The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

 

This story is romantic, funny and serious in equal measure. Addie and Dylan meet and are instantly attracted to each other and life is perfect until, of course, it isn’t. Dylan brings quite a lot of baggage into their lives and Addie is forced to cope with the impacts of his friendship with Marcus and his relationship with his father.

The interweaving between past and present is beautifully and skilfully done. There is a lovely tension built up in learning how what happened then led to what is happening now.

In the present the road trip featuring five people in a Mini has a lot of delightfully hilarious moments while at the same time the revelations of underhanded, and much worse, behaviour in the past bring a dark side to the story. 

The supporting characters are well drawn and thus very interesting and it is hard not to discuss them here but, as usual, I don’t want to give anything away and would rather other readers get to know and enjoy them as much as I did. Some are nice, some are not,  but all contribute to this great read. 

I had read The Flatshare and liked it very much but I liked The Road Trip even more! I look forward to reading more from Beth O’Leary.

As an aside I improved my admittedly rather sketchy technical knowledge when I taught myself to “scan the QR code” at the back of the book and get the playlist that is mentioned on the road trip! What do you know, huh?

5 out of 5

Published by Quercus Editions Ltd

A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke

 

Ethan Hawke has had four Academy Award nominations, two for acting and two for writing. A Bright Ray of Darkness is his fourth novel although it is the first I have read. It tells the story of a movie actor, William Harding, who has been cast as Hotspur in a Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Henry the Fourth. William is currently getting a lot of unfavourable publicity in the tabloid press and on television; his wife, huge rock star Mary, is divorcing him because he cheated on her while he was in Cape Town, South Africa, which made international headlines. As if this isn’t stressing him out enough he is going to have to prove that a movie star can perform Shakespeare with some of the world’s best stage actors.

William is devoted to his two small children and is spending as much time as he can with them at his temporary home in his suite at the Mercury Hotel.  Ethan Hawke makes William’s love for his children and theirs for him very believable. He has lovely, natural conversations with them makes sure they are safe and well looked after whenever they are with him.

William’s life is complicated and, as usual, I don’t want to give away any of the story. I felt I had to read the book quickly to keep up with William’s angst-ridden, rather self-destructive life. It was impossible not to like him and to keep on wishing him well with his Broadway role and with sorting out his issues with Mary. 

I romped through this most enjoyable book. Ethan Hawke is a natural-born story teller and not a bad looking bloke either.

5 out of 5, young man!

William Heinemann, Penguin Random House UK

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Joanna Cannon

 

Yesterday when I was young I discovered J D Salinger and Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield’s voice was the first I had ever actually been able to hear as I read a narrative; it was honest, quirky and colloquial and I hadn’t ever come across a book like that before. Since then that style of writing has become part of our (reading) lives, of course, and is no longer quite so mind blowing. An absolutely perfect example of this is the voice of Lenni in The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. Margot then speaks differently but just as wonderfully as she tells heartbreaking, fascinating stories from her past.

Having been both young and old (and still getting there!) I fully appreciate Marianne Cronin’s understanding of and empathy for the two generations represented by Lenni and Margot. She understands that people only get old on the outside while mostly staying ageless (to themselves anyway) on the inside. The project dreamt up by Lenni and Margot to tell the stories of their combined one hundred years is sweet and beautiful and the supporting characters, Father Arthur, New Nurse and Pippa are perfect. There is sadness but too much love and hope and joy to require a full tissue box warning.

Am I giving an indication of how I felt about this book? I would say I adored it but I see that someone else has written that on the cover. It was a privilege to read it and it will stay with me for a long time. Marianne Cronin has written a superb book and I would love to see what she does next.

6 out of 5 for this one.

Penguin Random House UK.

Blood on Vines by Madeleine Eskedahl

 

Madeleine Eskedahl has written an immensely enjoyable murder mystery set in wine country in the north of Auckland, New Zealand. Word pictures are drawn of a beautiful part of the world, the Matakana area with its vineyards, markets, restaurants and beautiful food, and the lives of some of its inhabitants. Lexi and Avery own and operate a vineyard and live there with their children; they are friends with Bill, the officer in charge of the local police station, and his wife, Annika, an artist, and their children. 

A shocking discovery sets in motion a dramatic turn of events for Avery and his old friends from his University days and the mood of the story changes from recording an (almost) idyllic lifestyle to a hurtling, twisting and turning series of events which will keep you on the edge of your seat or biting your nails or both of the above.

