Last of 2016 part 2
24. White Nights - Ann Cleaves
Pages: 392
Blurb: At first sight, the hanging body seems to be a straightforward case of suicide. Shetland detective Jimmy Perez recognizes the victim - a stranger with amnesia who had disrupted a local party the night before his death.
Soon Perez realizes that this was no desperate act off anguish, but the work of a cold and calculating killer. And the small Biddista community is determined to keep its secrets. Then another body is found...
Perez knows he must break the cycle before another death occurs. But this is a crazy time of year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems...
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Full of twists and turns, I just couldn't put it down when I was reading it (of course, the fact Jimmy Perez is played by Douglas Henshall in the TV series and is how I picture Jimmy, in no way was why I kept reading). The Shetland series is definitely becoming one of my favourite book series and I hope if someone is reading over my shoulder he may remember that.
25. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
Pages: 320
Blurb: Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.
Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.
Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…
Thoughts: Christ this book has become quite the phenomenon hasn't it? I was lent this by a new colleague who said "you have to let me know if you figured it out, I just didn't see it coming". After what felt like a slow start, boy did it get going. Did I see it coming? Yes, about halfway through - I guess I just read too many mysteries. It was a really good book, deserving of the hype. Was it the first book of its kind though? I soon discovered it wasn't...
26. Lasting Damage - Sophie Hannah
Pages: 440
Blurb: It's 1.15 a.m. Connie Bowskill should be asleep. Instead, she's logging on to a property website in search of a particular house: 11 Bentley Grove, Cambridge. She knows it's for sale; she saw the estate agent's board in the front garden less than six hours ago.
Soon Connie is clicking on the 'Virtual Tour' button, keen to see the inside of 11 Bentley Grove and put her mind at rest once and for all. She finds herself looking at a scene from a nightmare: in the living room, in the middle of the carpet, there's a woman lying face down in a huge pool of blood. In shock, Connie wakes her husband Kit. But when Kit sits down at the computer to take a look, he sees no dead body, only a pristine beige carpet in a perfectly ordinary room . . .
Thoughts: Now this really took me by surprise. At first I was dying for something to happen and then BOOM did it kick in. This story is similar to Hawkins' book but it leaves a few unanswered questions at the end. If you like a thriller where you just don't quite know what's going on, this is highly recommended.
27. Bridget Jones's Baby
Pages: 240 (7979)
Blurb: 8.45 P.M. Realise there have been so many times in my life when have fantasised about going to a scan with Mark or Daniel: just not both at the same time.
Before motherhood, before marriage, Bridget, with biological clock ticking very, very loudly, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at the eleventh hour: a joyful pregnancy which is dominated, however, by a crucial but terribly awkward question - who is the father? Mark Darcy: honourable, decent, notable human rights lawyer? Or Daniel Cleaver: charming, witty, notable fuckwit?
9.45 P.M. It’s like they’re two halves of the perfect man, who’ll spend the rest of their lives each wanting to outdo the other one. And now it’s all enacting itself in my stomach.
In this gloriously funny, touching story of baby-deadline panic, maternal bliss, and social, professional, technological, culinary and childbirth chaos, Bridget Jones - global phenomenon and the world’s favourite Singleton - is back with a bump.
Thoughts: Dull, predictable - the film is 1000 times better.
Pages: 392
Blurb: At first sight, the hanging body seems to be a straightforward case of suicide. Shetland detective Jimmy Perez recognizes the victim - a stranger with amnesia who had disrupted a local party the night before his death.
Soon Perez realizes that this was no desperate act off anguish, but the work of a cold and calculating killer. And the small Biddista community is determined to keep its secrets. Then another body is found...
Perez knows he must break the cycle before another death occurs. But this is a crazy time of year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems...
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Full of twists and turns, I just couldn't put it down when I was reading it (of course, the fact Jimmy Perez is played by Douglas Henshall in the TV series and is how I picture Jimmy, in no way was why I kept reading). The Shetland series is definitely becoming one of my favourite book series and I hope if someone is reading over my shoulder he may remember that.
25. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
Pages: 320
Blurb: Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.
Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.
Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…
Thoughts: Christ this book has become quite the phenomenon hasn't it? I was lent this by a new colleague who said "you have to let me know if you figured it out, I just didn't see it coming". After what felt like a slow start, boy did it get going. Did I see it coming? Yes, about halfway through - I guess I just read too many mysteries. It was a really good book, deserving of the hype. Was it the first book of its kind though? I soon discovered it wasn't...
26. Lasting Damage - Sophie Hannah
Pages: 440
Blurb: It's 1.15 a.m. Connie Bowskill should be asleep. Instead, she's logging on to a property website in search of a particular house: 11 Bentley Grove, Cambridge. She knows it's for sale; she saw the estate agent's board in the front garden less than six hours ago.
Soon Connie is clicking on the 'Virtual Tour' button, keen to see the inside of 11 Bentley Grove and put her mind at rest once and for all. She finds herself looking at a scene from a nightmare: in the living room, in the middle of the carpet, there's a woman lying face down in a huge pool of blood. In shock, Connie wakes her husband Kit. But when Kit sits down at the computer to take a look, he sees no dead body, only a pristine beige carpet in a perfectly ordinary room . . .
Thoughts: Now this really took me by surprise. At first I was dying for something to happen and then BOOM did it kick in. This story is similar to Hawkins' book but it leaves a few unanswered questions at the end. If you like a thriller where you just don't quite know what's going on, this is highly recommended.
27. Bridget Jones's Baby
Pages: 240 (7979)
Blurb: 8.45 P.M. Realise there have been so many times in my life when have fantasised about going to a scan with Mark or Daniel: just not both at the same time.
Before motherhood, before marriage, Bridget, with biological clock ticking very, very loudly, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at the eleventh hour: a joyful pregnancy which is dominated, however, by a crucial but terribly awkward question - who is the father? Mark Darcy: honourable, decent, notable human rights lawyer? Or Daniel Cleaver: charming, witty, notable fuckwit?
9.45 P.M. It’s like they’re two halves of the perfect man, who’ll spend the rest of their lives each wanting to outdo the other one. And now it’s all enacting itself in my stomach.
In this gloriously funny, touching story of baby-deadline panic, maternal bliss, and social, professional, technological, culinary and childbirth chaos, Bridget Jones - global phenomenon and the world’s favourite Singleton - is back with a bump.
Thoughts: Dull, predictable - the film is 1000 times better.