Sharon Bidwell

The Book of the Dead, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

A thriller with a blend of other genres makes this a highly imaginative difficult to predict book almost right up to the end, and then I only guessed a small part. When the truth behind the mummy’s curse at a museum comes to light, it’s as amazing as the curse itself, and the story didn’t end there. I didn’t realise this was one and the last of a series, but that made no difference to my enjoyment. I would read the rest if not for my toppling to be read mountain, but confess I picked this up as part of a book swap in a library, and I’m glad I did or I would never come across this. The only negative is it felt a little overlong in parts; I felt reminded of things I already knew a few times, but that in no way distracted from the fun.

Things We Lost in the Fire, Mariana Enriquez

I delved in and out of this book over a few weeks. The stories are heavy-going in the sense of their content because they are disturbing. The translator’s note at the end perfectly describes why. Hinted at as it begins with “A shadow hangs over Argentina and its literature.” The author’s subtle blend of reality and fiction make her stories resonate like a susurration in your ear, leaving the reader unsettled. Categorised as Gothic Horror, they are not that easy to define. I’m not saying I loved or even liked every story, but I could understand what the author has done and admire her skill.

Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes

It’s easy to see why this is a classic. The story is as poignant today as when written, making even the least bigoted reader look at the issues of those with mental or physical ailments anew. The way people question Charlie’s worth by his level of intelligence is as important today as it’s ever been. Maybe more so, because now we truly should know better. I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this book, but am pleased to say I ended up loving it. An amazing novel, one that touches the heart and is well worth shedding a few tears for at the end.

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (audio), M.C.Beaton, read by Penelope Keith

At first, this didn’t seem to be your typical Agatha Raisin murder mystery, and it left me wondering whether anyone was going to die. I should have known better. Agatha ploughs headlong into mystery, murder, and mayhem as always, and, although sometimes you feel she should know better, as always, it’s a giggle to see how she solves the case.

The Husband, Dean Koontz

Another re-read for me. This book has a similar feel to Velocity. The action doesn’t let up, which creates the promised suspense. However, the protagonist’s bizarre childhood and one especially crazed kidnapper of the bunch require more than a modicum of suspended belief. One of them happening in a lifetime? Maybe. Both crossing paths stretch things, as does one convenient fortuitous event, towards the end, but this doesn’t distract from the overall enjoyment. The surprising twists make this book stand out, although I wouldn’t say this is the author’s best.

I haven’t read all that much in the last couple of months, partly owing to health reasons and partly because we’ve been away, so I am clubbing February and March together.

Gwendy’s Magic Feather, Richard Chizmar
In this, the second instalment in the Button Box trilogy, not a lot happens, though Gwendy’s certainly dragged through the mill emotionally. As a middle novel, this works well enough, although the tension in this one has a different feel to the first. On to the third.

Gwendy’s Final Task, Stephen King and Richard Chizmar
The most surprising detail about this book was the setting, and despite initial reservations as to the choice, I happily put belief aside and enjoyed the ride into space. Given the difficult task of saving the universe, Gwendy has to come up against a new adversary, this time her declining mental health. Highly imaginative, with timely references to what’s happening in the world now, and to King’s other works, this book was the best of the trilogy. I loved following Gwendy’s adventures with the Button Box throughout her life to a conclusion that requires a tissue or two, but I found the outcome wholly satisfying and the trilogy well worth the read. This also proves what I’ve always said, King is a storyteller capable of working in more than one genre, so if you’re expecting to be scared the only horror here has more basis in reality than in a horror novelist’s mind.

Velocity, Dean Koontz
A reread for me as enjoyable this time as the first. An easy thriller to get into and with a steadily increasing pace with a satisfying plot and conclusion. Having said that, the ending felt a little abrupt, even though I enjoyed it, mainly to the long buildup. That’s not a reason to avoid it. The pages easily turn and nothing about the story feels weak. Nothing is missing or overlooked. Neither is the story padded at all. An excellent idea perfectly written with a well-picked title. Once the initial hook grabs the reader, the book picks up speed in well-thought-out degrees. Enjoyable.

