Commuter reads: What Remains – Tim Weaver

Another gritty crime thriller novel, with just the right amount of mystery and suspense; the kind of novel I love reading. Some of the details are gruesome and bloody, particularly the brutal murder of ten-year-old twins, April and Abigail, whose unjust murders at the hands of a psychopath is what drives Detective Healy throughout the story.

Again as part of Weaver’s David Raker thriller series, Raker and Hea
ly form the perfect partnership equilibrium. Both wanting the same thing, with the same drive but Raker with slightly more rational and logically reason ways of achieving it. Although, I did find Healy’s fall from grace in this book quite upsetting, particularly the way he was driving himself away from his wife and sons.

However, having read Never Coming Back previously, I have to say What Remains was slightly underwhelming. It had all the great tropes of a thriller no doubt, maybe my expectations after Never Coming Back were too high. But although it kept me reading, I wasn’t as absorbed in the story as I was with Never Coming Back or many other crime thrillers I’ve read, such as Mo Hayder. I felt Weaver’s descriptions and writing style was trying to hard this time: resonating images such as red tail-lights in the snowy traffic with looking like blood. No. If you’re a crime thriller writer, don’t try to be poetic if it isn’t your style; stick to what you are good at.

Having said that, this is well worth the read and the twists and turns at the end were suitably unpredictable if slightly understandable. If you’ve like Weaver before or are looking for a new thriller series, I would definitely recommend this one.

Commuter reads: Saturday – Ian McEwan

I chose to read this because I read Atonement and loved it, so thought I would branch out and try some of his other works.

I found the themes of the book, set after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, to be very current still and the internal monologue of the protagonist, Henry Perowne, provides a fascinating mix of the global and the everyday mundane life of a middle-aged surgeon on his day off.

This intriguing mix and meandering of his thoughts managed to keep me reading although at the same time, the technique made for some very long-winded sentences and wordy, descriptive passages that I didn’t exactly enjoy on the packed 8am commuter bus.

The story hooks you in from the start with Henry witnessing a plane on fire over London, presumably heading to Heathrow. His frustration is mirrored by the reader’s as he waits for the news story to appear on the morning bulletin to find out what happened. It is almost disappointing when he, and the reader, learn that the crash landing was only a cargo plane making an emergency landing and that the outcome was very mundane. Henry is clearly anticipating another terrorist attack, as is the reader.

The book continues in this way, with many ups and downs, seemingly leading to something exciting before it fizzles to nothing. However, the last 80 pages are like a shock of cold water as suddenly everything kicks off and the events of the day and the lives of every character culminate in one long scene. The uncertainty, threat of violence, presence of old age, terminal illness, disease and new life all come together to create a metaphorically cliché mix of themes and ideas.

While the whole book tries to act as a poetic microcosm and can get confusing, the finale really is enjoyable and I would recommend this book purely for those last 80 pages.

Commuter reads: Hanging Hill – Mo Hayder

There’s nothing I love more than a gritty crime thriller, particularly if it’s by Mo Hayder (who I think is a genius in this genre).

Hanging Hill is one of her stand-alone thrillers, not one of the Jack Caffery thriller series. Although I like the Caffery series, I really enjoyed having a story that stood by itself and didn’t come with characters whose history is recorded in previous books.

I think my enjoyment of this book was increased by how vividly I imagined it. The small cottage that Sally and her daughter, Millie, live in reminded me exactly of a small country cottage my family owns, in the middle  of nowhere with winding roads, it even has a shed in the corner of the garden like the shed Sally and Steve work out of when they are disposing of the body.

Having somewhere real to image the story taking place added to the slightly unnerving and unsettling feeling that is always so well-crafted in Hayder’s stories.

Predictably, I also loved Zoe Benedict. Strong-headed, independent, no nonsense, no emotions, that’s always the kind of female protagonist I love to see and identify with. Although, also slightly predictably, she has to be given her own sort of happy ending, not a happily ever after, but a satisfactory one for those readers who love to find some love in any story they read.

My favourite part of the book is by far the ending. Hayder leaves you completely hanging in the balance, with the possibility of something awful happening and the killer is revealed but not caught. In 2012, it caused many fans to beg Hayder for a sequel. But her response was

“The ending is like that because I’m evil and because I believe YOUR imagination is better able to fill in the spaces than mine is!”
[Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMoHayder/posts/445109978858193]

That’s what I really enjoy, the book clearly provoked my imagination and leaving the ending open is a perfect way to continue that. I would much rather an open, cliff-hanger shock ending than a neatly tied up happy ending, am I the only one who feels that way?