Sacrifice

Sharon J Bolton is the author of the book - Sacrifice - I most enjoyed recently. I suppose it slips into the forensic thriller genre. This is not one I dip into regularly, though I have read Tess Gerritsen recently and the less forensic, straighter horror novels of Stephen King and Dean Koontz some time ago. Usually I find a little goes a long way and I don't need a regular supply of horrors.

The story is set in Shetland and the heroine is Tora, a consultant obstetricain who longs for her own baby but seems destinied not to conceive. In chapter one she unearths a corpse, obviously murdered. Well, the heart has been removed, so it seems a reasonable assumption. The woman gave birth days before dying. Her body bears runes carved into her back - runes Tora has seen carved into the mantel in the cellar of her house.
Small incidents escalate, rattle the nerves and arouse Tora's fighting spirit. What happened to the woman, and the child? What is the connection to the house she lives in? Why is there a strange reticence among the population of Shetland to discuss the problem? When she hears of other women who have disappeared when pregnant, she cannot leave the problem alone.

It is beautifully written - the sort of writing you don't notice over much because it is so fit for purpose. The deeds are spine-chillingly awful but the author does not describe gory details, for which I give thanks; to hint and leave to the imagination is often better than blood following the knife. The grand final is nerve-biting and kept me turning pages to find the answer, reading late into the night. As a first novel, it is astonishly good. I shall be looking for the next title - Awakening.

Rejections and book prices

Rejections - who likes 'em? No one I know, especially when they come back as a pre-printed slip with a two boxes, one ticked, and thereby supposed to offer some sort of explanation for the rejection. It may be me, but "carefully considered but not something we wish to pursue at the moment" is not especially helpful. That they don't wish to pursue is inherent in the mere fact that the submission has been returned. But one has to accept these things and move on. I still have 3 more replies to look forward to in the near future. Oh, joy!

After a dearth of good reading matter, I've found something that is holding my attention. Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton. New author, not anyone I know anything about, and a thriller rather than a romance. Hints of the paranormal, or is it men up to no good? Page 199 and I can't tell yet. Tell you more when I reach the end. So far it had me reading till almost 3am last night.

I bought/downloaded one of Jo Beverley's titles yesterday. It is ages since I read one, and now I have my Sony reader, I really ought to download more. However, I find I get annoyed when publishers expect me to pay the same price for a download as I would for the paperback. To my mind, that is not on. The paper, printing and distribution costs have vanished, so why is the item not at least half price? One effect of the recession is supposed to be that people will turn back to reading as a relatively cheap form of entertainment ~ as opposed to a meal out, a cinema ticket, a few drinks at the pub. Another is that it will also favour e-books, as they are cheaper still. I may be alone in this view, but if the cost of the download is the same as the paperback, then I'll wait and buy the paperback. Then at least I will have a real book in my hands.

Having never read Mrs Gaskell, Larkrise to to Candleford is a real joy to watch and brightens my Sunday evenings. Something tells me I ought to read the original, but in a way I'm almost afraid to in case I don't enjoy it. Every library I've ever worked in had a copy on the shelves, but few ever borrowed them, and hey - I never read what I was supposed to read. I was the one always delving in odd literary corners to find the unexpected. I've managed to get by without reading Dickens (except for A Christmas Carol), most of Thomas Hardy (only the Trumpet Major) and instead found small masterpieces such as Farewell Gul'sary, A Speckled Bird, Oblomov, The Small Dark Man by Maurice Walsh and many more. I really must look them up and see if I can still find them, even if I can't remember the name of the authors.