Thursday 7 August 2014

The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)

Having reviewed The Cuckoo Calling, I thought The Silkworm review should follow closely behind, much as how quickly I read both books. Having only taken the former away with me on holiday, I enjoyed it to such an extent that I purchased The Silkworm minutes after turning the final page. But whether I’m as quick to buy the third instalment by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling remains to be seen.

While the development of the world in which private investigator Cormoran Strike operates remains interesting – full of untrustworthy clients and both underworld and celebrity contacts – The Silkworm is significantly weaker in plot and ideas. Despite what you would assume to be Rowling’s great knowledge of the publishing industry, which provides the setting, the story seems forced in a way The Cuckoo Calling wasn’t.

With the reader having become used to having regular access to Strike’s thoughts throughout, as the novel nears its conclusion it’s noticeable how more distant we get from the main protagonist, a device that ensures the reader is left in the dark to increase suspense but comes across as disappointingly simplistic.

The continuing emergence of assistant Robin, and in particular her fascination with Strike and his life, remains rewarding, and their relationship becomes one of the prime reasons for persisting. But the plot splutters rather than fizzles, with few threads to hand it all together. Unfortunately it all combines to make The Silkworm unsatisfying.

So, rating time:

The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere) - 5/10

Next up: Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang (Racing Post Books)

Saturday 2 August 2014

The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)

News that JK Rowling is planning a spree of the crime novels she is writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith hardly comes as a surprise given their popularity and the general critical praise (if not acclaim) they’ve received.

She’s currently writing the third in the series, and by happy coincidence I recently read the first two: The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm, the first of which I’ll deal with here.

I really enjoyed it. If there is a tone of surprise associated with that statement, I suppose there shouldn’t be, because whatever you think of Rowling’s Harry Potter books, for which she's best known, it’s undeniable that she knows her to create a world and characters with whom the reader can identify.

Cormoran Strike has the requisite odd name and compelling behaviour that such private investigators demand, and his relationship with his new assistant is a highlight, as is the enigmatic plotting that is in contrast to the generally gentle pace at which the tale unfolds. Although I consider myself a veteran of this genre, to the extent that I tend to gain more fun in working how the author will get to the big reveal rather than having to work out ‘whodunnit’, there were enough twists and turns to sow a satisfying amount of confusion.

All told, The Cuckoo Calling is an enjoyably easy and rewarding read. If that sounds lukewarm in its praise it’s because the novel is solid rather than spectacular, a criticism that has long been applied to Rowling’s writing. Many argue that the Harry Potter series didn’t do enough to stretch its readers, regardless of their age, but perhaps this view doesn’t credit enough qualities such as a sense of place and character that connect with readers in a way that weightier novels often struggle to.

So, rating time:


The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere) - 7/10

Next up: The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)

Sunday 15 June 2014

Danish Dynamite, by Rob Smyth, Lars Eriksen and Mike Gibbons (Bloomsbury)

What do you get when you put together my favourite footballer when I was a young 'un, one of the most iconic players for the team I support and one of the most entertaining international sides of all time? The answer is Danish Dynamite and, thankfully, the authors haven't made a 'rigtig Jesper Olsen' of what's an incredible story.

The said Olsen was my favourite player growing up, an elegant, tricky winger who, prior to arriving at Manchester United, dazzled for Dutch side Ajax and at international level only to, spoiler alert, make a terrible mistake that cost Denmark so fatally at the 1986 World Cup.

While the story of that tournament (plus the preceding Euro '84 and subsequent Euro '92) will be relatively well known to most of that era's football lovers, who embraced the stylish football played by the Danes, the book's strength is the context in which the tale is told. How Denmark climbed from European qualification also-rans to global tournament favourites, from one of the last countries to cast aside amateurism to one that contributed players to the world's greatest and most successful clubs - and how they reacted to success and failure.

Most of all, though, it's the characters who best connect with the reader, from German-born manager Sepp Piontek to the extravagant talent of Preben Elkjaer to the unsung Jens Jorn Bertelson, and it's through their eyes that Denmark are transformed from a team who treated matches as an excuse for a good time to putting on such a good time that even Diego Maradona called them "amazing".

If I had one significant criticism it's that several passages of the book contain some awkward phrasing that reads as though it's a translation, which may well have been the case. But that's more than made up for by the detail gained through dozens of in-depth interviews, some great anecdotal behind-the-scenes irreverence and simple, effective storytelling that should enhance its appeal beyond mere football hipsters.

So, rating time:

Danish Dynamite, by Rob Smyth, Lars Eriksen and Mike Gibbons (Bloomsbury) - 7/10

Next up: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Acting (But Were Afraid To Ask, Dear), by West End Producer (Nick Hern Books)

* Here's a preview of this review, where excitement got the better of me.

Thursday 29 May 2014

Why the Danes were dynamite

It’s been a while since I was so excited about the arrival of a book. But look. Just look at the cover of Danish Dynamite, by Rob Smyth, Lars Eriksen and Mike Gibbons (Russell Enterprises).

One of the most ‘cult’ teams of any era, the Denmark international side of the 1980s was above all an exciting, attack-minded team that thrilled those watching, particularly if you, like me, were a football-mad youngster becoming increasingly seduced by the sport.

Within our family, my general memory, particularly about my childhood, is famed for its terribleness. But there are some things that remain vivid and one is when, perhaps when I was maybe 15/16, the football team I played for decided to get a new kit. And for the first time, after a period of sustained success, the players themselves were allowed to have some input.

