Full Throttle by Deniz Tek

 

Full Throttle is how Deniz Tek has lived his life, from rock star to emergency physician to naval aviator without, it seems, ever coming to a hurdle he couldn’t jump. I was riveted to his autobiography.

Deniz Tek was born in 1952 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He went to Australia in 1972 as part of a foreign student intake at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. While living in grotty share houses and studying for his medical degree Deniz devoted the rest of his time to music, specifically the punk rock scene, and the band which he co-founded, Radio Birdman. 

I must admit to being overwhelmed by the early chapters about Deniz’s musical history which is, of course, a massive part of his 

life; however, the very fact that he was launching what became an internationally famous band at the same time as studying medicine full time is what made for fascinating reading.

Then there is Deniz’s time in the US Navy as a flight surgeon and aviator. I know, how could one man cram so much into one life?

I have sketched a brief outline of the book here. There is so much more in this story of the life and times of one man who is never going to die wondering. Autobiography/biography is one of my favourite genres, and discovering the frankly fabulous life story of this unique man has been such a treat. Thank you Pan Macmillan for my ARC.

Published by Pan Macmillan

Dead in Three Two One by Peter James

 

Having known Brighton only as a tourist from Australia I still get a kick out of reading Peter James’s Grace thrillers and imagining that beautiful part of the world, or the best bits of it, which are all I experienced.

In Dead in Three Two One, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is, unknowingly this time, involved in a race against time. Brighton Pride weekend has attracted half a million visitors to the city and Roy is flat out coordinating a massive security operation, while at the same time being unaware of an attack being planned against him personally.

The story is filled with suspense and is centred mainly around the Royal Courtenay Hotel. General Manager Aleksander Twarowski is determined to keep operations running smoothly on such a huge weekend, with full occupancy. Peter James describes Aleksander as being tall, immaculately dressed, charming, with hair like Eddie Redmayne’s (although I  preferred to picture Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager).

There is a particularly nasty villain whom Roy and his team are pursuing, suspecting him of being involved in at least one crime. There is a maddening clue which keeps being overlooked, and if Dead in Three Two One were a movie I would be yelling from my lounge chair: look over there!!

Totally satisfying.

Published by Pan Macmillan 

Remembering Elysha by Paul Follino Gallo

 

Paul Fellino Gallo was given permission by his two sons. Georgio and Valentino, to share their remembrances of their lives with their mother, Elysha, in writing this memoir. Paul has gone back to his first meeting with Elysha and from there on he writes of getting to know each other, falling in love and marrying, and the births of their two beautiful boys.

Being the mother of two boys - now men, of course - myself, I was invested in Paul’s story from the start. He obviously loved being a father, and he and Elysha shared parenting even though they both had busy, successful careers; but Elysha was the beating heart of the family, caring meticulously for her two adoring sons, and loving and being loved by Paul.

The little family had wonderful holidays together, and in January of 2024 they arrived in America  preparing to once again have two wonderful weeks in the frosty cold of New York City before leaving for another two weeks in the warm sunshine of Hawaii. This holiday, however, was to change their lives in a way none of them could have imagined.

This memoir is not written as a fairy story though, and Paul moves backwards and forwards in time to show that he and Elysha had inevitable rocky moments. It is straight from the heart, as seen through Paul’s eyes and I hope it will help him and his sons to read it now and, probably more importantly, into the future.

Published by Big Sky

Match Fit by Leesa Ronald

 

Leesa Ronald is a very clever, very funny writer. She has drawn on her own experiences working for Australian Rugby to place her leading lady, Ruby, in the same position. Ruby is a lovely, charming character and Leesa Ronald has given her some great lines,  comparable with the best of Marian Keyes, Mhairi McFarlane and others.  

At the start of Match Fit, Ruby, having faced the reality that a “dream job” is not necessarily going to materialise in her near future, is working as a temporary receptionist in the Australian rugby headquarters. Away from work, Ruby’s sweet, people-pleasing personality is being subsumed by her fiancé, Ollie.

