One Small Victory by Maryann Miller

The synopsis, from the author’s website (www.maryannwrites.com) is as follows:

Life can change in just an instant. That’s the harsh reality that Jenny Jasik faces when her son is killed in an automobile accident, but never in her wildest dreams did she ever expect to be working undercover as a member of a drug task force. She is, after all, just a Mom. In the course of her work, she discovers that she is capable of much more than running a household and managing her floral shop.

I read this book very quickly, as it was a compelling and easy to read story, although the subject matter itself was potentially quite disturbing.

Jenny Jasik is a believable heroine, who through unfortunate circumstances finds herself taking on a role she could never have imagined.  But in her obsession to try and make some sense come out of the death of her son (who was killed in a car accident, in which her son’s friend, the driver of the car was under the influence of drugs), she starts to neglect her other two children.  It was the domestic parts of the book which I enjoyed the most – the effect that the tragedy had on the whole of the family, and how they struggled to cope with feelings of grief, loss and anger.

In an attempt to do something about the drugs which are all too easily obtainable, Jenny becomes a member of a specialist drug unit.  Unfortunately, I had to suspend my belief somewhat here, because I found the circumstances under which she became part of the team rather hard to believe.  However, that is a minor complaint and did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I definitely felt that there was an honesty about the story – by which I mean that the subject is clearly something that the author feels strongly about.

The writing is eloquent, and the story is well plotted, and I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in crime novels, and human drama.

Published by Five Star Publishing: http://www.gale.cengage.com/fivestar/index.htm

Doctor Mooze by Erik Ryman

Synopsis:

Panton di Villa was a ten-year-old boy who wanted to write a “Blog” and to get his revenge on a boy who had “taken his girl”.  Why not see the world through the eyes of your average cynical child, in this Sallinger meets Coupland classic that is most definitely not written for kids? “Doctor Mooze” was originally released under the pseudonym Panton di Villa – the young boy who features in the story. As such the style of the writing and illustration is that which a boy of that age might like. A few reviewers weren’t sure about the authenticity, but despite themselves couldn’t rule it out. This second edition allows Ryman to come out of the literary closet.

I sat in front of my computer for a long time thinking about what I was going to say about ‘Doctor Mooze’ by Erik Ryman and it was tough, I will not lie to you, it was really tough.

‘Doctor Mooze’ tells the very interesting story of Panton di Villa, a ten year old boy who decides he is going to write a blog and what a blog he writes, you share the insights of a 10 year old boy and the downward spiral of a father, son and their dog.

‘Doctor Mooze’ is written in such a way that you will be unable to put the book down, you will want to know what Panton does next.

The reason why it was so tough? well I wanted to give ‘Doctor Mooze’ the justice it deserves. Erik Ryman delivers the thoughts and feelings of 10 year old Panton so well, you will find yourself worrying about Panton, about what is going to happen to him, where he is going to end up?

‘Dr Mooze’ is a brilliantly written book which manages to deliver in a humorous and serious way the inner workings of a 10 year old’s mind, who is at risk of developing a personality disorder.

An excellent book which should be read with an open mind.

Rating: 10/10

Reviewed by:  Gyre

The Various Flavors of Coffee by Anthony Capella

“A well made cup of coffee is the proper beginning to an idle day. Its aroma is beguiling, its taste is sweet; yet it leaves behind only bitterness and regret. In that it resembles, surely, the pleasures of love…..Although in this case, it seems to taste of nothing much except mud. With, perhaps, a faint aftertaste of rotten apricots.”

 

With these words Robert Wallis seals his fate. Not that it didn’t need to be sealed. After having been expelled from Oxford (too much partying, no studying) and cut off by his father, Robert is living in London on credit from various tradesmen. He is the very picture of a dandy, dressing in the most fashionable manner, writing marginal poetry by day and visiting local brothels by night. A dissolute young man who is nevertheless endearing from the very first page.

While sitting in a cafe one morning his remark is overheard by coffee merchant Samuel Pinker. Mr. Pinker wants to develop a reference manual to describe the tastes & smells in the various coffee beans that he imports. He needs someone with a discerning palate and the vocabulary necessary to complete the task. He offers Robert the very last thing that he wants, employment. But even Robert realizes that he will not be able to maintain his lifestyle with no income, so he reluctantly accepts.

The dreadful dullness of employment is greatly reduced when Robert meets his assistant. Mr. Pinker’s lovely daughter, Emily, serves as secretary and partner in the task. Robert, of course, is attracted to her (and her father’s wealth). He feels that he is a wonderful catch, a view not shared by Mr. Pinker. In order to win her hand he is given a mission. A five year trek to Africa, to plant and grow a crop of the best kind of coffee available. Obviously this kind of job is not to Robert’s taste but again, he sees that his life has left him few options and he agrees to go.

Africa will profoundly change Robert in ways that he cannot begin to imagine. The man who returns to London has learned hard lessons and survived harrowing experiences. The years have changed London and its inhabitants, as well. When he returns he will have to rebuild his life and try create a future for himself.

Mr. Capella has written a fantastic historical novel. He brilliantly describes London at the end of the nineteenth century with all of its wonderful depth, from the glamorous upper class drawing rooms to the seedy, poverty stricken streets. Then he takes us to the dusty plains and steamy jungles of Africa and introduces us to the native people, showing us their struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of outsiders in search of wealth and land. It is a rich, evocative, compelling story and I loved it.

The Various Flavors of Coffee will be published by Bantam on September 2, 2008

Tracks by Mike Gordon

This is Mike Gordon’s first novel, yet to be released, and I must say, well worth reading. Here is the synopsis for Tracks taken from the back cover:

The future of the surveillance society…In Boston, Global HealthCare Corporation is hoping to recover its fortunes with a new micro-chip technology which can eradicate disease – until Peter Miller, the brilliant but troubled architect of the program, quits his job and goes to work at a psychiatric hospital in London, helping develop a system to track dangerous patients. When a deadly threat to the US emerges, a covert Federal agency becomes involved, and Miller is caught in a web of lies, love, insanity and murder – and he find he’s opened the door to a frightening future.

This is not my usual type of book, but I really enjoyed Tracks. It was gripping, fast-paced and exciting. Issues of mental health, American security, future technology and religion are all addressed in this book. It is just under 300 pages long, and I read 200 pages in one go. There were no slow or boring parts in this book.

I liked the characters and the human characteristics they revealed and struggled with, such as fear, anger and instability. Gordon writes in a way that is realistic, making it easy to engage with the characters.

The ending was magnificent, I was thoroughly satisfied with the way Gordon brought it all together and was surprised at all the way it all tied together and the links between people that I did not see coming at all.

The only thing I did not like was the idea of the anti-christ and the 666 beast. I did not see the point of this strand of the story. I did not feel this was important in the story.

A really good first novel.

9/10

Obsession by John Conway

Blurb from the back of the book;

The title says it all. Doug Morrell: parcel delivery driver, loner, social inadequate, serial stalker and ultimate fantasist; is a man obsessed  – with himself, fame, reality TV, and Z-list ‘celebrity’ Donna Trayhorn. He also has a point to prove to those who bullied him st school and mocked him at work for being a misfit. Once his first best seller is out, it will be his turn to lord it over them.

Thus Doug takes us on his amazing, often hilarious but disturbing journey in a double pursuit of the fame and adulation he craves – and Donna. But whether he finally acheives his ambitions is anyone’s guess – as reality and fantasy become increasingly hard to separate.

The character of Doug Morrell immediately reminded me of an actor in Please Sir! For those of us old enough to remember, there was a pupil called Frankie Abbott who was portrayed as a mummy’s boy but was an ineffectual lad and fantasist frequently getting out his pair of revolvers to shoot the enemies and making the vocal noisies to go with it. There is also an element of Walter Mitty  here. Morrell is seriously annoying in this book being so self centred and deeply irritating although redeemingly intelligent. He is the man at a party in the kitchen dressed in a brown polo neck with his long hair strands swept across the bald pate whose conversation leaves you so perplexed so that you back away slowly.

