Thriller – Page 26 – My Good Reads

‘All The Rage’ – Courtney Summers

Romy Grey is used to people giving her funny looks and ostracising her. In part, it’s because her father was renowned for his drunken behaviour but it’s also because she accused the sheriff’s son of rape.

Since her claims were discredited because she had been drinking, wore a short skirt and fancied him (sensing a pattern here!), Romy has got used to spending time alone. Her friends have cut her off, and she is taunted mercilessly as nobody is prepared to believe the town’s golden boy might not be quite so golden as they want him to be.

Romy is a prickly character – perhaps understandably – and I always had the feeling that those close to her were simply waiting for an explosion. It’s almost as if they are waiting for her to accept what happened to her so they can start the process of supporting her.

After the school’s annual lakeside party, where it’s a ritual for students to drink illegally, Romy is found on a road some miles from town, her clothes torn and the words ‘Rape Me’ written on her stomach. She shuts down and hides from what she thinks has happened. Then she learns that a girl who used to be a close friend has also gone missing.

I was already angry at the attitudes shown by so many of the characters in this novel. What follows made me even more angry.

This was a powerful story that explored some of the issues around rape. The jumping time frame did make it hard to follow at times, but the end gave some hint that there might be some form of happy ending for Romy. I didn’t find this quite as powerful as ‘Asking For It’ by Louise O’Neill, but it’s certainly a valuable story.

‘I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent 1)’ – Barry Lyga

Jasper is seventeen years old, and son of one of America’s most infamous serial killers. From an early age Jasper remembers Dear Old Dad instructing him in how to kill, how to manipulate those around you and how to cover your tracks. Even though his father is in prison, Jasper is surrounded by reminders of him. When a body is found, Jasper is convinced there is another serial killer on the loose. What bothers him more is the fact that he might be more like his dad than he thinks.

This novel explores the ideas of nature vs nurture and fate vs free will in a compelling way. At times I found Jasper a bit irritating, but who knows how such an upbringing would affect someone. My only other gripe was that some of the activities that Jasper gets involved in would, in reality, get him arrested. Sheriff Tanner – as the cop who finally captured Jasper’s dad – has something of a soft spot for this young man, but I wasn’t completely convinced that he would have been given quite so much leeway.

Those minor gripes aside, from the time the first body is found and Jasper is convinced another killer has come to town I was desperate to find out what was going on. It’s compelling reading, and focuses more on the psychology of a killer than the gory details (thankfully).

The scene where Jasper visits his dad in prison will probably give me nightmares. It reminded me of the scene in Silence of the Lambs where Clarisse goes to talk to Hannibal Lecter. I don’t think I’m exaggerating to say this was genius, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy (which I’ve heard good things about).

‘The Teacher’ – Katarina Diamond

The novel opens explosively with the suicide of the Headteacher of a Devon boys’ school after he receives a mysterious package, which clearly holds some meaning for him. There are more deaths, increasingly bizarre, and the reader is given clues that they are linked…somehow.

There are clear warnings about this novel not being for the faint-hearted, but I wasn’t prepared for the level of sadistic violence that was exhibited. The violence makes sense, eventually, but it is pervasive and it seemed that everyone had some deep secret or an event that had tarnished them in some way. Even people who hadn’t shown any inclination for violence are revealed to be capable of extreme cruelty.

Putting the graphic violence aside, I did struggle a little initially with the ever-changing points of view and shifting time-frames. Ultimately, this also makes sense but there are moments early on when it feels like it intrudes on the events. I was also surprised by the ending-it just felt a stretch too far, given what we know about the characters involved.

The thing that saved the novel for me was the relationship between DS Miles and DS Grey, and their resolve to uncover the truth rather than accepting the easy answer. Both traumatised by their own events, they quickly establish a working relationship that is entertaining to see. The sequencing of events and gradual revelation of details does lead to a pretty explosive climax (though you will probably guess the killer’s identity long before it’s revealed).

Not one of my favourite reads of the year so far, but it is a fairly decent example of its genre (just not really my thing).

‘Girls on Fire’ – Robin Wasserman

I received this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have to say thank you for being given the opportunity to read such an intriguing book.

‘Girls on Fire’ focuses on the obsessive friendship between Lacey and Hannah. The novel begins with the discovery of a boy’s body in the woods. The rumour is that he killed himself, but it’s soon clear that there’s more to this case than we’re told at first.

Hannah has always been a good student. Quiet and unassuming. When she is befriended by Lacey, who has more than her fair share of problems, Hannah finds a new confidence. Together, the pair are trouble.

Initially, the style is a little disjointed. We shift viewpoints and none of the main characters seem particularly likeable. Sticking with it – and as we learn more about the situation of these teenagers it is easier to feel the allure – the skill of the plotting becomes evident. Washerman perfectly captures the obsessive nature of a lot of teenage relationships, and I loved the fact that it was set in the 1990s so I completely got a lot of the references.

By the end I have to say I wasn’t sure who to see as a victim. There were many. This was a tense and claustrophobic read that won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it is certainly a novel to notice.

‘Black-Eyed Susans’ – Julia Heaberlin

Tessa Cartwright has always been regarded as one of the lucky ones. At sixteen she was found, barely alive, in a grave with three other unidentified bodies under a blanket of flowers. Her testimony helped put her killer behind bars, and, since then, Tessa has been pursued by the press.

As an adult, Tessa has, in some ways, put the past behind her. She has a teenage daughter and has a career as an artist. Then she is left a gift – flowers, of the type that were found in her grave, planted under her window. Tessa becomes convinced, with a short time before her convicted killer’s execution, that the wrong man has been imprisoned and that the real perpetrator of these horrific crimes remains at large.

I was really excited about this story, and was looking forward to seeing how events panned out.