When Ruby’s duties expand to involving her in a World Rugby Sevens tournament, she finds herself minding Clive, a truculent, although brilliant Australian player, and also meeting Jake, England’s team captain. What follows is an intelligent, witty story definitely belonging in the unputdownable category. The dialogue flows, the hot scenes are Hot (upper case intended) and once again I’m proud of the depth of writing talent Australia produces.

Published by Allen & Unwin

In the Springtime of the Year

 

I have read all of Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler detective series which I enjoyed immensely; however, In the Springtime of the Year is my first look at one of her standalone novels. It is the intensely moving story of Ruth, widowed at just twenty years of age, faced with the sudden loss of her deeply loved husband, Ben, and the happy life they had made together.

Susan Hill’s descriptions of the natural world are beautiful; Ruth’s search for a way to live without Ben is quite heartbreaking. She is comforted by Ben’s young brother, Jo, but she and the rest of Ben’s family are unable or unwilling to share their grief. Ben’s mother is almost driven to the point of madness at the loss of her son, but he was the love of Ruth’s life, and her future. Ruth has a better understanding of this than her mother-in-law. It’s a conundrum as old as time but in this case optimistic me hopes that they were able to sort it out in the future. I know it’s just a book but, really, why read a book if you can’t feel personally involved in the lives of its characters?

It’s a sad but ultimately uplifting story and I’ve read that Susan Hill who wrote it in 1974 used her own experience of grief for inspiration. 

Published by Vintage Books

Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson

 

In 1941 Harry Flynn, working as a temporary foreign correspondent for the News Chronicle, arrives in Singapore from London just in time to be captured by the Japanese army and imprisoned in Changi jail. Harry spends the rest of the Second World War working on the Burma railway, eventually arriving back in Britain at war’s end “…underweight, with the sallow complexion of a POW who had been no stranger to starvation and disease”. By 1949 back in London Harry is working in a small printing press, wording everything from bill posters to wedding invitations,  when Gerald Barry, his former editor at the News Chronicle chances upon him eating a corn beef sandwich in a park.

Thus begins Kate Atkinson's latest typically magnificent novel. Gerald Barry asks Harry to be part of bringing to life the Festival of Britain, starting with reading through countless poems and basically taking it from there. Harry is a rather adorable character (of course, I’m always up for finding Kate Atkinson’s leading males adorable so don’t be swayed too much by my judgment). Harry came back to Britain hoping for an untroubled kind of future with possibly a nice wife, family, dog and all the trimmings but he has first to settle in to a life free from the horrific memories of the Burma railway and the ghastly Changi prison.

 Through his work on the Festival of Britain lots  of different people come into Harry’s life. There are still elements of spy networks even though the War has been over for four years; many people are struggling to rebuild their lives and many are out to take what they can get to reclaim a former glory, real or imagined, or to create a glorious present. Among other things Harry is a suspect in the disappearance or possible murder of a mysterious French woman, and unexpectedly, he finds someone he cares for.

Our Noble Selves is evocative of an extraordinary time in our recent shared history with characters, good, bad and indifferent all rebounding in their individual ways from the shattering reality of World War Two.

Published by Penguin

Nine Lives by Catherine Steadman

 

Just give me a minute until my goose bumps settle down. Reading Nine Lives was an experience not to be undertaken by those particularly faint of heart. This is a brilliantly written suspense novel; and cleverly, without being cute or twee, the biggest hero, and there were several ultimately, is a cat!

Frankie has moved into her beautiful new house in an exclusive London suburb with her cat, Blue, following her divorce. I worried at first for Blue because Frankie lets him out every morning to explore the new neighbourhood, wearing a collar with a little camera attached. But Blue comes home safe every night and Frankie looks at his daily wanderings on her laptop.

That is the basis of this story in the Rear Window mould. (Rear Window was an Alfred Hitchcock movie in which James Stewart whose character was laid up with a broken leg could see through the rear window of an apartment in the block opposite his, what appeared to be a crime being committed.)  But even Alfred Hitchcock was no match for Catherine Steadman in building heart rate soaring suspense.

I read an awful lot of books but I only talk about the ones I would recommend to others, and I’ve got to say Nine Lives is nothing short of a masterpiece in the thriller genre. Looks like I’ve found myself a new binge worthy writer in Catherine Steadman!

Published by Quercus