The Brethren by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had two attempts at reading this book, finding it more difficult to get into than the previous Grishams I had read. Usually the beginning of a John Grisham novel grips me after the first two pages but this one did not at all. The story seems too incredible to be believed. Three judges who are in prison devise a scam in which they blackmail people “on the outside” who have something to hide, and plenty to lose if exposed. It seems to be working well until one of their targets has complications in his life that threaten to entangle the scammers.

I realised that the reason I found it hard to engage with the book was because there are few, if any, characters that one can easily identify with, or with whom you might sympathise or connect. Some of the characters were interesting, but most were quite unpleasant and corrupt, without any redeeming features. This is no doubt the intention of the author and with me he succeeded. So, having reconciled myself to that, I plunged on with a most absorbing and curious tale of scandal and deception, where, at times, it felt like watching a group of skilled gamblers at the poker table. These con artists, even though they are unknown to oneself, perform with such grace and ruthless determination that the observer is inevitably fascinated enough to stay and find out who will win the final big pot of cash.

So I did stay with the plot with all its expected twists and turns and eventual surprises. I’m so glad I did as it is a very thrilling and eventful novel tale full of suspense. I enjoyed it even though I did not care for any of the characters!


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Behind Blue Eyes by D.M. Wolfenden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had not read a book about vampires since I was a teenager, many years ago, so I was a little intrigued about what I would find in Behind Blue Eyes. The amazing recent upsurge in popularity for the genre through the likes of Buffy and co. completely passed me by. The book seemed to be typical to begin with as one of the characters, Vasile, is from Transylvania. However, D M Wolfenden has written a story that takes place over very many years, including aspects of romance, tragedy and loyalty plus, of course the inevitable horror that must accompany a vampire when overcome by his or her blood lust. The author keeps the reader’s interest throughout the book with a fast-paced tale full of incident and intrigue. We have strong hints of morality and torment from vampire Cain, one of the main characters, who is constantly revolted by his own acts of violence. He seeks some kind of redemption through his love for Mia, the young girl that he hopes to protect and save from the evil of a world that has completely enveloped Cain.

The undoubted evil side of things is well represented in the book by Vasile, amongst others. I find it difficult to describe Behind Blue Eyes as a pleasant read, but it had plenty of twists and is a definite page-turner in the tradition of any thriller. Although I was not converted back to the horror/vampire genre this book was very different to what I expected and I enjoyed it. A very human story of kindness and understanding permeates D M Wolfenden’s narrative and I think that, for a first novel, this author has demonstrated great story telling talent. For me it lacked exposition, which I suspect was sacrificed to maintain the fast pace of the book. It is to be hoped that she continues to write more for her inevitable fans.


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