Karl's Reading List

Published by Zaffre/Bonnier Books UK: London, 2021. Another book from my parents' book-swap library, this one is outside my usual genres of interest, but it still gripped me. I suppose that makes sense, as the genre in question is thriller. The set up is great. In the first chapter, our main POV character, Ellen Devlin, is sitting on the train when a woman with a baby asks to sit in the empty seat next to her. Before too long, the woman has to answer a phone call, and asks Ellen to look after the baby for a few minutes. The woman then gets off at the next station, and Ellen is left with the baby, and a note that says: Please look after Mia. Don't trust the police. Don't trust anyone. I mean, what would you do?! Ellen is a complicated character, something that we learn more about as time goes on. She is recently separated, and her ex-husband is expecting a child with his new partner. Ellen, who is barren, has wanted a child for years, and is drawn to looking after Mia, even ...

Published by Century/Random House: London, 2016. This is the first ever James Patterson book I've read, and I have some mixed thoughts. Firstly, the book is very easy to read. The chapters are short, the sentences are simple, and as a result, I flew through the book at pace. If this is what other Patterson books are like, then I can see why he would be a popular author to read. Secondly, being a co-written book, I am unsure how much of the plot and writing  is Patterson and how much is his collaborator. Apparently, Patterson has written over 200 books, but as many of them are co-written, it is likely that many of his co-writers do the heavy lifting. Thirdly, although the book is easy to read, I'm not sure I would call it 'well-written.' With the chapters being short - and with a lot of plot to get through - the book doesn't dwell very long on any given scene, meaning that the reader doesn't have a lot of time to emotionally invest in anything that is going on. W...

Published by Jonathan Cape/Random House: London, 2007. This is the third book I've read by Stephen L Carter , and he is becoming a favourite author of mine. His books are mystery/thrillers in the vein of John Grisham (who apparently is a fan), without so much of a focus on courtrooms. So far, so straightforward, but Carter takes this basic template to tell stories that have a bit "more to say" than your average book in this genre (though Grisham can also have 'something to say' as well!).  In this, his second novel, we follow Julia Carlyle, the wife of the ambitious and somewhat distant Lemaster Carlyle. Julia is a dean in the divinity department of a New England university, of which Lemaster is president - the couple are among the few African-Americans to live in the area. On the way home from a function one evening, they come across the body of Kellen Zant, a fellow professor and Julia's ex-lover (from before she knew Lemaster). This sets off a chain of e...

Published by Orion Books: London, England, 2014 (2013). Over the past few days Elise and I had a mini-holiday in Wellington, staying at the home of some friends. Rather than take a lot of reading material I looked through their bookshelf and ending up reading this novel. I had never heard of Linwood Barclay before, but he is a Canadian author, and writes a lot of detective stories. This is one such story, which borders on the 'thriller' genre in patches. Private detective Cal Weaver, stopped at traffic lights on a rainy night, is approached by a teenage girl wanting a lift. At first he refuses her, but when she admits to knowing Cal's now-deceased son Scott, Cal decides to pick her up. After a confusing set of circumstances Claire goes missing and now Cal is determined to figure out what happened to her. He must face off against a fairly corrupt police force, a killer on the loose, the antagonistic mayor of the town, and try to repair the relationship he has with his wife w...