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ROBERT GODDARD
I have placed "sizzler
ratings" next to books read, even if the review
hasn't been added at this time.
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SET
IN STONE (1999) |
Sub-category: Mystery
The plot: Tony Sheridan
is invited to stay with his sister-in-law and best friend
after his wife is tragically killed after falling off a
cliff. However, the Prior's house, Otherways, is a strange
entity in itself, inspiring acts in people that are out
of character. Sheridan quickly finds himself swept up in
the mystery of the place as it seduces him and those closest
to him. Yet, as he tries to find out why the house exerts
such a strange pull on people, he uncovers a dark history
that seems to be connects to his own.
Comment: At best, this
book could be called mildly entertaining. Although the premise
of the book is quite interesting, one gets the feeling that
Goddard is just going through the motion of writing a novel.
Thus, there is something sorely lacking throughout the book
and you are neither compelled to keep turning pages. Yet,
it just keeps your attention so that you do finish it before
gratefully turning to another, hopefully more inspiring
book...
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CAUGHT
IN THE LIGHT (1998) |
Sub-category: Thriller
The plot: When in Vienna
on a photographic assignment, Ian Jarret falls in love with
a mysterious woman who walks into a photo at the moment
he depressed the button. Uncharacteristically, he asks her
to breakfast and they embark on a deep, 1 week long affair.
With promises to meet again in the U.K. after separating
from their partners, he flies back and calls off his marriage.
Yet when the rendezvous time comes, she calls and abandons
him. This sets Ian off on a chase to find the mysterious
woman and find out why she abandoned him.
Comment: A well-written
suspense novel with many unusual twists and turns as Jarrett
pursues the trail of his mystery love. Entertaining afrom
start to finish.
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OUT
OF THE SUN (1996) |
Sub-category: Suspense
The plot: It's six years
since Harry Barnett returned from the Greek Islands to
clear his name (Into the 660066) and
re-established himself in England. Then one day at his
par-time job, he suddenly finds out he has a brilliant
mathematical son, lying in a diabetic coma just down the
road. Harry quickly finds himself sucked into a nasty
world of corporate intrigue with possibly dire consequences.
Comment: Initially this
book is faster-paced than the original Barnett novel,
but it sputters a lot sooner. Although enjoyable to the
end - and one has to read to the end to find out all the
answers - this book seems like a string of after-thoughts
joined together once the forces driving Harry are removed.
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BORROWED
TIME (1995) |
Sub-category: Suspense
The plot: While contemplating
his future with a hike along a Welsh border ridge, Robin
Timariot has a brief encounter with an elegant woman.
They exchange a few words and go their seperate ways.
When Robin re-enters the real world 6 days later, he
finds out that shortly after their encounter, the woman
was brutally murdered. Thus begins a interesting series
of encounters for Robin as he gradually finds out how
a nice woman came to such a violent end.
Comment: In this novel,
the opening is pleasant and it's all downhill from there.
The pace of the novel coughs and splutters along like
a car in its last wheels. It does finally begin to pick
up a little pace after 274 pages (!!!), but I don't
know if you want to endure the stop/start nature of
the book until that point. However, the book is nicely
written so it can be read - but the pace is sllllooooowwwwww....
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INTO
THE BLUE (1990) |
Sub-category: Suspense
The plot: Harry Barnett
is a looser hiding from the world on the Greek island
of Rhodes under the protective wing of grateful former
employee, Alan Dysart. Suddenly, one day as he is
escorting Heather Mallender, a guest of Dysart, she
goes missing and Harry is thown into a web of a deception
as he finds himself accused of her murder while trying
to find out what really happened.
Comment: Although
bit of a slow plodder, this movel is nontheless quite
interesting as slowly the 'hero' puts the clues together
until he thinks he can solve the mystery of Heather's
disapperance. It was good enough for the BBC to pick
up and make a TV series out of it...
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PAINTING
THE DARKNESS (1989) |
Sub-category:
Mystery
The plot: One quiet
autumn day, William Trenchard's life is shattered
as a stranger walks up to him and claims to be his
wife's former fiance - a man presumed dead by suicide.
James Norton, claims he is deceased James Davenall
and he has come back to claim what is his - a vast
estate left behind from his dead father, and Constance
- Trenchard's wife. The Davenalls all claim Norton
is lieing, and Trenchard sets out to prove this
is so, but his wife doesn't believe the claim -
this is her lost lover...
Comment: Lets face
it, the first 3/4 of the book was entirely predictable
and therfore, could be quite a slog in places. A
lot of places. The last bit was made a bit more
tolerable by the mystery surrounding the 'dark family
secret.' If this slow, predictable pace is your
cup of tea, then you will enjoy this, otherwise...
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IN
PALE BATTALIONS (1988) |
Sub-category: Mystery(
Romance)
The plot: Leonora Galloway
has taken her daughter to Paris, but on the way there,
they take a small detour. It is here, at the Thiepval
Memorial, Penolope learns of her mothers strange and mysterious
origins.
Comment: Told from several
people's persepctive, the book is an intriguing ramble
down the path of Leonora Galloway's life. Although the
book never really picks up pace, it isn't until the very
end you learn who really fathered Leonora.
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An absolute sizzler of a movie - A must
see! |
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A scorcher of a good movie; still capable
of riveting you to your seat |
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Low flame burner; a pleasant piece of mindless
brain candy |
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A fizzler of a movie which will have you
counting zzzzzz's... |
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