Viral by Helen Fitzgerald.

This novel starts off wonderfully…

I sucked twelve cocks in Magaluf.

So far, twenty-three thousand and ninety-six people have seen me do this. They might include my mother, my father, my little sister, my grandmother, my other grandmother, my grandfather, my boss, my sixth-year biology teacher and my boyfriend of six weeks, James.

...Viral is about how Su, her sister Leah and their mother Ruth deal with a video that was uploaded and went viral around the internet. All the issues are explored and woven into the plot.

I enjoyed reading Viral and I feel it has it’s finger on the pulse of the YouTube generation. The story is told from three points of view, Su, her sister Leah and their mother Ruth, all in separate chapters. Character and plot development is very good. But once video that was taken in a public place is uploaded onto the internet, there is nothing you can do. I found it a GOOD READ as Su, Leah and Ruth try to cope with the video making them famous.

Helen writes really well and puts across the situation that anyone today could suddenly find themselves in. With so many people now using smartphones to shoot and upload photos and videos quickly onto the internet, anyone of us could be snapped in public for the whole world to view. Any mistake filmed in public could become a public record against you with little you can do to stop it’s influence or spread. Viral is a chilling tale that has been told to make you think. I found it an entertaining read that highlights how our society has moved forward with this new technology. I liked this book because it worked on two levels, a regular novel of what happens next plus a look at how our society has become obsessed with video capture and playback. I like Helen’s writing style which I found bright and easy to understand. Viral was a pleasure to read as it was so up to date. I found no dull parts or sections of padding. The editing was good and the balance between her characters was right. Viral gets 4 stars from me, I consider it to be a GOOD READ and look forward to reading other novels from Helen Fitzgerald.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Faber and Faber for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The Promise by Alison Bruce.

This is the latest and number six in the DC Gary Goodhew mysteries set in Cambridge. I have NOT read any of the earlier five books in the series but I used to travel through and stay overnight in Cambridge in the 1980’s. Reading this book brought my memories of Cambridge flooding back to me. Parkside, with it’s Police Station where DC Gary Goodhew is stationed and where National Express coaches stop. Tenison Road, close to the train station where I stayed overnight. Even Newmarket Road on the drive out to other destinations in Norfolk.

Alison does a good job at clearly describing Cambridge with lots of detail to put you on the spot. I like how she sets the scene as she moves around the city and even travels up to Ely.

Each book in the series is a standalone novel. The Promise is about a murder and the mysteries behind it. I found the plot of this novel POOR. I found the character development to be patchy with it’s buzz of characters like on the successful television series called The Bill. There is not a strong lead character in this story and I did not develop an empathy for DC Gary Goodhew. I thought this book lacked attitude and sharpness, giving me a second rate reading experience. The story just mulled along and was about as exciting as a petty criminal breaking into garden sheds. There was no brightness to this story and no humour or witty dialogue. I thought this book rather dull and was surprised that it is the sixth DC Gary Goodhew novel. This story seemed so weak to me with nothing to excite or surprise me. Nothing was unusual or special and only at the end did you find out why this book was titled The Promise.

This book was a disappointment for me and as far as Police novels and mysteries go, I would suggest a MISS. Because Alison writes so well about the area, I will vote her book 2 stars rather than 1 star. I know Alison has a lot of fans but this story did NOT grip me in any way. I just felt so let down by this POOR read. I do enjoy reading British Police crime thriller series and the Jack Caffery books from Mo Hayder are in the top league and give me just what I want from a book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Little Brown Book for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood.

Coco Jackson is 3 years old and she disappears from her parents holiday home at Sandbanks in Dorset. An email is sent out asking for help in finding her.

The Darkest Secret is a mystery about the disappearance of a 3 year old girl and the secrets people can keep. There was tremendous public speculation and doubt at the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a 3 year old British girl who disappeared whilst on holiday with her parents in Portugal in 2007. This novel works those doubts and throws little clues along the way. This is NOT a story about Madeleine but the background adds a familiarity to this novel.

I liked the start of this book with the email seeking information about the disappearance of Coco. This was followed by the transcripts of the Police interviews with all the characters in this story. Then the story set in 2004 begins with what I initially thought was a regular crime/thriller. But then suddenly the story jumps to the present day and it becomes a mystery surrounding The Darkest Secret.

