Archive | June 2017

Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale

Jun30

Picking Up The Pieces

Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale is a fabulous contemporary novel about love and loss and life. I dived into the action and ‘lived’ through the book.

The plot is comprehensively constructed. I had no idea where it would lead at times, but held on as it twisted this way and that.

Relationships and family can be complicated as shown in the story. All is not always as it seems.

People can be motivated by money and power. “Money speaks louder than words.” Money enables secrets to be kept and lies to be spoken.

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The Secret Wound by Deirdre Quiery

Jun30

Obsession

The Secret Wound by Deirdre Quiery is a contemporary novel that studies relationships and events that make us who we are.

It opens in 2012 but quickly jumps to almost a year later and then the action continues over the next forty days. It includes flashbacks too. The plot was cleverly constructed with a jaw dropping end.

The novel follows a group of friends who are loosely connected together as they holiday in Mallorca one summer. Every now and again the action returns to Belfast, the home of the lead character.

There is the topic of dementia. The reader witnesses the rapid decline of a character – seeing the condition from the point of view of both the character and those witnessing it.

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The Killing Grounds by Jack Ford

Jun29

Torn Between Country And Family

The Killing Grounds by Jack Ford is a contemporary political thriller that I just could not put down. There are some books that when you’ve read them, all you can say is… Wow! The Killing Grounds is one such book. It just blew me away with it’s marvellous plot and it’s  realistic characters.

The plot is full of twists and turns, truth and lies, politics and business. It was intricately constructed yet easy to follow as it alternated between America and the DRC (Congo). Politics and business deals collided, both seemingly intertwined. Decisions in one affected the other. Hands were tied, eyes were turned, would the truth ever immerge? Business ethics were considered. Business ethics were thrown out. With one eye on the world of politics and another on the plight of people… which way to jump?

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Not Ever by Amanda Sue King

Jun28

Issues Of Trust

Not Ever by Amanda Sue King is a delightful Christian novel set in 1980. I absolutely adored it. Amanda Sue King has a style of writing that really means the reader feels included in the action. I strolled through the story with the main character, experiencing her highs and lows.

Not Ever is a story about learning to trust. Learning to trust God and learning to trust people, in particular, men. Treatment at the hands of bad men means trust does not come easy to two of the characters. One, because of fear and intimidation, the other because of disillusionment. Even God cannot be trusted it seems to her. This distrust is robbing the pleasures of life. “Don’t allow pain and distrust to steal your joy.” The walls built to keep others out mean one is a prisoner too.

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