read a book as cute as that?

Written by Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl is narrated by Leo, a 16 year old boy living in Mica, a small town in Arizona. Mica is pretty ordinary and not a lot happens, until Stargirl arrives at school. She wears odd clothes, preferring long pioneer dresses and other costumes, sets a tablecloth and flower on her school desk, and carries around her pet rat Cinnamon. She plays her ukulele at lunch and sings happy birthday to people she doesn’t know. Initially the students are captivated by her and she becomes popular, even being asked to join the cheerleaders, surrounded by kids at lunch and put in the ‘Hot Seat,’ a TV programme Leo directs. But slowly opinion turns against Stargirl. She’s just too different, too weird. She cheers for the other team at games, she attends funerals of people she doesn’t know, and she starts to unnerve her classmates, to the point where they shun her, refusing to speak to her or acknowledge her existence.

During all this, Leo is slowly falling for Stargirl, and she makes it known she likes him too. They spend time together and become a couple, leading to him being shunned by his friends also. Leo feels he has to choose, and can’t take being cut off. He begins to resent Stargirl’s differences, and asks her to please try and act like other kids. And so she does, she dresses like them, she doesn’t cheer for the other team, but nothing she does is good enough and the others won’t accept her. She reverts back to Stargirl and Leo gives up, something he will regret for a long time.

This is such a sweet and lovely book. It’s very short and can be read in a few hours, and is easy to disappear into. In the beginning I wondered whether I was going to be confronted with some sort of ‘message of the week,’ you know, love yourself as you are and everything will be ok, or some such thing. I thought it might be very heavy handed in the way it put this message across. I’m glad I was wrong. It didn’t end how I thought it would at all, and is very moving in the resolution it does give. I had a lump in my throat for much of the last third. And I loved Stargirl, odd though she may be. I don’t think she comes across as unbelievable, or like she couldn’t actually exist outside a novel. She was just original enough. And even though Leo’s actions frustrated me some, I could understand why he behaved that way, and how much they, and Stargirl, affected him for a long time afterward.

I’ve just found out that there is a sequel, and so that’s definitely going on my wishlist. I just hope it’s as good as this one.

Book 78: The Final Detail

It’s a bog standard Myron Bolitar novel from Harlan Coben. Following on from One False Move, Myron has escaped in his grief to a remote Caribbean island with a woman he just met, Terese Collins (who shows up in a later book where we finally learn why she’s so secretive). When Win tracks him down with urgent news Myron must say goodbye to his tranquil island and head back to real life. His best friend and partner in MB Sports Reps, Esperanza, has been arrested for killing one of their clients. Clu Haid, a baseball pitcher and old friend of Myron, has been shot, and evidence links Esperanza to the crime. She won’t talk to Myron about what happened, or say why, which leads him to suspect she may have had something to do with the murder after all, even if he doesn’t want to believe it.

Esperanza asks Myron not to do what he usually does, namely stick his nose in and investigate, but of course he can’t help himself. He’s also been sent a strange computer disk in the mail with a gruesome image on it, which links to the disappearance of a wealthy family’s daughter. There’s always a wealthy family mixed up in these things. Myron gets beat up a bit, needs Win’s help, and of course ultimately solves the case and decades old mystery he was inadvertently caught up in.

Nothing new or exciting from Coben here. You read enough of these and the same patterns emerge. They’re very quick, turn-your-brain-off reads, and enjoyable for the most part, but most of it you’ll have seen before.

Book 77: Juliet, Naked

My next few book reviews might be a bit short, since a) I’m behind and so will have forgotten much about what I read by the time I write them and b) Pajiba seem to have lost interest in the Cannonball Read, with no new reviews being posted and the totals not being updated. To be fair, a good number of those who signed up to participate never wrote a single review, so the number to choose from dwindled. But still, there’s not much point going into a lot of detail if it’s just for here. Maybe selling myself short but never mind. Life is hectic and I don’t have much time. Plus I’ve already hit my target for this year and then some. Anyway, on to the book.

Looking at his list of works, it seems I have read every book written by Nick Hornby except About a Boy. I haven’t done this on purpose, but I guess I must like his writing, whether I knew it or not.

