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JUST ONE EVIL ACT,

on January 05, 2014

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Most Popular Reviews

RUNNING DARK, by Jamie Freveletti

Wow, what a roller coaster! A bomb disrupts an ultra running race. A stunned runner is injected as she lies in the dirt. A cruise ship is threatened by Somali pirates. A Senator postures (so what else is new??) at a hearing about a security contractor. A pharmaceutical company’s plane explodes. And that’s just the beginning. For a second book, this is impressive. I’ll give it a reluctant 4 because of a few frustrating plot fizzles…but get to know this author, she should be around for a long time.

C, by Tom McCarthy

The cover blurbs on this dense book gushed with praise: "an avant-garde epic" said one, "terrifically stylish, acrobatic and insidious", said another. Well, says I, I couldn't finish the damn thing. I hate not finishing books, I feel (particularly in this case what with all the encomiums) I'm lacking something. But, here's the thing: I had no sympathy for any of the major characters, and all the long bits of exquisite prose (it was exquisite, no argument there) finally bored me stiff. Too much navel gazing for me. Set mainly in pre- and post-Great War England, and in Germany, the juxtaposition of the minutae of daily life and the coming great political upheavals, still didn't capture me. Serge, the protagonist (I suppose), is a coke-sniffing adult...he was a nasty little boy who pulled the wings off moths. I didn't like him as a kid, as a young aviator in World War I, or as a post-war adult. I didn't care much for his family, eit

COME TO GRIEF, by Dick Francis

3/series starring Sid Hally. The late, great, much-lamented Dick Francis was - among other things - jockey for Queen Elizabeth. But his award-winning mysteries, all involving the horse racing world, made him more than just famous in England. Always a mix of authentic racing scenery and people, the acclaimed novels also have an enduring human touch that makes this excellent reads for just about anyone who will read a mystery. Not only well-written but filed with completely human characters, from the noble to the completely ignoble. Which brings us to the villain in this piece, an ex-jockey who succumbs to his darkest and most perverted dreams. Click for more...

ORCHIDS AND DIAMONDS, by Rosalind Laker

Laker's evocation of the world of haute couture at its haute-est, of France on the edge of World War I, is letter perfect. It's a frenetic and glamorous world inhabited by those in the fashion houses, by the many Russians who prefer Paris to Moscow, such as young and handsome Nicolai Karasvin, a sculptor who has worked with Auguste Rodin's studio. Young Jeannine Cladel arrives in Paris to make her mark in the fashion world, a world that her selfish and scheming elder sister has already conquered. After Nicolai returns to Russia and is reported killed in the war, Juliette - who has borne her lover's child - marries a mutual Italian friend and moves to Venice. She meets one of her heroes, Mariano Fortuny, the famous designer, and goes to work with him. Historical fiction with real historical characters is so satisfying; I'm not only being entertained but am leaning about a man - the famous Spanish textile genius Mariano Fortuny - I've always been curious about. Th

SISTER, by Rosamund Lupton

Beautifully written, in part an essay on sisterhood, but also a carefully-plotted mystery set in present-day London. Contemporary crime fiction rarely comes better than this complex novel of two sisters, Beatrice and Tess. Beatrice, the older and more conventional sister, flies home to London when her mother tells her Tess has gone missing. Beatrice's attempts to find her sister are stymied by her own lack of knowledge about her artistic, free-spirited sibling, whom she had thought she knew well. If I tell you any more, this would contain spoilers, so you'll have to read it. The harrowing tale will keep you up late, and the ending will shock, so lay in a supply of bonbons. It's a 4.5, and an accomplished first novel. Lupton will go on your A-list for forthcoming books. She can be reached at www.rosamundlupton.com.

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JUST ONE EVIL ACT,

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