Light at Lavelle by Paullina Simons

 

I have just read the most stupendous book: Light at Lavelle by Paullina Simons. Thank you Pan Macmillan for my copy.

In 1929 the stock market was crashing in America while at the same time Joseph Stalin was sending his troops into Ukraine to ‘collectivise’ all farms; which, in effect, meant forcing farmers to produce impossible yields which were to feed all of Russia in accordance with communist ideology. In reality, farmers were being dispossessed of their properties, starved, brutally beaten and killed, also in accordance with the rules of communism.

Finn Evans was an affluent Boston stockbroker; Isabelle Lazar was a farmer from Ispas, a small farming community in Ukraine. The stock market crash caused great anguish all over America, bringing destitution to rich and poor alike; the  massively unworkable policy of prohibition presented a new crime in the illegal transportation of alcohol from Canada; and previously comfortable people were grasping at any chance firstly to hold onto their homes and then just to feed their families.

Meanwhile in Ukraine, Isabelle, her husband and children and her parents and brothers were literally fighting for their lives. Eventually, through shocking and dramatic circumstances Isabelle arrives in Boston and this powerful, epic story begins to unfold, moving between life as she and Flynn Evans’s family are living it, and the past in Ukraine.

I’m finding it impossible to come up with the right words to describe this utterly absorbing story. I felt I was watching the whole thing roll out in ‘Glorious technicolor, breathtaking CinemaScope and stereophonic sound’ (1960s reference)! I want everybody I know to read it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published byPan Macmillan

The Edge by David Baldacci

 

Travis Devine is a former special ops soldier who now works as an agent for Homeland Security. His boss, agent Emerson Campbell, has called him in to investigate the death of Jennifer Silkwell, a CIA analyst. As well as its security implications the case is personal for Campbell who was Jennifer’s godfather and a close friend of her father, a former senator who is suffering from dementia.

Travis travels to Jennifer’s home town, Putnam, a small community on the coast of Maine and the place where she was found dead. For a small town Putnam has a lot of secrets which Travis has to unravel as his investigation probes into the lives of Jennifer’s family and of all those who knew her; and all the while it also seems possible that he is being followed by people in connection with an entirely separate matter in which he has been involved.

As characters are introduced into the story they quickly become true to life and easily identifiable, which is how I like my characters! Dialogue flows smoothly and the pounding waves and rocky coastline are terrifically atmospheric. Travis Devine is a strong, tough man who is used to physical violence but who also has a kind, empathetic side with hints that a not-perfect childhood has left him with an insight into the feelings of others and, in this case, to those of Jennifer’s surviving sister, Alex. The scenes between Travis and Alex are sensitive and real.

There are a lot of brilliant thriller writers around these days and David Baldacci is right up there with the best of them!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published by Pan Macmillan

The Armour of Light by Ken Follett

 

The Armour of Light is the fifth novel in the Kingsbridge series by the brilliant Ken Follett, which began with the superb Pillars of the Earth, a story set in the Middle Ages about the building of a cathedral.

The Armour of Light begins in 1792 and follows through to the Industrial Revolution; the culmination of the Napoleonic wars with the Battle of Waterloo, and the emergence of the fights for workers’ rights, up to 1824. As usual in all of Ken Follett’s books there is a cast of true to life characters who immediately elicit sympathy, or revulsion, as the case may be. The massive gaps between rich and poor, gentry and commoners, and the cruelty inflicted in the name of class superiority,  are almost impossible to comprehend.

All of the leading characters have back stories and there are intense, sometimes poignant and often beautiful relationships between them. There is a moving chapter towards the end which had me reaching for my Les Mis CD and finding the track where Javert reflects on his life and playing it in the background as I read !

This is a big book, 735 pages, but it didn’t take me long to read it. It was educational in the style of James A Michener, personalising historical events and bringing them to life. Industrial workers in the fictional Shire of Kingsbridge were already barely eking out an existence before labour saving machines were introduced into the weaving mills, devastating their lives. You know, living in the 21st century is not all that bad!

This is yet another masterpiece by Ken Follett and I humbly recommend it to all lovers of great literary fiction. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+

Published by Pan Macmillan

Dragon's Back by A.C. Edwards

 

If you like your gumshoes hard-boiled and hard-drinking, and your dames sexy and smart (and for the record, I do), then you'll certainly enjoy this debut private-eye novel from Australian author A.C. Edwards.

Dragon's Back starts off like many in the genre with down-on-his-luck investigator, Galahad Jones, getting a call from a good-looking woman who thinks her husband is cheating on her. It evolves quickly into a multi-layered and complex, yet still compelling investigation into human trafficking.

What really sets this novel apart from the pack is its setting. Edwards truly shines in his depictions of Hong Kong, where the story takes place.

As an author and mentor I've written and taught about the importance of 'place' in a novel, as a 'character' in its own right, and how to make descriptions of streets, landscapes, culture, food, weather - hell, everything around us - work as part of a story. Edwards nails this not only by giving us rich and evocative descriptions of both the opulent and seedy sides of Hong Kong, but by weaving the sights, sounds, smells and history of the former colony into the plot. 

Former policeman, paratrooper and security consultant Edwards knows his way around a gunfight and a brawl; his action scenes are fast and furious, but never overblown. 

Mixed-race Galahad is likably flawed and a cast of tough gals keep him on track as he walks a fine line between the Hong Kong Police Force (of which he was once a member), and the Triads, who both have an interest in his snoopings.

Dragon's Back is a compelling page-turner entwined with a richly-drawn, exotic backdrop. Good news: there's a sequel out now, Dragon's Claw, which is in my to-be-read pile.

Five from bloody five.

Published by White Tiger Press

Tony Park (guest reviewer)

www.tonypark.net

 

A Home Among the Snowgums

 

I’ve just discovered Stella Quinn and I’m very happy that I did! She is like an Australian Marian Keyes, with her clever, witty and fluid writing style.

A Home Among the Snow Gums is set in Australia’s Snowy Mountains area. In the way of contemporary romantic novels it is a love story while also dealing with some serious issues. The characters are extremely likeable and the dialogue is hip, funny, sensitive and an absolute joy to read. Lovely, atmospheric depictions of life in Australia’s cold country are just an added bonus.

I read this one on Borrow Box but I will certainly be looking to buy another Stella Quinn as soon as I get through my next reading assignment.

You have a new fan, Ms Quinn! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️