Review Archive for author's that start with ... A

                                                               CUT AND RUN
                                                                   by Jeff Abbott
                                                              ISBN 0752860933
                                                                    339 pages
                                                                      Orion
                                                                 May 7 2004
                                                                     $29.95
                                                      reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                                  May 1 2004

Jeff Abbott, while being a new name to me, has apparently been making himself known to American audiences for some years - his first novel was released in 1994. Having won wards for his traditional suspense series featuring  Jordan Poteet, he continued on his award winning way by inventing  Justice of the Peace Whitman Mosley. A successful enterprise Whit has proven to be, too, as the novels in which he has appeared have also been nominated for prestigious awards such as the Edgar and Anthony. As every successful author knows, being nominated for such awards does nothing to hinder sales.

CUT AND RUN  begins by being narrated in the first person by Ellen Mosley. This is also the style for the epilogue but the central chapters are all told in the third person. Ellen who became Eve, the prologue, explains how Ellen Mosley deserts her six sons in order to run away with her lover, Jim. Jim has embezzled half a million dollars and the pair intend to live the high life on the proceeds. Then Ellen is told that Jim embezzled the money from the Mafia, specifically, the Bellini family. Completely cool and calculating, she murders Jim and sets off to make a deal with the Bellinis.

Many years later, Ellen's youngest son, Whit, now a judge, decides he must find Ellen. His father, Babe, is dying and Whit determines to trace Ellen and find out for himself the reason for her flight. He sets a private investigator, friend of his friend, police investigator Claudia Salazar, on the trail of his errant mother then awaits results.

In the interim, Ellen has become Eve Michaels. She has carved out a happy life for herself working for the Bellinis, laundering their money. Then the head of the family, Tommy Bellini, is, because of a car accident which kills his two top men, removed from the active scene and left in a coma while his young, inexperienced, arrogant, ruthless and generally unpleasant young son Paul attempts to take over the running of the gang. Paul neglects to consult Eve, despite her seniority and knowledge, about a drug deal. Eve is immediately alerted to the frailty of her position together with that of her lover, former singer Frank Polo. Paul learns that a stripper working for him, Tasha, has an intricate knowledge of money and computers. She points out to him that large amounts of his money are being skimmed by someone, so he seeks to have the money returned.

In the meantime, the investigator hired by Whit is murdered. Mosley discovers this when he travels to Houston to try to see his mother. Then he and his friend, the mysterious Gooch, become embroiled in the Mafia crimes and wars. The corpses pile up as Eve finds herself once more on the run but is anxious to protect  her feckless lover.

Abbott seems to have set out to prove that there is no honour among thieves. The book narrates a saga of every man for himself. Crooks blackmail crooks as people from all sides murder crims from their own as well as rival gangs.

If, Dear Reader, you appreciate constant surprises served up with your suspense and gore, this book will no doubt please. For myself, I can't say I found the characterisation of Eve Michaels terribly convincing. Abbott does not really provide a valid motive for her defection from the marital home. By the same token, he doesn't provide a valid excuse for her devotion to her later lover, Frank. But then, he is a man attempting to create a convincing female character - something that rarely works effectively. The book did not, to my mind, contain any sympathetic characters, but that is probably not the universal reaction to the people ifeatured in the tale.

CUT AND RUN, BLACK JACK POINT and  A KISS GONE BAD comprise the Whit Mosley novels so far. It is reasonable to assume there will be more to follow.
                                      A KISS GONE BAD
                                               by Jeff Abbott
                                           ISBN 075286095X
                                                 301 pages
                                                       Orion
                                             October 8 2004
                                                     $29.95
                                     reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                          October 12 2004

Although I could see nothing to that effect in the blurb to A KISS GONE BAD, its tease chapter, supplied with the previous release, Edgar nominated  CUT AND RUN,Ýannounced that the book would be the first in the Whit Mosley series. This explains various points which would otherwise appear to be chronological aberrations - such as why Whit ruminates on his mother as though he did not know the how and why of her disappearance when he was a tiny child and also why his father, Babe is hale and hearty in this narrative although dying in the previous story.

Chapter One deals with a rather horrid character who likes to think of himself as the Blade. This charming fellow has already made away with three women whom he thinks of as his 'darlings'. He has selected his next prizewinning candidate and is just marking time until she can be apprised of her good fortune.

Judge Whit Mosley is unpleasantly surprised when told he must issue a death certificate for Pete Hubble, the son of Senator Lucinda Hubble. Pete, a rather older contemporary of Whit, had left Port Leo some years previously. He had deserted his wife Faith and their son Sam. Whit, unbeknownst to Pete and almost all of the citizenry of Port Leo, has become romantically involved with Faith - occasioning what could be perceived as a conflict of interest in the case.

A great deal of pressure is exerted on Whit to call the death a suicide. Otherwise convinced,  Pete's porn director (Pete, the magnificently endowed, was himself a porn star) girlfriend Velvet (whom the Blade hopes to make the star of his own new drama) insists Pete would never kill himself. This is an opinion shared by police detective Claudia Salazar. Pete was making a movie very different from his porn masterpieces. This was to be an investigation into the disappearance of his young brother Corey many years previously and it was unlikely he would terminate that before its completion.

As is usual with an Abbott book, the tale gallops apace, leaving much death and injury in its wake. The author is able to imagine rather horrible fates for his bodies. The gore notwithstanding, the plotting is good and the characters eminently believable (within the boundaries of fiction). Whit's friend Gooch, of the strong principles but bendable morals, once more comes to his friend's aid. The reader gets a hint that there may in future books be a warmer relationship between Salazar and Mosley but that is just a teasing possibility.

If  readers have enjoyed previous Abbott  works, it is unlikely that this Anthony nominated book will disappoint.

                                   BLACK JACK  POINT
                                          by Jeff Abbott
                                     ISBN 0752880976
                                         282 pages
                                            Orion
                                   March 4 2005
                                            $29.95
                            reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                    February 20 2005
 

I have to confess to being somewhat confused as to the chronology of the adventures of poor, beset Judge Whit Mosley and his law enforcing colleague, Claudia Salazar. BLACK JACK POINT, despite the copyright date of 2004, saw the light of day as Whit's second outing, in 2002. It was nominated for the Edgar, the Anthony and the Barry awards so I am puzzled as to the new copyright date. Does that imply a severe case of rewriting? Whatever, here it is for the renewed delectation of Abbott and Mosley fans.

The action begins with three treasure hunters digging up the pirate gold of Jean Laffite, an historical figure responsible for the defence of New Orleans in the early nineteenth century. Amoral Alex Black carelessly murders the owner of the land, Viagra dependent Patch Gilbert (well, he is seventy years old, after all) and his girlfriend sixty-nine year-old Thuy. Jimmy Bird and Stoney, Black's collaborators,  are portrayed as all too willing to betray Alex as well as each other.