The Moon’s a Balloon (audio), David Niven (read by author)
This is an excellent insight detailing how Niven became an actor, and a nostalgic history lesson. The book carries the same charm as the author, but also shows a man who was as human as the rest of us, softening the clean-cut image of Niven and men of that time. I was surprised, bordering on shocked, at how fast he seemed to fall in love, and the swiftness with which he remarried after his first wife died, a situation I found peculiar, leaving me to question whether it was a sign of the times, or a gut reaction somewhat motivated by grief. There are some motivations it’s hard to pin down, and having loved Niven’s film work for so long, I had to accept I simply can’t possibly know. This is an enjoyable, witty and charming account of a young man finding his place in the world, though not as in-depth as some might wish.

But before then, I will slip in the two reads, I rounded off 2024 with. They were:

The Radleys, Matt Haig
Aside from some small idiosyncrasies in the plot, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it would be my least favourite of the author’s that I’ve read so far from the blurb alone. In some ways, this is true. But I liked it far more than I expected to. I think this is in part because I watched the film first, which is an okay watch, but not a patch on an excellent book. Saying that, I found this a slow build, with an ending that is worth the wait. It’s at heart a family drama, but one that sheds on light on the power of true love and whether and when we should forgive. The questions and answers it raises may well differ by reader, but it’s the part of the book towards the end that makes an unusual book effective.

The Burning Girls, C.J.Tudor
A well plotted mystery with supernatural, atmospheric elements and enough twists to keep the reader gripped. Yes, some things seem obvious, but you’re given enough choices to keep one guessing as to the truth with a cast of interesting and surprising characters. I enjoyed every moment spent with this book. At no point did I feel disappointed. The story has remained with me after I closed the last page. So far, I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read by this author.

January

Life Expectancy, Dean Koontz

A reread for me told in first person, so the tone of this book differs from most well-known Koontz books, yet I found the story as entertaining this time around as I did the first time. Although once I finished the book, I laughed a little over how crazy the plot actually is, I still found it entertaining and mostly gripping, as well as being a good example of what an author can come up with thinking outside the box. I like an author’s work when it can be as surprisingly different as this book is, and who doesn’t love to hate murderous clowns?

Firefly: Coup De Grace, Una McCormack

Another good story in the world of Firefly. Whether everything matches the characters, what they would say, and how we expect them to act is no doubt for the individual to decide. A couple of things jarred here, but overall I enjoyed this one and it was nice to see some characters acting strongly and with determination in situations they hadn’t been so forceful in before. I also found the parts of the novel written in first person by someone who isn’t part of the crew took me out of the story a little, but I can’t see how else the author could have written the book. I was also sorry to see quite a few typos and even missing words in sentences; even though I could work out what was missing, it spoils the experience and I’ve never come across so many in a Firefly novel before. This made the book feel a little sloppy.

The Night House, Jo Nesbo

A hard book to review without giving too much away. In one way, this book’s quite inventive. But it’s in three parts, each of which reads different from the other, and the intended age of the reader seems to grow up with the progressing stories. I’ve seen something similar before, told in a way I enjoyed better, although both books are different enough. I enjoyed each section, but there’s a part of me that remained a little ‘incomplete’ I guess is the best way to describe it. The story ties up, but left me with this stop/start feeling, which isn’t the same as disappointment. I’m glad I read it, and the story format definitely sticks in the mind.