In Juliet, Naked, Annie lives with her boyfriend of 15 years, Duncan. They live in a dreary little town in northern England where not a lot happens and Annie works in a museum, attempting to put together an exciting exhibition on 1964, and all she’s got to show are various pictures of a dead shark in decay. Duncan is obsessed with the music of Tucker Crowe who disappeared some years ago, allegedly after an incident in a toilet, and Duncan runs a website where other obsessives can gather and discuss Tucker’s music and theories about his whereabouts.

Duncan receives a new album based on Tucker’s famous album, Juliet. What becomes known as Juliet, Naked is the early recordings, and Duncan is overwhelmed and claims it the greatest thing since sliced bread. Annie, having listened to Duncan go on and on about Tucker for years and endured a trip around the States on a Tucker Tour, listens to the album and writes her own review of it on Duncan’s site, setting in motion a chain of events which lead to Duncan finally meeting his hero and bringing about the end of her relationship.

I really enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and often very funny with its observations. Hornby does a great job of making his characters extremely flawed and at times incredibly unlikable, but have you still like and root for them. Tucker especially is irresponsible and selfish and, often, a complete mess, and yet I really liked him, and more so his relationship with his young son Jackson. Duncan is less easy to like, as he’s obsessive and somewhat fickle, but he didn’t irritate me too much.

The only problem I had with the book was the ending. It seemed to come about very suddenly and…weirdly, for want of a better way to put it. It felt like there should have been more to it, as there’s not much of a resolution. Also, Annie seems to go off the rails a bit and we don’t get to see her put her life back together, it’s just done. Maybe it’s a good thing that I wanted more, but the ending was a bit of a let down after I’d enjoyed the rest of it so much.

Book 76: The Tapestry of Love

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton is not a book I would usually pick up if I saw it in a bookshop, especially at the moment when I seem to only be in the mood for quick reads and page-turners with lots of surprises. This isn’t that kind of book, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. The book follows Catherine Parkstone as she leaves her life in England and moves to a small village in France to set up her own business. She has been divorced for some years and her children are grown up and have left home. It’s time to do what she’s been dreaming of, starting a new life in the place she visited as a child. Initially things go well, and though her new home is isolated, she has a few welcoming neighbours who extend their help and friendship. One neighbour in particular, the enigmatic Patrick Castagnol, makes an impression, and more so when Catherine’s sister Bryony comes to visit. However, things don’t always run smoothly, and Catherine has to battle with French bureaucracy that sends her in circles as she tries to make a go of her business.

As I said, this is a slower paced book than I am used to, and it’s incredibly detailed as it describes Catherine’s home, the food she shares with friends and neighbours, and her tapestry work. The writing is accomplished and it’s easy to read, but not a lot happens plot-wise, and it took me a while to get into it. That said, it seems less about what is happening and more focused on the characters themselves and their interactions, and in this it succeeds, allowing you to get to know them slowly as the book progresses. I did like Catherine and it was easy to root for her and follow her journey, she’s very sympathetic and by the end I was moved by her story and of those around her.

It’s also not too predictable; you think you might know where it’s going and then something else is added to the mix to throw you off. And I liked how the main focus of the book wasn’t romance. There are aspects of it of course, but Catherine and her relationship with her new home, neighbours and family back in England make up much more of the story, and this makes a nice change. It’s refreshing also that Catherine isn’t portrayed in the usual ‘fish out of water’ sense. She’s smart, and careful and is respectful of the country she has moved to. She speaks the language and doesn’t expect anyone to make special allowances for her, she just does her best to fit in, takes advice from the locals and gets on with things. It could have been tempting to take the easy route and have her clash with those around her and have all sorts of ‘humorous’ escapades, but thankfully Rosy Thornton went in a quieter direction.

I would say that this is not a book to be read as I did, dipping in and out on public transport. It’s the sort of book you need to spend time with, curl up in a favourite chair, cup of tea in hand, and disappear into for a few hours.