Whit Mosley is a friend of the two deceased. In fact, his girlfriend, Lucy Gilbert, is  Patch's niece. She is, understandably, very put out at the death of her uncle - but not as put out as her cousin, Suzanne, whose peccadilloes have resulted in the alteration of Patch's will. Lucy's chosen profession of telephone psychic seems to be preferable to her uncle than Suzanne's.

Claudia Salazar, former wife of policeman David Power and still, perforce, his colleague, is now the girlfriend of Ben  Vaughn, brother of the  murder accomplice Stoney. Stoney lends Ben his boat, Jupiter, so Ben and Claudia can go for a pleasure trip. Alas, Jupiter is boarded by three modern day pirates who think Stoney is aboard. Danny, who calls himself Laffite and claims to be descended from the famed pirate of the nineteenth century, claims Stoney has stolen his property, a journal written by one of Laffite's crew, and murdered a relative into the bargain. He wants Stoney to return what is his and establish Danny's doubtful reputation.

One cannot dispute that this book has all necessary ingredients for a thriller: pirate gold, nefarious treasure seekers, treacherous conspirators, officers of the law with severe personal problems. What more could anyone want? There are so many twists to the plot that I found myself quite dizzy at the speed with which supposed goodies rapidly transmogrified into baddies. Whit's character (and Claudia's, for that matter) to my mind at least, is perhaps not quite as well established as it becomes in other novels. While I am on the subject of characterisation, I found the motivation for Alex's actions a little at odds with his depicted heartlessness and obvious sadistic traits. The squeamish may find the descriptions of gore and torture a little off-putting.

This is a worthy successor/predecessor to the other Jeff Abbott tales and should be welcomed by readers who did not read it on its first release. I just wish I knew why it now carried the copyright date of 2004!
                                          GOLDEN SERPENT
                                          by Mark Abernethy
                                         ISBN 9781741752250
                                                    435 pages
                                                       ARENA
                                               ALLEN7UNWIN
                                          August 3 2007
                                                      $29.95
                                  reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                         September 26 2007
 

And now for a spy thriller that will set one's heart going patter pitter and one's mind all a-twitter whilst attempting to sort out which agent is loyal to which camp and just who is likely to end up either dead or dead ahead.

November 2006 and Alan McQueen is joyfully contemplating his retirement from both intel and paramilitary work.  He has a girlfriend but would much rather have her as a fiancée so  he has acquired a ring to make that all important change.

Abernethy's book begins with  blasts of action separated by four years. The author doesn't give the reader time to settle down and sort the goodies from the baddies before tumbling his hero, McQueen, into yet more danger and derring do. Even so, Mac is in love. Diane Ellison knows him as Richard Davis, a salesman from Southern Scholastic Books. He intends marrying her -- but he hasn't told her of his more, errm, active side of life. A shame about that since before Mac can change Diane's status from girlfriend to fiancée, he has been summoned back to active duty. Ah well, the best laid plans -- and no doubt Abernethy's prose will have the reader's heart beating at a pace that rivals that of the heart of Rabbie Burns' field mouse before he turns the last page -- providing he can sort out who is in which camp, who hates whom and who has no intention of being loyal to anyone but himself.

Mac and his cohorts, as well as his commanding officers, scoot all over South East Asia knocking off bad guys (as well as accidentally terminating the odd good guy and being lumbered with an orphan for whom they must care). They seem to have a preference for Indonesia and while there are tales of enormous hoards of gold, there is also the matter of a missing container of nerve gas.

It makes a change to have a fair bit of Australian idiom chucked into the mix (but WHY, Mr Abernethy, do you have to make "ovies" out of "overalls"? I kept seeing it as "ovaries", which tended to reduce the tension rather more than somewhat.) Readers are probably more accustomed to Americanisms or even Britishisms but the change was pleasant. There was no appreciable difference between the amounts of blood shed in American, British or Australian spy thrillers but who is using the measuring jug? The excitement level of this work is average -- that is to say, the reader is kept on the edge of his seat throughout.

For a debut novel, this is an acceptable effort. The setting has just a hint of the exotic for Australian readers -- well, after all, how many of us have not been to Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia?-- while for overseas readers the exotic will no doubt be measured in larger dollops.

The action is the main focus in the work but the personal leavens the mix with the love life of the redoubtable Mac and the question of whether he will survive to wed the fair Diane -- or will he succumb to the charms of a more exotically Oriental bird?
 
 

                                                             ALBION
                                    The Origins of the English Imagination
                                                        by Peter Ackroyd
                                                       ISBN 0099438070
                                                             516 pages
                                                                Vintage
                                                          October 1 2004
                                                                $39.95
                                                     reviewed by Chris Pickles
                                                        September 22 2004

Peter Ackroyd is best known as the author of a series of novels including Hawksmoor and Chatterton, which interweave two or more narratives from different historical periods.  He has also written some highly regarded biographies of such figures as Thomas More and T.S.Eliot.

His new book; Albion, the Origins of the English Imagination is perhaps a logical development in Ackroydís literary resume, as it is a sort of biography of English literature which attempts to link the output of fifteen centuries into one unified whole. I say a biography of English literature - Ackroyd attempts to cover all the arts: painting, music, architecture.... but he is a literary man and he tends to fall short when he gets away from the written word.  For example, music gets the occasional passing mention (usually of Vaughan Williams, whom readers of this book might imagine to be our greatest composer. from Ackroyd's descriptions) and then a strangely detached chapter tagged onto the end of the book almost as an afterthought.

One of the greatest influences on the English imagination is of course the landscape, and another is the weather.  Ackroyd takes advantage of these to extend his range backwards to the era of the Late-Roman heretic Pelagius and the Post-Roman historian Gildas.  Neither of these figures, nor the Welshmen Nennius and Geoffrey of Monmouth, who were largely responsible for the Arthurian legends, was English, but they did at least enjoy the same weather and landscape, and so Ackroyd co-opts them into his thesis.

Between these Welsh and musical tops and tails Ackroyd takes us on an engaging and rambling tour of English writing.  He connects the dots between Bede, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens, not to mention dozens of writers who will be new names to most readers, and it all makes easy and relatively undemanding reading.

Those with an interest in the byways of English literature will find many potentially fascinating avenues to explore.  However, I canít help thinking that this book will come to be seen as more of a pot boiler than one of Ackroydís major works.
                                  A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR OF STYLE
                                                       by Gilbert Adair
                                                  ISBN 9780571234257
                                                             292 pages
                                                         faber and faber
                                                       December 1 2007
                                                               $29.95
                                                reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                        December 4 2007

Pastiches are far from being my favourite form of the crime fiction genre. Iíve always thought the humour tends to be a bit forced and this example of the ilk hasnít done much to alter my surface impression, although the mystery itself is quite good.

