Thursday 15 May 2014

Trollope, Hayder and Dubow

I have been reading; I know I mentioned not being into a really good book but as a compulsive reader I have to find something to keep scratching the reading itch so the search is never-ending.  I finished Joanna Trollope's A Soldier's Wife and enjoyed it. I've read most of her books, by the way.  I returned it before I got to take a photo.  I just finished two other books and here they are...

What was on my night table...

They were very different reads, to put it mildly.  Mo Hayder is a somewhat prolific British author and the only other book of hers I've read, Pig Island, I didn't care for at all.  It had a gross-out factor that put me off totally.  A friend told me to give this one, Gone, a try and I'm happy I did.  It is a good police thriller and if you, like me, enjoy reading the procedural, investigative aspects of police work, then you will enjoy it too.  It follows the typical harried, sad inspector who is working round the clock to catch a child abductor. The kidnapper is someone who is brilliant and it is not till the book is almost done that the police figure out the real motive for his actions. Kind of clever, and nothing gross.  However, the book is long and probably could have used some creative editing to shorten the length. 
The book I finished just before Gone was Indiscretion by Charles Dubow.  It is a first novel and is very well-written.  I loved the character development and also the voice of the narrator who guides us through the story.  Marriage is always a good subject for books and this one does not disappoint.  And too how people in a good marriage cope with infidelity makes for interesting reading.  I stayed with the characters to the end just to see how it would all work out.  I was also captivated by the descriptions of the lives these wealthy people were living...the food, clothes, travel, etc.  I wondered if the author's intent was to point out that even wealth cannot shield you from loss, sadness and misery in this world. 

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