Book 75: The Yorkshire Pudding Club

The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson is Chick Lit in the extreme. Now, I’m not against Chick Lit, though I don’t know how I feel about its name, and some of the books that get lumped in with it are very good indeed. And sometimes you just need a nice, easy to read book that you know is going to have a nice ending. This wasn’t what I’d call ‘high-brow’ Chick Lit; it was frothy, silly, predictable and nobody’s actions had any consequences at all. But it was enjoyable gumph, I’ll give it that,

The book follows three best friends, Elizabeth, Janey and Helen, who have known each other since school and are now approaching 40. In the beginning they all sit on a fertility symbol while having a picnic, as Helen is desperate to get pregnant. But ha ha, the joke’s an them as all three find themselves knocked up, and the other two aren’t especially happy about it. Janey is married but happily working her way up in her career and doesn’t think a baby is what she wants. Elizabeth is frosty and not good with emotions after a difficult childhood, and the father isn’t in the picture. And then there’s Helen, who on the face of it has a picture perfect marriage, but behind closed doors we see her husband Simon as controlling, patronising and, well, a bit of a dick. He’s not that interested in having a baby at all, as it will disrupt his lifestyle.

The main reason I picked up this book was that it had Yorkshire Pudding in the title and was mostly set in Barnsley, where I am from. It added to my amusement some when the author would write words that I would use, very Barnsley-esque words, and I’d wonder how readers not from Barnsley would find them. Thankfully she didn’t go the whole hog and try to write the entire dialogue in our oh so awesome dialect, as even I would have found that tiresome.

As I said earlier, nothing bad really happens in this book. Just yelled at your horrid boss and told him to shove his job, only to find you’re pregnant and in no position to be unemployed? No problem, someone will give you a job not long after and be an amazing boss and not mind at all you’re pregnant. Told the man you loved to get lost because you’re scared and had a shit dad? Meh, he’ll come back 15 years later, buy you lots of things for the baby that isn’t his and build you your dream house. Found out your horrible husband is having an affair and left to raise your baby on your own? Nevermind, you’ll only be sad for about a day and then be totally fine and find a new man who was waiting in the wings patiently and perfect for you all along. There’s never any danger that any of these women will be left alone and pregnant with no job, having to live off the dole (which I am sure happens a fair bit in Barnsley. Ahem.)

Still, it’s a very quick read and the characters are given enough about them so you want to find out what happens in the end, or just whether you’re right about what you think will happen. I did have problems with Helen’s husband Simon. I am sure there are men out there that are like that to some degree, belittling and mainly wanting a wife for show (sort of), but there was no other side to him, it was all so over the top that it was hard to believe anyone would put up with it. Nothing he did was all that underhand or manipulative, he was just horrid. Where was the part of him that could be loving or asking for forgiveness for his behaviour? Just anything to make me see what Helen saw in him, or why she felt she couldn’t leave him. What about him made her fall in love with him and stay in love with him to the point she’d put up with what she does? There’s nothing there to explain it, and it’s extremely frustrating to have to read through the bits where she meekly goes along with whatever he says. Yes, she finally does stand up to him, but it’s a long time coming.

Still, overall not a terrible read. It would probably make for an excellent beach/holiday book.

Books 72-74: The Hunger Games Trilogy

I should note that there will be spoilers in here if you haven’t read the books.

16 year old Katniss Everdeen lives in a future where the United States has become Panem, a country of 12 districts surrounding the all powerful Capitol. The citizens of the districts work for the Capitol, under the rule of President Snow, living harsh lives with those of District 12 on the brink of starvation. This is Katniss’ district. She survives by hunting with her best friend Gale, and risks being tortured or killed if she is caught. Every year the Capitol holds The Hunger Games, part entertainment for the Capitol’s residents, and part a reminder of its power. Years ago District 13 rose up and tried to overthrow the Capitol, and as punishment each district must put forward one boy and one girl each year as tributes. These tributes will fight to the death in an arena especially built for that specific games, with the last one standing being named victor.

The Hunger Games begins on the day of the reaping, when the names are pulled from a box to decide who will go into the Games. Some children have more chances than others, as they put their name in extra in order to get food and other supplies. Katniss is horrified when her younger sister Prim’s name is called, and she immediately volunteers to go in her place. With hardly any time for goodbyes, Katniss is whisked off to the Capitol to be prepared for the Games, along with the boy tribute, Peeta. They go into the arena with 22 other tributes, and the battle for survival begins. Initially alone, Katniss makes alliances, faces unknown terrors, and possibly finds love.

The second book is Catching Fire. After her act of rebellion at the end of the Hunger Games, Katniss must pretend to be in love with Peeta, for fear of sparking rebellion amongst the other districts. While on their victory tour they must appear to be wildly in love or face President Snow’s wrath. Returning home, they learn that the 75th Hunger Games will be different, as it is a Quarter Quell. In the past these have included doubling the number of tributes, but this time the only ones eligible to be picked are former victors. Barely free of the Games for a year, Katniss will be going back in to the arena, but this time she is determined to keep Peeta alive.