Chief Inspector Trubshawe, late of Scotland Yard, but now retired, is the character into whose mind the reader gains most insight. The book opens with that gentleman being hailed, somewhat inelegantly, at the Ritz, a watering hole of whose delights Trubshawe would not usually partake. The person who hails him is the well known lady novelist Evadne Mount, she who thinks of Trubshawe, perhaps with some justification, as Inspector Plodder. They had, some decade previously, been thrown together in an investigation but, since then, had not seen each other.

Trubshawe, now he is retired, finds himself at a loose end, since he is a widower. He is taken by surprise when Evadne tracks him down at home The retired Chief Inspector chums up with Evadne and her pal Cora Rutherford, an actress of  fading note. The latter has been engaged by a famous director for a new film. Unfortunately, said director, together with a young actress, are incinerated in a mysterious blaze, but the directorís hat falls upon his natural successor and the show goes on.

Evadne and Trubshawe (whose horrid secret is revealed in all its sibilant glory, as having the given -- or should it be Christian?-- name of ìEustaceî) are invited to the location of the new movie. To the horror of (almost) all present, one of the actors drains a pretend glass of champagne -- and drops dead.

A former protegé of Trubshaweís leads the investigation. Calvert, the officer, is quite happy to accept Evadneís insights into the case and, indeed, the proffered help of both Evie and Trubshawe.

The murder doesnít occur until almost halfway through the book so the author has plenty of time to display his talent with prose (I dare not say ìprosaic talentî) in setting the scene. The writing is quite entertaining even though, at times, I winced slightly. Yes, it might be necessary to make the main detector, namely Evadne Mount, eccentric and dramatic, but really, a tricorne hat?

There is, of course, exaggeration which, since this is intended as a sendup of the genre, may be seen as excusable. One may, too, be forgiven for not examining the characterisations with any degree of censoriousness.

The late director, Alastair Farjeon, is clearly based on Alfred Hitchcock, although one wonders if that famous manís wife is extrapolated into Farjeonís widow. The prose is, of course, lighthearted in its intent  and is consistent throughout. The only criticism that could be made of the book is that it is of its kind -- a type of work which does not usually gain my approval.

The novel is certainly not badly written and, as mentioned before, has a reasonable mystery at its core. I think I could stand to read other works by this author.
 
 
 

                                                         UNHOLY TRINITY
                                                                by Paul Adam
                                                               Warner Books
                                                                   $26.00
                                                           ISBN 0-7515-2695-9
                                                       reviewed by Denise Wels

                                        In part,  this book explores some of the same issues examined in
              Mark Aarons' book of the same name: how the Vatican facilitated the escape from
              justice of Nazi war criminals after WWII, but there the resemblance ends. Adam's
              novel is a thriller. It is not often I can say truthfully that I found a book impossible to
              put down but, believe me, I had to continue reading this to the end. I tried to
              relinquish it before the conclusion. I went so far as to remove my specs, put the book
              beside the bed and lie down. No luck. As the baggier and darker than usual bags
              beneath my eyes attest, I had to go through to the end. And it is not a mingy 200
              pager or less; the text continues to page 470.

                                         I was unable to find out anything about the author, other than what
              is written on the fly leaf: that he is English, studied law, worked as a journalist in
              England and Rome and has written three crime novels... the previous of which so far
              I have been unable to locate.

                                       Don't you love it when an author has lived in the places about which
              he writes, so that they come alive for you as you read? This book is set in Rome,
              where Adam worked, and the pictures he conjured in my mind's eye were vivid
              indeed.

                                       The narrative is, as so much of my recent reading has been, set in two
              time frames: the war years and the present day. The story begins with the kidnapping
              and execution of Mussolini and his mistress by  partisans. The violence occurring in
              the present has its roots in the past.

                                       Antonio Vivaldi, the Red Priest (no, not that one, Virginia. This one is
              not a musician and his politics are responsible for the nickname, not the colour of his
              hair) is found murdered.  The presence of castor oil in his stomach implies that his
              horribly tortured body is a victim of Neo-Fascists.

                                      Elena Fiorini is the magistrate assigned to investigate the execution
              and in the course of the inquiry she encounters the initially inimical journalist, Andy
              Chapman. Circumstances soon dictate that they join forces and pool their resources,
              which, almost inevitably, leads to a far closer relationship. The sex ,however,is not
              gratuitous but essential to the developing plot.

                                      Vivaldi was notoriously a thorn in the side of the Vatican and Elena's
              and Andy's originally individual quests lead them to an examination of the politics of
              that city/state. Surely every mystery lover is familiar with the fictional sinister
              machinations of worldly divines within the Leonine walls of the state within a state.
              As the tale unfolds the reader becomes perhaps a little too knowledgeable about some
              of the crimes of the past perpetrated in the name of religion.

                                     As I indicated in my introduction, the pace of the novel is
              breathtaking... I found myself holding my breath during a great deal of the action.
              There is a vast amount of violence and certainly a large number of corpses, but the
              gore is necessary to the plot. The book is not solely dependent on the action for its
              success, however.  The characters are completely believable and we could well put
              faces that we see on television news to the people depicted. The heroine, Elena, is a
              woman of strong and incorruptible nature but very human for all that. Andrew
              Chapman, the journalist, is equally credible, and I found myself wondering if he were
              based on any journalists known to Adam.

                                    I applaud Warner Books for the total lack (so far as I could see, and I
              am usually sensitive to their appearance) of subediting lapses. The ultimate accolade I
              can pay Paul Adam is to say I am now looking to buy his previous novels and
              anxiously await any he may have forthcoming.

                                  THE MURDER OF MADELINE BROWN
                                                                          by Francis Adams
                                                                 Introduction by Shane Maloney
                                                                          Text Publishing
                                                                     ISBN 1-876485-52-3
                                                                              $19.95
                                                                      September 2000
                                                              reviewed by Denise Wels

                        It is hard to know just how to evaluate this novel. The Murder of Madeline Brown  was published in 1887 only six years before the writer's dreadful death just before he would have turned thirty-one. The book is older than the Wakefield Crime Classics I have previously reviewed and the language employed, not to mention the outlooks portrayed, are very different from either those of today or those in the Wakefield offerings. I might as well attempt to review Richardson's Pamela  or Clarissa  after having just read, say, Rosamunde Pilcher's Winter Solstice.  Admittedly, the time difference there and hence the evolution of that type of literature is far greater than that between the mystery fiction of today and that of Adams' time, but there is a great gap in the perspective of manners, morals and even of plot line. Perhaps a fairer comparison would be with Hume's Mystery of a Hansom Cab.

