Lydia loves her job as a teacher in an inner city college in Rotterdam, until she is threatened by a student with a knife in front of the rest of her class. The student is suspended, but he still pops up everywhere, threatening her at every available opportunity. She seeks solace from her husband, daughter and twin sister, Elisa, but she still feels very unsettled. Then Elisa’s story begins and it skips forward a few days, explaining that Lydia was shot dead. The obvious suspect is the student with the knife, but he has an alibi, and anyway, where would he have got the gun? As the story unravels, it is clear that there is much more to Lydia’s life than perhaps even she realised. The list of suspects begins to grow and Elisa, determined to find out who murdered her twin, puts herself in danger more than once.

Holland, Simone van der Vlugt

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I, Alex Cross, is another crime thriller from James Patterson, featuring Detective Alex Cross whom we were first introduced to in ‘Along Came A Spider’ back in the early 90′s.

In this novel which was first published last year, a member of Alex’s family is murdered and the case catapults Alex into a very dangerous world. A world of power and evil which throws up a shocking revelation.

As Alex is called away from his birthday celebrations with his family and given the tragic news that his niece has been found brutally murdered, he vows to hunt down the killer.

James Patterson

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After reading some good reviews of Lisa Gardner’s novels a few months ago I decided it was about time I acquainted myself with some of her work. I read ‘The Killing Hour‘ whilst away on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it. It left me keen to read more books by this author, hence me getting my hands on a copy of ‘Gone‘.

I was really surprised on reading the blurb on the cover, to discover that the same characters which featured in ‘The Killing Hour‘ were also featuring in this book, as I had thought Lisa Gardner wrote stand alone novels. Although the characters feature in ‘The Killing Hour‘, you do not need to have read that book to enjoy or understand this one.

Lisa Gardner

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A huge explosion rocks the city of Seville, destroying an apartment block and a nursery school, in a residential area of the city. Detective Inspector Javier Falcon is charged with determining the cause of the explosion but when it comes to light that there was a mosque in the basement of the building, he learns that the anti terrorism police are running a parallel investigation. Predictably, the two investigations come into conflict with the specialist forces refusing to show everything they know with their civil counterparts. Were the men killed in the mosque caught by their own bomb, or are they victims of a hate campaign by people hoping to fuel the post 9/11 tension between Spaniards and North Africans in the city?

Robert Wilson, Spain

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Review of books Lashkar, Salim Must Die and Blowback by Mukul Deva

There are certain gaps in the generous Indian outflow of fiction – the detective novel for example and, the thriller. The reason for the latter has been a little difficult to comprehend considering the fact that in India we certainly live in interesting times. And, after the serial explosions in various Indian cities and 26/11, life may not be as taken for granted again.

Now, however, the vacuum in the thriller field has been filled very effectively. Mukul Deva’s three novels, Lashkar and its sequels Salim Must Die and Blowback step into a territory that has become very familiar to everyone, whether in India or around the world: the clear and present danger of cross border terrorism.

India, Mukul Deva, terrorism

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Non Omnis Moriar, which translates as “I shall not altogether die.” These words are at the centre of this thriller written by Peter James.

A young boy watches his mother die in a truly horrific accident. Drunk students mess around with a Ouija board in a dark cellar. A sadistic man dies in agony.

Frannie couldn’t be happier when a chance meeting at a train station leads to romance. The fact that her new relationship seems marred by tragedies, she dismissess as coincidence. Feeling happy and in love, Frannie is somewhat blinded to the often gruesome accidents that are happening around her. Eventually however, she is forced to face the reality that these tragedies appear to be linked and that she herself is somehow connected.

Peter James

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It’s rare that a book leaves me with a nasty taste in my mouth, but Bunker 13 is a thoroughly unpleasant piece of work. Thank God it’s fiction.

Minty Mehta – or MM as he’s referred to through the book – is a disgraced army-cadet turned investigative journalist who has managed to get himself embedded with the Indian military. The novel starts with him at the parachute training centre and then follows him on missions with the Indian Special Forces engaged in conflict in Kashmir on the disputed border with Pakistan. He takes a lot of drugs, gets involved in smuggling operations, sets different regiments off against one another brokers deals with foreign ‘organisations’ for guns, drugs and secrets, and isn’t averse to killing people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. His apparent mission is to kill plenty of ‘mossies’ (Muslims to you and me) and to take as many hard drugs as possible. In between he has strangely unfulfilling sexual encounters with various women.

Aniruddha Bahal, India

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One night stand…
One dead girl…
One bad day…

The above words on the front cover of this thriller by Simon Kernick were enough to make me pick up this book and take a closer look. It certainly sounded promising enough, so I began to read. Tyler wakes up one morning and finds himself in a strange room on a strange bed. He hasn’t a clue where he is or how he got there. The only thing that isn’t strange to him is his girlfriend lying next to him. The only problem is, the bed is covered in blood and his girlfriend is dead. What is confusing, as well as sickening, is his discovery that she has been decapitated and her head is missing.

Simon Kernick

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The 5^th Horseman, written by James Patterson (with Maxine Paetro) is the fifth in his series of ‘women’s murder club’ novels. Each book has a numerical theme in the title (1st to Die, 2nd Degree, etc), so the title of this one – ‘The 5th Horseman‘ – follows the same theme. I have to admit though, that I was not absolutely sure of the relevance of the title until right at the end of the book when all becomes clear! The same main characters appear in all five books, but even though there are some references to earlier storylines, you do not need to have read the previous books in order to enjoy and follow ‘The 5th Horseman‘.

James Patterson, Maxine Paetro

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I have to admit that as a reader I tend to stick to my favourite authors, but every so often I do like to try and read someone new. Mandasue Heller was a new author for me and ‘The Club‘ is the first of her books that I have read although in total she has written at least six! She has also been likened to Martina Cole so if you like her books it is quite probable that you will enjoy ‘The Club‘.

‘The Club‘ is set in Manchester and the story revolves around a nightclub called Zenith.

Manchester, Mandasue Heller

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A glance to her left was all it took. If she had kept her eyes straight ahead, or looked to the right instead, she might never have become involved. She might have been spared…

There was a dead man in the street.

On a cold January morning in a small Sussex village, a man goes on a killing spree, shooting anyone in his path, as well as entering houses and buildings shooting anyone he happens to come across before eventually taking his own life, or at least that’s what everyone thinks.

Julia Trent however, knows otherwise. Having survived despite being shot at and badly injured, she knows there was a second man involved. A second man who fled the scene.

Tom Bale

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