There are lots of nicely drawn characters including Niko, the police officer assisting Bill, and especially Lexi and Annika. The mounting tension is handled well and there is just enough gruesomeness to satisfy the most discerning of aficionados of the crime fiction genre. The attractions of a wine growing area are beautifully evoked and, having once lived in such a place in Australia for many years, I felt a close connection.

Blood on Vines is the first in the Matakana series and I look forward to reading more.

A well deserved 5 out of 5.

Published by Squabbling Sparrows Press 2021

Three Weddings and a Proposal by Sheila O’Flanagan

 

Irish women write great novels! In this book Delphie is a thirty-something woman happy in her exacting, satisfying job as executive assistant to the head of a large investment corporation and the proud owner of a  small but beautiful house. She enjoys living alone and has close friends and a loving family. She is often exasperated by but copes well with her family’s well-meaning insistence that she would be happier with a husband and children. 

An unexpected, shocking event causes Delphie’s self-confidence to take a battering; she had always imagined herself becoming a ‘formidable woman’ and suddenly she sees her carefully planned life starting to collapse around her. There is some very disappointing behaviour, to say the least, from her male colleagues who fail to show her the respect she has always believed was her due and she has to try hard to be strong and rise above the obstacles which have appeared in her path.

On the personal front an old flame comes back into Delphie’s life and now that she has time to think about her future she wonders if it is time to make some changes. There are a couple of weddings held in spectacular locations; the action shifts back and forth from Dublin to a beautifully described beach town in Mallorca; designer label clothes and shoes are bought, the names of which I Googled so I could picture them; and the book is a treat to read. 

This is a thoughtful story about a woman who knows what she wants and deserves and it is written in Sheila O’Flanagan’s easy to read and always enjoyable style.

Published by Headline Review, Headline Publishing Group.

Mosul, by Ben McKelvey

A couple of years after I got home from my tour of Afghanistan with the Australian Army (I served there in 2002) I was given the job of being the Army PR escort officer for a young journalist who was going to attempt the first phase of selection for Special Forces.

That journalist was Ben McKelvey, who was writing for Ralph Magazine at the time (the lads' magazine is sadly missing from his bio since he moved on to bigger things). I was impressed by Ben. He got through that tough battery of initial physical testing and wrote a cracker of a story about the experience.

I have two regrets about his impressive work of non-fiction, Mosul: 1. That it took me so long to read it (it was published in 2020), and 2. That even I, a former Army officer, knew virtually nothing about the events he describes.

The second point arises from the fact that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Australian Government micromanaged the flow of information about our involvement in the fight against ISIS, to the extent that the hard work and sacrifices of those who took part in this campaign remain largely unknown to most Australians.

I regret that I was part of a system which was too secretive, paranoid, or scared (or all of the above) to tell the people of our country what the men and women of Australia were doing in their name.

In Mosul, Ben not only fills a gap in our modern history, but also gives us an insight into the motivations and mindsets of Australians who fought on both sides - Special Forces soldiers engaged in supporting the brave Iraqi forces who took back their own city, and the delusional volunteers who signed on to fight as ISIS jihadis.

The ADF is good at what it does, fighting wars and keeping the peace, but its successes come at a price. Our collective training stresses self-sacrifice for the good of our mates and our team, but in doing so it sets up every single one of us who serves for a dose of survivor guilt. Whatever we do and no matter how well we do it, we are always expected to go just a little further; we're taught to fear failure more than bullets.

If they're brave enough to ask for help, those who witness the worst of war are cut adrift, with a pension, to fend for themselves, rather than cared for the by the organisation which broke them.

In Mosul we see Australian commandos, already veterans of several tours of Afghanistan, signing on again and again for more duty, their ongoing service interrupted by scenes of family lives unravelling and stays in psychiatric care.

It's brutal and nor for the faint-hearted, but it needed to be told.

Strength: five by five.

Tony Park

 

Published by Hachette Australia

Left You Dead by Peter James

 

There was a French movie a few years back and an American re-make with Jeff Bridges in the lead role which had a similar opening to this book but then went down a completely different path. I only mention this because it was such a gripping way to begin a story although how can a reader’s attention not be gripped by a new Roy Grace mystery anyway? Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and his friends, family and associates have become very real to me, and obviously, to thousands of others, over the years. 

Niall Paternoster reports the baffling disappearance of his wife, Eden, to police who shortly thereafter, to his shock, arrest him on suspicion of her possible murder. Roy Grace, Glenn Branson and the team work tirelessly and efficiently as usual to solve the rather bizarre case, unearthing plenty of incriminating evidence along the way. There are lots of twists and turns and, of course, lots of entertaining reading to follow.