                      In his introduction, Shane Maloney details the tragic life of Adams, who was a journalist suffering from tuberculosis. Maloney says that Adams was 'a man whose  aspirations lay not in the tawdry sphere of melodrama and the whodunit but in the higher reaches of cultural endeavour'. Perhaps so, but one supposes that even those possessed of such high ideals had to live: hence this mystery which features melodrama in spades.

                      The narrative opens with the murder scene which is particularly horrid and possessed of copious currents of blood. The corpse-to-be watches with an apparent lack of interest as she bleeds slowly to death. The murderer watches her.

                      Mrs. Madeline Brown is a woman of mystery who has arrived a short time previously in the colony of Melbourne. She is accompanied by her maid-companion, Florence. She is so beautiful that she soon has the male population of Melbourne at her feet. A journalist, David Stuart, is one of her most ardent admirers (though his relationship with her is quite pure and platonic...obviously adhering to the principles of typical journalists) and it is he who advises her to turn her talents to acting. The author, presumably to introduce a note of doubt as to Madeline's chastity, says the fair actress appears to have a hint of Creole ancestry in her makeup: thus the perceptions and prejudices of the time.

                         Stuart is one of the first at the crime's location. He demonstrates his contempt for the local constabulary by conducting his own examination both of the body and its surroundings thus destroying the integrity of the scene and he also pockets a vital bit of evidence. I wonder what relations were like between the then journalists  and the contemporary law enforcers . Perhaps Adams wrote his book with great glee as he denigrated the capabilities of the cops and extolled the virtues of the gifted journalist and his vast superiority to the humble plods whom he depicts as totally lacking in intelligence and initiative and only too willing to obey orders issued by the journo.

                     I have no doubt Adams' portrayal of the Melbourne of the era is accurate or only slightly skewed... after all, writers of our time tend to depict the society in which they live either accurately or with some slight distortion. As such, the book is delightful, should one overlook the gruesome portion of the content.

                    Adams could in no wise be seen as a precursor of the male advocates of modern feminism... some of the notions he throws about quite happily as opinions taken for granted by his peers would make modern women grind their teeth in frustration. We can well and truly be grateful that attitudes have evolved.

                      The story itself is redolent of overdone melodrama yet has a certain charm. Fancy duelling still being perceived as a solution for male quarrels in such relatively modern days. The motive for the murder can still arouse feelings of understanding in today's readers and the tracking down of the perpetrator is quite ingenious.

                      Certainly the book is worth reading as  representative of the crime fiction of its time and definitely as a portrayal of Australian society of over a century ago.
                                THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE
                                          by Rennie Airth
                                         ISBN 0330484729
                                                  452 pages
                                                  Pan Books
                                         December 3 2005
                                                   $19.95
                                reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                         December 4 2005

Scarcely a prolific author , South African born Rennie Airth has only penned four books since his first full length publication in 1969. THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE is his second excursion into historical crime fiction and provides a sequel to his RIVER OF DARKNESS, the novel in which Inspector John Madden made his debut. This episode is set in 1932. A third outing for Madden is predicted.

John Madden has retired from Scotland Yard, to the relief of his doctor wife Helen. He is now a Surrey farmer intent on making his family life as fulfilling as possible. Nonetheless, when a prepubescent girl in his area goes missing, he helps with the search and locates the raped and horribly mangled corpse. Madden's reputation, for all he has been absent from the Yard for a number of years, remains intact and former colleagues are anxious to seek his aid in tracking down the killer. It is not long before it becomes evident that the murderer has killed many times before. The reason for the disparate locations of his crimes, some in continental Europe as well as some in England, does not reflect well on people in authority in Britain.

Airth's characters, including Madden himself, have been affected by the Great War, the war to end all wars, yet another conflict is casting its shadow in advance of itself with the coming to power in Germany of the Nazis. In fact, one of the detectives of the novel is German.

The era may, at times, be forgotten as some of the narrative could well be set in today's England. Readers falling into that trap would be brought up short to see references to tramps, lost souls whose lives have changed as a result of the war, men whose former lives have been forfeit to the changes wrought by the conflict. Then, of course, there is the absence of technology to aid the police. One is accustomed to modern thrillers employing advanced forensics as well as the convenience (or otherwise) of mobile phones.

The plot is well constructed with great attention paid to detail. The cast of men active in bringing the murderer to justice is carefully drawn and very human. There are no obvious anachronisms to mar the tale which deserves widespread appreciation.
FINAL THEORY
by Mark Alpert
ISBN 9781847372406
359 pages
Simon & Schuster
August 1 2008
$29.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
November 25 2008

For anyone sufficiently interested (and I doubt anyone would be) my first degree was within the Faculty of Science, thus, I was very interested to see this book described as a ìscientific thrillerî. The author, himself an editor at SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, has made a wonderful job of simplifying the science involved in FINAL THEORY, and made his writing readily understandable to all readers, even those who may have forgotten what they learned at university, or those who never learned it at all.

The tale opens with the torture and near murder of an eminent theoretical physicist, one who actually worked with Einstein. The malefactor is identified as a Russian named Simon. Dr. Hans Kleinman is hospitalised and  is about to expire, but before he does, asks to see a former student, Dr. David Swift. Kleinman has already told the police that Einsteinís Unified Field Theory, a mathematical expression which could tie all aspects of physics together, was responsible for the attack-- except the police did not understand what he was saying, as he expressed himself in German. Kleinman (a deliberate joke by the author since he is describing a great physicist as a ìlittle manî?) explains that Einstein saw the danger of possible  applications of the unified field theory and so hid it, in a very safe place. Kleinman described the theory as the ìdestroyer of worlds.î

Kleinman warns Swift that ìtheyî will come after him since a paper Swift once wrote was ìvery closeî to the correct theory. He recites a string of numbers to David, with the injunction that he must memorise them.

FBI agents arrive at the hospital  and detain David, although they do not arrest him. He is interrogated by Lucille, a senior agent. He does, however, manage to escape the FBI agents and teams up with a former colleague, Monique, and together they go on the run.

A large part of the novel has the protagonist on the road, attempting to escape both the FBI and a Russian hitman (who has quite a knowledge of physics.)  David and Monique also acquire an autistic teenager, grandson of another physicist, along the way. Oh yes, and then thereís the bible bashing backwoodsman to add to the mix.

To my mind, the most attractive aspect of the novel is the simplified science. Apart from that, for all it is a road story, it is rather pedestrian. Still, it IS a debut novel.
                                      THE DEATH OF ACHILLES
                                                      by Boris Akunin
                                          translated by Andrew Bromfield
                                                     ISBN 0297848151
                                                         330 pages
                                                Weidenfeld & Nicolson
                                                     October 7 2005
                                                            $29.95
                                            reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                     October 4 2005
 

Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili - and I defy you, dear Western reader, to say that even once after breakfast. He has only been writing fiction since 1998 but he  is amazingly prolific, having penned nine Erast Fandorin novels up until 2004 and goodness knows how many other works since then. He puts to use his knowledge of Japanese in the creation of Masa, unorthodox Yakuza assistant to Fandorin, in  nineteenth century Moscow in which the pair find themselves.