The story of Doug is narrated entirely by himself throughout the book. Doug is obsessed with the reality TV programme Voyeur (read Big Brother) and Donna Trayhorn one of it’s early evictees. He eventually goes too far in his pursuit of her and gets himself in hot water with the police. At this point, some of the extent of his delusions are revealed to the reader and I begin to feel a little bit sorry for our man. In reality Doug would have been passed over to some form of mental health service here, however this doesn’t happen in the book. Doug is socially isolated throughout and seemingly happy that way, he continually rebuffs Matt, a fellow van driver who appears to be offering some kind of friendship to him. Doug lives half the time in a fantasy life as a brave hero saving Donna and defeating his enemies. He also has a delightful habit of stealing pens from people and sees it as a form of revenge or punishment, this is quite funny at times.

Ultimately Doug gets what he wishes for and for a while he seems to stop fantasising although he is in a reality TV setting which of course is somewhat unreal. Very clever stuff by the author here. Seemingly he is taken advantage of by his Voyeur management team  but finally he ends up with his one true love and that is all Doug wants.

Initially I did not think I was going to enjoy this book. I thought it was a lad’s read, however I changed my mind completely and I really did like it. It was different, quirky and well put together. It’s well written and the author is obviously a watcher of reality TV like myself and well versed in the nuances of the show!! It’s a book of our time as reality TV viewers.

Messages by Sarah Salway and Lynne Rees

The concept behind this book was to write 300 pieces, each consisting of exactly 300 words. The two authors took it in turns, with a 72 hour deadline for each one. Each piece was to have some connection to the previous, be it the theme, or just a word.

The book opens with a short introduction from each author, which adds a personal touch right at the outset. Tucked inside the messages is a further personal one, just waiting to be found.

The messages themselves are varied, ranging from touching, to amusing. Some of the links between the pieces are obvious, some more subtle.. and that’s part of the joy of this book, you have no idea what awaits you as you turn each page.

I’ve previously read Sarah’s Leading The Dance, a collection of short stories which I enjoyed, and will be going back to. I am now awaiting the arrival of The Oven House, by Lynne Rees, as I very much enjoyed her style too. The two ladies compliment each other well, and I’d love to know who wrote which piece.

Another Give Away – The Silver Bear by Derek Haas

We have another give away, for an uncorrected proof copy of The Silver Bear by Derek Haas.

Details here.

The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson

This is a Richard & Judy Summer Read 2008. This synopsis is from their site:

A multi-generational story based around the extraordinary true story of Errol Flynn’s arrival in 1940s Jamaica. The Pirate’s Daughter follows Ida, a young girl who falls for Flynn’s legendary charms. Through the eyes of Ida and her daughter, May, it also tells the story of their home, Jamaica before and after independence.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, but I did enjoy it. The story is based around Errol Flynn and what happens when he arrives out of the blue in Jamaica. The story spans four generations of one family, with the emphasis on Ida and May, who were the closest to Flynn.

I was amazed at how one man could influence so many lives, everyone seemed to be affected by Flynn. I liked how even after he was gone, the story was still about him and what he had done to contribute to people’s lives. It was interesting too to see how May turned out, having had her mother leave her for four years when she was very young, and the fact she was father-less. I liked how Cezair-Thompson developed these characters based on things that could traumatize them.

It is hard to say who my favourite character was. I guess Derek, as he was always there for May. There were characters I wasn’t keen on too, like Ian, who smoked pot all the time and was just weak and idle.

I did have a few complaints about the book: there were a lot of characters in the book and I sometimes got people confused or forgot someone; there was a lot of drug use and sex, and I know that was the culture back in the Swingin’ Sixties, but it isn’t something I like reading about; sometimes when characters are speaking Cezair-Thompson writes phonetically, which was hard to read and understand.