In Mockingjay Katniss learns that District 12 has been destroyed, and she has been rescued from the Games by the supposedly obliterated District 13. There she learns of the rebellion and joins the fight to take down the Capitol and Snow once and for all. Her role is that of the Mockingjay, a symbol for the people to latch on to. But she can’t let go of Peeta and the fact that he has been captured by Snow, and probably tortured. When he is rescued by the rebels, she is overjoyed at his return, but he is not the Peeta he used to be. Now they, along with Gale and others in the rebellion, are going into the Capitol to take down Snow. In a city lined with pods of booby traps, Katniss is still not free of the Games that haunt her dreams. She must also make a choice between two loves, her best friend Gale, and Peeta, who no longer knows what is real or made up. And there is a final betrayal she will never recover from.

I know I’m at least ten years outside the demographic for these books, what with them being Teen Fiction, but I loved them. I’m so glad I came to them late so I didn’t have to wait each time for the next book to come out, I’d never have made it. I ended up reading them one after the other, and I couldn’t put them down. However, as I neared the end I stopped reading as much, even though I was desperate to know how they ended, because I didn’t want them to be over, I didn’t want to leave Katniss and the other characters behind.

Katniss is not necessarily an easy character to like, even though the books are told from her perspective, and you’re rooting for her to survive. She can be cold and calculating, bossy and say things without thinking. She’s oblivious to a lot of other people’s feelings, especially Gale and Peeta, but then she has had other things on her mind growing up, needing to concentrate on her own survival and that of her family. But she’s also fiercely loyal, smart and strong. She would give up her own life to save others, and to bring down the Capitol’s regime. I thought she was a very interesting character, and loved her even with her faults.

I was less keen on Peeta in the beginning. He’s a bit wet really, all this talk of love and ‘If you die I have nothing to live for.’ Oh grow a spine boy and get over it. I was very much rooting for Gale, and his silent love of Katniss. But then Collins totally turned it around on me. As soon as Peeta returned in Mockingjay and wasn’t himself, with his memories of Katniss abused and distorted, I wanted him back. For her. I wanted her to have something good to cling to. Plus Gale never really got going as a character, he isn’t given much to do. Having said that her choice at the end, and all that comes with it, her associations with Prim and Gale…they are heartbreaking.

These are possibly the most addictive books I’ve ever read. Collins manages to keep the suspense going all the way through, but especially in The Hunger Games. There are so many terrible things that happen, and even though I knew she must survive because there were other books to come, that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried for her at times. There are so many things for her to face. Collins doesn’t pull any punches either. This is war, and war is painful. There will be casualties, and not of the Red Shirt kind either. You feel so many of the deaths, for what they mean to Katniss, but also what they mean to you, having followed these people through the books and got to know them. They’re hard, and yes I totally cried at the end of the last book.

One of the things I liked most about the books, along with the wildly imaginative world that has been created, is the writing style. It’s plain and to the point, while still giving us great insight into Katniss’ character. It’s not flowery, it’s not filled with a thesaurus worth of adjectives (unlike some writers I could mention), and yet it is incredibly moving. I could probably go on and on, because I’m sad to let go, geek that I am, but I’ll end with a: Read these. If you’re remotely interested in kick-ass heroines, post-apocalyptic worlds and insanely addictive reads, these are for you.

Book 71: The Stand

This book is a monster. I got The Complete & Uncut Edition, not on purpose, it was just what came from the library, and it’s huge. 1300+ pages, like carrying around a brick in your bag. I don’t know how it compares to the original edition, as I had never read it, but I’m not sure whether some of it was really necessary, or if Stephen King was being a little bit indulgent. I have wanted to read this since I watched the mini series back in the 90s, but never got around to it until now. I’d really like to watch that again after reading this.