The writer alternates the narrative point of view between Tessa at sixteen and Tessa in the present. This did make it quite hard work to feel how the story was moving forward at times. I never quite got the feeling of understanding the character as I would have liked, though I think this is part of the fashion for unreliable narrators. I also felt that there were one or two characters/incidents that seem to have been included simply to make the end viable.

By the end of the novel some of the details had been hinted at enough to stop it feeling completely satisfying. There were also some details about Tessa’s best friend of the time that I felt could have warranted further exploration. All in all, this promised a lot and had some good elements but it just fell short for me.

‘Pet Sematary’ – Stephen King

Described by King himself as his scariest book, I did most of my reading of this book during daylight hours. I know my limits!

Horror is not a genre that I’m particularly comfortable with, for obvious reasons. I’m not keen on the slasher-style violence that seemed to mark my teen experiences of horror movies (Freddie Krueger still creeps me out), but I find myself completely sucked into King’s novels. He seems to tap into our greatest fears and voice what we never dare to. For these reasons I have found the few books of his that I have read compelling.

‘Pet Sematary’ focuses on Doctor Louis Creed, his wife and two children and what happens when they move into their beautiful new home in rural Maine. The woods behind their home harbour a terrifying secret, and power that you cannot imagine.

King tells us virtually straight away what is going to happen. He drops not very subtle hints about things that will turn out to be of utmost importance. This might suggest that there are no surprises, but that is definitely not the case. As we wait for what we know is coming, the tension is masterfully controlled. The horror comes from the contrast of the innocent and the corrupted, and the sense of inevitability that weighs heavily as you turn every page.

By the end I was desperate for things to end, just not quite as they did. I think I need to go and re-read something very different to just shake off that uneasy feeling I currently have (and I’ll not go into the woods behind my house today!)

‘The Trouble With Goats and Sheep’ – Joanna Cannon

Throughout this novel there are references to religion and how beliefs can shape our behaviour. The central idea of people being divided into goats and sheep, and the idea that anyone is in a position to decide who is who, was fascinating. Hearing some of the characters espouse their theories reveals much about them, and encourages us to consider our own response to the events and characters described.

‘The Trouble With Goats and Sheep’ is a debut novel that is set in the summer of 1976. Ten year olds Grace and Tilly are curious about the world around them, and their curiosity is piqued when one of the neighbours goes missing. They are determined to be the ones to solve the mystery of what happened to Mrs Creasy, and so begins one of the best books I’ve read in a while.

This is not a book where much actually happens. We follow Grace on her investigation, and I loved her innocence as she observes the events happening around her. Seen through this child’s eyes, some of the absurdities of adult life are all too clearly highlighted.

Focusing on a fairly small cast of characters who live on The Avenue, Cannon slowly reveals all manner of hidden secrets. Cleverly interspersing past information with Grace’s investigations we slowly piece together some of the events that are alluded to throughout the novel, which all appear to play their part in the disappearance of Mrs Creasy.

Learning the hidden details of these characters’ lives was unsettling on more than one occasion. The Boo Radley of the novel – Walter Bishop – is a character that I felt deeply about. Though the setting is unashamedly of its time, the questions we are forced to ask about ourselves and our behaviour remain relevant for all time.

‘Hold Still’ – Tim Adler

I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first thing I have to make clear is that this novel is very different in subject matter from the kind of stuff I’d normally read. This might explain some of my issues with the novel.

An excellent beginning. We see Kate and her husband in their hotel room in Albania, where they have travelled for a relative’s funeral, and within minutes he is dead – having fallen off the balcony. The easiest explanation for this is that Paul was depressed because of his failing business, and this is nothing more than a suicide. Unfortunately, Kate is convinced she saw someone else on the balcony at the time and that someone was watching them. She also is curious about the message Paul received just beforehand where he is pictured in a hotel with a younger woman. So begins her quest to find out what really happened.

Before we know it, Kate is drawn into the seedy underbelly of life. She learns things about her husband’s involvement in things that she would probably rather not have known about: drugs, bribery, corruption, human trafficking and Albanian gangs.

Though the story was well-plotted and kept you interested, I spent most of the book feeling quite detached from events. Kate simply wasn’t a character that I cared that much about, so I didn’t quite feel the emotional investment in her situation that I think was needed for this book to be totally successful.

‘Birdy’ – Jess Valance

When Frances Bird is asked to show the new girl, Alberta, around school it marks the end of her isolation. The two girls strike up a somewhat obsessive relationship; with each of them recognising in the other something that they, personally, are lacking.

As time goes on, Frances learns things about her new friend that start to paint a very different picture.

Narrated from Frances’s viewpoint, this novel really captures the awkwardness that can be felt by people who are seen as a little bit different from their peers – for whatever reason. We are never quite sure of exactly what is happening in certain situations as Frances herself is not the most reliable of narrators.

Without giving away any details, the end of the novel blew me away. You sensed something big was about to happen, but the extent of the betrayal only becomes clear as you finish the book. A quick read, but highly recommended.

‘There Will Be Lies’ – Nick Lake

The cover for this novel, which I picked up because it’s on the CILIP Carnegie 2016 Long-list, gives little away. It suggests the importance of truth to the story, and the images used are somewhat confusing. My response to the cover pretty much sums up my response to this novel.

Shelby is nearly eighteen, but is treated in many ways like a much smaller child by her mother. The reasons for this become clear later.

As I progressed through the story, I found myself wanting to know more about the predicament Shelby finds herself in. The main thread of the story is intertwined with unusual elements that draw on Native American stories/ideas. These were interesting, though I found it disconcerting initially as it tended to distract from the developments within the key story.

For me the main theme of the novel was about the lies people tell, and how we reconcile ourselves to their consequences. An unusual coming-of-age story.