Fandorin has returned to Moscow in order to take up an appointment with the governor-general. On arriving at his hotel, he is delighted to note that an old friend, General  Sobolev, is also in residence. Determined to renew the acquaintance, Erast attempts to speak to Gukmasov, a captain in the general's retinue, but is snubbed by him, to Fandorin's great mortification and bemusement. Then comes tragic news, Sobolev, who rejoices in the nickname Achilles, has died. Although Erast Petrovich has been invited to a meeting of notables with the governor, ostensibly to discuss means of obtaining funding to fill the seemingly bottomless maw of the rebuilding of the Cathedral, when the news of General Sobolev's death is brought to the governor by the same Gukmazov who humiliated Fandorin the previous day, the collegiate assessor manages to convince the functionary that there should be an investigation into the death, which he perceives to be suspicious, and has himself included amongst the investigators.

Fandorin's amazing methods of detection and disguise are exercised in the first part of the tale as he tries to identify the assassin. The next part is devoted to the life and upbringing of the murderer himself. The mirror image of the investigation is detailed in this section so that the reader sees a room in which all the main characters are disguised, from both sides of the case. It is quite a successful manoeuvre.

This novel is truly over the top fun. There are mysterious and lethal martial arts, multiple disguises, beautiful 'modern' women (who are, nonetheless, still very vulnerable) abused children, murderous 'handkerchief' duels, undetectable poisons, gallons of blood and old fashioned political corruption and conniving, to name but a few of the myriad amusements on display.

This is not one to be missed. It would, perhaps, be advisable for the reader to jot down a 'key' to the characters as the Russian names are, to me at least, very confusing - all those Ks and Hs! Any reader who enjoys entertainments pushed to the limit cannot fail to be pleased with this adventure and be left hoping for more.
                      PELAGIA AND THE WHITE BULLDOG
                                                by Boris Akunin
                            translated by Andrew Bromfield
                                                     294 pages
                                               ISBN 0297852507
                                       Weidenfeld & Nicolson
                                                  August 4 2006
                                                         $29.95
                              reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                August 21 2006

Akunin compares his own work to a matyrushka doll, those little Russian dolls which open to disclose a smaller doll until the very smallest, which will reduce no further, is encountered. He claims that no reader will penetrate to the tiniest nugget within his books, since that is written with himself only in mind. Certainly, I doubt I penetrated beyond the first couple in PELAGIA AND THE WHITE BULLDOG.  Akunin (the pen name itself comprises several layers) discusses religion, politics and regional rivalries amongst  the various subjects he manages to incorporate in this thoroughly enchanting tale featuring a charming protagonist.

Mitrofanii, Bishop of Zavolshie, is less than pleased to receive a letter from his great-aunt, Marya Afanasievna Taticheva, telling him of her great distress at having two of her white bulldogs poisoned, one dying, and summoning Mitrofanii to her bedside in order to solve the crime. The bulldogs were specially bred by her late husband and  producing a line  that will breed true is now the widow's life's work. The Bishop is ill disposed to obey so instead commissions Pelagia, a young nun who has been instrumental in his solving previous crimes, to attend upon the lady.

On her way to the estate, Pelagia encounters  a group of villagers who are standing around two decapitated corpses, a man and a young male child. (Needless to say, Pelagia contrives to solve these and subsequent murders as well as the murder of the bulldog, before the end of the narrative.)

Vladimir Lvovich Bubentsov is an inspector sent to the province by the Holy Synod. A gambler and womaniser, it is difficult to imagine anyone less likely for the appointment but he solves the case of the decapitated unknowns to his own satisfaction: they must have been killed by Zyts, worshipers of a pagan god to whom  human (decapitated) sacrifices were formerly offered up .

Once ensconced in the estate, Pelagia is the inadvertent eavesdropper on several conversations that give her an insight into the characters of people living on and around the property, not the least the suitors for the hand of the beautiful princess Naina, granddaughter of Marya Afansievna -- and the identity of the man for whom the girl pines.

Akunin laces his work with gentle humour and satire.  In interviews available on the Net, he confesses that he includes anachronisms deliberately in his work, which is set at the end of the nineteenth  century and the beginning of the twentieth; I am afraid I was unable to find the prolepsis in this work.

The social and religious themes in    PELAGIA AND THE WHITE BULLDOG could be seen equally as applying to western society  -- although possibly the religious aspect would have less impact in the west-- as to both historical and modern day Russia.

The characterisations are quirkily drawn, the plotting intricate and the scenery and atmosphere beautifully evoked. Certainly, it is pleasant to know that Akunin has already written more in the Pelagia (and her alter ego sister, Polina Lisitsina) series. To my mind, Pelagia is even more delightful than the author's other, and perhaps better known, protagonist, Erast Fandorin.

One thing, naturally enough, that all the books from this author have in common is the potential befuddlement of western readers because of the confusing names of he dramatis personae. It is necessary to bear in mind at all times that each character may have several different appellations, depending on how he is addressed and described; still, the reader is helped by the cast list at the beginning of the novel, one to which the reader is advised to have frequent recourse in order to minimise bewilderment.

While the action does not bound along on a straight path, it is well worth while following the by-ways the author constructs as he examines the customs and conditions of the country and the day.
                                DEATH WAITS FOR YOU
                                         by Donna Anders
                                    ISBN 9781416514862
                                                 376 pages
                                       POCKET STAR BOOKS
                                         February 7 2007
                                                   $18.95
                              reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                         January 18 2007

One does, almost by very definition, expect a lot of action in a horror novel with less concentration on depth of characterisation and, in this respect , DEATH WAITS FOR YOU does not disappoint. Anders employs a tried and true theme of a woman being stalked by something with supernatural overtones. Of course the protagonist goes where no sensible woman would venture, no doubt with readers' warnings bouncing off her impervious sensibilities, and generally throws herself into peril's path with gay abandon.

Savannah Blum is a writer who wishes to pen a novel. She is currently living with her grandmother, Johanna, in a Jersey apartment but Johanna's lease is soon to run out and Savannah does not know where she will then live as her grandmother is going to retire to Florida. She can go to live with her importunate boyfriend Tom (but her feelings for him are far from clear, verging at times on the negative) or rent an apartment for herself in the cheaper, rather less secure neighbourhood of Manhattan. On the other hand, she could move to Florida with Johanna or return to her home town of Kansas to teach high school history, in accordance with her mother's wishes. None of the options holds particular appeal.

