This is one of McEwan’s best books, one that should be read slowly to savour his exceptional writing. In 2014, an acclaimed poet reads a new poem dedicated to his wife on her birthday, at a dinner party in England. But the poem is never published and so is lost. Over the next 100 years, the world undergoes a collapse of civilization with cataclysmic climate change exacerbated by nuclear wars. So in 2119, an academic in a Humanities Department discovers an astonishing clue in surviving archives. Thus a literary thriller about life and love provides profound insight into human nature.
Category: thriller
Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil – V.E. Schwab
Ms. Schwab (author of the fantastic The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue) has created an epic story of three women vampires that unfolds over 500 years! Of course, there is graphic blood lust and killing, but also interesting group dynamics, learned restraint, and conflicted love. Thus there is both monstrosity and humanity; a haunting and worthwhile story about cruelty, grace, jealousy and yes, immortality. Finally, this story of three vampires in contemporary Boston evolves into a pursuit thriller. Truly, a must-read book that I could not put down, so highly recommended.
The Paris Express – Emma Donoghue
In 1895, the Paris Express train begins a 7-hour trip to Paris. Donoghue writes with impeccable detail about the operation of the train but also about the passengers in first- second- and third-class carriages separated by wealth and status. What if an anarchist with a bomb is one of the passengers? Is this train rushing to a catastrophe? So the story shifts from historical fiction to become a thriller. Thus, a story that is impossible to stop reading – highly recommended.
The Blue Hour – Paula Hawkins
By the acclaimed author of The Girl On The Train, this new psychological thriller about art has complex and often toxic relationships with a shifting female friendship confronting the power and entitlement of the patriarchy (aka the art establishment), with a web of lies and secrets and yes, infidelities. Key events occur on a Scottish island isolated from the mainland by the tide and severe weather. Suffice it to say that there is missing art and a missing person and much more. Can neediness by pathological? Surprises persist right to the end of the book which makes for a very entertaining read.
The God Of The Woods – Liz Moore
This is a superb thriller. In 1975, a teenager (Barbara) disappears from her Adirondack summer camp. Eerily, Barbara’s older brother vanished from the same camp in 1961. This is an extraordinary story of both investigations, and of course complicating secrets abound. The characters are richly described, both well-meaning (but flawed) people and some dastardly villains. Highly recommended – very entertaining.
The Keep – Jennifer Egan
An early book by Ms. Egan, first published in 2006. There are several story lines: restoration of a medieval castle has elements of a gothic thriller, and there is a writing program in a prison. Are these stories linked? What is based solely on imagination? The book just gets more and more engaging as the story progresses.
The Winter Wives – Linden MacIntyre
A superb relationship book: Allan and Byron have married the Winter sisters, Peggy and Annie, respectively. What is love and friendship in the face of manipulation? What is memory when confronted with dementia and suppressed recall? How much wilful disbelief accompanies work for someone who has criminal activities? This is a cracking good psychological thriller – highly recommended.
Mirrrorland – Carole Johnstone
A psychological thriller that reminds me of Gone Girl. Two estranged identical twin sisters are living with repressed memories that have been replaced by childhood imagination. There is a sinister gothic family home in Edinburgh, a missing person, and many devious plot twists driven in part by clues from a mysterious source. What is real and what is imagined? Overall, a deeply satisfying story.
State of Terror – Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny
This is a cracking good political thriller involving terrorist threats, combining the crime writing expertise of Louise Penny with the real-world political expertise of Hillary Clinton. The politics and drama of trying to prevent nuclear bomb explosions is portrayed brilliantly, with geopolitical actions in Frankfurt, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and in Washington DC. The book features strong feminist characters and the power of (female) friendships.
What David Read 