THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Addition: Paperback, borrowed from friend

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:

A misfit at an exclusive New England college, Richard finds kindred spirits in the five eccentric students of his ancient Greek class. But his new friends have a horrific secret. When blackmail and violence threaten to blow their privileged lives apart, they drag Richard into the nightmare that engulfs them. And soon they enter a terrifying heart of darkness from which they may never return.

My friend lent this book to me, telling me it was her favourite book. This book therefore had a lot to live up too! My Mum has also read this book and although enjoyed it felt it was too long and by page 500 was ready for it to finish. I went into this book with mixed feelings – my main thoughts being “I hope I enjoy this as Emily loves it” and “man, this is a big book with small print!” I have to say, I did really enjoy this book!

The story follows Richard, a young man from California who is wanting to escape his family. He arrives at Hampton College – on the opposite Coast to his parents and is quickly seduced into a life with the Greek students – Henry, Francis, Charles, Camilla and Bunny. However, all is not as it seems. They are secretive and sometimes weird, hiding a dark secret. Henry, the leader of this group, finally opens up and tells Richard what has happened: whilst trying out an ancient experiment – to completely lose oneself – they accidently kill a farmer on his land. They keep this secret hidden, except from Bunny, another in the group, who is starting to really grate on their nerves. He jokes about it, makes reference to the murder, and eventually tells Richard, thinking he doesn’t know. This is the final straw for Henry, who plots Bunny’s death. All of them are there when Henry pushes Bunny over the edge of the cliff. The story follows the remaining 5, showing how this completely messes up their lives.

I found this book slow to begin with. The first 100 or so pages follow Richard in California and then the Greek lessons at Hampton College. I found this a struggle to read – I have never studied the Greek classics and often found what I was reading going completely over my head. I honestly couldn’t tell you what it had to do with the story as I didn’t get it at all! This book is one that I would call “an intelligent read”. You have to pay attention and it doesn’t read quickly. It is also long – the addition I read was 629 pages! Once I got past page 100 or so, I was hooked but I did find the beginning a challenge.

I thought this was a fascinating read. It gives a glimpse into a crazy college world – filled with drink and drugs. It shows how people can be influenced by teachers and what they are taught – and how friends can manipulate you too. Henry leads everything – from the experience in the woods which leads to the first murder, to keeping Bunny quiet, to how to hide what they had done to Bunny. I was undecided most of the way through the book about Henry – he cold and silent, and then nursed Richard back to health when he had pneumonia. He was messed up by what he spent his time reading and also fairly grumpy! By the end I didn’t like him much.

This is an interesting read. I didn’t really like the characters and I found the beginning tough, but I was intrigued by the prologue – commenting on Bunny’s death, and I desperately wanted to know what happened. I was mildly surprised by the ending. They were never found out, although we did see how murder completely destroyed their lives. Henry ends up committing suicide, Camilla and Charles stop speaking and Charles becomes an alcoholic, Francis is consumed by fear and anxiety and Richard takes too many pills, drinks a lot and hides away. I was surprised that they weren’t caught but this was a fascinating ending.

This is an exceptionally well written book and very enjoyable. I would highly reecommend this book – even if I did find the beginning hard!

Addition: Paperback

Genre: Mystery and suspense

Rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis:

Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again. For Paul Copeland, the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Cope, as he is known, is now dealing with raising his six-year-old daughter as a single father after his wife has died of cancer. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career as a prosecutor distracts him from his past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the prosecutor’s family are threatened. Is this homicide victim one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer twenty years ago: his first love, Lucy; his mother, who abandoned the family; and the secrets that his Russian parents might have been hiding even from their own children. Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light.’ to ‘Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again. For Paul Copeland, the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Cope, as he is known, is now dealing with raising his six-year-old daughter as a single father after his wife has died of cancer. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career as a prosecutor distracts him from his past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the prosecutor’s family are threatened. Is this homicide victim one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer twenty years ago: his first love, Lucy; his mother, who abandoned the family; and the secrets that his Russian parents might have been hiding even from their own children. Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light.

This is a story about Paul Copeland, a county prosecutor whose wife has died and whose sister disappeared twenty years ago. On that fateful night, four teens had gone into the woods at summer camp, two were found murdered and two were never seen again. Paul’s sister Cassie was one of those whose body wasn’t found. His father spent every weekend for years digging in the woods but Cassie’s body was never recovered. Although heart-breaking, Paul had learnt to deal with this. Until someone using a fake name turns up dead and the link goes back to Paul. Realising this is the other person who disappeared from the woods, Paul sets out to find out what really happened; and if Cassie is still alive too. But he is not the only one exploring his past. As prosecutor he is trying to get two frat boys jailed for raping an underage exotic dancer. In an effort to protect his son, one of the fathers is doing all he can to frame and blackmail Paul, so the case will be dismissed. Through this, Paul learns some truths about his family: his father’s past when he lived in Russia, why his mother disappeared and didn’t take him and what happened in the woods.

This book is a thrilling and exhilarating read. Mystery and suspense is not what I usually choose to read, but I’ve read another Harlan Coben novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so decided to give those one a go. I am so glad I did. This book easily gets 5/5 from me, for pace, a great storyline, twists and turns and the characters.

I thought the storyline was fantastic. This book is so well written, with clues along the way but I still didn’t fully expect the outcome. I was shocked by Paul’s father’s past and what happened to his mother – not what I was expecting. I liked his Uncle – the guy with a shady KGB background. He was protective and hard all at the same time. He seemed to finally be feeling emotions – especially as he had had a tough time in Russia, with his brother and sister starving to death. He was protective of Paul yet still had “connections” – I thought that was cool!

