More February books

The Dark of Summer by Eric Linklater.

This is a book borrowed from the library and one by an older author.  I had heard of this author but hadn’t read any of his books. He wrote novels, historical fiction, military history, travel and children’s books.

“In the early years of World War II, an army officer is sent to the Faroe Islands to investigate rumours of collaboration with the Nazi regime in Norway. What he finds changes lives, not least his own, and the characters become haunted by a sense of guilt and betrayal.”

You can see by the location of the Faroe Islands why I would be interested in this book, so close to the Shetland Islands.

True Stories by Helen Garner

‘Helen Garner writes the best sentences in Australia. This collection of her non-fiction carries all the evidence one needs to back that judgement. It is a book that should be in the hands of anyone who wants to write . . . Even if you are a Garner fan, there will be something here to surprise you . . . Garner’s prose is like a dry-stone wall in which every rock has been hefted in the hand, looked at hard and then placed with care into its proper slot . . . Her words have precise, apt meanings, especially the adjectives. Her verbs, workhorses of this prose, are stung, agile and fresh. The sentences roll and glide in pleasing rhythms. This is not fast food; it demands to be savoured.’ Bulletin

So many aspects of this book were like my own family as I was growing up.  Loved the book.

The Store by James Patterson

I have read a few James Patterson novels but this one was quite thought provoking in how it links to what we do online in the world today.  Thinking of Amazon etc.

The Store doesn’t just want your money—it wants your soul.

“Imagine a future of unparalleled convenience. A powerful retailer, The Store, can deliver anything to your door, anticipating the needs and desires you didn’t even know you had. Most people are fine with that, but not Jacob and Megan Brandeis. New York writers whose livelihood is on the brink of extinction, Jacob and Megan are going undercover to dig up The Store’s secrets in a book that could change the entire American way of life—or put an end to Jacob’s. After a series of unsettling discoveries, Jacob and Megan’s worst fears about The Store seem like just the beginning. With nothing escaping The Store’s watchful eye, harboring a secret that could get him killed, Jacob has to find a way to publish his expose–before the truth dies with him.”

This book was eerily real.  I was so conscious of how we operate on our computers today.  How we are unwarily manipulated by big on-line companies.  Think Amazon etc.

The final book for the month was Insidious Intent by Val McDermid, I had this book reserved at the library and got the notice to pick it up two days ago.  I read it in a trice.  This is an author that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  I really had to finish the book as quickly as possible.

When charred human remains are discovered in the driver’s seat of a burning car, DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Tony Hill are brought in to investigate…’

In the north of England, single women are beginning to disappear from weddings. A pattern soon becomes clear: Someone is crashing the festivities and luring the women away – only to leave the victims’ bodies in their own burned-out cars in remote locations. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Paula McIntyre and her partner Elinor must deal with a cruel cyber-blackmailer targeting their teenage ward, Torin.

A crime fiction must-read if you love crime-fiction.