Mothlight, Adam Scovell

If it’s possible to be compelled and repelled by a book while reading it, I’d say that’s how I felt reading this. Not a lot happens and the story being told is quite basic, but it’s the excellent writing and many subtle nuances blending death, gruesomeness, obsession, and various kinds of haunting that make this book. I felt myself reluctantly warming to the characters, occasionally bored, sometimes repulsed. I found it difficult to care for people capturing poor innocent creatures, be they moths, to stick pinned in frames on the wall, although clearly this is part of being a Lepidopterist — one element of the book I didn’t realise before I began reading. Expertly composed, still the big reveal isn’t so big — indeed, some elements remain deliberately vague — and I can’t say I enjoyed the read. The best I can say is that the story lingers, which is down to the writer’s skill.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell

This is a book I would have loved to come across as a younger reader, although I imagine what children want from a book now may well differ from the Treasure Island type of adventures I adored. When the moments of sadness arrive, they are heartfelt. There were other times when I felt uncomfortable hearing what Karana had to do to survive, but such would be the way of life when living on an island surviving in the wilds. What the ‘civilised men’ do, shattering Karana’s world, is far worse, and she learns to temper killing with mercy. I feared for her more at the prospect of her leaving her island than what happens to her while alone, though the author addresses this by the ‘fact behind the fiction’ note at the end.

Gwendy’s Button Box, Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

I’ve had this book for ages buried in my TBR mountain. I knew nothing about it and the first image to come to my mind — that of my grandmother’s box of clothes buttons — couldn’t be more off. Gwendy’s box of buttons is something far more menacing. I wouldn’t usually like a book written in this style, but I found it so easy to read, I didn’t mind so much. On to the second and third book.

James Bond, Diamonds are Forever (audio), Ian Fleming, Read by Damian Lewis

My least favourite James Bond book so far, possibly because of the subject, which involves a lot of gambling, horse racing and the like. There seemed to be a lot less action in this, or maybe it only seemed that way because of the pacing. This one struggled to hold my attention. I am pleased the women are often stronger than they come across in the films. However, the way Bond notices their clothes down to the smallest degree amuses me. But most irritating… if Bond ‘shrugs his shoulders’ one more time, my eyes might roll out of my head. There’s no need to ‘shrug shoulders’ as a shrug on its own works fine — what else do you shrug but your shoulders? Still, letting that go, even back when the books were written, it’s amazing no one picked up that Bond goes around shrugging his shoulders just about everywhere at everything. Other characters shrug their shoulders, too, though not as much as though the habit is catching. This has irritated me in every book so far.

Owing to ongoing issues, I’ve clubbed together two months, especially as I didn’t get much read in November.

October
Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett
Although in some ways this may be my least favourite of the Discworld novels doubtless owing to my lack of interest in football, I still fell in love with the new characters and again with the old, and I laughed during the match and smiled by the end of the book. This still carries all the charm and magic of Terry’s world. I’ve not hurried to read the last few novels I had to read because I knew they were the last, so in a wacky sense I was almost saving them even though I’m sure Terry would have told me that was a dangerous thing to do being none of us know how long we have. Terry is sorely missed and so will be the books he may have written, but he’s left us with a legacy that will now be my pleasure to begin all over again.

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist, (audio), M.C.Beaton, read by Penelope Keith
This time Agatha takes a holiday in search of love, but finds herself caught up in another murder investigation. Surprisingly, the new setting worked well, treating the audience to a tangle of both Agatha being a suspect, and her increasingly muddled love life.

Lost Girl, Adam Nevill
I might well vote this to be the author’s best book. By that I don’t mean my favourite, which sounds odd when I’ve called it the best. I’ve not read all the author’s titles yet, though I intend to. The subject of the book — the desperate search by a father for his missing child — is a hard topic to like best, but I also have an outstanding favourite that, as much as I adore this writer’s work, any other title may well struggle to knock off the top spot.

In Lost Girl, we’re treated to a writer getting almost every sentence right. Every emotion. Every self-doubt, self-loathing, conviction to do what he must for the sake of his little girl. I doubt someone who wasn’t a parent could have written this, and part of the well-captured horror is the question of our capacity to become the monster when someone threatens those we love, even when the ultimate blame lies with those who cause the terrible things they might force others to do.

