Sleeping Dogs (DI Spicer Book 7) by Chris Simms.

Sleeping Dogs is not your usual crime thriller and this time the investigation is about DI Jon Spicer’s family, in the broader sense. Although this is the 7th book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. This novel focuses on dogs and also takes DI Jon Spicer, in his own free time, on an adventure in rural Ireland.

This book is different and covers a lot of ground. Fans of crime thrillers should enjoy it because of the plot and the strong characterisation. Dog lovers should also enjoy it because it is so in tune with the emotions you get from owning a dog. If like me you have a dog and day dream about crime thrillers whilst walking your pet, then Sleeping Dogs is right up your street.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sleeping Dogs and I thought the balance of characters, dogs, family, plot and rural Ireland was right. I liked the research Chris did for his book and the use of a rare-breed dog that I have never heard of but is very real.

I found Sleeping Dogs a very entertaining read and Chris is on top form. This book was very engaging and with Chris’s use of local spoken English in rural Ireland - the dialogue made it so real - because that is how people speak and made this book a delight to read. Sleeping Dogs is a very good book and I vote it the top score of 5 stars. The epilogue has a good, tail wagging ending and I also liked the section “The ideas behind the story”.

Sleeping Dogs is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

The Casual Killer (Frank McKenzie Mysteries Series Book 1) by Luis Samways.

Fifteen bodies are found murdered in one Boston home and Detective Frank McKenzie is on the case to catch the killer.

The Casual Killer is far from your average crime/thriller. Frank McKenzie is a cop who bends the rules to get the job done. This novel has an unusual plot when you consider the motives involved.

The story develops at a good pace and you try to work out how things are going and maybe slot together. But then you start to think that the whole plot and action are a little far fetched. More killings take place and the story moves up into top gear. Just as you start to join up the dots the novel quickly ends and you are left thinking “what the ???” and resign yourself to the opinion “oh well, that’s America for you”.

I found The Casual Killer to be a GOOD book which pulls away from the ordinary crime/thriller. Luis has taken great risks with his central character Frank McKenzie, a far fetched plot and lots of questionable violence. But it is a thought provoking read and given the violent everyday scenes throughout America, it questions the culture behind the many killings making the news.

So I vote this book 4 stars for being a GOOD read. It has it’s faults but entertains by being so refreshingly different from those check-sheet police procedurals, where skilled team work solves the crime.

The Casual Killer is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old by Hendrik Groen.

83 year old Hendrik Groen lives at a care home in Amsterdam. Here is his 2013 diary.

I got a lot from reading this book, the format is rather good. Remember when people published personal blogs on the web, rather than these very short snippets we now get from Facebook and Twitter? Well, Hendrik’s diary entries are very much like the best of blogs. You have a lovely mix of personal life, current day cultural trends and landmark historical occasions.

This book enables you to enter the very often closed world of life for 80 plus year olds in residential care homes. Although this book is set in Amsterdam, the attitudes, issues and problems are worldwide.

Hendrik’s diary entries are not simple prose but lengthy rants about whatever has got Hendrik’s goat that day. The language used is not simple but very mature and his range of vocabulary is spectacular.

This book brings an intelligent look at the daily life of residents in a care home. It explains what is important to them in their sunset years. I can see parts of this book being used in staff training sessions across a range of industries to explain to workers how the elderly think and understand their world. I found this book very useful and not just in relating to elderly passengers travelling on my National Express coach. My own father is also 83 years old and this month has just moved into a residential care home in Cardiff. This book helped me to see things through my dad’s eyes too. Not only does it give an 83 year old’s take on care homes, other residents, cultural changes and historical events but also the challenges posed to residents who have dementia. Because of the way dementia creeps on, I was blind to my father developing vascular dementia and just thought he was getting old and not bothering to compete for conversation between my mother and my wife. I was concerned how my father would cope with being split away from my mother, put into a care home and accepting his own dementia.

I found this book helpful, informative and reassuring. It allowed me to enter my father’s world and see it from his eyes. When I read this, I thought “that’s my dad!”...

Everyone in here has strong views on the subject of cake crumbs in fish tanks. But ask them what they think of the war in Syria and they’ll stare at you as if you’ve just asked them to explain the theory of relativity. A handful of fish floating belly-up are a thousand times worse than a busload of women and children blown to smithereens in some far-off country.

...I took a lot from this book and found it a pleasure to read. There is a lovely humour that runs through this book that is all deprecating, for example…

So indeed, yesterday I attended ‘Feel Good Fitness’. It was my first time. And also my last. When it was over and the instructor - ‘Call me Tina’ - gushed that I should definitely come again next week, I told her right then and there that once was enough. ‘Oh, and why is that?’ she asked suspiciously. ‘Because with so much female pulchritude about, I can’t concentrate on the exercises properly. I stiffen up.’

… I really liked this book and it was great to enter Hendrik’s world on such an intimate and personal level. Even if you do not have an elderly relative living in a care home, it is great read in the way that reality television fails to capture. It is a very good reading experience that I will vote the top score of 5 stars because it is entertaining, informative and rather witty.

