With so many titles delayed from the Spring and Summer in addition to all the books already scheduled for September, selecting titles to read (and review) has not proven easy, confronted by the sheer piles of books and advance copies being issued this Autumn. I normally try and feature titles that mainstream publications often neglect and don’t always address the big name authors in our field. This time, an exception had to be made with new, terrific books by Carl Hiaasen, James Lee Burke and the awesome consistency of Steve Cavanagh. But there also other unknown pleasures for the reader to dip into.
BOOK OF THE MONTH: Carl Hiaasen/SQUEEZE ME (Sphere)
It had been a while since we last visited Carl Hiaasen’s skewed vision of Florida’s follies, populated by his customary and endearing gallery of grotesques, but his latest exploration manages to outdo previous escapades through introducing a recognisable Presidential duo of POTUS and First Lady, whose foibles and idiosyncrasies are straight out of a Hiaasen novel, however much they are also front page news (or rumours). Add a sexy animal wrangler, randy secret service staff, a Presidential toupee carer, a personal tanning bed assistant, an invasion of deadly snakes and a group of retired wealthy right wing widows whose adoration for the President is both sycophantic and colourful, and you have a recipe for a zany farce principally set within the grounds of his Florida luxury retreat. The return of sundry characters from previous novels adds to the chortling pleasures as the plot hurtles along in overdrive. Trump and Melania as portrayed here are a wonderful addition to Hiaasen’s belly laugh-inducing line-up of over the top grotesques and fit right in. It would be hilarious if it weren’t also tragic. Now, if only Boris could visit Florida and we’d all be living in a Carl Hiaasen world!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: James Lee Burke/A PRIVATE CATHEDRAL (Orion)
There has always been a delicate shimmer of unreality piercing the lush atmosphere of James Lee Burke’s Louisiana landscapes and intrigues, but in his 23rd outing for grizzled Dave Robicheaux, the supernatural intrudes in a major way, as it did in the earlier IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD. With a plotline in part inspired by ROMEO AND JULIET amongst the setting of a deadly war between sinister New Iberia crime families, Robicheaux is confronted by what seems to be a time-travelling assassin with terrible powers when one of the mafioso hires the mysterious killer to eliminate Robicheaux and his sidekick Clete Purcell, one can who evoke mighty hallucinations, ghost ships that appear out of nowhere and drag to the surface all the spectres, of war, alcoholism and failed relationships, from Robicheaux’s own past. The power of Burke’s descriptions and the intensity of his characters never dull and this one of a sort novel transcends genre in subtle ways and forms to leave a lasting memory as all Burke novels do.
David Quantick/NIGHT TRAIN (Titan)
Quantick is a triumphant jack of all trades, moving effortlessly from award-winning TV scripts, writing about rock music and popular culture to increasingly bizarre but absorbing novels skirting genres in both daring and affectionate ways. His new novel blends horror with science fiction and carries its atmosphere of dread with terrifying intensity and proves totally unique. A woman wakes up on a train, with corpses galore surrounding her, not remembering who she is and adopts the name on the patch sewed on the uniform-like garment she is wearing. Garland, as she has become, has no memory of events preceding her arrival on the train and as she encounters further similarly dazed passengers, she moves haltingly through a living nightmare in her efforts to shed light on her perilous situation as twists upon illogical and often madcap twists halt her meandering quest and efforts. Assaulted by much improbability, the reader should just let himself go and flow with the frantic plot and savour its often humorous pleasures, rather than trying to make sense of it all. Most curious but compellingly immersive.
Steve Cavanagh/FIFTY-FIFTY (Orion)
With every successive novel, Steve Cavanagh is undoubtedly establishing himself as the new master of the high concept thriller cum courtroom drama. Alongside his increasingly cunning imagination and plots, he has now reached the stage where his writing has also become propulsive in the best tradition of Michael Connelly and Grisham and his books are becoming unputdownable. His latest features two sisters accused of killing their wealthy father, the former Mayor of New York City. One has been arrested and now sits in a prison cell and resourceful lawyer Eddie Flynn is her only chance of proving her innocence. The circumstances of the death are murky and with one sister accusing the other, motives and evidence are a jumble of confusion. Soon witnesses are ending up dead, with the true killer muddying the waters and casting seeds of doubt amongst the sisters’ respective lawyers. Cavanagh pulls twist after twist out of his arsenal and the ensuing investigation and legal defences have you cheering for one sister after the other throughout the book as your reader sympathies or allegiance are affected by the labyrinthine story. Masterful.
