Clara Salaman - The Boat

This is an amazingly creepy book and a fantastic choice for a summer break. I just could not put it down.
It is very difficult to describe this book without giving away some  major spoilers.
In many ways it is a coming of age novel, a cautionary tale for young travellers, and a suspense novel wrapped into one.
There is much to discuss here and it will make an excellent reading group choice. We have bought a set to use here in Bournemouth. Also it is available as an ebook from our catalogue.
I found it online in our catalogue one weekend and had downloaded it and was reading it in minutes!

Elizabeth Speller - The Return of Captain John Emmett

I have had this book for some time but decided to read it over the Easter weekend. I could not put it down, it is beautifilly written  and I think Laurence Bartram's blundering around as an amateur investigator is really rather true to life. We have all had that experience of mentally kicking ourselves and realising what we should have asked or said. He is a wonderful character.

The plot revolves around the request of Captain John Emmett's sister to Laurence who went to school with his brother as to why having survived WW1 he then comes home and commits suicide. It is an interesting study of the period and the conclusion we reach as a reader is that non of the returned soldiers are entirely unscathed be they sound of linb or not. Indeed even those left at home are now changed in some subtle or not so subtel way, it is wonderfully captured in this book.

It would make a fantastic Reading Group book as there is so much to discuss and of course it is very topical at the moment as we commemorate the beginning of WW1

Lucy Clarke - A Single Breath

A great second novel from local author Lucy Clarke, following on from the success of The Sea Sisters.  I could not put it down and read it over 48 hours. I think it will make an excellent reading groups read as there is much in here to get your teeth into and helpfully the paperback version contain reading group notes , an interview with the author and a photo montage of Tasmania!

 The plot is around  a normally sensible midwife called Eva, who has a whirlwind romance and wedding with a Tasmanian she meets on a long haul flight  into the UK.
Tragically he is swept into the sea whilst fishing off the Dorset coast and is presumed drowned, as no body is recovered.
Consumed by grief Eva decides to go to Tasmania to see the land that Jackson, her husband ,had talked so eloquently about.

When she arrives the reaction of his father and brother is not usual and this leads to her questioning everything she thought she knew about her husband. I cannot say much without massive spoilers. Suffice to say there are major twists and turns, more than enough to keep you reading. What I love about Lucy's writing is her sense of place and also her clearly deep connection with the sea which permeates throughout her books. We will be adding this book to our reading groups list in Bournemouth Libraries.

M J Carter - The Strangler Vine

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.

Terry Hayes - I Am Pilgrim

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.

Mario Reading - The Templar Prophecy

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.

Khaled Hosseini - And the Mountains Echoed

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.