I have a thing about road-trip novels. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Shadow crossing America in American Gods; the burnt-out journey undertaken by Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or the ramblings of Alex in Everything Is Illuminated; there is something brilliant about a novel that takes you places and lets you experience a country for the first time with characters you care about. The unnamed and faintly kooky protagonist of Butterflies in November is a woman caught in a major life upheaval. Somewhat detached from […]
A gripping and lean thriller with a political head and a human heart, starring a reluctant detective with a soft spot for people on the fringe.
Gorky Park was the first Inspector Renko novel, evoking the perils and corruption in Russia during the Cold War, and in subsequent novels we have been brought up to date through the country’s various administrations. Like Stalin’s Ghost and Three Stations before it,Tatiana lets us take another glimpse inside Putin’s Russia through the intrepid Renko’s eyes. Captivated by the titular late journalist’s audio recordings, Renko starts an unsanctioned investigation into her death, seeking to draw parallels between it and the murder of a gangster. He is sure she was murdered rather […]
A vivid and textural short story from a writer well versed in mythology that blends the boundaries between prose and artwork.
Originally written for a live performance with projected artwork, The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains is a novella bolstered by artwork in a variety of forms, and a story fit for a stormy night around a campfire. A stranger turns up at a man’s house and requests his services as a guide to a semi-mythical island hidden by mist and it’s cursed hidden treasure, burrowed away in a cave. A substantial amount of money is exchanged, and the two head off on their […]
A sprawling and comedic tale of concealment, circumstances and a life filled with experiences and eccentricity.
Vanishing is an unusual novel, a shaggy-dog story pricked with pathos, charm and humour, as well as an oddball history of Britain during the 30’s and 40’s narrated by a man with an almost unbelievable naivety and lack of awareness. Kenneth Brill is a man whose life has been marked by various run-ins with authority figures. A artist by training and a decorated soldier known for his work in camouflaging, he is currently incarcerated for creating plans for a new military aerodrome, supposedly hidden in his […]
A rich and evocative character study dealing with grief, loss, friendship, art and the difficult transition into adulthood.
Donna Tartt does not rush things. Her third book surfacing after an eleven year wait, this is an expansive novel filled with impeccably placed detail and a slow and measured pace that gives the characters room to breathe and come to life. Tartt starts the novel like so many things do, with a bang. An explosion in an art gallery leaves twelve year old Theo wandering shell-shocked through the dust and silence in search of his mother. What he does find is a dying old […]
A fresh and surprisingly warm and human take on the zombie genre.
Zombies are everywhere. They’ve broken their way through the barricaded world of cult obsession and entered popular culture. Even Brad Pitt fights them. We’re practically suffering an outbreak of shambling clones and glassy-eyed cash-ins, and so it’s hard not to immediately bash anything new on the head with a cricket bat and ignore it. But every so often, something new will come along and spin it in a fresher direction. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Zombie Survival Guide, Handling the Undead, Warm Bodies, Patient […]
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