The Stand begins with a man fleeing a military base with his wife and child, just before the base shuts down. There has been some sort of breach, which the man thinks he has escaped, until he crashes into a gas station in a small town in Texas. Stu Redman witnesses this, and the fallout that follows, as the infection spreads and he and his fellow townspeople are quarantined. The virus looks initially like a common cold, but soon proves to be fatal to around 99% of the population. The book then follows the infection and its impact on specific characters. Frannie Goldsmith is a college student who has just discovered she is pregnant when the virus hits. After her parents die she teams up with the only other survivor in her town, teenager Harold Lauder, the brother of her best friend. She doesn’t particularly like Harold, as he is quite grotesque and a know-it-all, but his knowledge does come in useful. They team up with Stu along the way, against Harold’s wishes.

Other characters slowly become aware of he spreading infection. Larry Underwood is about to make it big in music, and he returns home to his mother in New York to sort out his life. Nick Andros is a deaf-mute, attacked in a small town and staying on to put his attackers in jail when the virus reaches there, leaving him in charge of his prisoners. He later meets up with Tom Cullen, a gentle giant with the mind of a child. And then there’s Nadine Cross, a woman with a secret destiny, tied to a man she has been afraid of most of her life.

As they try to survive and make their way across the United States, all of them have dreams, pulling them in a certain direction. Sometimes they dream of Mother Abagail, an extremely old woman waiting for them in her home, to lead them on to Boulder where they will gather and regroup. But there are also the dreams of the Dark Man, the Walking Dude, Randall Flagg, dreams of terror they cannot escape. As they try to rebuild in Boulder, it becomes clear that the Dark Man means war, and that eventually they will have to fight him, in a battle between good and evil, the survivors will make their stand.

I found this really easy to get into, as King’s writing style is very accessible, and he puts you into the action straight away. There’s no big lead up, just a man on the run and the dawning horror that the majority of the people you meet are going to be dead soon. I loved the early chapters, meeting the survivors and learning the stories, becoming attached to them, and following them on their journey. There is real peril in their stories, and you know early on that not everyone is going to make it. There’s a great attention to detail in describing their lives, losses, and deaths. I especially liked the section where we get snippets of other survivors, and how so many died after the initial wave of deaths was over, from their own actions – getting locked in a freezer, firing a defective gun, falling down a well, etc. Living through the virus is no indication that you’ll make it to the end of the story.

I was really enjoying it until around two thirds of the way through, when it stalled a bit for me. There’s a large part that focuses on their rebuilding of society and putting together a committee, turning on the power and bringing back law and order, and while all this is necessary for them to survive, it lost some of the intimacy of the earlier chapters, and became a little dull. It felt like it was treading water until the revelation of the traitors in their midst, and the need to go out and confront Flagg in his territory. Once this happened the pace picked up again, as did the dread.

This version added in a big chunk about the Trashcan Man and The Kid, and while I understand the desire to add more context, especially to Trashy who has such an important role within the novel, I was again a little bored by this section. I had no real interest in The Kid and it didn’t add anything to the story for me. I just wanted to get back to the other survivors and carry on with their stories.

I am sure there has been a lot written about this book, especially of its depiction of good and evil, and I won’t even try to analyse it in that way. I will say though that for a book named ‘The Stand’ the actual face off at the end was a little anti-climactic. I’m not sure what I was expecting, just something more. I had followed these characters an awfully long way, and the way some of them went out felt a bit cheap. I found it interesting though that some of the deaths really affected me, and others didn’t, and they often weren’t the ones I expected.

My version of the book had some ‘illustrations’, but I use inverted commas as most of them were just lumps of black and white, so badly rendered in their printing that I couldn’t tell what they were meant to be showing, which is a shame.

I’d like to write more, but sadly my brain is foggy with a cold, (at least I hope it’s a cold and not the beginning of the end) and it’s been about a week since I finished this, and I’m afraid I won’t do it justice. It may not be perfect, but I did really enjoy this, and I do really enjoy King’s writing style. To say it’s so huge there was never a point I didn’t want to finish it, and only a couple of points where it dragged a little. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of King, or post-apocalyptic fiction in general.

Book 70: Industrial Magic

We’re back in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. I had actually forgotten I’d requested this from the library, so it was a nice surprise. Paige Winterbourne is a witch without a coven, taking care of her ward Savannah and embarking on a relationship with Lucas Cortez, a sorcerer. Historically in this version of the world, witches and sorcerers hate each other, so they don’t always get the best reception. Lucas is the son of Benicio Cortez, head of the Cortez Cabal (big supernatural organisations) who has named Lucas, his youngest and illegitimate child, his heir. Lucas wants nothing to do with the Cabals, but that doesn’t stop his father interfering.

