Wednesday 24 January 2018

Review: The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths

The Blood Card (Stephens & Mephisto Mystery, #3)The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths




A pleasant read for all who enjoy a bit of a puzzle, and a murder mystery set in the 1950s in the U.K.
This novel is one of a series and whilst you can read each book on its own it is more fun to follow the main characters from the start, in the first novel, when they all worked together in a special secret WWII unit.

The story revolves round Mephisto's magical work - this time he is actually appearing on the new venue of T.V. - and his sidekick, Stephens, the police officer. We begin with a murder and end with magical tricks. Great fun. A nice light read for entertainment.



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Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled_Hosseini

The Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One can see why this book became a best seller. The setting and the two main characters certainly would pull in most readers who are not aware of Afghanistan's history or culture. After 9/11 it would be a book to read to try and understand why.

It is a very personal story and very human. Who doesn't try to wipe out an error and all reminders of it? It's a novel which makes one well aware of how necessary the truth is to avoid further disasters.

Written in good plain English with a careful selection of words and some choice pieces of description which make things like the kite running vividly 3D this is a novel to savour. If I find the ending a trifle too pat it is my personal opinion. I dislike too much sentiment and find American novels often err that way.

This is a novel which will become a classic and rightly so because of its subject matter. It's not a difficult read and is a book which should be on all readers' to read lists. Read it, understand a little more about our difficult world, and enjoy the story.



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