S.E. Lister/AUGURY (Old Street)
Sophie Lister’s previous excursions into the fantastic, HIDEOUS CREATURES and THE IMMORTALS transported me, and the latter achieved a rare blend of sheer poignancy and exhilarating exploration of the speculative unknown. Sadly, her luxurious new book just didn’t connect with me. Ambitious, lush as ever in the writing, at times claustrophobic despite its scale but its style is almost too rich to the mental palate, dense to the point of cognitive exhaustion. However I am certain many readers will be quite rightfully snared into its fascinating world, so visibly superior to much of the heroic fantasy we have been offered recently. Rituals, prophets, far flung rival Empires and temples, priests and slaves all populate the busy pages and the epic grandeur of the novel’s reach can only be applauded and at times feels almost overwhelming. What it missed, I felt, was the intimacy that Lister achieved in her earlier books while still keeping the fantastic familiar. Still, a rather unique author who will continue to draw an increasing following.
Chris Lloyd/THE UNWANTED DEAD (Orion)
Already the third thriller I’ve read this year set during the Nazi occupation of Paris during WW2, but by miles the best. The Germans have just arrived and are taking over the city and police inspector Eddie Giral, a disillusioned survivor of the 1914-1918 war stumbles across the death of four Polish refugees gassed to death in a railway yard and endeavours to solve the mystery and bring someone to justice, despite the indifference of his colleagues and the wary attention of the occupying forces who view his efforts with ambiguous attention, lest the blame is attributed to German soldiers, as Gestapo and Abwher struggle to establish their own authority. To complicate matters, Giral’s own soldier son is on the run from the Germans, and hoping to reach the neutral zone and might also be implicated in the affair. The evocation of Paris under the Nazi fist feels right and, unlike other writers who like to use the City of Light as their backdrop, Lloyd gets the geographical details just right. Marks the beginning of what could be a great new series and anti-hero.
Susanna Clarke/PIRANESI (Bloomsbury)
The long-awaited new novel by Susanna Clarke, the author of the splendid JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL couldn’t be more different but is equally impressive and unlike anything else you’ve read in ages. Following the tortuous journeys of a character whose identity is a mystery to himself through a labyrinthine house whose geography verges on both the impossible and the architecturally improbable, with remote echoes of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast and every haunted house in literature, this is an immersion into what the sense of existential wonder allows. Should this sound a difficult read, well it both is and isn’t as if you allow yourself to immerse into its crystal waters, the rewards are immense, asking question after question during the course of a dance that never ends. Not an easy book to write about and avoid spoilers. A mystery indeed but one that lives in other, multiple dimensions.
Amer Anwar/STONE COLD TROUBLE (Dialogue)
The welcome new instalment of the tongue in cheek albeit darkly hardboiled misadventures of ex-con Zaq Khan and his Sikh best mate Jags against the loud, colourful background of London’s Asian community. Zaq is still working for Mr Brar and his construction company, and living in Southall when Uncle Lucky, a relative of Jags, asks for their help in retrieving some valuable jewellery which he lost gambling. Capers, violence, a macho sense of brotherhood and quips follow, as even in the darkest hours our hardy characters somehow manage to keep a twisted smile on their face despite the way they attract trouble like a magnet. This sequel to BROTHERS IN BLOOD offers non-stop action and little time for character development and the female characters are much too secondary, but Anwar has a distinct, jocular voice and makes the reader crave for more from his awkward duo of imperfect heroes.
Tiffany Tsao/THE MAJESTIES (Pushkin Vertigo)
A fascinating twist on the domestic thriller, with unexpected twists and a rather unique voice from Australian-based young adult fantasy writer of Indonesian descent Tsao. Gwendolyn awakes, badly injured and blind, in a hospital bed, the only survivor of a mass massacre by poisoning that has wiped out her whole family and over three hundred further innocents. Worse: her sister, best friend and close confidant, was responsible for the atrocity. Dying, paralyzed and unable to speak, she dives deep into her memories to make sense of the events that led to this. Not so much a thriller but an exploration of an extended wealthy family’s dynamics and buried secrets at their most extreme and a depressing but fascinating portrait of a rich and dysfunctional Indonesian society and its foibles and ensuing perils, this proves a terribly intense but sharp exploration of the dark side of human nature.
Agnes Ravatn/THE SEVEN DOORS (Orenda)
The second novel to be translated into English by a leading Norwegian thriller author, and a follow-up to the much praised THE BIRD TRIBUNAL proves wrenching and tense, a psychological chiller with multiple layers unpeeling graciously to reveal further strata of emotional bleakness and enigmas. Nina, a literature professor at Bergen University is about to lose her family home due to be demolished to make way for a new high speed rail line and is heavily distressed by the prospect. Meanwhile domineering and pregnant Ingeborg is also in need of new accommodation and is offered place in a house Nina is renting out, already partly occupied by Mari, and her intrusive arrival alienates the sitting tenant. When Mari disappears, Nina makes it her mission to investigate even though her own life is on the rocks. At times fable and at others a variation on Greek tragedies, this tightly wound thriller echoes through increasing levels of anxiety and grief to fill a week of sleepless nights. Affecting.
