The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Decker (translated by Sam Taylor)

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair starts one summer's evening in 1975 with a phone call from a witness to the police- a young girl has just been sighted, running into the woods pursued by a man. She is never seen alive again.

Marcus Goldman is a successful writer, the new kid on the literary block basking in the success of his first novel. He is America's hottest young thing. But now he's suffering from crippling writer's block. Unsure whether or not he can continue to be a writer and desperate for a solution, he gets in touch with his mentor, ex professor and friend Harry Quebert for the first time since his success. Harry invites him to his beach side house in Somerset, New Hampshire. It is here, on his self-induced writers' retreat that Marcus learns that HQ, retired academic and successful novelist, at the age of 36 had a relationship with a 15 year old girl.

Putting this out of his mind, Marcus tries to write. He returns to New York. He's at his wit's end when Harry calls, distraught; Nola Kellergan is dead. Her skeletal remains are excavated from Harry Quebert's garden, along with a leather bag containing the handwritten manuscript of Harry's most successful novel, The Origin of Evil. It's swiftly pulled from stores and libraries as America reels from the revelation that this giant of American literature, this lauded book is inspired by a love affair between a 36 year old man and a 15 year old girl. Things are not looking good for Harry.

Marcus is not convinced. Determined to clear the name of his only friend, he sets out to investigate the murder. It's gripping, page turning stuff; we watch as Marcus feverishly goes over the evidence, talks to witnesses and townspeople, goes off-piste in the houses of suspicious millionaires, trying to understand what happened that night in 1975. Alienating a whole town in the process, Marcus uncovers some shoddy police work, statements that don't add up, people that did inexplicable or odd things that night 36 years ago- every answer leads to 3 more questions and the more he pulls at the thread, the more secrets come tumbling out into the open.

There's no denying that this is a compelling detective investigation. There are red herrings around every corner, and more twists and cliffhangers than is probably healthy for a reader. The small-town tight-knit community comes alive effortlessly; the supporting cast of this novel contributes so much to the novel. There are comedically toxic mothers, useless husbands, pushy parents and deformed chauffeurs, reclusive millionaires, beauty queens and corrupt cops. Somerset is a town that nobody ever seems to leave and so everyone knows everyone else's business. Or so they think. The Edward Hopper painting on the cover sums it up beautifully. On the outside it's all apple pie, community barbecues and picket fences, but every resident hides a secret, a part of the puzzle that on its own means nothing. I was really impressed with Decker's ability to conjure up this inward-looking small town- it all felt so real; its normalcy was so convincing that its seedy secrets became all the more shocking.

It's also a book about writing. Each chapter starts with a piece of writing wisdom from Harry; the master imparting the rules of the craft. Only there aren't any rules, not really. Marcus' investigation fuels his next novel The Harry Quebert Affair and then The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair. The book in the reader's hands contains excerpts from its main character's book of the same name, and excerpts from the fictional The Origin of Evil. Marcus wrestles with his creative demons throughout, dedicated to truth but not sure of his ending. It also lambastes the vultures and schemers of the publishing and legal worlds, those that want scandals and monstrous exposes whatever the cost. Truth or fiction doesn't matter- as long as it makes money.

There's an abundance of themes explored in the novel; love, lust and obsession, fame and infamy, murder, madness, religious mania, theft and duplicity. Marcus delves into the past and learns more about the people around him. As the characters' lives are filled in, they become easier to understand, but harder to trust. Every character is a mystery- what seems concrete and believable can crumble in a moment. Essentially the book is about the extent to which appearances can be deceiving. A perfect beach-side town can prove to be a sordid hotbed of lust, lies and bitterness; Nola Kellergan is not what she appears. Neither, apparently is Harry.

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be an engrossing, intelligent thriller, I did find the final 100 pages a bit of a test. The tension has been piled on for 500 odd pages, it feels like it's coming to a natural and satisfying end much earlier than makes sense...but then Decker undertakes a narrative key-change and the plot twists itself into knots, lobs in the kitchen sink and a handful of odds and ends and depends, just that little bit too much, on the reader's willingness to totally suspend disbelief. I don't think that's enough to condemn it though. Some readers might enjoy the novel's bonus-round, but I found I lost patience a little. I would definitely recommend this to thriller and murder mystery fans- I imagine it would make an exceptionally good plane-ride book- you need some serious chunks of time at your disposal to get properly immersed in this novel if you're going to de-tangle it properly.

