Bitter-Sweet Harvest by Chan Ling Yap

What would you do if you had to share your husband with someone else within months of your marriage?  Well, this is one of the dilemmas presented in Bitter-Sweet Harvest, the sequel to Sweet Offerings (2009). 

Bitter-Sweet Harvest is just as entertaining as the debut, if not more so.  It is the continuation of a family saga set in Malaysia in the 1930s and 1960s.  This is a superbly told love story that will tug at your heartstrings and the dilemma easily identifiable in today's society and among families just as much as it was an emerging issue fifty odd years ago.  I reckon Chan Ling Yap is a born story-teller simply because she draws the reader into the plot page after page without any let-up.  There is no shortage of intrigue and drama.  It is definitely a well-thought-out and well-written story and I now look forward to the denouement of this Southeast Asian trilogy - hopefully there isn't long to wait.

From the blurb:  Set in a Malaysia emerging from the outbreak of racial conflict in 1969, Bitter-Sweet Harvest (2011) tells of the difficulties and tensions involved in a marriage between a Malay Muslim and a Chinese Christian.

About the author:  Born in Kuala Lumpur, Chan Ling Yap was educated in Malaysia and subsequently in England where she obtained a PhD in Economics.  She lectured at the University of Malaya before joining the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, where she worked for nearly two decades.  She now lives in the UK with her husband and two grown-up children.

A widely published author of various textbooks and technical papers, her foray into fiction was highly praised for its beautiful evocation of Asia.

For more information, visit chanlingyap.com

Rating:  4/5

The Last Good Man by A J Kazinski

This book encapsulates the whole of my summer reading of this year!

Why?  Because it is an absolutely brilliant story.  It has a combination of science, mathematics and spirituality to make a thrilling plot, great direction from start to finish, an array of believable characters, entertainment value, suspense and imagination.  If that does not make a bestselling book, I will eat my sand and soot-encrusted flip-flops.

On the serious side, it asks thought-provoking and earnest questions about humankind, about good and evil, love and forgiveness and life and death.  It also prompts us to examine ourselves, in particular, the reason for our existence here on earth.  Why are we here and where are we heading?

Additionally, this award-winning book gives scope for further exploration into the science of consciousness in relation to the metaphysical.

It has been a convincing and unforgettable read.  Everyone must own a copy and everyone should read it.  What more can I say?  I look forward to the next book by this dynamic duo.  

From the blurb:  There are thirty-six righteous people on earth who protect mankind.  They do not know who they are, but without them, humanity will perish.  

In Venice, disgraced policeman Tommaso di Barbera is waiting for a phone call.  He's uncovered a chilling trend - good people, known for their philanthropy, are dying mysteriously all over the world, each body bearing the same strange mark.

In Copenhagen, reclusive detective Niels Bentzon is the one to pick up the Interpol report.  Convinced it's nothing but a wild-goose chase, Niels calls Tommaso.  But neither speaks the other's language and Niels is afflicted with a rare phobia that means he can't leave Denmark.

It is only when Niels encounters Hannah Lund, a brilliant astrophysicist mourning her son, that he begins to piece the puzzle together.  A pattern emerges.  If Hannah's code is right, they know the exact time and location of the next death.  

But who is the victim?  Can they identify the last good man, before it is too late?

About the authors:  A J Kazinski is the nom de plume of filmmaker and author Anders Ronnow Klarlund and author Jacob Weinreich.  

Klarlund had his debut with the novel De hengivne (The Affectionates) in 2009.  He has written and directed the film Besat (Possessed), Den attende (The Eighteenth), Strings (Strings) and Hvordan slipper vi af med de andre (How Do We Get Rid of the Others).  

Weinrich graduated from the Danish School of Film as a script writer and had his debut novel published in 2001.  He has written a number of books for teenagers, for example, Krybet (Vermin).

The Last Good Man is their first collaboration.  Both authors live in Copenhagen.

The Last Good Man was first published in Denmark by Politikens Forlag under the title Den sidste gode mand in 2010 and subsequently published in hardcover and audio format in the UK on 6 March 2012.  It is the first part of a trilogy.  

