Lyrical and powerful - 5 star

An ordinary life, an enclosed life, a life of servitude to family, to church, a life of questionable morals, repressed sexuality, guilt, abuse that is The Dark by renowned Irish author John McGahern. Mahoney the father rules with a rod of iron, and a belt of leather the story is told through the eyes of the eldest son in a harsh rural landscape where the only real arbiter is the Catholic church…..” In fear and shame you are moving to the death of having to describe the real face of your life to your God in his priest, and to beg forgiveness, and promise for there is still time.”.........” A priest could have no anguish, he’d given up happiness, his fixed life moving in the calm of certainty into its end, cursed by no earthly love or longing, all had been chosen years before”..... Lyrical, breathtaking, disturbing the story remains with you long after the final page. Highly recommended.

Wolf with no bite - 3 star

The last Jack Caffery book written in 2014 and since then not a word has been heard from the author? There are certain trends that run through this series that add a little sparkle the first being the walking man. A type of reclusive wealthy vagrant,  permanently moving around the lowlands of Somerset, and in Wolf he befriends a small dog with the words “help us” around his collar. Caffery becomes involved but only if in return  the walking man can help trace his younger brother Ewan who vanished aged 9 never to be seen again. The other rather odd feature is the appearance yet again of human entrails which Mz Hayder appears to have a fixation with. A wealthy scientist, his wife and daughter are being held hostage the motive behind the kidnapping is unclear but may have a connection to the production of a smart torpedo able to seek out and destroy with precise accuracy. A somewhat disappointing read, the series looking a little tired and certainly lacking the sparkle that police diver Flea Marley contributed to earlier books…..Come back Mo and revive Jack and Flea!

A good solid crime read - 3 star

 

A good solid crime story with some well defined and strong characters. DSI William Lorimer head of the Major Incident Team (MIT) is investigating some local murders when intelligence reaches him, from counter terrorism, that an atrocity is planned somewhere in the good city of Glascow on Xmas eve. To complicate matters there are rumours that information is being leaked to terrorist organisations from someone within Police Scotland. He is in desperate need of assistance and this comes from the most unlikely source Inspector Daniel Kohi late of the Zimbabwean police who finds himself alone in a strange city with an even stranger dialect! Koki has a past to forget and with the friendship of Lorimer and the support of his strange neighbour Netta he begins to live again….” Ye goat a name , son? Pardon? Daniel frowned. Goats? What did goats have to do with anything? Goat a name? Netta repeated, poking his arm. Ah cannae jist ca ye Mr Zimbabwe, can ah, noo?”......

The tension and snappy dialect combine to create a very enjoyable read. 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.

The Godfather...who's the daddy :) - 5 star

 

I must admit I never read The Godfather in my younger days and what a treat I missed. The movie follows the novel very closely with great performances from James Cann as the somewhat unpredictable Sonny Corleone, Robert Duvall “a lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns”, and the unmissable Al Pacino as the quiet, softly spoken Michael his destiny to become the Don. To achieve this Michael proves that underneath his sober exterior is a latent and ruthless ability to decisively order executions in the name and preservation of the Corleone family.

I enjoyed the way Mario Puzo introduced minor characters and we follow their story none better than crooner Johnny Fontane played perfectly by Al Martino as the aging narcissist. The book is a delight and very easy read even a 600+ pages with some wonderful quotes and observations along the way…” a friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults”....”The Don considered a use of threats the most foolish kind of exposure, the unleashing of anger without forethought as the most dangerous indulgence”.......”But great men are not born great, they grow great and so it was with Vito Corleone”....”He had long ago learned that society imposes insults that must be borne, comforted by the knowledge that in this world there comes a time when the most humble of men, if he keeps his eyes open, can take his revenge on the most powerful”..........A truly great read that the passing of time has done nothing to diminish. Highly, highly recommended.

The light has gone out - 2 star

Probably going against the majority of reivews but this book did not really excite and entertain me. What was I expecting? To me a fair comparison would be the 2019 movie The Lighthouse starring William Defoe and Robert Pattinson....2 lighthouse keepers who begin to descend into madness when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed. I could clearly feel the horror of what was happening it was frighteningly atmospheric. The author of The Lamplighters in no way excited me with her storytelling as she rambled on about the lives of the 3 keepers and the women who waited patiently for their return, told in 2 timelines. There was an illicit affair and the sad death of a child but she failed miserably to bring alive the terror that such an isolated setting should produce. This could just as easily have been a story of 3 miners, 3 deep sea divers, 3 murderers.....the list is endless. The Shining by Stephen King and The Silent Land by Graham Joyce are 2 great examples where the respective authors allowed the reader to feel the horror and madness that resulted from isolation and inclement weather. 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.

Remarkable conclusion to a brilliant trilogy - 5 star

The final years of Cicero’s life were dominated by Caesar's civil war, one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire. The life of a politician, at the time of Cicero, was indeed a noble affair and it was possible for the ordinary common man (plebeian) to be elected as tribune granting him the power to propose and veto legislation. Rome was a society in which the organization of both military and civil life was implemented to the nth degree. Equally it was also a civilization where oratorical skills demanded both the respect and support of the legislative, and yet life was viewed in an unprincipled manner the thrust of a rapier or the wire of the garote only a heartbeat away.

Dictator is the third book by Robert Harris in a trilogy about the life of Marcus Tullius Cicero; statesman, lawyer, scholar and philosopher who played a leading role in the politics of the late Roman Republic. The author conveys this important period through the eyes of Tiro, Cicero’s confidential secretary and literary advisor made a freeman in 53BC. By using the voice and observations of Tiro Harris is able to bring alive Rome at this time, in particular the unpredictability and bawdiness that was the watchword of senatorial debate. A large portion of the novel is devoted to Julius Caesar and his attempt to have himself proclaimed Dictator who on his death was officially recognised as a god, the Divine (Divus) Julius…..”His body was glistening, well muscled, and plucked entirely hairless in every respect- a disconcerting affectation which had the effect of emphasising his numerous scars and bruises, presumably picked up on the battlefield. His face was undeniably striking- angular and lean, dominated by dark and penetrating eyes. The overall effect was one of great power, of both the intellect and the will. One could see why men and women alike fell easily under his spell.

Set against a background and a time of painful change, with hard fought battles, and eloquent debate on every page Dictator is a superb read and a fitting conclusion to both a wonderful trilogy and history of an important historical figure. Highly recommended.