I Love It When a Book Surprises Me!

Well, after spending over an hour trying to work out my new touch screen mobile phone I have given up and will do something I enjoy  more - writing about my current read.

I LOVE IT WHEN A BOOK SURPRISES ME!  I've been listening to an audio book which I picked up from the library on a whim whilst desperate for something to read that I hadn't picked up before. I'd never heard of the author and had no idea what the genre was - this novel is Shatter by Michael Robotham.

I have not been able to 'put it down' - or should I say 'switch it off'.  Set in Somerset (around Bath) the characters are very well developed - Joe, the protagonist is a psychologist who has recently been diagnosed with Parkinsons and is showing the early signs.  He is married to a translator who spends a lot of time away and he begins to suspect she is having an affair.  I'm not sure if I like his wife or not, I'll make up my mind when I finish the novel.  Joe is called to help talk down a woman who is threatening to throw herself from a bridge.  He is, however, unable to talk her down as she is intent on talking on her mobile phone.  Joe believes that this is not actually a suicide but a murder....... and so the journey begins.

I visited Bath last year when I made my first visit to the UK since leaving in 1991, and coincidentally this is the second book I have read recently that has been set there. (The other is The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester).

I'm not sure if the the genre is Crime or Mystery, the way the story has developed is quite complex. Now I'm on the last disc and the climax is quite exciting.  If I like the ending then it will get a 9 out of 10 from me..... so watch this space, I hope to finish it tomorrow.  Either way it's definitely worth a read and I'd like to try some more of his books now.

By the way I still haven't finished The Moonstone, I have about 20 pages to go and then I'll start Solaris.... so many book so little time.