Johanna might have provided a viable choice for her. Her wealthy friends, the Hawthornes, are looking for an author to write the family history. They are prepared to pay an astronomical sum to the lucky winner of the contract, an amount that would, temporarily at least, solve Savannah's financial worries. She accepts the task with enormous pleasure, confident of her own research abilities as well as her writing talents.

The writer's happiness is marred,  however, since she has had a fright. When she was in the building's underground garage, a black cloaked figure which, to her mind, resembled a vampire, had grabbed her by the shoulder. She had run, escaping the spectre, only to be confronted by a man in a black raincoat when she arrived at the lift. He identifies himself as Simon Rittinger, grandson to Sue Hawthorne (although the child of the child of her first marriage -- with apologies to Paul Simon). He strikes her as being somewhat sinister, although intensely attractive.

Thirty years previously, a relative of the Hawthornes, Tekla von Papen, had been the last of the victims of a serial killer known as the vampire wolf. The father of Detective Rudy Cardone had been involved in pursuing the murderer and is still obsessed with the case, despite having retired. Similar murders are now occurring and Cardone senior insists they are connected to the old case, possibly even being perpetrated by the same murderer despite what must now be the murderer's advanced age.

Savannah makes the acquaintance of the younger generation of Hawthornes and finds them an odd lot. When she visits reclusive Charlotte, the woman inhabiting the family property, the author suffers a nasty shock when she is apparently attacked.

Anders is very generous with the thrills that proliferate throughout the work. The heroine obligingly places herself in dire peril on various occasions and is also torn between two promising male leads: Tom, the boyfriend about whom she has severe qualms, and Simon, the suave (and rich) defence lawyer of the slightly sinister possibilities.

The book contains a couple of inconsistencies. To begin with, why would Savannah contemplate moving in with a man to whom her affections are not committed? Is she simply an opportunist, determined to obtain cheap accommodation with security provided by a strong boyfriend? Scarcely an attractive trait for a heroine. Then there is the matter of the present day murderer. If, as seems likely, he is not the former murderer, nor directly instructed by that murderer, how does he know the bits and pieces with which he must embellish his killings since they were not released to the public of the time?

Now, I have no quibble with the narrative as a narrative. To me it seems quite adequate as a horror tale. I do, however, have a problem with its presentation, i.e. the prose itself. I felt that it was not as a final draught should be. The language was full of clumsy constructions and imperfectly used words. One, which is used repeatedly, is 'reticent' or 'reticence' when 'reluctant' or 'reluctance' is intended. There are others, but this particular misuse grates enormously with me. A quick reading (and the whole is a quick read, so should not tax a competent editor's ability) would have pointed up the deficiencies and they should have been remedied. To leave the text as it is  seems to me to display a certain disdain for Anders' readers.

The author certainly has talent and if readers are only looking for plot rather than adequate prose, the novel should please.
 
 

This is Archer's first novel since his release from prison where he penned his notorious PRISON DIARIES; notorious solely because of the stir they caused concerning the rights of a prisoner over his writings. Whatever else may have been levelled at him, no one has ever equated Archer with Oscar Wilde. Completely different as FALSE IMPRESSION is from PRISON DIARIES, one wonders which work features the greatest number of villains.

The rather grisly murder -- together with the removal of a trophy in the form of an ear --of a British noblewoman, Victoria Wentworth on September 10th 2001, provides the opening scene of the tale. The action then shifts across the Atlantic to the World Trade Centre and the arch-villain of the piece, Bryce Fenston, crooked banker and he who masterminded Victoria's murder for his own perfidious ends. Anna Petrescu, heroine of the narrative, is an art expert temporarily (although the brevity of the span of her employment is unknown to her) employed by Fenston. Jack Delaney, FBI agent on the trail of Fenston as he attempts to provide proof of the latter's evil deeds, is another goodie of the dramatis personae while the former Romanian gymnast Olga Krantz, who shares a birth nationality with both Petrescu and Fenston, is the ruthless assassin.

The destruction of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre, housing Fenston's offices, provides sufficient confusion and distraction, subsequent to Petrescu's firing by Fenston, to ensure that it appears Anna has been killed in the mass slaughter. She feels it is her duty to notify Victoria Wentworth of a relatively simple way to preserve her estate and provide a living for herself and her retainers after paying off her massive debt to Fenston, by selling the family's wonderful van Gogh masterpiece, a self portrait of the artist with a bandaged ear.

Anna is unaware that the reason for the loan was so Fenston would eventually be able to claim the masterpiece. She is also unaware that Victoria has been murdered and the title and estates now belong to Victoria's twin Arabella, a lady with rather more common sense and business acumen than her deceased sibling. Then follows a blood spattered series of pond hops engaged in by all major players as Krantz embarks on a series of well paid assassinations as she tracks both Petrescu and the van Gogh.

I must commend the author on his excellent description of the harrowing escape made by survivors of the carnage in the North Tower on that terrible September 11. It is a particularly vivid and powerful , if perhaps a trifle over long, piece of writing. The plot is full of blood-thirsty twists and artistic turns with a useful education in art and art history provided for the interested reader. There are ingenious hooks to tantalise the hapless sleuths and a fine disregard for seven figure deals displayed by an author who is obviously unimpressed by extreme wealth but who has not lost the touch to provide a slick, entertaining read for an appreciative audience.
A PRISONER OF BIRTH
by Jeffrey Archer
ISBN 9780230707009
531 pages
MACMILLAN
October 1 2008
$34.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
September 22 2008

Hereís a nice, feel good tale in which everyone good comes out on top whilst everyone evil receives his comeuppance. If you, Dear Reader, have read THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO,  you might find the text resonating and, indeed, Archer pays tribute to Alexandre Dumas pere, within his prose.

Danny Cartwright proposes to his girlfriend Beth Wilson and he, his future brother-in-law and his fiancée go to a wine bar to celebrate. Unfortunately, they get into a tussle with a drug addict, a barrister, an only so so actor and an estate agent, who have known each other from university days and have sworn allegiance to each other, come what may. The ìmayî is that the barrister stabs the brother-in-law to death. Alas, the fiancée is away, attempting to hail a cab so doesnít witness the murder of her brother, who is Dannyís best friend.

When the police arrive, they take notice only of the upper crust quartet, rather than the best friend and the sister of the deceased. The killer, of course, has managed to escape to his conveniently close domicile, shower and dress in clothes free from bloodstains.  Thus, Danny is chucked in the slammer, Belmarsh, (where Archer himself was incarcerated for a while) for twenty-two years, after his trial, wherein his defence is conducted by an inexperienced counsel.

Once imprisoned,  Danny is placed in the same cell as Sir Nicholas Moncrieff and Big Al Crann, men who were together in the army, Moncrieff being an officer (and, needless to say, a gentleman.)

Somehow, Danny has reached his advanced age without learning to read and write. Nick takes it upon himself to school the oik in all the ways necessary to a gentleman. Danny is a very intelligent man and shows an aptitude for business studies, as well as English and English Literature.

