Some of the books I’ve read or listened to recently
Bad Actors by Mick Heron
Published by Baskerville on 12 May 2022
338 Pages
The eighth instalment of the Slough House series.
Format: I listened to the Audible audiobook version which is narrated brilliantly by Sean Barrett.
A new government advisor, a super forecaster, is recognized by a ‘milkman’ (a washed-up spy who keeps an eye on other older wash up spies). Except it surely can’t be, that was a KGB colonel, and she hasn’t aged a day in over 30 years.
Just another ‘normal’ day in life at Slough House. One in which Shirley summonses her inner domestic goddess and Roddy tries Star Wars cosplay as a way to a woman’s heart (and bed). Naturally the Svengali like influence of Jackson Lamb, like a reincarnated Bernard Manning ensures a positive outcome.
The concept of government special advisors and those morally bankrupt at the top is expertly shot down with a satirical guided missile. Seamlessly switching between funny, crass, and vulgar the crosshairs never leave the target. One of the greatest series of the new millennium just gets better and the author is now reaching the audience his work richly deserves.
Blue Night by Simone Buchholz
Translated by Rachel Ward
Published by Orenda Books on 28 December 2017
182 Pages
The sixth instalment of the Chastity Riley series.
Format: I read the paperback version which I bought in the Easter Sale.
State Prosecutor Chastity Riley has been side-lined to keep her out of mischief, well she did shoot a gangster in the ‘crown jewels’. Riley is a strong independent woman and quickly bores of her new role of witness protection which is little more than babysitting crime victims. However, when she is assigned the case of an anonymous, badly beaten man who has had his right index finger hacked off, she is determined to make a connection. Gradually he opens and she heads off to Leipzig, following up his lead, where she finds a new police ally. Working together they might be able to bring down a major drugs importation gang and provide Faller with a crack at Hamburg’s Albanian mafia boss.
Another wonderful slice of Ms Buchholz’s unique take on German Noir. The prose is stripped back and minimalist, almost as if each word is carefully selected and mounted like a jeweller would a stone. The result is amazing with language that ebbs and flows but then forms unexpected patterns, like Dave Brubeck experimenting with jazz time signatures. The dialogue is nice and crunchy like the best noir, with a hard edge and often a leftfield slant to it. Ms Ward again does amazing work on the translation to keep the form and poetic qualities of the prose.
Chastity Riley is a wonderful character, a woman taking on men and beating them at their own game but still retaining a vulnerable side. Tight plots and inventive situations promise a surprise with every turn of the page. The brevity and directness may not to be everyone’s liking but all I can say is wow.
Thunder Bay by Douglas Skelton
Published by Polygon on 7 March 2019
333 pages
The first instalment of the Rebecca Connolly series.
Format: I read the Kobo format eBook.
Mary Drummond is dead, and it seems likely that her son Roddie will return to the island of Stoirm for the first time in many years to pay his respects. He has been in self-imposed exile after he was tried for the murder of his girlfriend, Mhairi Sinclair, in a case which produced the Scottish third verdict of ‘not proven.’ Most on the Island believe him to be a guilty man and his return will stir up intense passions. Aspiring journalist Rebecca Connolly senses a story and sets off to Stoirm, but she also has an ulterior motive. Rebecca’s father was a native of the Island but left as a young man and refused to return or talk about his time there or why he left.
The portrayal of life on a small island is perfectly captured here as we get the juxtaposition of the lonely and desolate alongside the claustrophobia of living in a tightknit community and the paranoia it can breed. Problems and disputes on the Island are settled here not on the mainland. The business of Stoirm stays on Stoirm and people are judged by their peers. Overall, there is a feeling of darkness and foreboding to the novel which intensifies as the plot progresses. Likewise, the themes are dark and serious a hint at still having a foot in the past as change and progress is slow as well religious intolerance. Rebecca’s family secret is the darkest of all.
A mix of modern problems and historic wrongdoings blended perfectly to produce an intelligent story of morality and person strength, where doing the right thing now may cause suffering but far less than that experienced in the future. Serious, dark and at times harrowing but with jewels of sparkling Scottish wit. A truly impressive piece of fiction that could easily have its roots in fact.
Agent in Place by Phillip Jordan
Published by Five Four Publishing on 30 December 2019
162 pages
A Taskforce Trident Mission File: the first instalment of the Tom Shephard series.
Format: I read the paperback version gifted to me by the author in a Twitter prize (remember if you don’t enter you can’t win).
Dr Feriha Najir is a covert assent of western intelligence services codenamed Kestrel. She holds evidence of Russian involvement in a massacre of villagers by a pro-government militia given to her by a journalist. The evidence needs to be seen but Kestrel’s cover is blown, she needs immediate extraction. Tom Shephard’s team are called in to carry out the work, but hostile forces prevent it. Tom makes a split-second decision to leap from the helicopter and get feet on the ground in a desperate attempt to keep Kestrel alive. Fighting their way across hostile territory to a back up extraction site they link up with local militia. Together they take on government supporting militia and their Russian ‘advisors’ and discover more than they bargained for.
The style is stripped back but even so the reader gets a good feel of both the life on military camp and within hostile territory. The military sections feel convincing (don’t let the code names and acronyms put you off) as does the dialogue and banter between the characters. You get a sense of the camaraderie between men (and women) who put their lives in the hands of others. The action pieces are good, they don’t fall into the silly gung-ho territory of Rambo and fans of military hardware will be purring at the boy’s toys and weaponry. In amongst all the action difficult questions are posed such as whose side is anyone really on and do they really know what they are trying to achieve? Once all the violence ends someone will have to work to put things back together.
A very short novel but feels much more than a novella. It’s an intense and action packed read which is pacy and relentless. A genuine thriller but one that recognises the human cost of conflict.
Peter turns the page 