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

Nina is NOT OK by Shappi Khorsandi.

Nina is 17 and lives in London where she also goes to college. Nina is sociable and chatty plus she also enjoys a drink. Follow Nina for a year in this first person narrative.

The writing style of this novel was simply a pleasure to read. Shappi writes her novel in the same voice as she uses on her stand-up comedy routines on television. Reading her book, you can imagine Shappi performing the content as a monologue on stage. However, Nina can perform too, especially after a drink and you can’t forget how she got that mess on her hair.

The story starts as a jolly tale with a lot of wit. For example…

It’s not jealousy, it’s not. Just fucking infuriating. Why do guys go mental over tall, skinny women with blonde hair? Why do girls like Zoe get watches on second dates and I get pictures of dodgy men’s cocks?

...But as the story progresses and Nina turns 18, serious issues are raised, notably alcoholism and sexual consent. There is great social commentary in this novel, which is Shappi’s first and I found the language used was spot-on for how teenagers talk today. I found this book both enlightening and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and felt privileged to enter another world. You can escape into a world of youth and lots of drama.

Nina is NOT OK is a lovely down to earth drama which is easy to relate to and features ordinary people like the girl next door. I like the way Shappi built her supporting characters, they were a balanced mix of girl friends, boys and middle aged adults. The spread of Nina’s girl friends reminded me of that great sitcom on television called Some Girls which ran for 3 series between 2012 and 2014.

I think this book will appeal to both genders and all ages. I am a 57 year old man and I found this novel refreshing with all the social observations woven into the storyline. It is all about being human and making mistakes. There is a little bit of Nina in all of us, from making poor choices from time to time, enjoying a drink and getting sexual urges. This exploration of human nature with all it’s highs and lows plus some wonderful character development, made this book such a joy for me to read. The quality of writing is first class and I really engaged with Nina. It was a treasure to see the world through her eyes and this book creates a milestone of understanding about alcohol and sexual urges.  It will help readers understand how some people can so easily become an alcoholic and how easy it can be for them to relapse, time and time again. Thanks to Shappi for writing a top class novel that I will vote the top score of 5 stars.

Nina is NOT OK was written in 2016 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

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

Stalker by Lars Kepler.

This novel starts…

It wasn’t until the first body was found that anyone took the film seriously. A link to a video clip on YouTube had been sent to the public email address of the National Criminal Investigation Department. The email contained no message, and the sender was impossible to trace.

… and so this crime thriller set in Sweden gets off to it’s creepy start as Margot Silverman leads the police chase to catch the stalker and serial killer.

Stalker is the 5th novel in the Joona Linna series but I have NOT read ANY of the other 4. What I thought would be a regular police crime thriller was very different because although Margot was in charge of the police investigation, Joona Linna an ex-cop and his friend Erik, a doctor - poked their noses into the case. This angle was odd because generally the reader follows just one lead character/detective as they solve the case. I did not feel as though it was one character’s story and with the content spread across Erik, Joona and Margot, I was unable to fully engage with the plot. I constantly thought, why are Erik and Joona poking their noses into police business rather than getting on with their lives? It was very difficult to root for Erik and Joona.

What was good about this plot was just how difficult it was for the police to pick up clues. The stalker/serial killer was forensically aware and those YouTube clips just poked fun at the police but gave nothing away. I liked how Lars Kepler made the stalker very creepy in the tale. The tone of suspense and danger/threat was spot on. From time to time you would suspect characters of being the stalker as the story moved on. But I did find the shifting focus between Erik, Joona and Margot a distraction. This structure of story telling was a disappointment for me.

I liked how the character Jackie brought into the story how blind people cope in their daily lives. The mysteries were explained and were a gentle way to raise public awareness. The humour within this novel was gentle too, for example…

‘Our lives aren’t boring,’ Thomas says calmly. ‘There’s nothing boring about not using drugs, or alcohol or tobacco… or coffee or tea.’

‘Why not coffee?’ Adam asks.

‘Because the body is a gift from God,’ he replies simply.

‘If it’s a gift, then surely you can drink coffee if you want to?’ Adam retorts.

‘Of course, it isn’t set in stone,’ Thomas says lightly. ‘It’s just guidance…’

‘OK,’ Adam nods.

‘But if we listen to this guidance, the Lord promises that the angel of death will pass our home and not kill us.’ Thomas smiles.

‘How quickly does the angel come if you mess up badly?’ Margot asks.

... This novel covers a lot of ground, a nice tour around sex and drugs but is rather far fetched in places, especially towards the end. But the epilogue is very good, especially the explanation of stalking and obsessive fixation syndrome.

I thought Stalker was a 4 star GOOD read, it got the creepiness of stalking spot on but lacked the character development and dynamics of police procedurals. It was a good crime thriller but not in the top division. The split between Erik, Joona and Margot simply did not work for me. I think readers like to strongly follow a single character rather than a trio who do not work for the same firm. But it was a GOOD read and will make me think twice about walking my dog whilst wearing my yellow rain coat with a camera in my pocket.

Stalker was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook. Lars Kepler is the pen name for the Swedish literary couple Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril.

