by Ian Rankin First published in 1990, this novel was judged by the author himself to be a flop. Now that Ian Rankin has made his name, principally as a writer of classic detective stories, he has judged it suitable for reissue (or his publishers have). Westwind is essentially a what-if spy story. Although the …
Category: Thrillers
The Family
by Louise Jensen A Review 'I am still wrestling to be free as I am dragged, my feet scraping the ground, but I'm losing the fight ..... I know they'll never let us leave here now. Not alive anyway.' Not to be confused with Mario Puzo's splendid novel with the same title, Louise Jensen's fifth …
Millennium No.6
The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz (trans. George Goulding) 'She laid a hand on the Beretta in its holster and felt herself pitched into the same icy cold as when she threw the petrol-filled milk carton at her father.' This is David Lagercrantz's third excursion into the world of Larsson's zany heroine, Lisbeth …
Comatose?
If I Die Before I Wake by Emily Koch Review 'My life as I knew it was stopped shortly after I turned twenty-seven.' Alex is in a coma as the result of a climbing accident. At least, that is what his family and doctors believe. Because Alex can hear every word they speak and …
Farewell to Barcelona
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translation by Lucia Graves 'Isaac sighed. “Alicia,” he said at last. “Welcome to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.” ' I [and I suspect many other readers too] have waited a long time for this book. Conceived sometime around 1998, the project Mr Zafon is pleased to …
Anaesthesia
The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry Occasionally, a walk through a bookshop will throw up unexpected delights. Browsing the new and bestseller shelves in my local shop recently, I was surprised to see a book entitled The Way of All Flesh. I immediately thought of Samuel Butler, and wondered why on earth his …
Witch Hunt
by Ian Rankin A Review 'No spies any more. Now there were only the technicians.' Witch Hunt is an early Rankin novel which features none of his now well-known characters. Published in 1993 under Rankin's pseudonym Jack Harvey, it is not exactly a spy thriller in the sense that heroes and villains are engaged in …
Computers Are Human Too!
Origin by Dan Brown A Review Dan Brown has established a very successful formula for his thrillers, entwining religious and scientific ideas with art and conspiracy theory. His latest, Origin, published in 2017, is no exception. It addresses two questions, posed by both science and religion for hundreds of years (in the case of religion, …
The Date
by Louise Jensen A Review 'Pain slices through my skull as I sit up. I raise my hand gingerly to the side of my head. A lump ..... nausea crashes over me in sickening waves and I have the sensation of falling. Quickly lowering my hands to steady myself, I see it. The blood.' Alison …
Serious Money
The King of Torts by John Grisham I enjoy going back to Grisham from time to time. You can always rely on him to produce a fast-paced thriller. Likewise - so it seems to me - you can rely on him trashing the American legal system and demonising a large percentage of its lawyers as …
