Exit by Belinda Bauer.

Retired accountant Felix Pink, 75 has a hobby. He witnesses the deaths of people who wish to take their own lives. All is going well for Felix until one day when things go dramatically wrong.

Exit got off to an exciting and shocking start. Unknown to Belinda when she wrote her novel, the coronavirus has kicked off around the world and here in the UK. To read about characters as they took their last drastic breaths from behind CPAP masks was a shock for me and a little too close to home and reality. My wife Gail wears a CPAP mask for her Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and the thought of her taking her last breaths next to me in our bed really chilled me.

I liked how Exit mentioned the stress involved for visitors when they tried to deal with hospital car parking. I particularly liked when Belinda dealt with the feelings elderly people have with their wardrobe when she wrote…

His days of buying clothes were over. He had bought his last three-pack of Y-fronts a year ago, and the socks he had now would see him out. It was a strange feeling - that he would be outlived by his socks.

… After the initial shock, Exit became a farce as Felix and the local police buffooned around North Devon to establish what went wrong on that fateful day. Belinda Bauer has written many novels that have won a collection of awards but Exit is the first novel from her that I have read.

I found Exit to be a frustrating read and my interest faded as I worked my way through this book. If this was a television programme I would have been quite happy to turn over to another channel part way through. The story flitted about from character to character and this became rather irritating as this tale plodded along. The twists and turns were generated by trying to find out who moved the instrument on death and their motives. Laboriously the story lumbered on until the culprit was revealed. I lacked empathy for the characters because of the mistakes they were all making. I did not engage with the characters and my interest was fading fast. Although Exit got off to a very good start, I was disappointed and saddened by the lack of realism to this story. I found Exit to be quite a dull read and NOT a thriller. I think Exit is a POOR read and it gets just 2 stars from me.

Exit was written in 2020 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Us Three by Ruth Jones.

Catrin Kelly, Judith Harris and Lana Lloyd, have been best friends since the age of five. Follow these three women from the age of eighteen to their early fifties as their lives and friendships whirl through many ups and downs.

Us Three is the second novel by Ruth Jones. This story appears under the genre of “Women’s Fiction” BUT do NOT let this label put you off. I am a fan of the Crime/Mystery/Thrillers genre of novels and I thought Us Three was simply BRILLIANT. Yes, it is a book out of my normal reading genre but the quality of Ruth’s writing is superb.

Catrin, Judith and Lana grew up in the fictional small town of Coed Celyn, somewhere in south Wales. Ruth Jones is famous for writing the hugely successful British television situation comedy Gavin & Stacey. Reading the dialogue between her characters in Us Three, it is impossible for the reader not to take on the accents and voices from the television programme. The humour expressed between her characters is similar to that which viewers enjoyed with Gavin & Stacey. For example…

Judith nearly spat out her ginger beer laughing, though Lana was not amused. ‘He was just being deliberately difficult. And we had sex and it was rubbish. Like Chinese takeaway. Y’know, good in the moment, but ultimately unfulfilling.’

… I found the dialogue between her characters simply a joy to read. I liked how Ruth highlighted the difference between Cardiff and Valley accents. This is something we poke fun at every week at our Llantrisant depot.

The short chapters are written from each character’s point of view. This makes this novel ideal for brief reading snatches. Character development is wonderful, the content is so rich that you quickly believe these characters are real people. Ruth pitches the dynamics between these three women really well. Having been married to a Welsh girl for the past 28 years and privy to regular telephone conversations as Gail drones on via speakerphone with her friends from school - I know the conversations that Catrin, Judith and Lana share are realistic.

I really enjoyed reading Us Three and what’s not to like? I found this book highly entertaining, funny and light reading. I think it will make an excellent holiday read that should appeal to both genders. It has high quality writing that is easy to understand, follow and roll along with. There are no dull or repetitive bits in this novel. There is no padding within this story to bulk it out, just comedy drama gold. I could not help but wish each girl well as she made her way through the challenges thrown her way. 

I found Us Three a delightful and refreshing read. I loved how it featured the Welsh culture with the attitudes and dialogue so true to life. Had Ruth featured a real small town in south Wales rather than the fictional Coed Celyn, I feel it would become a tourist attraction just like Barry Island has become following the success of Gavin & Stacey. Still, Ruth does mention Cardiff quite a bit in Us Three and we have plenty of hotels here to welcome tourists to our fine and historic city. Just don’t think that Bessemer Place is off Bessemer Road! Instead walk along to Leckwith Road, pop into the Asda and you will overhear women talk just like in Us Three. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Us Three and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me. Well done Ruth, you are a Welsh legend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The American Crusade by Mark Spivak.