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

The Lubetkin Legacy by Marina Lewycka.

Follow Berthold and Violet who are neighbours in a block of flats in North London. This book alternates in each chapter from Berthold’s point of view to Violet’s and back again. Berthold is however the main character in this modern day novel.

Do not expect an entertaining EastEnders style of reading from this book. The whole story is rather dull and I did not develop an empathy for unemployed actor Berthold. Violet is written in to tease but Stacey will steal her spot.

I was disappointed by The Lubetkin Legacy which is a shame because I so enjoyed Marina’s second novel Two Caravans which I read in 2009 and blogged…

I enjoyed this book and I vote it a HIT. It explores the economic realities of migrant workers here in the UK. Marina clearly has her finger on the pulse. This novel shows the ugly face of capitalism and the characters in this book are the victims, not the heroes. There is romance in this book which is written in the style of a thriller. Marina is a clever writer and her book shows the other side of the coin.

...But The Lubetkin Legacy for me FAILS. It is in a similar mode but is very WEAK. There is no sharpness to this story and my reading experience was DIM. It is NOT a novel to turn new readers ON. Yes, it shows promise but it does not fulfil.

I did like the way Marina worked foreign accents into her text, for example when Inna refers to “Indunky Smeet” who is clearly the present Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the UK Parliament (Iain Duncan Smith) commonly called IDS, not to be confused with IBS.

The plot of this story is rather tame and has as much thrill as a garden make-over programme on television. Much focus is made of everyday tasks like making hot drinks but even that is sloppy as Marina writes…

He looks confused. ‘My leccy got cut off last week. I should be all right when I start my job.’

...Yet a few paragraphs later on, Marina continues…

The kettle boils and she makes four cups of tea. Len adds a saccharine tablet and sips slowly, which seems to perk him up a bit, though he still looks pale.

...There is also some mild humour, for example…

The agency that found her this flat in Madeley Court specialises in student lettings, and it is furnished with seven narrow beds, seven desks, seven wooden chairs, seven small chests of drawers, and a small round table in the kitchen. How did seven people squeeze into here? Maybe they were dwarves?

…So there you have it, I found The Lubetkin Legacy a disappointment and consider it a POOR read that I will vote just the 2 stars.

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

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

As teenagers in a Lagos secondary school, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Then they go their separate ways from Nigeria with Ifemelu going to America and Obinze going to the UK. They both later return to Lagos and this story tells their experiences in 3 countries and the relationships they had.

Americanah is a mix, it is a love story but not a heavy one. There is no graphic sex and the emotional pulls are on the light side. There is a lot of content about race and what it means to be a Non-American Black living in the US. Also there is a lot about African hair styles and how Black African Americans have moved away from the natural look. The majority of this story is from Ifemelu’s point of view.

Americanah is an amusing read and rather pleasant. But everything is rather light, the humour is shallow and there are no shocks. A long time ago I read Chimamanda’s second novel called Half of a Yellow Sun. That book was brilliant, intense and with a strong emotional hold - I gave it the top score of 5 stars. However, Americanah is a disappointment and is an okay - 3 star read in the style of a women’s weekly magazine like Take A Break.

I found this book lacking but all the time I hoped it would improve. However it continued to be second rate all along and was not rewarding. There was nothing quirky or special about this story and it was a rather regular immigrant worker tale. But the covering at length of the issues of race within America raised the bar of this novel to an okay - 3 star read. There was one thing that really impressed me though, it was the dramatic ending that if Obinze had been a character on the popular BBC television soap opera EastEnders, would have given him the honour of the closing scene drums! This ending was brilliant and had me feeling warm hours after whilst I walked our pet dog in our local park.

To illustrate the quality of Chimamanda’s writing and the mild humour within her novel, I will finish my review with 2 quotes that apart from the ending, may be the best snips in the whole novel.

… At the checkout, the blonde cashier asked, “Did anybody help you?”

“Yes.” Ginika said.

“Chelcy or Jennifer?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember her name.” Ginika looked around, to point at her helper, but both young women had disappeared into the fitting rooms at the back.

“Was it the one with long hair?” the cashier asked.

“Well, both of them had long hair.”

“The one with dark hair?”

Both of them had dark hair.

Ginika smiled and looked at the cashier and the cashier smiled and looked at her computer screen, and two damp seconds crawled past before she cheerfully said, “It’s okay, I’ll figure it out later and make sure she gets her commission.”

As they walked out of the store, Ifemelu said, “I was waiting for her to ask ‘Was it the one with two eyes or the one with two legs?’ Why didn’t she just ask ‘Was it the black girl or the white girl?’”

Ginika laughed. “Because this is America. You’re supposed to pretend that you don’t notice certain things.”...

But back in Lagos, Nigeria, attitudes are rather different.

…”Good customer service, good customer service, good customer service.” Bisola said. “Folks here behave as if they are doing you a favour by serving you. The high-end places are okay, not great, but the regular restaurants? Forget it. The other day I asked a waiter if I could get boiled yam with a different sauce than was on the menu and he just looked at me and said no. Hilarious.”

Americanah has 447 pages and was written in 2013.