My favourite player for a long time was Manchester United’s Jesper Olsen, a slight, quicksilver Danish winger who shined on the international stage but largely failed to deliver on English shores (for any Charlton fans reading, he was the Dennis Rommedahl of his day). But when he sparkled, his effortless balance allowing him to evade the flailing limbs trying in vain to impede his progress, it was a sight to behold (check out this, or this).

It wasn’t only me obsessed with the Danes. Even those with no interest in fashion (me again!) recognised that they wore arguably the greatest kits football had ever seen, the traditional colours of red and white taken to an entirely new level. So when we were given the choice, our group of 20-odd teenagers unhesitatingly selected a kit similar to the Danes’.

There were issues, of course. International and professional football teams largely have dedicated staff to wash their kit; the equivalent for boys’ teams was their mums, who were usually harassed, short of time and resenting it was their turn in the rota. As a result, it wasn’t long before the red and white of the tops washed into one another and produced a new colour altogether…


That none of us were concerned about the fetching shade of pink we ended up sporting tells its own story. Such was the esteem in which Danish Dynamite were held, we were so cool that that even opposing players would tell us during games that they were jealous of our strip.

Just look at that book cover again. I can’t wait…
  • This, published by the Guardian, is a terrific read about the Danish Dynamite team of the mid-1980s.

Sunday 25 May 2014

Fevre Dream, by George RR Martin (Gollancz)

This is my first George RR Martin review but by no means the first of his novels that I've read – yes, I'm a big fan of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but we'll come back to that another time.

Fevre Dream came into my possession via the Wench, who was given it as a present by the Friend of the Wench in recognition of her love (more of an obsession) of the Twilight series. It came with a message along the lines that 'this is a real vampire book', and I can't really disagree.

Published a decade before A Game of Thrones, Fevre Dream provides an early showcase of Martin's ability to create a believable world in which fantastic events occur. There is a pervading sense of secrecy and suspicion, and that the tale takes place in and around the Mississippi River rather than a 'fantasy' universe creates a mood where everyone and everything should be distrusted.

In steamship captain Abner Marsh we have a lead character who ignores his better instincts for too long – and then, when he finally puts things together, comes to regret doing so as he joins a mission that grows ever more dangerous and encounters foes he is unable to overcome.

With its parallels between vampires and slavery – the vampires are trying to ‘free’ themselves from their addiction to blood thirst and hunting humans – Fevre Dream combines an exploration of the long passed way of steamboat life with a riveting reinterpretation of vampire lore, not to mention plenty of thrills and disturbing scenes. Indeed, many of the latter come close to horror, a genre of which I’m not a huge fan, so it’s testament to how enjoyable I found Fevre Dream that this was never an issue.

So, rating time:

Fevre Dream, by George RR Martin (Gollancz) - 7/10

Next up: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Acting (But Were Afraid To Ask, Dear), by West End Producer (Nick Hern Books)


  • Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating.
  • Sunday 18 May 2014

    Bring Me Sunshine, by Charlie Connelly (Little, Brown)

    If for nothing else than the fact that you can guarantee a reference to Charlton Athletic in every book, Charlie Connelly is one of my favourite authors.

    In Bring Me Sunshine, a self-proclaimed "windswept, rain-soaked, sun-kissed, snow-capped guide to our weather", he excels himself on this front by bringing up the mighty Addicks on the very first page - but there is so much more to enjoy in this study of our relationship with our atmospheric surroundings and climate.

    Indeed, it's more of a study of the study of the weather conducted by so many famous and not so famous people throughout history, which has enabled us to have a modern-day understanding that enables us to predict and forecast the weather not only for our convenience but, as Connelly shows and it's all too easy to forget, to save lives.

    So we learn about Robert FitzRoy and Francis Beaufort and not only their respective efforts to devise a scale for winds and father the weather forecast, but also disagreements with Charles Darwin on evolution and battles with depression. But the pages of Bring Me Sunshine also contain tales of the crackpots and the charlatans, those convinced that a volley of cannon into the clouds would produce a downpour and those simply intent on convincing desperate communities to part with their money in search of rain for their crops.

    Fascinating though the topics are, it could make for (if you'll forgive the pun) a dry read. So we're grateful for the frequent wry asides and jokes that ensure a book that is as entertaining as it is engrossing.

    I would say that, of course. Full disclosure: I know Charlie quite well, and not only once helped edit and lay-out one of his earlier books (about Charlton, obviously) but I also acted as photographer for his brilliant Stamping Grounds, in which I also feature. Buy a copy here!

    That said, I like to think that my critical faculties aren't influenced by such things as friendship. Indeed, friends of mine within the local amateur dramatic society of which the Wench is a member still regale each other with the story of the time that, when asked what I thought of a particular performance, I tactlessly responded, entirely without humour, by saying it was "the worst thing I had ever seen. Ever.".

    I digress. You often hear authors encouraged to 'write in their own voice' and this is an attribute Connelly has in spades. When he finds something he finds interesting or inspiring, so does the reader, and this ensures you are prepared to follow the map that Connelly has laid out. And if you want to find out what the proper name for the smell of rain is, look no further.

    In many ways a companion piece to Connelly's hugely successful and thoroughly recommended Attention All Shipping (the ‘shipping forecast book’), Bring Me Sunshine is a book to offer you warmth in the winter and to make you shiver on the sunniest days. I liked it. What's more, there's even an extended second Charlton reference in a later chapter - he just can't help himself.

    So, rating time:

    Bring Me Sunshine, by Charlie Connelly (Little, Brown) - 8/10

    Next up: Fevre Dream, by George RR Martin (Gollancz)


  • Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating