Before I Go To Sleep, S.J. Watson

What Watson has carved here in this debut novel is a suspense-filled thriller with a psychological twist. I was gripped from the first page, the first paragraph, the first image. What a powerful and moving, not to mention chilling, look at how our minds work and the value of our memories in defining who we are – or think we are!

I was thrilled by Watson’s ability to so carefully craft such diverse characters with such intense integrity… in fact, this whole book speaks of textual integrity, of the value of a tightly balanced and contained plot which unfolds with perfect precision.

I won’t say anything more about what happens in this book than this: A woman wakes up in a strange bed with a strange man beside her. She notes his wedding band and is surprised that she drank so much at the party the night before that she has come home with a married man. Beside the bed she sees what she assumes are his wife’s slippers and she groans. She makes her way to the bathroom, all the while chastising herself for her silly actions. There, in the mirror, she meets herself as though for the first time. She is twenty years older than she remembers, lines on a face that doesn’t seem to be her own, a face that she nonetheless knows and recognises. Taped to the mirror she finds a myriad of photographs of her and the strange man still asleep in the bed. Her confusion and panic is just the beginning of what is a fantastic story.

This book is a must read for anyone who likes great writing, thrillers or suspense novels. What a pleasure!! I will be watching for more from this author.

Watson’s website can be found here.

Read the Guardian Review.

Sometimes, nothing beats a good thriller

There are times in life when nothing beats a good, gripping thriller. November has been one of those times for me and I have distracted myself out of my funk with a few mindless, yet highly entertaining reads. The value of these types of books are that they are engaging without being too taxing. This is a huge plus when one’s brain is already overloaded with other things. This is clearly not such a good thing if you are the author of The Kindly Ones which is waiting patiently, book-marked at page 250, for the clouds to clear and reading to resume!!

Two thrillers which kept me occupied briefly were:

Face of Betrayal, Lisa Wiehl

The 7th Victim, Alan Jacobson

I enjoyed Jacobson’s book so much (in part because it was a Kindle freebie!) that I am now reading another of his tales called Crush (also free on Kindle).

Conspiracy Theories

Well, in the wake of my spinning experience with Collum McCann, I felt that I needed something a bit lighter to whet my literary palette. And, what better to do this than a free ebook from Amazon?

Anyway, Don Brown was just the man I needed. His book, The Malacca Conspiracy, was fast paced in an action packed kind of way. I won’t share too much about this book as it will spoil your fun, but suffice to say, there’s drama, romance, guns, helicopters and nuclear weapons – oh, and don’t forget the necessary Islamic fundamentalist meets US Navy Seals!! All vital components of a good trashy thriller.

If you are looking for distraction and a bit of excitement, Don Brown is just the man for you — not to be confused, of course, with Dan Brown of Da Vinci Code fame. Don’s books are far more easily digested, with much less thinking required.

Think of a Numb3r

This was a surprisingly good read. I am not sure whether that’s a reflection of the fact that I was expecting very little or an indication of the actual quality of the book! But, whatever the explanation, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was thrilled to have stumbled upon a new writer in the thriller genre!

Think of a Numb3r is Verdon’s first book and I am suitably impressed. His characters were intriguing and there was enough meat in the plot to leave me asking for more … What happened to the protagonist’s sons? What was his relationship with his father, with his wife? All fascinating questions and I would be thrilled to read a prequel and sequel featuring this retired detective.