BOOKS OF THE WEEK
Deadly Game by Michael Caine
Hodder & Stoughton, £20 (ebook £9.99) Review by Karen Shield
Six-time Oscar-nominated British film icon Sir Michael Caine CBE follows up his 2018 memoir Blowing The Bloody Doors Off with his first dramatic thriller, Deadly Game. The plot is loosely based on a true story Caine read in the news involving some uranium that was found on a London tip – before being stolen – causing lead character DCI Harry Taylor and his hand-picked ops team to investigate, using some unorthodox methods and breaking the rules in a bid to track it down – with time against them. As things unfold, the fast-paced drama takes many twists in narrative, leaving you turning the pages in anticipation to see how Taylor’s special unit from the Met aim to avoid the imminent nuclear threat.
Jungle House by Julianne Pachico
Serpent’s Tail, £14.99 (ebook £10.99) Review by Lauren Gilmour
Imagine if beloved Rudyard Kipling tale The Jungle Book was about an abandoned baby girl who was looked after by two friendly robots and an all-seeing, all-hearing and all-knowing “Mother”, instead of a lovable black bear and a grumpy panther. Jungle House is like a reimagining of the story for the 21st century, as Pachico takes us on a journey of what life might be like if artificial intelligence starts to become sentient. Lena is a 20-yearold woman who lives in a largely abandoned house in a jungle, with robots for company and, of course, her mother. The book follows the challenges of a mother/daughter relationship as well as the issue of humans and artificial intelligence, which is timely and topical.
Tackle! by Jilly Cooper Bantam, £22 (ebook £10.99) Review by Beverley Rouse
Jilly Cooper returns to her Rutshire Chronicles, which finds Rupert Campbell-Black buying struggling local football team Searston Rovers so daughter Bianca and her footballer boyfriend can return from Australia. It’s a different world to horses, but Cooper’s handsome hero finds he has enough transferable skills to inspire his team of colourful characters and attract the attention of their WAGs. Readers need no previous knowledge from the earlier books to enjoy the frothy tale as there’s a handy – but very long – character list at the start. And while Cooper’s characters are fairly two-dimensional and her writing may not always chime with a modern audience, it’s an enjoyable read.
On Writing And Failure by Stephen Marche Sort Of Books, £7.99 (ebook £6.99) Review by A.C. Hutchinson
In this book, Stephen Marche argues that the majority of writers are failures. It’s not just modern writers, either. Marche goes back to Roman times to demonstrate the tortured lives and failings of those who have put pen to paper. He talks about the ever-changing landscape in which writers exist. This book is the perfect example of that flux, because even as this essay was being penned, another change was happening – artificial intelligence. Marche mentions it only once – but he’s already aware that it will prove a huge challenge. If you’re a new writer, this book will make for sobering reading. If you’re seasoned, then you’ll already know the path is arduous.