Karen Brooks's Blog, page 23
March 15, 2011
Book Review: Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott
This is a masterful debut novel by Kirstyn McDermott, written in crisp, clear prose that captures the possessive relationship of the easy-going Lexi and the strangely beguiling Madigan in a chilling and yet, for a supernatural narrative,
oh so real way. Friends since childhood, the bond of affection that once drew Lexi and Madigan together crackles back to life when they encounter each other as adults, thrusting them into a relationship that is as unhealthy as it is compelling. Drawn into Madigan's world, we see the weird and fawning people who populate it mainly through Lexi's eyes, and it's testimony to McDermott's fantastic writing, that our sense of unease is probably greater than his as the binds that hold Lexi and Madigan start to unravel. When Madigan commits suicide (this is not a spoiler – it's on the blurb on the back of the book), the story plunges into the extraordinary, taking the reader on a ride that is breathless, original and unforgettable. The characters are beautifully realized as is the love-hate relationship at the core of the novel and the creeping awareness that death is not an end…
A friend of mine read this book and declared that she developed 'word-envy'. I understand what she means. You taste each word and phrase, savour them in your mouth and mind and admire McDermott for recasting and reweaving tropes into fantastical new metaphors and meanings. I could not put this book down.
Book Review: Violent Exposure, Katherine Howell
The next installment in Katherine Howell's series featuring the cop with a heart, Ella Marconi, Violent Exposure is a beautifully written, tightly paced novel that I had to read in one sitting because I simply could not put it down. Commenci[image error]ng with the murder of a young woman, Suzanne, whose husband, Connor is subsequently missing, the novel moves between the hunt for her killer and the professional and personal lives of the investigators, including the paramedics, particularly, Mick and the obnoxious trainee, Aidan, who are also (without spoiling the story) intertwined in the case. The further Ella and the team dig into Connor and Suzanne's life, the more inconsistencies and gaps are exposed, all of which show that even a hidden past can impact upon the present in unforeseen and horrific ways.
Howell writes with conviction and passion and takes the reader on a thrilling journey into not only police and paramedic procedurals, but parallel stories of love, loss, grief and hope and just what lengths people will go to in order to seek revenge and have dreams fulfilled.
A brilliant book. I can't wait for the next one.
Book Review: The Reversal, Michael Connelly
If there's one thing you always get from Connelly, it's consistency – strong characterization, tight and convincing plotting and a st
ory that's hard to tear yourself away from once you start – this novel is no exception.
Set a few months after Nine Dragons, it brings together Lincoln lawyer, Mickey Halley (only this time batting for the other side) and his half-brother, Harry Bosch as well as Halley's ex, Maggie Macfierce and the two men's young daughters. Working together proves interesting as they seek to re-convict a tow-truck contractor who, arrested in the 1980s for the murder of a young girl, uses DNA evidence to claim wrongful conviction, a reversal of his sentence and, of course, massive compensation.
Moving from first person (Halley) to third (Bosch), a device which I usually like but, in this book, feel it didn't add anything, the reader follows the preparation for the trial, the concomitant investigation and the ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding a re-trial – for all involved. Working as a Prosecutor has its own rewards and difficulties for Halley as does working with ex-wives and anxious and very clever half-siblings, as well as unscrupulous lawyers, drug-addicts, and sexual abuse survivors. Even Rachel Walling makes an appearance, so it's very much a bringing together of the Connelly cast.
It's also very much Law and Order in print as you see the various operations and duties of assigned lawyers, police and consultants, as well as the role of the judge unfold. All the while, the personal relationships of the main characters add a frisson as does the overarching question: is the defendant guilty or not? And what is the penalty for a gross mistake?
A very good read.
Book Review: This Body of Death, Elizabeth George
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Set a few months after tragedy shatters DI Lynley's world, it opens, strangely but compellingly, with a psychologist's report on a child offender. At first, I found this rather disconcerting but then, I was drawn into the scene being set and the dysfunction being unfolded and which worked to create a rich and multi-layered context. After what turns out to be a harrowing introduction, the novel then moves to the brutal murder of a young woman in London – in a cemetery. While the rest of the initial report (which turns out to involve three child offenders and the most heinous and awful of crimes) is interspersed throughout the novel, it's not till late in the tale that it finally collides with the main case. This is a credit to George's skills, as a growing sense of dread and impossibility surrounds the reading of both the report and narrative and the making of connections.
The usual characters reappear: Lynley returns to the Met, Havers and Nkata are there and the unflappable Dorothy. There's the Assistant Commissioner and the rest of the team as well as Haver's lovely neighbours. But it's the introduction of a new character, Isabelle Ardery that, for me at least, did not capture the veracity of the others. There's something implausible about her, her issues and Lynley's eventual attraction to her. I felt suspicious and overly-cautious around her, a bit like Havers and this was probably deliberate and very clever on George's part. What I felt wasn't so clever, was the two-dimensional aspect to her personality and the repetition of Ardery's habits – they were over-written and in the end, overplayed. As a new character, I hope she is developed more and given the depths hinted at and what Lynley, one imagines, senses within her.
Once more, the plot, with all it's marvelous twists and turns is remarkable. So is the way in which the peripheral characters are drawn: especially those with dark and terrible pasts. The plot didn't just thicken, it became a deadly marsh with multiple paths from which we were forced to stray and at our peril.
Overall, a very good addition to the Lynley canon. Can't wait for the next one.