The Last Good Man is translated from the Danish into the English by the brilliant and talented Tiina Nunnally.

The introduction video by its publisher, Simon & Schuster UK:

Rating:  5/5

Definition: Vade Mecum

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A Death In Valencia by Jason Webster

There is a paella and fish place in El Cabanyal.  They say it sells the best paellas in all of Valencia.

The guy who ran it was Pep Roures.  Decent man.  Distinctive ginger hair.  Fifty years old with a paella dish tattoo on his left shoulder.  He went missing for a week.  It seemed strange because his award-winning restaurant was virtually his life and an institution in the city.  How could he have simply vanish?  Where would he go anyway?  It just wasn't like him.

Word is that the Town Hall had been buying and tearing down the colourful fisherman's quarter on Valencia's sea-front for a redevelopment plan which Roures was very much against.

When Roures' bloated body washes ashore on to a public beach one week after his disappearance, Chief Inspector Max Camara of the Grupo de Homicidios finds himself with a case to solve, a case which proves as difficult and challenging as his thoughts, simply because he has nothing on it - no DNA, no witnesses, no suspects, no motive, nothing.  As he delves deeper into the case, he stumbles into a web of corruption and violence and uncovers deep animosities and hidden secrets.  There are rows and threats about abortion clinics - what is that all about?

Camara is forced to question himself as he plods along doing his job and if he were to let his doubts and scruples overwhelm him, this could well be his last case...

A Death in Valencia (2012), the second book in the Chief Inspector Max Camara series, delves into issues that rouse unruly passions and still divide the Spanish people today.  With a complex plot, well-developed characters, vivid descriptions of Valencia on every page - including its people, food, culture, history - and simple yet accomplished writing, I personally thought this was a more enjoyable read than Camara's first case - the death of a bullfighter under mysterious circumstances.

A Death in Valencia was sent to me by the author.  Because this book is about one hundred pages short compared to the first, I would urge the reader to read the debut - Or The Bull Kills You - first so as to get the best out of the series but the choice is of course in the hands of the reader.

About the author:  Jason Webster was born near San Francisco, brought up in England and now lives in Valencia, the subject of his acclaimed books.  These include Duende:  A Journey in search of Flamenco (2003);  Andalus:  Unlocking the Secrets of Moorish Spain (2004);  Guerra:  Living in the Shadows of the Spanish Civil War (2006) and most recently Sacred Sierra:  A Year on a Spanish Mountain (2009).  He divides his time between Valencia and the mountains.  Or The Bull Kills You (2010) was longlisted for the CWA Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards New Blood Dagger 2011.

Webster introduces his latest book:



Rating:  5/5

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Angle Of Investigation: Three Harry Bosch Stories by Michael Connelly

In the first story, Christmas Even, the case of a burglar killed in mid-heist leads Bosch to retrace a link to his past.

In Father's Day, Bosch investigates a young boy's seemingly accidental death and confronts his own fears as a father.

In Angle of Investigation, Bosch delves into one of the first homicides he ever worked back as a uniformed rookie patrolman, a case that was left unsolved for decades.

Together, these gripping stories span Bosch's controversial career at the LAPD and show the evolution of the haunted, legendary investigator he would become.

Angle of Investigation:  Three Harry Bosch Short Stories was first published on 11 October 2011.

I bought it from Amazon.co.uk in Kindle form priced at 99p.  Highly recommended - entertaining and straightforward.

Mulholland Drive, the third collection of Michael Connelly's short stories, will be out in eBook and audiobook on 4 September 2012 in the UK, Ireland, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

About the author:  Michael Connelly is the author of the recent No 1 New York Times bestsellers The Fifth Witness (2011), The Reversal (2010), The Scarecrow (2009), The Brass Verdict (2008), and The Lincoln Lawyer (2005), as well as the bestselling Harry Bosch series of novels.  He is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels.  He spends his time in California and Florida.

Rating:  4/5

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