This novel reflects the War on Terror that America started following the attacks that took place on Tuesday September 11th 2001. The central character throughout this novel is the American Vice President who does all he can to achieve his aims. The dates, names and places have been changed from the history books to allow the author the scope to write a fictional read that reflects the attitudes and moods of  the times following the 9/11 attacks.

I found The American Crusade an interesting read as it covered events in living memory. All those news reports about the Middle East and America’s response came flooding back to me. Throughout this novel I kept thinking “Yes, I remember that bit”. The problem is that readers will remember the past, so this novel fails to give them anything new. It is an old story with dates, names and places changed.

I liked how this novel explored a conspiracy about 9/11 and the whole sorry saga of intelligence gathering and analysis. I found the tales about the behind the scenes workings of American politics enlightening. I loved the highlighting of American attitudes towards religion and sexuality. I enjoyed reading the snappy dialogue between the characters and the ability for the author to poke fun at former American politicians. The humour within The American Crusade does travel quite well across the pond and will raise many a chuckle from British readers like myself.

I did not like the short chapters that were devoted to the Fourth Crusade in the Middle East that took place in the Thirteenth Century. Okay, author Mark Spivak reminds us of that ever-vital adage: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” but I found those chapters tiresome. I accept that Mark was drawing parallels with the past but reading a memoir from the 13th century was an absolute bore. Thankfully although America followed Russia in making similar mistakes in Afghanistan, Mark did not bore the reader with a history of those times. I feel that those chapters could have been left out of this novel without taking anything away from the enjoyment or plot of this story.

I found The American Crusade to be an easy to follow read in the same way that we watch television chat shows. I feel that this novel is average in it’s entertainment value and is an okay read that gets 3 stars from me.

Thanks to the author and the TCK Publishing for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The American Crusade was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The American Crusade - Mark Spivak

https://www.tckpublishing.com

https://markspivakbooks.com/

Knife Edge by Simon Mayo.

Welcome to current day London on the start of another working day. WHAM! This novel gets off to a frightening start when 7 fatal stabbings take place within 29 minutes on busy London streets.

Knife Edge is the tale of terror that is suddenly unleashed on the capital. What is going on and why? All the hallmarks are there and the reader is forced to remember the tragedy of 7/7.

The central character of this novel is Famie Madden, a journalist working for IPS - International Press Service - as she will get to the very bottom of the 7 fatal stabbings that shocked both London and her workmates.

I found Knife Edge an entertaining and thought provoking read. Knife Edge got off to a dramatic start that asked many, many questions. As Famie progressed in her investigations, slowly details emerged that made the plot unravel. The initial excitement from the start of this novel started to fade as Famie got closer to the bad guys. Knife Edge could not sustain the initial shock to the reader as it became a regular investigative journalist seeks the truth.

I liked how Simon did his research into rebel groups as far back as the late 1960’s. This historical perspective added so much realism to Knife Edge. All these past terrorist groups that have fizzled out, haunted the reader as they read through this story. I remembered these groups just as much as hit music records of the time.

I also liked how Simon repeated phrases that became slogans for the reader to embrace. These phrases remained in my head long after I had finished reading this novel. Remember how people used to scorn car manufacturer abbreviations? BMW became Black Man’s Wheels and GTI became Great Turd Inside, well Simon made up BPW which female readers will find amusing. To any of my workmates reading this review, BPW did NOT refer to Bristol Parkway railway station. Simon’s most memorable phrase undoubtedly was “embrace the butcher” and has nothing to do with vegans!

I enjoyed how suspicion was made of the characters and their motives. I liked how the psychology of terror was explored and the explanation of Collins and Hari’s 16 minutes of fun in a Coventry car park.

We are so used to modern crime/mystery/thrillers involving characters using smartphones and the internet. It was refreshing that Knife Edge involved old school, off the grid information sharing like newspapers, typewriters and writing paper. (Remember those!)

Simon Mayo is well known as a successful English radio presenter and I found Knife Edge a GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me. Knife Edge got off to a terrific start but faded into a steady trawl through clues to the conclusion. I found Knife Edge an entertaining read that was above average but there are better books out there.

Knife Edge was written in 2020 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher Random House UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.