Stormbreaker, by Anthony Horowitz

I'm attempting to read at least the first volume of as many major Middle Grade and Young Adult series as I can manage, just to get the gist of what each series is about. First up is Stormbreaker, the first instalment of the Alex Rider series.

The book begins with super rich kid Alex Rider (14) learning of the death of his uncle and adopted parent, Ian Rider. The official story is that Ian (not Uncle Ian, never, ever Uncle Ian) died from being in a car accident where he was not wearing a seat-belt, which Alex and his American housekeeper (turned permanent babysitter) find strange, Ian being a seat-belt obsessive. He doesn't seem enormously cut up about it, if I'm honest...At the funeral of his uncle, Alex is introduced to the boring and mostly described as 'grey' Alan Blunt, who appears to be devoid of most personality traits- he identifies himself as a colleague of Ian's from 'the bank'. Suspicions aroused, Alex cuts school and decides to investigate- learning in a single morning that Ian Ryder was murdered, 'the bank' is actually an elaborate ruse for an MI6 spy operation and they want Alex to pick up where his uncle left off.

Alex is informed by his new bosses that successful Lebanese businessman, Herod Sayle, has built a revolutionary supercomputer and intends to donate one to every school in England. Suspicious of his over-philanthropic too-good-to-be-true vibes, they want Alex to dig around and find out his motives. Armed with a couple of gadgets and his wits, Alex sets off to Stormbreaker HQ in the guise of a computer genius competition winner, Needless to say, things get a little bit perilous for Alex down in Cornwall and he has to use every trick in his 14-year-old spy child book to survive his trip.

Alex Rider is basically little boy Bond. The villains (even individually) are very reminiscent of various Bond villains and the evil scheme that underpins the whole plot is dastardly to the Blofeld degree. There's tanks of dangerous sea creatures, hidden floor panels and underground lairs hidden in disused mines, helicopter fights and attempted murder by quad bike. There are gadgets and witty retorts and some spectacular escapes and explosions. The plot is absolutely ludicrous, but it's so fun to read that it never really matters. 

Despite its frequent deferences and cap-doffing to the Bond franchise, it never really feels like a rip off. Horowitz is evidently a huge Bond fan and a masterful storyteller, and his love and enthusiasm for the books is evident in every scene. Stormbreaker feels like it could be a Bond film, rather than a sequence of already-seen-before Bond moments strung together and repackaged. The plot is original enough to escape being called a reproduction, but the spirit of Bond (the action and the silliness) runs through it. It's pacey, exciting and filled with suspense and action, so it's hard to argue with.

Tiger Wars, by Steve Backshall

Saker, a highly trained and dangerous teen warrior is on the run from the only life he has ever known. When an attack of conscience during a 'job' causes him to question the motives of the mysterious "Clan" to which he has always belonged, Saker must flee for his life. Riddled with amnesia and pursued by mercenaries and assassins, hunting dogs and other Clan members, they will not stop until he is caught- and his former friends are every bit as trained and as deadly as he is.

After accidentally kidnapping Sinter, the feisty daughter of a tea plantation owner, Saker's memory begins to return in lumps and patches. As he shares his history and his reasons with Sinter, her hostility and haughtiness begins to melt away. Aligning herself to his cause, their shared mission takes them both from humid India to the magnificent Himalayas and the highest settlements of Tibet. Using all the survival skills, knowledge and bravery they possess between them, Saker and Sinter must risk everything to save Asia's most fearsome and majestic (not to mention unfortunately valuable) of predators- the Tiger.

Tiger Wars is the sort of book that combines pretty complex emotional themes seamlessly with moral themes, all wrapped up in action, suspense and interesting characters. The plot is full of peril, danger, terrible decisions and breathtaking escapes but also makes a huge effort to celebrate the power of friendship, the strength of overcoming adversity and bravery. It also has a really vital conservation message that focuses on the protection of the last of the world's wild tiger population from the illegal Asian medicine trade. So all in all it has a lot to say, a really engaging voice with which to say it.

Firstly, I loved the setting of this novel. It's an arm-chair tour of some of the world's most hostile but beautiful territories. Saker and Sinter's flight takes them through dense forests, dusty cities and impassable mountains into some of the most inhospitable and isolated areas of the world. The reader learns a little of the culture of these places and the challenges that their inhabitants face. The unusually exotic locations make a really welcome change to the Victorian London or the English Secondary School setting that feels so prominent in Middle Grade fiction. Reading it, I felt I had been somewhere new.

