Just a quickie this week – packing to do, holiday to look forward to. Then off to the sunshine for two whole weeks. If weather forecasts are to be believed, possibly a little too much sunshine; the temperature where we're going is up in the 'Oooh, what a scorcher!' bracket and then some. But after two days of rain and a summer that seems to promise for a couple of days then retreat again, I think I'll be able to bear it.
Meanwhile... I seem to have discovered domestic noir in a big way over the past few weeks; seven out of the last ten books I've read fall firmly into this burgeoning sub-genre, and I'm liking what I'm seeing. For me, the best books are about people who leap off the page as real, living, bleeding entities, and when you add in the tension and bad-guy factor that goes with the noir part, it makes for the kind of book I want to read at a single sitting.
Hard to say which of the five was best of the bunch, because they're all different. I mentioned four of the seven a couple of weeks ago, in a slightly different context: each a great read in its own way. Since then I've added Clare Mackintosh's terrific follow-up to her gripping bestseller I Let You Go. This one is called I See You, and couldn't be more different. Family life is very much at the centre of the story, and there's a generous helping of well-researched police work (Clare used to be a police officer, so she knows about these things) and a glorious ending which turns the whole thing on its head.
Then came Obsession, a debut by Amanda Robson. This is a tangled web of two families, or two couples and their kids, who are inevitably collateral damage in this kind of book. There's a character you love to hate at first, but I warmed to her when a little more truth emerged; a lot of did-she-didn't-she as the story unfolds; and an ending that's so sad I almost forgot to be shocked by it, though shocking it certainly is.
Finally, there was Where She Went, by B E Jones. I went into this one with a big grin on my face because it's set in an area of Wales I know and love – and I was still grinning at the end, albeit a little more wryly by then. Just when you think you've encountered all the twists, all the differences, all the variations on the family-based psychological thriller theme, along comes an author with something new to offer, even in a sub-genre with relatively narrow parameters. I'm saying no more about this one. I think it comes out on top, at least on my list, and if you only read one psychological thriller this month, or even this year, I strongly recommend you make it this one.
Now I have to go and pack a few books. Maybe a spare t-shirt or two as well, and I'll try not to forget my toothbrush. But the books are what really matter.
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