Saturday, October 30, 2010

The true deceiver

As an admirer of Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books for children I was interested to read this novel written for adults. Initially published in 1982 but not published in English until 2009, The True Deceiver examines the relationships of people living in a small Swedish village in the middle of winter. The main characters are Katri Kling and her brother, Mats, both considered outcasts by most of the other villagers, and the artist, Anna Aemelin, who lived alone in a large house outside the village. When Katri and Mats move into Anna's home the lives of Katri and Anna, in particular, change as they are forced to re-evaluate their beliefs and thoughts as they adjust to the changes caused by their new situation. The concept of what is truth and what are lies is a focal point of the book. Several of the villagers also impact on this story as does the setting of the isolated  village in winter. The use of sparse use of language in this beautifully written adds to the enjoyment. The book begins with an introduction by Ali Smith.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Wicked Appetite

Wicked Appetite, the sequel to Plum Spooky, has Diesel still hunting his cousin Wulf but the action has now moved to Salem where Diesel conscripts Lizzy Tucker, a pastry chef from Dazzle's Bakery, to help him. Lizzy is only one of two people with the power to recognise the four charms that combine to locate one of the Stones of the Seven Deadly Sins. Diesel has to stop Wulf acquiring the stones. Unfortunately the charms that relate to the Gluttony Stone transfer, once located, an addiction to the person in contact with them.

As usual there is an array of unusual characters including Glo who works at the bakery and believes that she can cast spells, Hatchet who believes that he is a medieval knight, Cat 7143 who may have special powers and the reappearance of Carl the monkey.

As in previous Evanovich books buildings are destroyed, cars are rendered undriveable and the normal mayhem ocurs. By the end of the book one Stone has been recovered - no doubt there will be additional Diesel adventures to follow.