I like Alex’s writing style which has a lovely flow that you can enjoy from interesting newspaper columnists, that feeling you get when someone is telling a good tale over a few drinks. Her style is very similar to Yasmin Alibhai-Brown of The Independent newspaper. Alex is so in tune with the British way of life, I found her writing very comfortable. I particularly liked the banter between her characters. Character development was good, with Milly Jackson being the brightest. It was nice how each chapter was from a different character’s point of view.

I enjoyed reading The Darkest Secret, it is a good mystery and exploration of how people can work together as part of a group. But I do have 2 misgivings about this book. The story jumps with alternate chapters back and forth between 2004 and the present day. I found this time changing very frustrating. Also as the mystery unfolds some characters know more than others and the way the story is told, sometimes the reader knows more than the character, so they are bumbling along and you become frustrated by their ignorance!

I found The Darkest Secret a good mystery and I picked up on the well placed clues so the ending was how I suspected. I liked how Alex regularly plotted little details in to keep your brain working the plot when you were away from the book. Alex has her reasons for telling this mystery in the way that she has, I just wish she could have told it without going back and forth in time. Surely the mystery could be revealed with a linear time frame, even if it meant a character would have to explain to someone what happened during that bank holiday weekend in 2004. Still, I enjoyed read this GOOD book which I will vote a 4 star read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Little Brown Book for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Anca’s Story by Saffina Desforges

Anca’s Story is a Holocaust survivor tale aimed at the YA - Young Adult market. It is a book of historical fiction set at the end of World War II. Anca Pasculata is a frail old woman who comes to a British school to address teenagers about her experience as a 12 year old Holocaust survivor.

I found this a very powerful book and because Anca related her tale from the standpoint of an elderly woman looking back on her childhood, it was told from the voice of experience. The language used was not that of a 12 year old girl but of a very articulate and educated adult. Her extensive vocabulary added such depth to the story seen through the eyes of a child yet spoken with words of a university professor. Anca was born and raised in Romania yet her English vocabulary was outstanding. I am 57 years old and my only language is English but I had to look up quite a lot of words to be sure. In our depot we have a driver from Romania working with us and we would never hear him use words like these for example…

...Obdurate to my lachrymose appeal, my friend’s father responded with a silent shake of his head and began to step back inside, his hand on the door to close it. “Go, Anca. You are no longer welcome here.” …

...Obdurate and lachrymose! These are not common English words but highlight the quality of the writing within this book. Very vivid pictures are painted with these words, scenes that remain with you after you have finished reading this book. In particular steam train journeys, wandering through an unknown forest and men, women and children standing naked in a field.

Being historical fiction, the people Anca bumps into are convenient to the plot and you end up mumbling to yourself “as if?”. A lot of this novel is just Anca stumbling along but clearly Saffina has done her research very well and the true horrors of the time are skilfully woven into Anca’s tale.

Because the Holocaust was 70 years ago, it is very hard to imagine today just what things were like in 1944. However this book brings to you how awful things were through the eyes of a child growing up in ignorance of the grand scheme of things within Europe from 1939 to 1945.

I finished this book and found my whole reading experience quite haunting. I think that Anca’s Story is a GOOD read and I will vote it 4 stars. I do feel it is an illustration of a historical period told in the style of a first person narrative. Therefore all the groundwork is already in the history books and Saffina was able to form her story from the records. I do not think Anca’s Story is as good as Saffina’s first novel Sugar & Spice, which I voted the top score of 5 stars. Anca’s Story did have a big effect on me though and as I look at the queue of passengers waiting to board my coach, I wonder how people could choose which people in an anonymous crowd to accept or reject.

Anca’s Story is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012.

Down Our Road by Makenna Malone.

Down Our Road is an American family saga romance spanning the years 1976 to 2012. That is quite a large time frame and this is quite a long novel at 520 pages. Follow the central characters Peter and Robin as they fall in and out of love many times.

I did not find this book a gripping read but found it a tiresome mundane tale of ordinary life. Makenna covers an awful lot of ground in her novel and it is clear that she tries very hard. She gives a flavour of the time with a long list of the popular music of the day. Yet there is nothing special about this story, it is a simple boy meets girl and they have a family. The plot is predictable and the writing is on a par with a report of a football match.

I got very little pleasure from reading this book, it is rather long and I hoped it would get better as I ploughed through the pages. Sadly it did not improve and this is clearly a second class read. I think this is a POOR read that I will vote just 2 stars. Makenna is good at one part of her novel though - DEATH. Although Down Our Road is a family saga romance there are the deaths of 5 characters through the pages. Each death is handled with such well crafted background, emotion, style and wisdom that it saved me from voting this book 1 star.

Down Our Road is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.