Frances Fyfield book review

Book review Frances Fyfield “Safer than houses”

Frances Fyfield writes intelligent thrillers with a twist. She handles characterisation very well and adds some unusual twists to the story. She was a former lawyer and I note many references in the book to the legal profession. The central character is a prostitute (an ex lawyer) and the principle bad guy is a lawyer, struck off for corruption. Another central character is a magistrate who has used the law in an illegal way.

The story revolves around a disputed inheritance that is being challenged by the unbalanced son of the psychopathic deceased. The central good guy is an ageing arsonist who is going through a crisis of confidence.

The book is about relationships as the people are being very much themselves and being misunderstood for it. It describes the effect that hatred and greed and desire for revenge has on people and how this can be exacerbated by physical pain. The novel is set in a small are of the city of London (but could be any city) which functions like a village for those who live and work there. It is well written with deeply developed characters and the plot has many twists and turns yet it is all believable. Highly recommended.

Book Review: Mitch Albom "The first phone call from heaven"

This novel is an exploration of the vulnerability of those suffering with grief. Losing a loved one is very hard and often there are things that you wish you had said to them when they were still alive. A small town in America gets that opportunity when selected residents start receiving phone calls from heaven. They recognise the loved ones voice and although they are tempted to keep it to themselves, the news gets out and a media circus ensues - together with many wacky religious groups wanting to get in on the act. The main protagonist, a recent widower who has suffered in other ways, wants desperately to prove it a hoax. The incidents provoke an epidemic of hope and high church attendance. Perhaps the novel is an examination of what people consider as hope. I liked the fact that one of the recipients of the phone calls disconnects all her phones as she cannot live with the upheaval of not moving on from the loss of her dead son.
I will not say more about the story because to do so would inevitably introduce spoilers. The premise is a good one, and the book will not upset people of faith. But herein is the weakness of the novel. Unlike the powerful book "Tuesdays with Morrie" also by Albom, this book is poorly written, with confusable shallow characters. Some will read it as inspirational spiritual fantasy but that doesn't get away from the fact that it is poorly written, with an unbelievable, fantastic plot, and a writing style that uses too much of the passive voice. As a quick relaxing read I enjoyed it but it is pointless to look for anything deep or significant in the work as it is not there.

New book

My good friend, Jean de Beurre, has just published a new romantic novel set in Scotland about an angel intervening in the lives of ordinary Glasgow folk. Please take a look.... Click here to go to Jean's website...

Link to the Amazon USA page for this book and link to the Amazon UK link