For those looking for the supernatural element in Nevill’s work, it’s here but is a subtext to a warped mind in a warped world that isn’t as far off as we would like. This glimpse of a possible, even probable future pulls on the heartstrings as much as the plight of ‘the father’ in this prescient warning. I wouldn’t call this horror, though there are horrific elements. This novel crosses genres. Horror, thriller, drama, crime… whatever one wants to call it, the author led this reader willingly towards a satisfying conclusion.

October October, Katya Balen
Picking a book at random from my book mountain, I saw this and thought, well, it’s October, so why not choose this? I wanted to love this book as much as so many others do. Fine, I’m not the intended audience, but adults are the ones who decide the best books for children and at what age. I wanted the book to leave me smiling, but I felt torn in so many ways all the way through.

At first, I was on October’s side. This book makes you feel how stifled she feels in London and longs for wide-open skies. In this, she was close to my heart. Yet I also wondered about her father having raised her entirely in the woods. There’s little of practical home schooling, no arrangements of what would happen to her if something happened to her father… which is exactly what occurs. Despite who is at fault, and even that is a grey area leaving me feeling they’re all to blame, the point is no one seemed to consider the possibility of a child’s care if the worst happened. No one seems to much care about her natural development and how she would cope in the outside world should it ever become necessary or something she might want. Then she’s ripped out of the only life she’s known into an alien environment that’s understandably frightening with a woman she doesn’t want to know.

And at that point in her life, I felt it unfair to have someone who left her own daughter at such a young age thrust upon her. I felt the unfairness of childhood when you have no say. For practical reasons alone, there is of course a good reason for October to know her mother — so that she wouldn’t end up in the situation she finds herself in, but why did this woman disappear for so long only attempting, poorly, to communicate rather than show up? If they were going to force the issue, why not do it when October was younger? The opportunities to explain and help October understand in her informative years seem entirely overlooked. I understand and sympathised that the father couldn’t live in the mother’s world and vice versa but they are parents and this seems to be something they should have worked out beforehand and, when times got tough, considered what’s best for their child, not just up and please themselves.

Both parents come across as selfish, so it’s hardly surprising October acts selfishly sometimes. Perhaps the parents’ behaviour goes someway to explain why October seems younger than her years. And the idea this girl from the woods could fit into a school, especially after her behaviour when she first arrives, is unrealistic. In reality, she’d be a perfect candidate for bullying. I’ve also spent many a minute wondering where these woods are an hour and a half away from London where they can live with scarce interaction with the outside world or the education authority — you have to prove you’re educating your child to a standard if you opt for home schooling. Much of the plot is unrealistic, so to enjoy the book it’s necessary to set all that aside.

I’m happy to say the lessons she learns about the owl are painful but important, and the underlying themes are good, especially that of parents being apart doesn’t mean they don’t both love you (dealt with better in Mrs Doubtfire), but these subjects weren’t delved into deeply enough. On a good point, the first person tone and style work well for the book and young readers. The author makes October’s world, both good and bad, come to life. Given more depth and developmental edits, this could have been a splendid book instead of good.

The Watch House, Robert Westall
If I call this a pleasant read it may give the wrong impression for a ghost story, but it’s still atmospheric and I liked the cast of interesting characters, the unusual setting, different ghosts, and background stories. An excellent read for younger readers but absorbing enough for some adults.

November
All Hallows, Christopher Golden
An easy enjoyable read. I throughly lived in the world of Parmenter Road and the characters who inhabit the place. The Haunted Woods allowed me to experience the kind of Halloween and Trick or Treat that’s uncommon in the UK be it with more than horror thrown in than anyone is prepared for. A spooky piece of entertainment both teens and adults will enjoy with fully-fledged characters that live on the page and make you feel for them. Some of the facts about the true horror came across as a little vague but this adds to the sense of bewilderment and fear. I liked that some aspects weren’t what they seemed. Can’t call this scary, though.

The Uglimen, Mark Morris
I can’t say I found this scary, though a couple of moments made me pause, but I loved the quite disturbing ideas that went into this. This may not be terrifying but it’s an enjoyable read, and one that’s kept me entertained through a not so great time.