There is a large amount of history in this book too, which I enjoyed. Some of it I knew to be correct, such as the Bay of Pigs incident involving America and Cuba, others I was ignorant of, such as the Jamaican Civil War. Every issue raised, including race/racism, sex, illegitimate children, war, fame and love were all dealt with well and appropriately.

There was also a twist at the end that I did not see coming and was quite pleased with. I honestly had no idea that there would be such a big change in one character right at the end, and it was good. It rounded off the story nicely.

Overall, a good book.

7/10

War on the Margins – Libby Cone

Amazon Synopsis
War makes for difficult decisions.
At the beginning of the Second World War, after the fall of France, Churchill decided to demilitarize the Channel Islands and allow their occupation by the Germans because of their proximity to the Occupied French coast. The events that followed are still being elucidated in the decade since the opening of the archives.
In War on the Margins, we see the effects of the occupation upon marginalized persons such as clerk Marlene Zimmer, the child of a deceased Jewish father and Gentile mother, Claude Cahun (Lucille Schwob) and Marcel Moore (Suzanne Malherbe),Surrealist artists and longtime lovers, and Peter, an escaped Polish slave worker. We follow Suzanne and Lucille in their uniquely Surrealist Resistance activities and as they suffer in German military prison, and revisit Marlene, hiding from her own local authorities, as she slowly realizes that the decisions she has made resulted in the imprisonment of one woman and the saving of the life of another.

My Thoughts
This is an unforgettable read about the effects that WW11 had on the lives of the people of Jersey. To read it is to weep at the atrocities and unfairness, to rage at how this was allowed to happen, but ultimately to rejoice in the determined survival spirit that shone through. The fact that these events really took place and that they are not the invention of the author makes it all the more heart wrenching to read. Libby Cone has written her book in a sensitive manner and even allowed moments of humour to creep in. The author also used actual radio broadcasts of the time and several of the book’s characters were real people, not inventions from Cone’s mind, which makes the book all the more poignant.

Wooden Womb Man – Elizabeth O’Neill

Amazon Synopsis
The Legg family are a nightmare, and it is only that good if you are part of it. Domestic violence, heavy drinking, junk food and cigarettes are the staples of everyday life and an unholy interest in eggs only adds a surreal twist to the misery Gregg Legg has to put up with. He has always been bullied and the bullying seems as though it will continue throughout his life, being only marginally better since he decided to marry Peggy Legg, who doesn’t let anyone bully her husband except herself. But now there is their son to think about and Gregg doesn’t want history to repeat itself. “Wooden Womb Man” is a surreal, darkly hilarious and often terrifying novel, which digs into the heart of an ASBO community and finds it to be as healthy as the ash from a packet of Kensitas Club. Set in Irvine, Elizabeth O’Neill writes in dialect and describes the horror of domestic abuse and its effects from a new and refreshing perspective, the darkness of the story leavened with some of the worst puns ever set in print.

My Thoughts

I was so drawn into the plight of the battered husband, Gregg, and how he tried to cover up his shame at this treatment from his wife that I could not put this book down. His wife, Peggy, was an evil woman, but at the same time, I felt she deserved some sympathy over the fact that she’d never received help for her mood swings, which were caused by PMT and later by early menopause. When they have a child together there are some truly awful moments that caused me to gasp out loud with shock and dismay. The title is very clever, referring to the shed that Gregg takes refuge in, but the ending, which takes part in his shed, is bittersweet and extremely shocking. In all, this tale is gritty, brutal and violent, but also poignant and heartbreaking.

 

The novel is written in Scottish dialect, and O’Neill has tackled the subject of domestic violence in a refreshingly new style. She has even managed to inject moments of humour, which help to alleviate the horrors that her story tells.

Many thanks to Anthony at www.bluechrome.co.uk for sending me this amazing book.