Tragedy makes itself felt when villainy strikes down Nick, in the belief he is Danny. A superficial likeness between Danny and Nick permits the former to be released when it is time for the latter to go free, and Danny reenters civilian life as Sir Nicholas Moncrieff, with Big Al as his driver, once Al, too, is released.

Nickís uncle Hugo is Nickís sworn enemy and is determined to do anything he can to discredit Danny/Nick. Danny, meanwhile, sets about attempting to wreak vengeance on those responsible for his imprisonment.

As previously mentioned, the whole is truly a feel good, unsophisticated tale.  The blurb warns readers that they must ìprepare for an ending that will shock even the most ardent of Archerís fansî, but Iím afraid that is something of an overstatement.

To my mind, at least, the characterisation is on the frail side. Perhaps, in Dumasí time, it would be acceptable but in the modern age, something deeper might be expected.

Where Archer shines is, naturally enough, in his depiction of prison conditions. One wonders how his books might have been improved had he been guilty of murder. Regardless, his inside knowledge and the way he paints his word pictures of what an inmate might find (although letís hope that murder wouldnít be one of them) are well depicted.

There are a few loose ends. For example, surely there must have been, in real life, a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Dannyís ìdeathî. Not only that, on his release, would Danny have been content not to try to follow up on Bethís whereabouts and well being immediately?

Perhaps the tale does lack punch but for those in the market for a happily ever after story, it is satisfying.
 
 

Jake Arnott's exceedingly chequered past - he worked, incredibly, in jobs as different as a mortuary attendant and a life model with a little acting tossed in for variety - has no doubt given him plenty of what could be called 'gritty realism' to inject into his work. Despite coming from a middle-class background, he found himself living in squats in London after, perhaps ingloriously, departing his good school at the age of sixteen. He had been writing - and being rejected - for years before he finally concentrated on the crime world of the sixties and found publishing success with his first accepted novel, The Long Firm , in 1999. Unlike other authors, he did not tie himself to the notion of churning out a book a year so it was not until 2001 that He Kills Coppers  saw publication. After a pause of two years, the third of the loosely historical trilogy, Truecrime is now released for the delectation of true crime and crime fiction aficionados alike.

The Long Firm  traced the adventures of one Harry Starks, a character Arnott admits he based on the notorious Ronny Kray. Brutal, yet sensitive, successful, gay, gang boss Starks goes to prison but manages to escape. He is still at large when Truecrime  opens.

Tony Meehan, a frustrated writer whose attempt at public recognition with a novel about a horrendous cop killer was ignominiously remaindered without due acclaim, is now reduced to ghost writing for a publisher even seedier and sleazier than he himself. After all, no aspect of his character has received due reward and perhaps that is just as well since he is also a mass murderer, one who relinquished his previous calling at the peak of his murderous career by realising that he would make a better biographer than a killer. Tony has been set the task of ghosting the life of Eddie Doyle, a crook involved in the Hounslow (read  real-life Heathrow) bullion job. Eddie has spent many years inside, never hinting at the whereabouts of the lost loot, but now wishes to reclaim the rewards he perceives are owed to him. Ronnie Kray dies and Eddie is determined to attend the funeral. To his amazed disbelief, Eddie sees someone he thought, too, was dead, someone whose identity he refuses at first to disclose to Meehan:  Harry Starks.

A young woman who sees herself bitterly wronged by Starks is  Julie Kincaid, an actress whose real name is Julie McCluskey. Her father, another big-time gangster, was murdered in Spain and she has been told Starks was the killer. To her horror, she learns that her mother accepted money from Starks to put her, Julie, through stage school. Julie was not convinced her future lay in acting and she feels she must kill Starks in order to regain the life she is convinced he stole.

Gaz Kelly is another caught in the toils of crime. He, too, has spent time 'inside' after a failed career running doors - to the uninitiated, looking after security - for nightclubs and at the same time dabbling in the drug trade. There comes a time when he loses his wife, children, house and, through a badly thought out investment, his money, so turns to a new career : acting.

Julie has a boyfriend Jez (who could almost be Arnott's alter ego) a well brought up 'pretty' boy from a wealthy background. Jez is dissatisfied with respectability and adopts a tough guy persona which displeases Julie who has always hidden her past from him. In collaboration with his friend Piers, Jez turns his talents to film making. He is excited by the prospect of making a movie based on true-to-life gangsters and because of his search for convincing thugs, the disparate characters are drawn together.

There is a great deal of humour in this novel - there is a very funny scene where newly-released skin-head Gaz thinks he is being threatened by another skinhead on a train whereas the apparent tough is a lonely homosexual wishing to make a very different conquest. The historical background is frightening and none of the characters is particularly likeable but the book itself is very forceful. It is told in the first person by the three main characters - Meehan, Julie and Gaz - which at times can be a little confusing but the difference in voice soon resolves. The overall effect is powerful despite the lack of charm in any of the protagonists.

Arnott has been reported as wanting his next book to be about Empire. This would be an ambitious project but I, for one, would be extremely interested to see how the very talented author willdeal with such a theme.
                                   CASE HISTORIES
                                               by Kate Atkinson
                                               ISBN 0385608101
                                                    304 pages
                                                    Doubleday
                                              September 1 2004
                                                      $32.95
                                        reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                              September 12 2004

Kate Atkinson has, for some years, been officially acknowledged as a Good Writer. Her short stories won awards and her first novel BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM  won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year, displacing such stars as Salman Rushdie and Roy Jenkins from the winners' constellation. This latest outing, CASE HISTORIES is unlikely to dissipate her reputation.

Hopping around in time has been a characteristic of Atkinson's earlier work and she employs the same technique in this book. Case History 1, that of the Land sisters, opens in 1970 with the disappearance of the (then) youngest sister, Olivia. Case History 2, which involves the murder of Laura Wyre, solicitor Theo's younger daughter. Michelle, the eighteen year-old mother in 1979, is a portion of Case History 3.

Private Investigator, retired police Inspector Jackson Brodie, is the unifying thread in 2004. He is alive to the dangers of the world, nearly as protective of his daughter Marlee as Theo Wyre was, fruitlessly, of his daughter Laura. He has taken on the three cases. He wants to discover exactly what happened to Olivia Land, uncover the murderer of Laura Wyre and find out  the fate of Tanya, Michelle's baby, when she grew up and disappeared from her aunt's care.

In addition to these cases, Brodie must shadow a suspected wandering air hostess wife (but only in England - her husband doesn't want to incur too much expense) as well as answer the calls (unpaid) of mad old cat lover Binky Rain, whose house backs on the Lands' property.

