The Bay At Midnight by Diane Chamberlain

I think Diane Chamberlain is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I read The Lost Daughter previously, then downloaded The Bay At Midnight without realising it was by the same author.
The story starts with Julie Bauer receiving an unexpected visitor who brings information that takes her back to her childhood, and the night her older sister Isabel was murdered - the memories of which still haunt her, and which shaped the person she has become.
The story flashes back and forth between that summer, spent at Julie's family's cottage by the sea, and the present day, as questions arise over what actually happened that night, and who was responsible. Julie then sets off on a journey to discover the truth, much to the unease of Lucy, while keeping it from her mother, who never speaks of that horrific night on the bay. It also visits Julie's mother's (Maria's) own childhood spent in the very same summer house, unveiling some very surprising relationships and secrets. The way the story is narrated by the three main female characters; Julie, Lucy and Maria, is very effective, as you get to see the same events from different perspectives.
There are so many twists and turns in this book, I couldn't put it down. The characters are so real, you get caught up in every sub-plot, and then everything is richly woven together in a very satisfying, albeit surprising conclusion. I particularly enjoyed the way Chamberlain portrayed the different family relationships, and the true emotions bubbling beneath the surface.
A brilliant read - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lasting Damage by Sophie Hannah

I haven't posted for a while, but I do have an excuse; I've been reading, a LOT. Lasting Damage is the most recent book I've finished and I have to say, it's the worst book I've read in a while. I felt quite irritated that I'd invested so much time in it by the time I came to the end.
Don't get me wrong, the premise had me gripped from the start:
Connie Bowskill is looking at a virtual tour on a property website in the middle of the night. When it pans round to the lounge, she sees the body of a woman, face down and surrounded by blood, on the cream carpet. But, when she wakes up her husband Kit to take a look, everything appears as it should; immaculate carpet, no dead woman.
I was gripped - how could this resolve itself? I'm not going to give too much away here, but for me, the plot relied too heavily on coincidences to be believable. And I just didn't understand the main motive - there are surely far easier ways to achieve what they set out to do?
By about halfway I realised that the main problem was that I just didn't care about the characters at all. I just wanted to see it through to the end because surely, there was a huge twist coming up that was going to knock me for six. There is, kind of, but to me it just didn't make any sense.
Sophie Hannah has, however, crafted the character of Connie very well. You feel her descent into paranoia and madness as thought it's actually you feeling those emotions. Is she blurring fantasy and reality, or is it all a conspiracy? She makes several silly decisions which make you want to shake her, but at the same time you understand what's driving her to them.
Needless to say, although well-crafted and well written, I found the plot laughable and I don't think I'll be reading any books by this author again.

Room by Emma Donoghue

"Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don’t have the key."

From the moment I started reading, I couldn't put this down - Emma Donoghue weaves a wonderful tale that fills you with uneasiness from the start and doesn't let up. The story is told through the eyes of five year old Jack, a heart-meltingly charming little boy who knows nothing of the real world. He lives in a tiny room with his Ma, and believes that 'Room' is all there is. The author does a magnificent job of keeping Jack's voice consistent throughout, and unveiling the truth of their situation piece by piece. Although you know there is something not quite right from the first couple of pages, you soon begin to realise there's something very wrong from some of Jack's observations and descriptions.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away - needless to say, Jack is soon faced with information that changes everything, and what follows is a gripping, nail-biting, horrific chapter or two that had me feeling sick, anxious and desperate to discover the consequences of 'Plan B'.

The second half of the book does feel slightly rushed, but I think that actually sets the tone perfectly for the circus of activity and life-altering changes that Ma and Jack have to deal with.  Jack's transition is handled very well and my heart went out to him with each paragraph. It definitely gives you a new perspective on a horrific scenario that unfortunately we've all become familiar with over recent years.

This haunting, mesmerising story stayed with me long after I'd finished the last page. Often, I find that the books that 'everyone is reading' turn out to be a let down, but in this case the hype is well-deserved.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

This is the first Jo Nesbo book I've read, after hearing many rave reviews about his work. It's also the first book I read in kindle format, so a new experience all round. I didn't know what I was expecting from the title, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nesbo has been compared to Stieg Larsson, perhaps largely due to the genre and home country they share, but I actually preferred this book to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy.
The story starts with a mother leaving her young child in a car in freezing weather while she enjoys a final tryst with her lover. There's a snowman in the yard and, as the title suggests, this comes to have more significance as the tale unfolds.
Fastforward to the present day, and the first snowfall of the season and a young woman, married with children, has gone missing without a trace, apart from a series of wet footprints on the stairs. There's a snowman on the front lawn...
Soon, after several similar cases crop up, Detective Harry Hole realises there's a disturbingly intelligent, sick serial killer on the loose - The Snowman - and it's his job to put a stop to his hideous hobby. Although initially a tale of two missing women, the story develops rapidly as you turn each page and it becomes so much more than you're originally lead to believe.
From then on, you're flung back and forth between the past and present, and introduced to a plethora of suspicious characters along the way as this genius, complex story takes shape. It's not hard to guess who the murderer is, indeed I don't think it's supposed to be. But the brilliance lies in the way the author manages to keep you on the edge of your seat despite this fact, with so many twists and turns your head is spinning by the end of it.
I don't want to go into detail for fear of giving too much away but if you enjoy a good crime thriller, put this one at the top of your 'to buy' list.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

It's been a while since I last blogged - mainly due to a hectic run up to Christmas, a bout of Christmas illness, and a marvellous gift that has taken up all my attention; the kindle! Instead of blogging about every book I've been reading, I've been spending hours geekily categorising, downloading and organising my fantastic new toy, so much so that the battery is about to die a week after I received it instead of the usual month!
Anyway, more about that later. Before I became obsessed with the kindle, I was reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I'm a huge Picoult fan with My Sister's Keeper sitting firmly in my top ten, simply for one of the most amazing plot twists and jaw-dropping moments ever. However, this tale of an autistic boy, Jacob, accused of murder, just didn't do it for me. Although Picoult paints a very vivid picture of living with an autistic child - one that encompasses everything from the sadness, frustration, moments of fleeting joy and, lastly, hope, that comes with it, I didn't get caught up in the story.
Perhaps there were too many character perspectives in this one, but I found myself putting it down for days on end - returning to it seemed a chore, and I'm not usually like that with books. The tale is a clever one - after all, Jacob is so literal that his mother, Emma, can't put her hand on her heart and say that he's innocent - and there's a nice little twist at the end, although the reader is given enough information at the beginning to work this out much earlier. For me, it's not one of her best.