Monday, 11 October 2010 13:58

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Room
By Emma Donoghue
Picador

The world of a very small child is often limited to the pair of arms that happen to encircle that child the most, the voice that is most familiar, and the surroundings that gradually widen to take in more and more of the larger universe. By the time a child is five, you expect that world to have expanded considerably and the people in it to have multiplied rapidly.
Jack has just turned five, and his world is the room of the title. Room has Rug and Wardrobe and Bed and Table. Room also has Ma, who loves him fiercely. And that is all Jack needs, or so he believes. Loosely inspired by the horrific Fritzl case in Austria, Room is a compelling and most memorable read.
The subject matter is too awful to contemplate, but don't let that put you off. Donoghue manages to create an amazingly uplifting novel. Jack and Ma will stay with you long after you finish the last page.
The room that is their world might be tiny, but Room is a huge book.

Friday, 24 September 2010 10:09

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Storm Prey
By John Sandford
Simon & Schuster
The snow-filled landscape on the cover of John Sandford's latest Lucas Davenport instalment feels very out of place as we enjoy our annual back-to-school sunshine, but – as always – it's only a matter of pages before Sandford transports his reader to wintry, icy Minneapolis.
Special investigator Davenport is on a new case and, not for the first time, this one is personal. Over at the hospital where his surgeon wife Weather is preparing to separate conjoined twins, a daring raid on the pharmacy results in a huge haul for a gang of misfits, but also leads to the death of one of the hospital workers.
Running scared, the criminals decide their only chance of getting away with it is to get rid of all remaining witnesses – including Weather. As Davenport steps up the security detail on his wife, he doubles his efforts to identify the gang behind the raid, with mounting certainty that there is a hospital staff member involved.