With thanks to the publisher for the copy via NetGalley.
]]>When he is asked to try and find out what happened to Mette Misvær twenty-five years earlier he uses the case to try and get back on his feet, both emotionally and financially. The local police tolerate him and there is definitely bad feeling with at least one of them.
The case is all about uncovering secrets, and there are plenty of them. Some are seedy and Varg struggles to hide his disapproval. Some are devastating and cause more suffering when he forces memories to be discussed.
I loved Varg’s character. He was a morally strong, often cynical person who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind even if it meant getting hurt. All sides of society were present, the ones who were down on their luck and wanted to stay invisible and the ones who had no regard for anybody else. And all felt very believable.
I hope the earlier books will all be translated, at the moment there are three that have been. I would like to read them in order and get to know more about Varg.
]]>Girls on Fire is a slightly different read for me and one that I would struggle to select a genre for. It should just be labeled Read Me.
At the beginning a teenage boy takes his own life. When the school he attended goes into mourning two teenage girls Lacey and Hannah (Dex) become friends. It's a strange and slightly unsettling friendship. One of them is 'damaged', has an obsession with Kurt Cobain and gets no family support. The other is a nobody, never one of the popular kids and often ridiculed by Nikki who is another key character in the novel.
It is very disturbing. Each chapter tell either Lacey's or Hannah's version of events and how they are handling the situation that they are in. I couldn't decide who was the better friend to Hannah out of Lacey or Nikki, both of them told lies and there was betrayal and manipulation everywhere.
Religion and Satanism also have a role to play, some of the storyline has references to both and show how belief in either had an affect on all concerned.
It's a great book, very clever, very unsettling. It made me feel very relieved that I'm no longer a teenager and that when I was I never met anybody like the characters that feature.
With thanks to the publisher for the copy via NetGalley.
]]>With thanks to the publisher for the copy received for review.
]]>With thanks to the publisher for the copy received, the e book version also arrived on my kindle this morning.
]]>With thanks to the publisher for the copy received for review.
]]>With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.
]]>With thanks to Real Reader and the publisher Oneworld Publications for the copy received.
]]>With thanks to Titan Books for the copy received.
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It's a least thirty years since I read any type of comic strip fiction, it took me a while to settle back into it but once I did it was great fun. I had never heard of the Modesty Blaise books even though they were published over a period of around forty years. They did feel a little dated with the style of writing and the illustrations but it didn't stop me enjoying the four different stories that are in this collection.
Ripper Jax, the first story in this collection was my favourite one, it was a good introduction to Modesty and Willie. There wasn't really any mention of how they met or previous missions so I just read each of the stories as stand alone. The main point that came across in each story was that every member of the team were loyal to their friends and devoted to each other. If they owed a favour or somebody was in trouble they would try their hardest to rectify the situation.
I imagine that the series has a big following for those that love this type of fiction, for me it was a complete change. Not something I would read regularly but one that I would dip into every now and again.