This is a wonderful book and very accomplished for a debut. It really is my kind of book as it is set in India in 1837.
It is beautifully written and very atmospheric. I particularly liked the pairing of the embittered old hand with the young and naive young officer . I also liked the fact that there was no 'massaging' of the language and opinions of the time, as it is all the more shocking to hear it in context.
A young officer is commissioned to accompany a hastily resigned up East Indian Officer as his guide to find a celebrated poet. Throw in treachorous Indian Princes, Thuggees, and suspicious East India Company colleagues, of and a tiger hunt and you have all the makings of a perfect thriller.
The plot is exciting and finely paced. I was up into the small hours reading the last few chapters. Do they escape are they rewarded, well that would only be spoilers.
Wow this was a marathon read for me. It has been a long time since I took so long to read a book. This book is huge and heavy (700 pages!) This book is very intense. It has multiple plot lines, but hard as I tried to put it down I was unable to walk away from it, something kept drawing me back ( and lengthening my arm as I carried it back and forth from work).
As a scriptwriter Terry has the skills to make this a page turner and you can see that it is crying out to be made into a film.
There are 3 plot lines, a police procedural murder mystery, a worrying terrorist plot, and a deep, deep cover spy thriller. Lots of exotic locations .It is very clever.
I suspect that Terry Hayes has done reams of research because the terrorist plot seemed frighteningly plausible. I also enjoyed us getting into the mind of the terrorist and we almost became invested in his plot, I never felt that he was the enemy, a real coup here to make a terrorist empathic to the reader. His characterisation is great which I think is why I did not want to leave them and the book stays with you.
My only very small caveate is that it there is almost enough material in this one book for two books and that might have made it less bulky ( there was a lot of back story that could have been teased out in future books - I assume we will be reading more of Pilgrim soon? - and yes I will be unable to resist the series if and when it comes.) On the other hand it might just be that it was that bulk of story that made it so immersive.
I suggest you buy it as an ebook add then it will occupy your entire holiday, and you will want everyone else to read it so you can discuss it.
I suspect this book is too large for most reading groups to tackle but if they can be persuaded then there are many, many themes to discuss.
Another fast paced intelligent thriller from Mario Reading. This time it is set in three time frames. The crusades, Hitler's last few days, and the present day. the present day moves from Mexico to Germany.
The thread that is woven through the book is an ancient religious artifact that of the Holy Lance or Spear of Destiny.
What I really like about Mario's books is that they are well researched, and the situation and characters feel real. We have a flawed hero unable to resist the very flawed heroine. I cannot say too much without providing spoilers. Suffice to say it is a good writer that can make me momentarily empathise with Nazis!
A good read and an ideal book to take away on a break or a holiday.
For those of you still morassed in the gut churning emotions of Khaled's last book, be assured this has a lighter touch. You can put your toe into the water that is Afghanistan once again. This book switched between Afghanistan, Paris, San Fransisco and Greece. It jumps between different time frames as well. I think the ultimate feeling I came away with this book is hope.
It begins in 1952 when forced by poverty and desperation a villager sells his daughter to a rich family. We then move from character to character in each dedicated chapter. Each chapter is a story in itself revealing the enigma of Afghanistan, through the characters that are revealed to us, then and now. Like the feather we drift from one to the other each making the book more whole as we progress. This is a story about loss, resilience and how war effects everyone's lives. Another triumph.
It will make a great reading group book.
I came upon this rather late and I have to say it really was very good and I do hope this is the start of a series. I found it interesting in that at the beginning I felt Robert ( aka J K Rowling) was fighting her natural style to make this a fast paced thriller. In the second half I felt once this was relaxed her true voice came through and I couldn't put it down. I love her flawed detective Cormoran Strike.
My husband read the book on audio and he enjoyed it immensely too, so this book is a rare feat in that it appeals to cross gender which is hard to do in an overcrowded crime genre,
Given that this has much to tell about the perils of fame, I think it will make an excellent reading group pick.
We had a fantastic event at Bournemouth Library with Fay Weldon and she enthralled us with tales of how she came to write and in particular how she wrote this trilogy.
This series is a must for Downton Abbey fans, particularly if you like a bit of wry humour and feminism thrown in. We discovered that Fay wrote the first few episodes of Upstairs Downstairs, the original series, and has been waiting to return to that era for many years.
We follow the Countess of Dilberne as she attempts to marry off her wilful son to a Chicago heiress for a badly needed cash injection. This is a clash of cultures that lends itself to much wry humour and social comentary from Prince Bertie himself to the lowliest cook.
Well all I can say it was worth the wait. This will make an excellent reading group book as there is much to discuss,
I have been really busy with a wonderful project we have had here in Bournemouth. We now have a Poet Laureate for Bournemouth - James Manlow.
Here is a link to the project and more info
http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/LeisureCultureLibraries/Libraries/Poet-Laureate/Poet-Laureate.aspx
