From The Bookshelf – Page 32

Ash – I finished it (and it nearly finished me)

Scroll down my pages and you will see that I was reading James Herbert’s Ash. Having been a James Herbert fan since my teenage years I had held back reading Ash for many, many months – mainly because Mr Herbert sadly passed away not long after publication and I knew that this was the last of his books I would ever get to read.

The book started with great potential and I really liked the plot threads that seemed to be developing. The central character had featured in two previous novels and I always enjoy when a familiar face is re-introduced. I made a point to re-read Haunted (where the titular David Ash was first introduced) before turning to Ash so I would be fresh on the character’s back story.

Sadly about half way through this book it all started to go wrong. I appreciate that horror stories can be prone to dramatic excesses for the sake of a plot device, however, this was off the wall. Translucent children, spawn of Hitler, a secret royal baby, incestuous millionaire siblings – any one of these would defy credibility in most books – to chuck them all in to a single novel makes a farce. Oh, forgot to mention Lord Lucan alive and well and hiding in a remote Scottish castle.

I wondered if Mr Herbert’s editor was just so relieved to finally get a manuscript (there had been a significant gap between Ash and the previous novel) that the thought of further delays while edits were made was just too horrific to contemplate?

I started Ash in April, this review will go live in June. It did not take me 3 months to get to the end of a 400 page book, it has taken me 3 months to research lots of new words that I could use to explain to friends just how terrible Ash is. It really is awful. Abysmal. Dire. This could well be the worst book I have read since High School (20+ years ago).

I started blogging so that I could share news of books I enjoyed – I had not expected that I would also use these pages as a vehicle to tell people to avoid a story by one of my favourite authors.

Grab this book – put it somewhere safe, ideally out of the reach of others. If you want to read a James Herbert novel then I recommend The Magic Cottage or The Rats.

Any of these are better than Ash. — Any of these are recommended before reading *Ash*.

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April 7

Ash – from the pending pile…

After clearing the Agatha Christie collection I was ready to embrace a new author – it was Summer 1990, I was 15 and I was ready to read a HORROR story. Stephen King seemed the obvious choice but one of the benefits of working in a bookshop was that people are always keen to discuss books they enjoy. Sadly I cannot remember the customer who put me onto James Herbert’s books but I still thank them to this day. The Rats/Lair/Domain trilogy remains a favourite.

Sadly Mr Herbert passed away last year just after the publication of Ash. I bought the book on the week of release (aided by a crazy 20p Kindle offer) and have waited for months to read it. It had been several years since I read a James Herbert novel, this was to be the last one: I couldn’t rush it.

Today my resolve finally broke. I wanted a new book, plenty to choose from but nothing was taking my fancy. Click through the Kindle library….ASH. Bingo!

Not a full write up today as I am still enjoying the read – but I have to say the wait has been worth it. Spooky Scottish castle, strange and unexplained occurrences and a recurring hero in the titular David Ash. Loving the anticipation of what is to come, more to follow.

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March 27

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

While I am aware that my ‘to read’ pile is extensive (happy days) I would like to assure you that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has not been on hold since 1926 waiting for me to find time to get around to it. Sometimes when I finish reading a book I just want the comfort of an old favourite before I start something new. Part of this is driven by the sheer volume of books I get through – I read quickly, I skim read and I recognise that I sometimes miss things. By reading some books more than once I will pick up on things I may have missed (or forgotten) from my first read through.

The books of Agatha Christie were my transitional reads from what I perceived to be ‘kids books’ towards stories written for adults. I was twice blessed in this regard – my Aunt had an extensive collection of Dame Agatha’s works which I was able to plunder when we visited. Then, when I was 14, I was lucky enough to gain weekend/summer work in my local bookshop – say ‘Hello’ to the Staff Discount and goodbye to my wages.

For 12 months I could not get enough of Poirot and Marple, always feeling a little disappointed if the story I chose was Tommy and Tuppence or (worse) had no recognisable characters. Then suddenly they were all gone and I had read the entire Agatha Christie back catalogue. Next up was Stephen King but that is for another day…

25 years later I have found that I can return to the world of Marple and Poirot and rediscover the magic that Ms Christie wove. In the case of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd I remember the shock I experienced when I first read the story and how my jaw dropped when the murderer was revealed. For that reason alone it remains one of my favourite Agatha Christie books.

On a second read through I can now appreciate the story in a new light. I know how it ends so I can spot the clues that are left for me, yet I could not remember the circumstances of the murder or the supporting characters so it was almost like reading a new book. Almost.

To those who may not have read this book I would implore you to do so. For everyone else, grab a copy and retreat into familiar comfort of Poirot at his finest.

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March 24

Natural Causes – James Oswald

Inspector McLean - Book 1 — First Inspector McLean Novel

One of the main reasons I set about putting together my site was to force myself to read new books and discover new authors. Not necessarily new authors who were publishing their debut novels, but authors that are new to me.

Leaving the office last week I saw a large poster advertising James Oswald’s Inspector McLean series. There appeared to be 3 books in the collection and when the poster name checked Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride and Peter James I was sold.

Two days later I can honestly say that I had a lot of fun with Natural Causes and it will not be long before I seek out the next book. I found Oswald’s style very easy to read, the characters were engaging and memorable and the story took plenty of twists and turns to hold my attention.

The story unfolded well covering a spate of burglaries in the well to do areas of Edinburgh. There were MANY nasty murders amongst the ranks of high profile city gentlemen. Then throw in an unusual discovery of a young girl’s body who had been murdered some 60 years previously. In the midst of the carnage was Inspector McLean, dealing with the chaos of multiple murders, hostile suspects, equally hostile colleagues and his own personal tragedy when there is a death in his family.

Oswald builds a supporting cast who are immediately likeable and put me in mind of the team ‘assembled’ by Stuart MacBride in the Logan McRae series (helped in no small part by the fact Oswald has named one of the team Stuart MacBride). MacBride himself is named and thanked in the author acknowledgements.

Woven through the story are hints of former misfortunes which befell McLean and also the promise of more pain to follow. The author nicely setting up future books, clearly he has a plan as to where he wants to take his characters.

On finishing Natural Causes I fully understood the reason why the advert I saw named Peter James. There is an other-worldly twist to this tale which may not please all the readers, however, fans of Mr James and of John Connelly’s Charlie Parker books should be seeking out Natural Causes to add to their library.

No qualms in advising that you – Grab This Book.

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