Books in May 2021

Steady progress... 14 weeks ahead of plan...

This was a month where I ended up bingeing on a variety of authors and series. I went through most of the Kevin Wignall books I haven't read, and then followed up with Tom Bradby's recent series about the SIS looking for evidence that the UK Prime Minister is a Russian agent, before changing gear and heading to East Germany during the 1970s. I found I couldn't get my head into SF in May, perhaps a reaction to North Star's SF theme which had me reading lots of SF-RPG material.

Mexican Gothic (Silvia Moreno-Garcia)

An enjoyable gothic horror story set in the uplands of Mexico. A young socialite is sent from Mexico City to check on her cousin, who has sent a disturbing letter home. The book has a genuinely creepy feel, and from the opening, you don't know whether this will be something of nothing like Northanger Abbey, or something much worse. Recommended.

It was easy to kiss someone when it didn’t matter; it was more difficult when it might be meaningful.

 

Those Who Disappeared (Kevin Wignall)

I find Kevin Wignall's books compelling; they draw you through and too often result in me having a late night as I don't want to put it down.

This tells the story of a successful artist, orphaned from a young age when his father was lost hiking on a glacier in the Alps and his mother subsequently committed suicide after his birth, as he tries to find out what happened to his father. His investigation is triggered when his father's body is found as the ice recedes. The more he digs, the more disturbing the story he discovers.

The photographs were probably no more representative of their everyday reality than Foster’s Instagram page was of his own daily life, but still they suggested a sense of adventure and romance and a closeness that he could not recall from his own youth.

The Traitor's Story (Kevin Wignall)

A former spy, with a dark past, is drawn back towards the life he left six years ago when his neighbour's young daughter goes missing. At the same time, he faces the collapse of his relationship. This is one of the best books I've read from Kevin Wignall; there is a warmth in the characters that I haven't seen very often.

When had doing the right thing stopped being the automatic option and become something that had to be worked at instead?

“I think everyone’s trying to find this point in time where they fit, where everything’s right, where they fit into the universe. Me and Hailey, that girl”—he gestured toward the waitress—“we’re young, so we keep thinking it’s in the future and we’re running toward it. I guess people who are older, like you or like our parents, you keep thinking you missed it and it’s some place back in your past but you can’t pin it down. You know, we’re all looking for this same point of time and it always seems just out of reach—when we were happy, when things felt right, when we’ll fit into the universe, but maybe it’s out of reach because it’s not a point in time at all, it’s something else, something inside us. Like déjà vu.”

 

The Hunter's Prayer (Kevin Wignall)

Darkly brutal. A young student’s life is torn apart when her family are murdered when she’s away on holiday in Europe. She only survives because of precautions her father has taken. Family history is revealed and she must chose whether she takes a path of revenge or lets the police deal with it. I found this hard to put down but it becomes increasingly dark. 

Secret Service (Tom Bradby)

Enjoyable spy thriller in which MI6 comes into knowledge that one of the candidates to replace the Prime Minister could be a Russian agent during an operation triggered by a tip off from an agent. Plenty of pace and an interesting mix of characters. The reason for MI6 to investigate rather than MI5 is credible too. I found it hard to put down.

‘But in the old days, it seemed like a fair match, didn’t it? We faced off against the KGB. The two intelligence services, each at the heart of their respective establishments, locked in combat, with a succession of victories and defeats. As long as we could spot their feints and sleights of hand, we could go home reasonably secure in the knowledge that our world – the safe, civilized, free West – would continue along its relatively well-maintained tram tracks. It isn’t like that any more. They go behind us and around us and beyond us to the people and the country at large, whipping up hostility and division and dissent, their tentacles reaching down a thousand different alleyways. I don’t know which front we should be most energetically defending now. And the only thing I can say for sure is that it’s a battle we’re losing. It’s not just that they come over here and murder people right under our noses, but they get a distressingly large number of people to believe it’s all a conspiracy by the British government. It’s bloody surreal at times.’

Double Agent (Tom Bradby)

Sequel to Secret Service. Kate Henderson, the SIS officer who led the investigation into the Prime Minister is drawn back into a follow up to the investigation when a potential defector offers hard evidence that proves the theory. The story accelerates but never quite breaks credulity. An excellent sequel as you can see from how long it took me to read it (a day)!

Triple Cross (Tom Bradby)

Now retired from SIS after the trauma of the last two investigations, Kate Henderson is approached by the Prime Minister who she’s previously investigated to head up an investigation to try and prove he is innocent of the rumours spread. She must look into her former colleagues and work out who - if anyone - is a traitor working for the Russians. She soon realises that she may be being set up to take a fall to protect someone else and needs to tread carefully. An excellent conclusion to the trilogy.

‘Infidelity is murder,’ Rose said quietly. ‘It destroys everything.’

‘He’s a politician! I mean, if you really want to know, we’ll be here for hours. He’s selfish, but capable of altruism and generosity. He’s egotistical, insecure, but bullish, even brutish – a suit of armour he’s learnt to put on. He’s emotionally incontinent and utterly unreliable, but needs to be loved in a way that is by turns endearing and pathetic. He’s smart, cunning and likes to make bold gestures, though he’s also capable of chronic indecision. He’s funny sometimes, kind at others, but an absolute bastard when his back’s to the wall. How long have you got?’

Stasi Child (David Young)

Different and enjoyable crime novel set in East Germany in the 1970s. Karin Müller is the first female lead of a Berlin murder squad, called in to investigate the death of a young girl apparently shot when escaping from the West to the East. The investigation is sensitive and has Stasi tampering throughout. Karin - who believes in her state’s ethos - must try and solve the murder before politics kills the investigation.

I found this enjoyable but a little rushed at the end. There’s a beautiful chapter that sets seeds for the future near the end of the story, seeds that I think may come back a bite Karin’s beliefs. It’s interesting to see a story set in a culture very different and yet familiar to the West.

11 June 2021