Very serious personal issues in Roy’s life arise and are dealt with and Cleo is by his side all the way. The odious Cassian Pewe is still the bane of his existence but for how much longer? 

This is such a good series; the intriguing plots and beautifully drawn characters have made for compulsive reading over the years. Peter James is a master story teller (and he loves animals).

Left You Dead is now also an ITV drama starring John Simm as Roy Grace. If it is shown in Australia I would love to watch it. It seems Roy Grace has also been brought to the stage and wouldn’t that be fun to see?

To sum up: thrilling, intriguing and with a touch of very real sadness.

Published by Macmillan.

The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe

 

This is an unusual and intensely interesting story of Derek, serving the final two years of his seven-year sentence for embezzlement in an Australian prison, whose dearest wish is to re-establish contact with his 21 year old daughter, Debbie. Derek had been married to Debbie’s mother, Lorraine, who had turned Debbie against Derek while he was in prison. 

Derek is in C wing of Yarrandarrah, a section where certain prisoners are given the choice of undertaking varying fields of self-improvement. Derek has joined a needlework group and become proficient at tapestry and sewing generally. Lots of prison inmates are introduced, some reasonable, some thuggish, one even sweet and loveable. The characters on the outside are all very well depicted with lots of different aspects of their lives covered.

Two different types of addiction are examined, and their root causes. Co-incidentally, the book I read before this one dealt, in part, with one of them: a shopping addiction arising from the issue of lack of self-esteem.

As usual, I don’t want to give anything away but this was a most enjoyable book with lots of humour interspersed with the dramas of life both inside and outside the prison and Meredith Jaffe has sprinkled the names of other Australian authors through the pages which is a nice touch.

As some of the prisoners say, their punishment was in being locked away. It is surely only right that they should be given opportunities to fill their time in creative, productive ways before going back into the world.

In summary: a thought provoking, serious, yet most entertaining book (with a beautiful cover!).

Published by Harper Collins

Other Women by Cathy Kelly

 

Another lovely book from Cathy Kelly;  not all sweetness and light, but stories of people with the kinds of serious problems that have been experienced in various forms down through the generations.

Sid (Sidonie) has been living with the fallout from something she experienced fifteen years ago and has shaped her way of life in such a manner that she is able to cope. She doesn’t think she will ever have a romantic relationship with a man but is happy when she finds someone who wants to be friends without asking more from her.

Marin has an interesting job, a handsome husband and two children she loves dearly and appears to have it all but she also feels responsible for her dysfunctional siblings and she has a secret addiction stemming from her feelings of not measuring up to her beautiful women friends.

Bea suffered the unbearable loss of her young husband in a car accident the day before their son, Luke, was born and she has been trying to be mother and father to Luke for the ten years of his life.

 Cathy Kelly steers the three women through a period in their lives where they face, and eventually solve, their different problems in different ways.  Her warmth, wit and humour make this an entertaining and easily readable book.

Published by Orion Books, an Hachette UK company.

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

 

They’re back! Jackson Lamb and his minions, the losers who once aspired to importance as top MI 5 operatives working out of Regent’s Park and are now the inhabitants of Slough House, are involved in a deadly game of spy versus spy with one of Lamb’s former Cold War adversaries.

Roderick Ho, the sociopathic geek, plays a major role in this story as well as Louisa Guy and Min Harper, the unlikely lovers and, of course, River Cartwright who wouldn’t have ended up at Slough House if it hadn’t been for the machinations of the ambitious and completely nasty Spider Webb. There are two new players, Shirley Dander and Marcus Longridge; Catherine Standish, the quiet, clever, almost invisible alcoholic is still staying off the drink and  using her brains, and Jackson Lamb is as repulsive as ever.

The action moves to a quiet, picturesque English village where River Cartwright goes undercover and finds a little bit of romance and a lot of danger. Meanwhile, back in London the people of Slough House get involved in a potentially dangerous scenario of their own.

The dialogue is pure British wit and the suspense builds to the point where, if you are like me, the cats, dog, housework and husband will have to wait until you are ready to get out of bed and find your way back into the real world. 

If we’re ever allowed out of this country again I wouldn’t mind going back to London and looking at it through my newly hard bitten, cynical gaze. End of.

Top marks, 5 out of 5.

Publisher: John Murray, a Hachette UK company.