Book Talk
with Smiffs book & card store, Nerja
Investigative reporter Ross
Hunter nearly ignored the
phone call that would change
his life, and possibly the
world, for ever. The old man
on the line sounded cranky,
but sincere: ‘Mr Hunter, I’m
not a lunatic, please hear me
out. I’ve been told you are the
man who could help me to
get taken seriously. I have
absolute proof of God’s
existence and I need to come
and see you, I need your
help.’ What would it take to
prove the existence of God?
And what would be the
consequences? A breathless
race against time to prove the
greatest mystery of all is told in Absolute Proof (l), from
bestselling author Peter James.
by CJ Box; The Reckoning (l),
by John Grisham; Greeks
Bearing Gifts (p), by Philip
Kerr; Elevation (l), by
Stephen King; Ambush (l)
and The 17th Suspect (p), by
James Patterson; and, Holy
Ghost (l) and Golden Prey (p),
both by John Sandford.
In the general fiction lists,
our eye is caught by Bridge
Of Clay (l), by Markus Zusak,
an epic new novel from the
award-winning, bestselling
author of The Book Thief.
Five Dunbar brothers are
living, fighting, loving and
grieving in the perfect chaos
of a house without grown-ups. Today, the father who left them
has just walked right back in. He has a surprising request: who
will build a bridge with him?
At once an existential riddle
and a search for redemption,
this tale of five brothers
coming of age in a house
with no rules brims with
energy, joy and pathos.
It leads off this month’s Soltalk Hotlist of titles, some entirely
new, others moving into small paperback format for the first
time or being reissued, sometimes after years out of print. All
are due for publication on dates in October, with availability in
print this month or in early November. The Hotlist helps
readers to plan and budget for book ordering.
Ian Rankin returns with In A House Of Lies (l), a new Rebus
novel. The English expression ‘a house of lies’ means a place or
situation where everyone has
something to hide. A missing
private investigator is found,
locked in a car hidden deep in
the woods in an area that had
already been searched.
Detective Inspector Siobhan
Clarke is part of a new inquiry,
combing through the mistakes
of the original case. Every
police officer involved must be
questioned, and it seems
everyone on the case has
something to hide, and
everything to lose. But there is
one man who knows where the
trail may lead, and that it could
be the end of him: John Rebus.
Others worth considering
include: In The Midst Of
Winter (p), by Isabel Allende;
Red Birds (l), by Mohammed
Hanif; The Winter Soldier (l),
by Daniel Mason; Killing
Commendatore (l), by Haruki
Murakami; Shell (l), by
Kristina Olsson; Year One (p),
by Nora Roberts; and, Winter
(p), by Ali Smith.
Simon Schama’s Story Of The Jews: Belonging, 1492-1900 (p)
moves into paperback. This second volume of Schama’s
magnificent cultural history stretches from Spain’s expulsion
of Jews in 1492. It tells the stories not just of rabbis and
philosophers but of a poetess
in the ghetto of Venice; a
boxer in Georgian England; a
general in Ming China; and,
an opera composer in
nineteenth-century
Germany. The story unfolds
in Kerala and Mantua, the
starlit hills of Galilee, the
rivers of Colombia, the
kitchens of Istanbul, the
taverns of Ukraine and the
mining camps of California.
The Madrid-born author Javier Marias’ novel Berta Isla (l) is
about a relationship built on secrets and lies, and the equal
forces of resentment and loyalty at its core. The young people
Berta and Tomás meet in Madrid and decide to spend their
lives together. Eighteen and betrothed, Tomás leaves to study
at Oxford in England. His talent for languages quickly catches
the interest of a certain government agency, but Tomás resists
their offers, until one day he makes a mistake that will affect
the rest of his life, and that of his beloved Berta. After
university he returns to marry her, knowing he will not be able
to stay for long.
Biography Of Silence (l), a
publishing phenomenon in
Spain, is now available in
English translation. This
essay by the Spanish priest
In a month when some big names in crime writing enter the
joust for seasonal sales, look out too for: The Disappeared (p),
52