Book Club

BOOK OF THE WEEK with Linda Jennings. Mr Mercedes, Stephen King, ISBN C(Hodder) BD4 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members

This week, it’s all about the men! And the first book we are reviewing is by the master of thrillers, Stephen King.
Mr Mercedes is a fantastic cat-and-mouse suspense thriller featuring a retired homicide detective who’s haunted by the few cases he left open, and by one in particular – the pre-dawn slaughter of job seekers gathered in line for the opening of a jobs fair.

The novel starts with us getting to know the people in the crowd, who have been lining up all night.
Lulled into the false impression that the tale will evolve around a man who kindly offers his sleeping bag to a nursing mother on that damp, cold night we are shocked by a typical ‘Stephen King’ twist as, without warning, a lone driver ploughs through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, killing mother, baby and good Samaritan, as well as five other people, and maiming hundreds.

The plot then kicks into gear when Bill Hodges, the retired detective who was investigating the case, receives a letter in the mail from a man claiming to be the perpetrator who then taunts Hodges with the notion that he will strike again.

Hodges, who is still tormented by the Mercedes massacre, wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on finding the perpetrator and preventing a repeat happening and the game is on.

Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. And he’s preparing to kill again. Only Hodges, with a couple of misfit friends, can apprehend him in this high-stakes race against time.
Because Brady’s next mission, should it succeed, will kill or maim hundreds, even thousands of people.
This has to rank as one of King’s best novels and was named by the Sunday Express as ‘The Best Thriller of the Year’. I would second that!

Read it now in paperback
A Man Called Ove, Fedrik Backman, ISBN 9781473616349 (Spectre) BD4 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
There is something about Ove.

At first sight, he is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots – neighbours who can’t reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d’etat that ousted him as chairman of the Residents’ Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.

But isn’t it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?

In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible...
This word-of-mouth bestseller is causing a sensation across Europe. Fredrik Backman’s heart-warming debut is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step – and less ready to judge on first impressions a man you might one day wish to have as your dearest friend.

 My favourite read of the week
I Am The Messenger, Markus Zusak, ISBN 9781909531369 (Definitions) BD4.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members

Most people will pick this book up, having enjoyed the book (and possibly the film) The Book Thief.

Be warned though, although this is written by the author of The Book Thief it is a very different story as Zusak has written a darkly funny but ultimately uplifting thriller in which he proves that even the most ordinary man can be extraordinary.

Ed Kennedy is just your less-than-average 19-year-old Joe who is hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, but his life is going nowhere fast.

However, all that changes after he single-handedly manages to catch a bank robber and then starts to receive playing cards with names and addresses on them in the mail, the first one being the Ace of Diamonds.

This is the first message. Four more will follow. Ed has messages he must deliver; but before this particular card game can end, he himself has to change.