Tuesday 24 August 2021

 

Pilgrims, by Matthew Kneale.

 

  


       
In thirteenth century England, it was common for groups of people to make journeys to various holy places in expiation of their sins – which were usually decided by their local clergy, as was the punishment, length of journey and number of prayers to be said at each shrine, depending on the gravity of the sin.  Indeed, Sir John of Baydon has been forced  by the church authorities to walk all the way to Rome to pray for forgiveness for punching the local abbot, whom he swore was trying to steal land from him. 

            With wife Margaret reluctantly in tow, he joins a diverse and motley band who also have Rome as a destination:  there is Tom son of Tom, also known as simple Tom;  a kindly and truly simple young bondsman who is persuaded by his crafty family to become a pilgrim after his cat dies and he can’t stop dreaming about him (Tom’s absence will free up space in their hovel);  a prosperous farmer and his wife who pretend poverty;  a rich widow and her sickly little son who may die if they don’t reach Rome to pray to St. Peter at his mighty church for the boy’s salvation.  Her avaricious sister comes along ‘to help’, and as their journey progresses, more supplicants join their little band. After enduring a nightmare trip across the channel, they all feel that God has punished them enough:  surely their way to the Holy City will now be straightforward and uneventful.  (I’m very tempted to say ‘yeah, right! here.  Get thee behind me, Satan!)

            It is impossible for us who now live 800 years later to imagine the awful privation and physical sacrifices made by ordinary people, rich and poor, who were so sure that, were they able to reach their destination, their sins would disappear;  from Tom son of Tom hoping that his dear cat Sammo would get to heaven instead of plaguing his dreams, to religious zealot Matilda who is sure that when she gets to Rome, Jesus (with whom she converses all the time even though no-one else can see him) will give her a wonderful gift.  Because he said so!  And don’t forget those holier-than-thou women, mother and daughter, who are so pious they may be Jews in disguise:  vipers in the nest!

            Matthew Kneale makes a fine job of recreating the teeming times of the age;  the terrible superstitions (especially regarding Jews) that were wielded by clever, unscrupulous men in the name of religion to keep the populace in thrall;  and the irrefutable fact that regardless, human nature always prevails:  the Seven Deadly Sins will exist as long as does the human race.  We haven’t changed at all!  FIVE STARS.     

Thursday 12 August 2021

 

Falling, by T.J. Newman.

 


            Thriller writers, this is how it’s done:  a by-the-numbers, textbook example of suspense and impending doom on every page of T. J. Newman’s debut novel ‘ Falling’ – and she knows what’s she’s writing about:  she spent ten years of her life flying the friendly skies as a flight attendant;  no-one knows better than she how staff and passengers manage long-haul flights – or how they react to danger.

            Captain Bill Hoffman has been unexpectedly rostered on at the last minute to take a flight from Los Angeles to New York, leaving him very unpopular with his wife Carrie;  it’s their 10 year old son Scott’s first little-league game of the season and Bill promised he’d be there. To add to her displeasure their internet connection is down, and baby Elise is trying to walk – everywhere.  It’s not a good day!  Especially when he promised to be at home.  They part on very cool terms, just as the internet serviceman turns up;  well, thinks Bill, that’s something positive.

            Except that it isn’t.  For the internet repairman turns out to be a kidnapper, holding Bill’s little family hostage at gunpoint, with the object of forcing Bill to crash the plane with upwards of 150 souls on board:  if he refuses, his family will die – and he will be able to witness that unspeakable horror on his family’s newly restored internet link.

            T.J. Newman is skilful enough to have a compelling reason for the kidnapper to be taking such terrible steps to draw the world’s attention to his dreadful act:  internet repairman Sam is from Kurdistan, a country that the American President (unnamed) promised the world to if they would help his troops fight in Syria, only to leave the Kurds in the lurch by eventually withdrawing all American troops, and making all Kurds a defenceless target of chemical warfare, which killed hundreds of thousands of innocent villagers and townspeople – including Sam’s entire family.  And a prime example of Sam’s murderous determination is his Plan B if Bill refuses to crash the plane and kill everyone on board:  there is a traitor amongst them – but who?  Who will release poison gas first so that all passengers will die the horrendous death that Sam’s family suffered?  Well, no spoilers this end.

            This is a very impressive effort from T. J. Newman, not least because she has vast experience of the story she tells.  It’s a bit rough around the edges but what an amazing journey we travel with her.  Having said that, I reckon there’s a lot to be said for train travel.  The world should slow down so that that form of travel becomes profitable once more.  FIVE STARS.

           

Tuesday 3 August 2021

 

The Perfect Lie, by Jo Spain.

 

   


         This is fast-food writing:  tasty but vitamin-free – fills the gap but has very little nutritional value.

            Having said that, Jo Spain’s latest thriller is well-plotted, well-researched and in this mad day and age, almost credible.  Her characters, while two-dimensional, still manage to carry the story along at a very fast pace, and I have to say that, clever as I think I am at figuring out WhoDunnit,  I never saw this particular ending coming.  If only we were able to travel again, this would be the perfect Airport and Beach read.  How the world has changed!

            And Irish Erin Kennedy’s life changed in the space of hours, from waking in the morning with her African American Detective Husband, preparing to go to her job as an editor for a Publishing firm, to the disintegration of her world when her husband is visited by his Police colleagues – who are there to arrest him for corruption and, instead of leaving with them, he flings himself to his death from their fourth-floor balcony.

It goes without saying that Erin’s husband had many secrets, and Erin had no idea of any of them;  she can’t believe that she could have been so woefully ignorant of his problems, but when someone doesn’t want their loved one to know things, they get very good at the cover-up, especially if one is a Detective.  Still, Erin owes it to herself and his family to try to expose the truth, whatever that may be;  she just hopes she will be brave enough to accept it, especially if it destroys completely her vision of the man she thought she knew and loved.

Until she finds herself on trial for murder –the murder of her husband, a crime too ludicrous even to contemplate, but Erin’s life has taken such a bizarre turn since her husband’s death that this is God just playing with her again:  having acknowledged that, can God stop faffing around and get her acquitted from this murder charge that will have her in prison for the rest of her life.  Please God.

Ms Spain tells a parallel story of minor characters in flashbacks that link up cleverly with the main protagonists by the time everything is done and dusted, but I wonder if she just got sick of her story (and/or Erin!) and couldn’t be bothered fleshing things out.  What a shame.  THREE STARS.