THRILLERS
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD by Mario Vargas Llosa
(Faber 18.99) iT iS not often that a Nobel Prize winner for literature turns his hand to a commercial thriller, but that is what the distinguished 82-year- old Peruvian writer and politician has done here — to stunning effect.
it describes the fall from grace in Lima of rich mining engineer enrique Cardenas at the hands of a muck-raking journalist during the turbulent years of Alberto Fujimori’s presidency of Peru. (To add context, note that Vargas Llosa lost to Fujimori in the 1990 presidential election).
As the revelations of an orgy involving the engineer surface, so his wife Marisa embarks on an affair with the wife of his lawyer and best friend, which provides the emotional backdrop to his disgrace. When the journalist is found murdered, the plot escalates dramatically as the principals come face to face with the corruption at the heart of Fujimori’s regime. Sexy and provocative, this is masterful storytelling by a brilliant writer.
STAR OF THE NORTH by D. B. John
(Harvill Secker 12.99) iF You think kim Jong-un, the president of North korea, is just a funny little man with an odd haircut, who now seems to want to be everyone’s friend (especially Trump’s), then you should read this forensic exposure of the horrors of his regime in this Tom Clancy-style evocation of what life there is actually like.
Partly based on real events, it opens in 1998 with the disappearance of a young American woman from the beach of an island off South korea. Twelve years later, the CiA recruit her identical twin sister to find out what happened, as the tensions rise between the u.S. and North korea.
His story depicts the brutal lengths the regime will go to to preserve its power and secrecy — using starvation as a means of control, random imprisonment and torture. Fast-moving and compelling, it provides the
perfect fictional backdrop to the summit diplomacy we are now witnessing. OUR KIND OF CRUELTY by Araminta Hall
(Century 12.99) Mike and Verity have a secret game that they play to spice up their relationship. They call it ‘the crave’, and it involves going to a crowded bar together, but not appearing to be together.
Verity then flirts with whichever man takes her fancy, until she makes a secret gesture to Mike, then he breaks up the flirtation, demanding the man in question tell him why he is talking to his girlfriend.
Mike and Verity are desperately aroused by the experience. But then Mike accepts a job in New York and sleeps with one of his staff. When he tells Verity, she is appalled and refuses to see him again. He is heartbroken, but worse is to come when she decides to marry someone else.
Mike returns to england, obsessed with getting her back — at any cost. A story of obsession and self-delusion, as well as the pain that intense passion can bring, it is disturbing and thrilling.