Another of the book's strengths was the detailed and intricate characterisation of the two main characters. To begin with they are thrown together by circumstance and bad luck, nobody is particularly happy and both want to scarper as soon as possible- but a mutual respect and understanding soon develops. Eventually, Saker and Sinter prove to be a formidable and unbreakable team- each bringing their own skills and unwavering loyalty and determination to the duo. Both are displaced and alone; Sinter is fleeing an arranged marriage and a future of unfulfillment and servitude and Saker has known nothing but life in the Clan, which until recently seemed fun but now is filled with deadly enemies.

One of the most appealing aspects of the book is the sheer enthusiasm of the author. Steve Backshall's love for nature, for the environment and for the wilderness is infectious. What's more he knows his stuff. Backshall skillfully sprinkles the story with facts and information about survival skills, ecology, geography, Asian spirituality, geology and natural history, so I think this book will also appeal to fans of non-fiction- there's plenty of quiz friendly trivia in here. These additions are genuinely interesting, they work within the context of the narrative and add weight and authenticity to the book. It also proves you're never too old to learn new things!

In conclusion, I was immensely impressed with this book and look forward to the rest of the series. It has good characters who share a strong, genuine bond, loads of action and danger and a really pacy story. It's an inspiring tale about doing the right thing even when it seems impossible and about caring for the natural world, as well as the transformative power of friendship. Top stuff.

Any Human Heart, by William Boyd

Where do you start with a book this good? I could not drink this in fast enough, a whirlwind of history, art, literature, love, life, chances and embarrassment. An incredible biography of a fictional man. Absolutely stunning. The novel takes the form of diary entries, sometimes philosophical or nihilistic, sometimes blunt and upfront. Logan is a man of many moods and opinions and this comes across in his journals. Sometimes dated, sometimes not, depending on where he is in his life. An omniscient and anonymous narrator links the parts together as best he can, where Logan has been inattentive in his continuity.

The intimate Diaries of Logan Mountstuart start with Logan as a child in Uruguay, the son of a Beef Products manufacturer. His family move to Birmingham and we witness his East Anglian school days with his friends Peter Scabius and Benjamin Leeping, their bets and wagers designed to spice up their dull academic lives. They will appear regularly through the rest of it. Then to his unremarkable time studying History at Oxford, where Logan falls in love with the mysterious Land Fothergill and decides that his future lies in writing.

He writes. A biography of Shelley and a sexy novel, some translations of obscure French poets. He drifts from literature to journalism, to the art world, to literary criticism, enjoying a modest amount of success at each. The art scenes of London, Paris, New York. Battles of wits with Virginia Woolf, meetings with Joyce and Picasso in Paris, then a spell as a civil War reporter in Spain and acquaintance with Hemmingway (getting three Miro canvasses out of it too). Barbados, Ian Fleming murder and the Duke of Windsor. The War lived out in a Swiss prison. Logan spends so long waiting for his life to begin, waiting for it to get more exciting, more important. It's not until he gets to the latter stages of it that he realises it was important. He knew real love once, and losing it does not take away that memory.

The Jazz era, the War years, the post war, then the psychedelic 60s all come alive, bringing with them their important cultural who's-who that wend their way into Logan's life. All depicted with such conviction, historical accuracy and believability, that at times it's incredibly easy to forget that Logan Mountstuart wasn't a real person too. "Surely not" you think as you read this, "He must have existed and merely been forgotten by history". Logan as a character is a dream. At times arrogant, at others crippled with self-doubt and embarrassment. His respectable exterior and modest professional success disguising his slides into alcoholism and adultery and his grim bouts of depression. Every year ends in a roundup of friends lost, resolutions to drink less and finish that novel he's planning.

Boyd skilfully (sooooo skilfully it's almost painful) weaves the eras of Logan's life together, creating a person that is flawed, but always always interesting. He drifts apart from his family, rarely sees his children, or any of his ex-wives. His solitary life gets a bit grim, at one point he goes from a respected professor living with a staff of four and a villa in Nigeria to existing in a basement flat living on dog food and flogging political newspapers to students. But his fortunes prove that poverty, good luck and greatness can happen to anyone. Even the formerly grand Mrs. Mountstuart descends from wealthy widow to dishevelled landlady on the few occasions that her son visits her. We see that poverty has claimed her too.

I can't possibly even begin to describe the scope of this novel. It's an absolute gift. Absorbing, intimate, funny, tragic, life affirming- the whole human condition lived out in one remarkable life. The prose was absolutely joyous and the tableaux of domestic family life, scandal, political upheaval and personal disaster that it painted were beyond immersive.