Jackson greatly resents his estranged wife's lover who has attempted to take Jackson's place in Marlee's affections. Now it appears that Marlee is to be removed from him altogether as her mother is  to relocate to New Zealand. To add to his discomfort, it appears that someone is attempting to cause him grievous bodily harm, at the least, or death as the ultmate reward - but for what transgression?

As the narrative syncopates through time, the plot becomes a little clearer. Family relationships are depicted in all their unpleasant reality - WHY did the eldest Land girl become a nun, WHY did Michelle go to gaol WHO was the intended victim of Laura's murderer. Then there is the mystery of what happened to the young Jackson's family as well as who is threatening the investigator's present well-being.

Atkinson's writing is evocative. Beautifully descriptive phrases (for example : '.... Amelia, who had the swinging underarm flesh that would have made it easy for her to glide  amongst the treetops') proliferate. The plotting is excellently done and the characters eminently credible while the fates imposed on them by the author  are all too illogically believable. Their actions, foolish though they may seem to the reader, are all too possible reflections of what happens in Real Life as opposed to the fictional world.

Characterisation aside, if you, Dear Reader, are looking for a thumping good tale, read Kate Atkinson's latest work.
WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?
by Kate Atkinson
ISBN  9780385614511
348 pages
Doubleday
August 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
August 1 2008

Iíve never made a secret of the fact that I enjoy the writing of Kate Atkinson. I like her stories and I particularly admire her characterisations.

This tale begins from the viewpoint of Joanna Mason. She, her mother, her baby brother and her older sister are walking through the Devon countryside and are not in the least bit happy about it. Their father, the novelist, transplanted them then deserted them for a lady poet. As the family walks by the fields, they are cut down by a man wielding a knife-- all but Joanna, who has obeyed her mother and run and hidden in a wheat field. Later that night, a policeman, part of the  search party, finds Joanna asleep in the grass with ìNot a scratch on her.î Even though Jo is only six, for the next thirty years she bears the guilt of what happened to her family. She feels that she could have rescued her baby brother-- even though that would have been impossible for the six year-old.

Jackson Brodie enters the tale in the modern day as, for reasons known only to himself, he plucks a hair from the head of a  small boy named Nathan.

Reggie Chase is Dr Jo Hunterís ìmotherís helpî. She is sixteen years old and absolutely devoted to Jo and Joís year-old baby, Gabriel. Reggieís mother has died in a drowning accident leaving Reggie largely dependent on herself-- and attempting to avoid the friends of her petty criminal brother Billie. But then Jo and the baby disappear. Mr Hunter tells Reggie that there is nothing wrong, but Reggie knows there must be, from clues Jo left behind.

Jackson is riding a train. Unfortunately, he managed to catch the wrong train going in the wrong direction. Equally unfortunately, the train crashes and Jackson is badly injured. As luck (and the fates) have it, Reggie is nearby and comes across him. She knows some first aid and is able to stanch the bleeding, thus saving his life. From then on, for some time, she takes responsibility for him and, when he is discharged from hospital (against doctorsí orders) she accompanies him and together they set about, amongst other things, attempting to find Jo and the baby.

Ms Atkinson is great at plotting, as well as at characterisation. In this story, she has the fates plot to bring all kinds of disparate characters, many of whom share a tie of which they are totally unaware, together. The prose is witty and well thought out and the entire book-- even allowing for the unfortunate deaths and many unpleasant characters--is a true delight.

I just hope that if the author writes another Jackson Brodie adventure, she might in some way have Reggie join up with him again.
                                 TRAVELS IN THE SCRIPTORIUM
                                                     by Paul Auster
                                                         130 pages
                                                  ISBN 0571232558
                                                    faber and faber
                                                 November 3 2006
                                                               $35
                                          reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                 November 13 2006

TRAVELS IN THE SCRIPTORIUM is a strange, claustrophobic little work which, if you've not read Auster's other books, will probably not have the same impact as on readers familiar with his earlier titles.

A man with no memory of himself is sitting in a room, being constantly photographed, although ignorant of this fact. The author bestows the name 'Mr Blank' on the amnesiac.

Mr Blank is being subjected to a mysterious 'treatment', the nature of which the reader never learns. A nurse, Anna, tells him he agreed to the treatment and promised to take his tablets. Strangely, Mr Blank has no memory of preceding days. He becomes even more confused when Anna tells him she was an operative of his, sent  out over and over again on perilous missions. She also assures him she loves him and proceeds to demonstrate this in a rather physical way.

Every item in his room has a label affixed to it. The purpose of these labels is never made clear (do the people imprisoning him think he may lose the memory of what each object is so seek to impress the meanings upon him?)

Mr Blank picks up a typescript that has been left for him to read. The story is confusing (though perhaps not as confusing as the novel) and eventually he has to rewrite it and provide an ending.

Various people visit the prisoner, exhibiting their several emotional reactions to him. In fact, they are characters from Auster's previous books.

This work will probably only appeal to people who enjoyed Auster's previous books.
MAN IN THE DARK
by Paul Auster
ISBN 9780571240920
180 pages
faber and faber
September 1 2008
$29.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
October 9 2008

I described a previous work of Austerís, TRAVELS IN THE SCRIPTORIUM, as ìa strange, claustrophobic little workî and am inclined to apply the same sort of description to MAN IN THE DARK.

August Brill is seventy-two years old and living in his daughterís house. It is not a happy household. Brillís daughter, Miriam, owns the house and Katya, her daughter, lives there, too. Brill is widowed and, after his wifeís death, he was in a car accident which smashed his leg. Katya, Brillís granddaughter, suffered the loss of her lover, Titus, when he was sent to Iraq to fight. Miriam has been alone for five years. Thus, each person there is bereft and miserable.

Brill, in order to while away the dragging nights, tells himself stories. Not that they are particularly happy stories-- rather the opposite. On the particular night in question, Brill puts his protagonist in a hole--- certainly not a stimulating, uplifting place to begin a story. The protagonist is named Owen Brick and, for a while, the tale is told from his point of view. He has lost his memory and is at the mercy of anyone upon whom he stumbles-- although it is more likely that someone will stumble on him.

In Brickís world, America is in the grip of a civil war. Brick is a corporal in one of the armies. Not only that, his unmemorable face and general appearance have served to make him ideal for a specific job. He is an assassin and his target is a man who is responsible for the civil war. He sits in a room ì and everything that happens or is about the happen is in his head. Eliminate that head and the war stops. Itís that simple.î It is probably needless to say that the target, the man responsible for the whole terrible war is August Brill.

The story bounces around between the two worlds. Brillís own life comes under the microscope as he is forced to reveal his deep secrets to his family. He is, of course, most uncomfortable doing so but it has to be done.

This is a beautifully written piece. The prose exemplifies perfection. The characters (even the unfortunate Brick, the protagonist at one remove) are excellently constructed and the civil war horribly intimidating. But I do wish Auster would write something happy!