I liked how the story played out – first with the police showing up having found this body who turned out to be Gil, one of the four that went into the woods, then Paul starting to do his own investigation; and then how he was threatened and had to find out about his heritage he wasn’t expecting – and ultimately how they all came together in a spectacular ending. This was a book I couldn’t put down; I just had to know what was going to happen. There were some elements I found a touch unrealistic – such as Paul and Lucy, his girlfriend at the summer camp, reuniting and how both Paul and the judge were blackmailed but the father was never caught and this wasn’t brought to anyone’s attention. I struggle to believe you would get away with that in an American court.

I thought Paul was a fantastic character. He seemed genuinely nice – a good father, a good prosecutor and focused and determined. I found it easy to connect with him; and I was on his side the whole time. I think Coben wrote the other characters well – Lucy, who you felt sorry for as this incident had destroyed her father and her life; his sister-in-law Greta, who tried to help Paul, and then would stand by her husband even when he did wrong; Gil’s family, who had tried to protect their son after the incident, for him to then be murdered and many others.

This is probably the best book I have read in ages. I really enjoyed it – it was exciting and mysterious. Some things in the story I could predict, but a lot I couldn’t. The plot unfolded in a great way. I was hooked and could not put this book down. I highly recommend Harlan Coben and this novel.

This is number two in my Mystery and Suspense challenge

Genre: Mystery/crime

Addition: Paperback (own copy)

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

This is a series of short stories about a detective Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, Dr. Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including ‘The Red-Headed League, ‘ ‘The Blue Carbuncle, ‘ and ‘The Speckled Band.’

This is my first Sherlock Holmes book, and it will certainly not be my last. This is a collection of short stories, and I found it a great introduction to Doyle’s writing and the characters of Sherlock and Dr. Watson. Every story is no more than 25 pages long and is fun to read and engaging. The stories do not follow any particular order and one could easily dip in and out of this book or read the stories in their own desired order.

I liked all the stories, but probably The Blue Carbuncle which I did find fairly amusing. A man hid a stolen blue gem in a turkey before Christmas, and when the turkey was given to the wrong person he went a bit crazy! I did find myself laughing. Doyle is a clever, fun writer and Sherlock is intelligent, a bit bizarre and humorous.

I didn’t find this a quick read – I believe this is because of the old-fashioned language and structure. It took me a little while to adjust, however this was not a problem – I find this is the case with classics as well. It is worth pursuing and the stories are fantastic. There is adventure, mystery and humour. I don’t think I worked out any of the mysteries as this is not my usual genre, but I loved reading these stories and have even lent out my copy so others can share this enjoyment. I cannot wait to read more!

Just as an aside, if you are in the UK you definitely should check out the BBC’s Sherlock series:

The film Sherlock Holmes is amazing too:

This novel sees Val Andrews writing a Sherlock Holmes mystery. In this book Holmes comes out of retirement and solves a murder in Brighton. A woman has gone missing and a man has mysterious turned up at the Royal Pavilion but there are no signs of forced entry. The police are clueless and as a bet Watson agrees Holmes could solve the investigation.

I think Andrews was very brave for writing a Sherlock Holmes novel. They are very famous and Conan Doyle was an excellent writer. Although this is not up to Doyle’s standard, it was not a bad book. It was a good storyline with twists and surprises and I liked how Andrews wrote the characters. It didn’t have the subtle humour I have found in the original books but as far as he could Andrews has been true to the characters.

I think I will probably stick to the original Sherlock Holmes novels this was not a bad read and not a bad attempt at another Holmes sequel.

3/5

My Lady Judge

This is the first book by Cora Harrison that I have read, and I really enjoyed it. Here is the Amazon synopsis for My Lady Judge:

In the sixteenth century, as it is now, the Burren, on the western seaboard of Ireland, was a land of grey stone forts, fields of rich green grass and swirling mountain terraces. It was also home to an independent kingdom that lived peacefully by the ancient Brehon laws of their forebears. On the first eve of May, 1509, hundreds of people from the Burren climbed the gouged out limestone terraces of Mullaghmore Mountain to celebrate the great May Day festival, lighting a bonfire and singing and dancing through the night, then returning through the grey dawn to the safety of their homes. But one man did not come back down the steeply spiralling path. His body lay exposed to the ravens and wolves on the bare, lonely mountain for two nights …and no one spoke of him, or told what they had seen.And when Mara, a woman appointed by King Turlough Don O’Brien to be judge and lawgiver to the stony kingdom, came to investigate, she was met with a wall of silence …’An excellent historical novel with a most original leading character…A true Celtic feast.’ – P. C. Doherty.

This is a murder mystery set in Ireland in the Middle Ages. The main character is Mara, who is the judge of this kingdom. I loved her character. She had so many sides, the teacher, the mother, the judge and the woman. She could be deceptive when necessary, or just to get out of boring social meetings, which made me chuckle. She did have a conscience however. She was fair, calm and friendly. All the characters were well written and many I found an emotional connection too.

I liked the old-fashioned way of investigating the murder. There were several characters who could have been framed and way the murder was solved and reveled reminded me of the old murder mystery shows, with Mara talking to the king about how she worked it out. I guessed who the murder victim was but I did guess who the murderer was. I liked how there were two crimes that needed solving, and how we learned about the family ties and feuds that joined the community together. It was also interesting how Harrison compared English law to Irish law at the time.

I did have problems with the names. There were several long, hard to read names, but I just read over them and inserted my own version of the word.

Harrison’s description of Ireland in the Middle Ages was magical and I found myself transported back there. I will definitely be reading more in this Burren Series.

8/10