Monday 31 August 2020

Review: Knife Edge

Knife Edge Knife Edge by Simon Mayo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

KNIFE EDGE is a thriller about terrorism with a breathless opening which rivals anything I have read in the genre as, in 29 minutes one morning in May, a series of attacks leaves 7 London commuters dead. In the Canary Wharf offices of the IPS news agency, Famie Madden and her fellow journalists, begin to realise that the killings have been coordinated and the victims are colleagues in the agency's Investigation team. 

Simon Mayo, a radio and TV presenter, who presents my favourite film review show on BBC Radio 5, is a fine writer. The early chapters detailing the killings and their immediate aftermath are tense and claustrophobic, and Mayo's descriptions of an early morning London into which panic and fear erupt, are intensely vivid and convincing. The scenes following this are less riveting as the story alternates between Famie's attempt to protect herself and her family, while also attempting to identify those responsible for her colleagues' deaths, and scenes set in the terrorist cell. Here the story slows and the constant references to the terrorists as 'The Leader', 'The Woman' and "The Student' are a little clumsy. The book does lift again with a climactic confrontation with the terrorists which, while not reaching the heights of the initial chapters and being, perhaps, a little formulaic, does bring the novel to a satisfying conclusion.


View all my reviews

Tuesday 18 August 2020

Review: The Stranger

The Stranger The Stranger by Simon Conway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘My name is Nasruddin al-Raqqah.’

'I was kidnapped by the British for a crime I did not commit and they sent me to Damascus. I was questioned and tortured, I spent more than ten years in a tiny cell deep under the ground without sunlight, without speaking. Every day I washed the bodies of those killed by Assad. Thousands of bodies, men and women, I thought I was dead and in hell.'

'But now I am free.’

Ten years ago, MI6 Officer, Jude Lyon witnessed the rendition of The Engineer, a terrorist responsible for the killings of 25 British soldiers in a fiendishly clever attack in Pakistan. Haunted by his part in the handing over of the captive and his pregnant wife to torture, Jude becomes involved once more when The Engineer, long presumed dead, is offered for sale on the dark web by a terrorist organisation who have violently freed him from captivity. The press have now come into possession of documents proving British complicity in The Engineer’s rendition, Jude is caught in the political crossfire as the guilty scramble to cover their tracks while their rivals seek advantage, and he is unable to shake the memory of Nasruddin al-Raqqah’s last words as he was dragged away, “I am not The Engineer.”

And who is The Stranger...?

THE STRANGER is a fast paced ‘War on Terror’ thriller with interesting characters, a tightly plotted, tense set up, political intrigue, and an explosive climax but the characters are conflicted, the politics anything but straightforward. There are no goodies and baddies and Simon Conway, a writer with whom I was previously unfamiliar, has delivered a novel that is several steps above the gung-ho, flag-waving thrillers that seem to fill the shelves, much more Le Carre than Clancy.



View all my reviews

Thursday 6 August 2020

Review: Invisible Girl

Invisible Girl Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

INVISIBLE GIRL is an intense, absorbing, character-driven domestic psychological thriller. The narrative, told through the experiences of three viewpoint characters, concerns sexual assault, infidelity, suspicion, trial by media and social media. The 'action' takes place in the largely dark, claustrophobic streets of a village-like district of London.

Cate Four, mother of two teenagers, wife to psychologist, Roan, lives with her family in the temporary accommodation of a flat in Hampstead, as the family home in Kilburn is renovated. It should be an adventure, the desirable and affluent area known for intellectuals and artists. But Cate, who came close to separating from her husband when he had an affair suspects that Roan may be wandering but, having accused him of infidelity a year previously, buries her fears.

Owen Pick, a strange, socially awkward teacher, who lives opposite the Fours, is suspended from his job following accusations of sexual harassment from female students. When Cate's daughter, Georgia, is followed home along dark streets and her friend Tilly claims she was assaulted by a stranger, the Fours wonder about their neighbour.

Saffyre Maddox is a 17-year old former patient of Roan Four, whom she saw because she was self-harming, caused by something which happened to her when she was 10. Having developed an attachment to her psychologist, she misses her regular appointments and secretly follows Roan, frequently spying on the Fours' home. When Saffyre goes missing, and is found to have been near the Fours, suspicion naturally falls on their neighbour, Owen Pick.

Lisa Jewell draws her characters so well conveying emotions through their actions and reactions. We see the trauma caused by a lack of communication, the married couple tiptoeing around each other, the mother unable to confront her children, suspicions growing in relationships because people are afraid to ask questions. Owen Pick is adjudged guilty by the media and, as other sexual attacks are revealed in the area, we begin to question whether his embarrassment and discomfort around women is hiding more dangerous traits.

The story's shifts in viewpoint and timelines keeps the reader on edge throughout. In reality, not an awful lot happens, the action largely in the minds of her characters, but Jewell ramps up the tension expertly and we never really fully know any of the protagonists. There is some wonderfully descriptive writing too, particularly in the sections narrated in the first person by Saffyre, an incredibly perceptive 17-year old. One particular passage, as Saffyre describes Roan Four's consulation room, is among the best, most atmospheric scenes I have read this year, but throughout there are little touches that make INVISIBLE GIRL a joy to read. The story is tense and oppressive, the underlying subject matter harrowing and distasteful, none of the characters truly what they initially seem, but the Lisa Jewell skilfully holds this all together and delivers a satisfying mystery while raising questions which will stay with the reader long after the story is done.

View all my reviews

#BlogTour - Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner

A remote tropical island. Countless dangerous secrets. No way to call help. ‘A  master of the thriller  genre’ David Baldacci ‘Full-on  acti...