Astounding

Love is Blind by William Boyd is a truly memorable story with wonderful characterization. His colourful writing instantly transports the reader to Scotland at the end of the nineteenth century and continues the journey through mainland Europe at a time of great change and gathering turmoil in the years immediately preceding the 1st World War.

Brodie Moncur is a piano tuner in the employ of Channons of Edinburgh and when the opportunity is offered to manage the Paris store he readily agrees. Brodie is an ambitious and proactive manager and believes that the best way to expand and promote the "Channon" brand is to employ the services of piano virtuoso John Kilbarron thus advancing the Company's pianos throughout Europe. This association leads to a fateful meeting between Brodie and the beautiful alluring Russian singer Lydia Blum, Kilbarrons on off girlfriend. A passionate clandestine  affair develops that results in Brodie and Lydia fleeing from city to city hotly pursued by Malachi Kilbarron seeking revenge for his wronged brother.

I often think that the mark of a good story is the author's ability to take me the reader with him on a journey of discovery, to remove from the mundanity  of modern living and surround me with the smells, sounds and excitement of the animated world he is describing. We therefore enter the preserve of piano virtuoso's at a time in history when piano use and production was at its highest and live performances  although the privilege of the wealthy still attracted a mass following. Welcome to a place where the combustion engine has made an entrance, where consumption has destroyed the lives of young and old, and when true gentlemen resolved their differences by resorting to a dueling contest.

An exciting story brilliantly executed by one of England's greatest living authors..Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review, and that is what I have written. Highly Recommended

The first in the series

There is nowhere better for me to try to understand the mindset of Harry Bosch or indeed his creator Michael Connelly by starting again where it all began book one in the series.

Harry is best described as "a detective who would do the right thing no matter what the cost. A man with a sharp worn code of conduct. A classic outsider.".... In The Black Echo we learn about Harry's activities as a tunnel rat during the Vietnam war and how the horrors of this underground hell helped shape him as a detective with the will to survive and a loner's code of justice. When the body of a fellow "rat" Billy Meadows is discovered in a drain outlet, Harry is determined to find the perpetrator responsible and bring justice to his onetime comrade in arms. In this endeavour he is joined by FBI agent Eleanor Wish, a relationship develops that becomes personal and leaves Harry wondering if her intentions are honourable or does she harbor an underlying agenda.

The weakness of the story is the plot; dirty money profits from Saigon laundered as diamonds/precious stones and kept secret in a bank vault in downtown LA. The only way to retrieve the hidden stash is to tunnel deep into the innards of the bank. In contrast the strength of the story is the superb charactization of the main players. Bosch, Eleanor Wish and Deputy Chief Irvin Irving who appears to be on a one man crusade against what he views as underhand tactics by a maverick lone detective.

As always Michael Connnelly is razor sharp in his acute observations of the human spirit....."Sunsets did that here. Made you forget it was the smog that made their colors so brilliant, and that behind every pretty picture there could be an ugly story."....."He was a worn-out old man whose eyes had quit caring about anything but the odds on three year olds"..."I believe that shit happens. I believe that the best you can do in this job is come out even".......

A story of our times

A story that explores the controversial subject of the indoctrination of the ISIS philosophy into a sympathetic yet ultimately misguided populace.

Isma Pasha followed her dream to America leaving behind her elegant sister Aneeka and her vulnerable yet impressionable brother Parvaiz. Eamonn, the son of outspoken Home Secretary Karamat Lone, becomes captivated by the beauty that is Aneeka. Does Aneeka reciprocate this love or is she merely using Eamonn to help rescue her twin brother Parvaiz who has since travelled to Syria but very quickly lives to regret this decision.

There is a nice balance in this novel between the Pasha family whose father Adil, had been a jihadi and had gone to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban  and died for his beliefs, and Home Secretary Karamat Lone a traditionalist and yet a reformer. He loathed those citizens irrespective of  beliefs or culture..."who treated the privilege of British citizenship as something that could be betrayed without consequences"...and further..."I hate the Muslims who make people hate Muslims"......

I can understand why Home Fire was the winner of the Women's Prize for fiction 2018 and whilst the first part of this novel was a little reticent and slow to impress the second half presented neatly formulated ideas and beliefs all leading to a very sudden unexpected conclusion. Home Fire is a story of the modern world and shows what happens when the corrupt and misguided prey on the weak and receptive.

Neatly observed hard boiled noir

Nate McClusky is just out of prison. He knows his life and that of his family is in danger as crazy Craig Hillington president of Aryan Steel, has put out a death threat on Nate, his ex wife Avis and his daughter Polly. Crazy Craig has already murdered Avis..."knifed dead in the dark on the bedroom floor"..... but can Nate save Polly from the threats of the assassins bullet. He collects her from school and there then starts a cat and mouse game with Nate trying to save his daughter from those who might do her harm. He was trained in the art of bank robbery by his dead brother Nick and uses these skills now to wreak revenge on those hell bent on his destruction. He has a need to gain the trust and possibly the love of Polly especially as he has neglected her for so long. Police officer Park assigned the task of looking into the death of Avis soon finds himself embroiled in a much more complicated and dangerous situation when he discovers that she was murdered some 12 hours after McClusky's prison release....is there a connection here?

This is hard boiled noir tale that successfully blends the badness and anger of Nate McClusky with the innocence and youth of Polly whose one real friend "Bear" is nothing more than a child's teddy yet always a confidant and protector. A Lesson in Violence is also a coming of age story showing that the bond existing between a daughter and father is resilient to the harsh realities of life. As the story progresses Nate comes to the realization that he needs the warmth and respect of his daughter more than she needs him.

This novel grabbed me from the opening page..."She wore a loser's slumped shoulders and hid her face with her hair, but the girl had gunfighter eyes"......and continued with some beautifully observed prose...."That was the way Polly felt, that outside she was quiet and calm but inside her acid winds roared"......"Rod was the king shit of the Nazi Dope Boys"......"That soon as you found something to live for, you found something to die for too. But he guessed in the end it was a good trade"......

A neatly observed crime story that successfully pays homage to the writings of such notorieties as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson and at the centre is one cool hero Polly and her close companion "Bear" Recommended.