Book #29 Aliens

Aliens: Science Asks: Is There Anyone Out There? by Jim Al-Khalili
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

ARE WE ALONE?

Do you ever stare up into the night sky and wonder? If we are alone, well, it's a helluva waste of space... But what is the likelihood of we earthlings ever finding extra-terrestrial intelligence? The SETI organisation continues to search with ever more sophisticated means.

In Aliens: Science Asks: Is There Anyone Out There? nineteen contributors from the fields of astronomy and astrophysics give their opinions. Edited by Professor Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist and host of BBC Radio Four's The Life Scientific.

One of the really forward thinking astronomers is Sara Seager. She reviews what will be possible with the new James Webb Space Telescope and updates Drake's famous equation to give us a way of calculating the likelihood of alien life using some of the most recent advances in our understanding.

Our Galaxy is teeming with planets and there is compelling evidence that all stars have planetary systems. As many as one in ten stars like our Sun could have an approximately Earth-sized planet in a favourable orbit such that, as heated by the star, the planet's surface is not too hot, not too cold, but just right for life.

We do not understand how life originated on Earth and, whilst there is still no evidence that alien life exists - equally there is no evidence that it doesn't....

So, if you have ever looked up into the starry sky and wondered - Aliens is the perfect book for you.

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Book #28 When All Is Said

When All is Said by Anne Griffin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I did not want this to end. This heartwarming/heartbreaking story of 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. I saw so much of me in Maurice, or was that so much of Maurice in me. This is the debut novel of Anne Griffin - hard to believe - such perfect, polished prose - put me in mind of the writing of John Boyne, in a good way. So beautifully written that I found myself subconsciously reading the dialogue with an Irish accent.

Curmudgeonly, compassionate and engaging Maurice sits at the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town. He is alone, but perhaps not so, as Maurice is finally ready to tell his story. Over the course of the evening he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him (and here I have much empathy for anyone who appreciates the perfection of Midleton whiskey...). His story is full of unspoken joy and regret - a life so poignantly laid bare...

"I am here to remember - all that I have been and all that I will never be again..."

Maurice is a character who is trying to make amends and in so doing drew a silent sob from me and tear filled eyes, come the end.

When All Is Said is a remarkable book, a real page-turner and certainly one of my top reads of 2019.

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Book #27 Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THE GAME WAS ROUX'S IDEA.... this shotgun of a game. The latest tenant in the Airbnb house that was the bane of the cul-de-sac. A game that will ultimately shred the nerves as Amy's dark past is used to threaten her and her family. When it comes down to it Roux is a fearsome adversary who has done her homework on Amy. Amy who has inherited a substantial nest-egg. Roux wants it and will undermine Amy's resolve to get it. What the hell does she know that is so dreadful? Something that will shatter Amy's comfortable life with husband Davis, step-daughter Maddy and baby son Oliver. And interwoven into the plot a background of scuba diving that will come to the fore in this war of nerves. So many times I wanted to say to Amy "let Roux Publish and be damned!"

At every turn the tension is racked up. At every turn I thought there cannot be more and then, WHAM! Twists and turns galore. Nerve jarring, nail-biting tension. For a first novel Never Have I Ever is a peach. A slow starter that gathers roller-coaster pace and left me breathless come the final denouement ....

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Book #26 Miracle Creek

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It has taken me two weeks to read Miracle Creek. So much hype, so many five star reviews. My interest level was piqued and yet I was mildly disappointed. As a debut novel Miracle Creek is very well written but I found it rather depressing. A Korean family - Pak, Young and daughter Mary - immigrants to Virginia, USA. Pak is a certified Hyperbaric Technician, starts a business with such a chamber used to help autistic patients and those with other diseases. It is a recognised therapy. An unusual plot line that results in catastrophic consequences:

"MY HUSBAND ASKED ME TO LIE. Not a big lie. He probably didn't even consider it a lie..."

An explosion, two patients dead and a family torn apart by conspiracy and deception. A lengthy courtroom drama ensues and this is the meat of the story. A gladiatorial contest between prosecution and defence. The mother of one of the dead on trial for murder. And that lie that ensnares so many, so much soul searching amongst mothers with children undergoing similar treatment.

It is not a happy read but it does have redemptive qualities. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read Miracle Creek quicker. Still worthy of four stars though.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for my ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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Book #25 Eighteen Below

Eighteen Below by Stefan Ahnhem
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Scandinavian noir at its best, dark, complex, compelling, full of twists and turns and a breathtaking final third as Astrid Tuvesson, Fabian Risk and a team of detectives hunt for a serial killer (or is it killers?) involved in an identity theft plot with frightening levels of violence. A second thread sees horrendous videos posted on YouTube by a group of "happy slappers" in which Fisk's own son Theodor is implicated. This is book #3 in the Fabian Risk series, something I was unaware of when accepting this ebook from the publishers, Head of Zeus. A pity as there are clearly events in Risk's past that impact on his present demeanour. Nevertheless, Eighteen Below can be read as a standalone. It's a lengthy read - but well worth the time.

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Book #24 Come a Little Closer

Come a Little Closer by Karen Perry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A plot of few characters. Anton, Mark, Leah, Jake, Hilary and Greg. And not one of them to root for. I thoroughly enjoyed Karen Perry's Your Closest Friend. I cannot say the same for Come a Little Closer. It was far too slow for me.

Anton is released from prison where he has been incarcerated for nineteen years, for murdering his wife. He returns to the family home to find that his son Mark has found new tenants for the basement flat - Leah and Jake. Jake has a seven-year-old son, Matthew, who lives with his mother, Jenna. It's a tangled mess. Anton has always claimed that he did not murder Charlotte. Hilary and Greg are teachers who had occupied the apartment all those years ago, waiting for their house over the road to have renovations completed. Hilary it seems, was obsessed with Anton...

So, if Anton didn't - who did? With so few possible culprits I had it figured out all too soon, which made completing the book a chore; although the final fifteen minutes had some redeeming qualities of suspense. It just did not grip me...

My thanks to Penguin UK-Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my ARC.

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Book #23 Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface by Fiona Neill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my ARC of Beneath the Surface. Three stars for some laugh out loud moments (were they intentional I wonder) but otherwise I was not enthused with the Vermuydens - a dysfunctional family without many if any redeeming qualities. Apart perhaps from 10-year-old daughter Mia. (She puts me so much in mind of Karen from the TV series Outnumbered). Parents Patrick and Grace, whose marriage was boringly monotone, and elder daughter Lilly, a high achiever at school until the day she has a seizure in Mr. Galveston's class:

'"They say to try chest compressions" Freya shouts back. Mr Galveston breaks into the chorus of 'Staying Alive' by the Bee Gees...!' Visions of Vinnie Jones... There are several more very humorous moments in the book - just as well because there was little else to entertain me. Small things concerned me, like - Mia keeping an eel in a bucket, an eel that has no doubt made the journey from the Sargasso Sea only to be marooned in a muddy backwater in Cambridgeshire - where Mia finds it. This was not a rescue - it was unnecessary and cruel and bothered me the more I read about it.

I could drone on about un-achieving Patrick and paranoid Grace - but I won't. I am beginning to feel over-generous with three stars.....

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