Someone is killing the children of Cabal employees, and Paige and Lucas are drawn in when a young witch is attacked. They agree to work with the Cabals in order to catch the killer. Also aiding them is Jaime Vegas, a necromancer, who helps them speak to the comatose witch. Jaime is being attacked by what seems to be a ghost, but as she can’t contact them perhaps it’s something else. Their investigation leads them into the world of vampires, and another world completely, as they cross over into the world of the dead. Will the Fates be kind?

I’ve done that thing again where I read the book a while ago and now can’t remember much about it. But Armstrong’s books are generally always enjoyable for me and I did like this one. The werewolves show up to look after Savannah and it’s always nice to see more of Elena and Clay. I wasn’t overly fond of Jaime Vegas in this one, she’s just so…I don’t know, silly is not the right word but something like it. And I know she’s not always like that as she appeared in one of the short stories and she was much more likeable. I do wonder sometimes if Armstrong knows she’s going to be using these characters later or if she decides after the fact, and initially they’re used to show our heroes in a better light? I didn’t like Paige when she was in Stolen either, but here she’s written in a much more appealing way. I know characters grow up and change, but Jaime is much older than Paige, so it feels less realistic.

Anyway, small grumble there. I’m not in any hurry to read the rest of the series that aren’t about the werewolves or Paige. I may get round to them eventually but for now I’m moving on to something else.

Book 69: Restless

In 1939 Eva Delectorskaya is a Russian living in Paris with her father. Her brother Kolia has just been killed in suspicious circumstances, and she later learns he was working for Lucas Romer as a spy. Romer comes to the funeral and recruits Eva into the British Secret Service also. She is trained in how to shadow people and evade being followed herself, she loses her accent for a British one, trains her memory and learns how to trust her instincts and become the perfect spy. After her training she moves around with Romer and his team, eventually ending up in New York, where they are engineering false stories for the press in an effort to encourage the US to join the war. But after a job goes wrong and Eva is forced to kill a man she realises she may not be able to trust everyone on her team, and she runs.

Years later, in the summer of 1976, Eva’s daughter Ruth is living and working in Oxford with her five year old son Jochen when she becomes worried about her mother and her unusual behaviour. Eva, known as Sally now, is concerned she is being watched and decides now is the time to tell her daughter the truth about her past. Handing her some typed pages after a visit one day, Eva starts the story of how she came to be a spy.

The book goes back and forth between Ruth’s and Eva’s story, and we learn about her mother’s past at the same time Ruth does. Her story is not quiet as interesting. She teaches students English as a foreign language while working on her thesis, and is estranged from Jochen’s father who lives in Germany. Jochen’s uncle turns up on her doorstep, however, and she feels she has to let him stay for a while. He then moves in another woman who is wanted by the police. Why Ruth doesn’t kick them out is not immediately clear, other than she seems to like being rebellious and doesn’t mind the influence of these people on her son. She also has a romantic interest from one of her students to contend with, and she starts investigating Romer on behalf of her mother. Ruth’s tale didn’t seem to have much of a point for me, other than to be a witness to her mother’s slow unravelling and the notion that we never quite know the people we love. I also think there’d be more of a reaction to discovering your mother is a completely different person than you thought, rather than a day of ‘Oh that’s a bit mad, isn’t it?’ and then being totally ok with it.

I found this book very difficult to get into at the beginning, and almost gave up, but eventually it did start to get more compelling and I wanted to find out the end of Eva’s story. I wasn’t particularly fond of William Boy’d writing style. The only way I can think to describe it is very masculine – feeling the need to tell me the make and model of every car when I could not care less, not having it make any sense to me. It’s just a car, get in it and drive. It’s also kind of crass at times, with somewhat unnecessary mentions of shitting, or bowel loosening, and other examples I can’t remember now but which made the reading less enjoyable and felt a little out of character from what had previously been written.

In the end it’s an ok book with half of it quite an interesting story and the other just so-so. The spy angle is well thought out, though it may make more sense to a person with a better knowledge of history than I have, who can place the incidents in it within the context of the times, but it all seems plausible enough. I can’t say I’m in any hurry to read any of his other books though. I imagine there are better written spy novels out there, if that’s your sort of thing.