What I've been reading

Deal Breaker
by Harlan Coben

"Investigator and sports agent Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big-time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron's prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour."

This was a good read, taking a fraction of the time that it takes me to read more 'worthy' novels, like those of John Buchan. But does that mean it's pulp fiction, not to be taken seriously? I'm not sure. Anyway, it's a straightforward murder mystery, the plot is complex enough to be interesting, but I can still understand the 'reveal' when it comes. Good for reading on the sofa while Mr A watches yet another John Wayne classic, Rio Bravo this time.



The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

"1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. The book's narrator is Death itself, regaling us with a remarkable tale of book burnings, treachery and theft."

I can't deny that this book ends badly in two ways: 1) very nearly everybody tragically dies, and b) after nearly everybody has died, the author rather unnecessarily rushes through to the end. But up to that point, it is an engrossing story narrated in an original and interesting way.