Review of The Party Crasher – Sophie Kinsella

The Talbots are having one last party at their family home.
But Effie hasn’t been invited . . .

Effie’s still not over her parents splitting up a year ago. Her dad and his new girlfriend are posting their PDAs all over Instagram – and no one should have to deal with photos of their dad with the hashtags #viagraworks and #sexinyoursixties. Now they’re selling the beloved family home and holding a ‘house-cooling’ party. When Effie receives only a last-minute ‘anti-invitation’, she decides to give it a miss.

Until she remembers her precious Russian dolls, safely tucked away up a chimney. She’ll have to go back for them – but not as a guest. She’ll just creep in, grab the dolls and make a swift exit. No one will know… she was ever there.

Of course, nothing goes to plan. Not only does Effie bump into her ex-boyfriend (who she’s very much not over), she can’t find the dolls. And as she secretly clambers around dusty attics, hides under tables and mournfully eyes up the dessert table, she discovers unexpected truths about her family – and even about herself.

With time (and hiding places) running out, Effie starts to wonder if she’d be better off simply crashing the party. Perhaps that’s the only way to find out what’s really going on with her family . . .

The Party Crasher

Sophie Kinsella

Bantam Press

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Effie’s parents have recently divorced, her mum has moved out, and her dad has has a new – much younger – girlfriend who reeks of gold digger status he’s moved into the family home.  The girlfriend – Krista – and Effie have a major blowup and a cold war ensues, with Effie having no contact with her dad.  Now the house is for sale…..

Krista decides to hold a goodbye party for the house when it is sold and all the family is invited to say goodbye and claim anything they want to keep – except Effie.  Claiming her invite was lost in cyberspace, Krista sends another last minute.  It’s basically a dis-invite though and Effie decides not to show up, as she already has all her stuff from the house and doesn’t want to give Krista the satisfaction of seeing her show up.  Then she remembers her beloved Russian dolls are hidden in the house.  Determined to retrieve them, Effie plans a commando style raid where she’ll slip in, collect her dolls, then slip out without anyone seeing her.  But it’s not quite that simple…..

This book was hilarious!  Fast-paced and funny, it’s a light-hearted read that makes you laugh out loud.  The predicaments Effie finds herself in are described so vividly you feel you are there.  The characters are likeable – I even liked Krista by the end – and you can’t help urging Effie on to find the dolls and hoping breathlessly she doesn’t get caught.

I can’t urge you enough to read this book if you want a light, breezy romp to make you smile.  For Kinsella fans, it’s a must-read!

Review of Silverview

Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the City for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian’s evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian’s family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise.

When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea . . .

Silverview is the mesmerising story of an encounter between innocence and experience and between public duty and private morals. In this last complete masterwork from the greatest chronicler of our age, John le Carré asks what you owe to your country when you no longer recognise it.

Silverview

John Le Carre

Viking

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

“There are people we must never betray, whatever the cost. I do no not belong in that category.” This is the sum total of the blurb on the back cover of Silverview. We know it’s going to be spy-fi; it’s a John Le Carre.

It starts with Lily determinedly delivering a letter to Proctor, Witchfinder General of the British Secret Services, on behalf of her dying mother. We then swap to the second thread, Julian Lawndsley, ex City trader, and his bookshop in seaside East Anglia. Thus the story develops, Proctor investigating the possibility of a leak, and Julian trying to expand his business with the erratic assistance of Edward, an older man whose wife is dying.

This is Le Carre’s last book, and though shorter than his others and written when he was over 85, it is still a strong read. Though the characters are drawn as sketches, these are artist’s sketches not my muddled scribblings. The descriptions are brief because Le Carre knows what to tell us, where to direct our gaze. So when the twists come, we go “Ooh!, Didn’t see that coming.” It’s spy-fi, so twists are expected, or rather misdirection. The title refers to Edward’s home, a grand pile in the seaside town.

As you may have guessed, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Pacing was good, characters credible, and the situation was totally believable. Definitely worth parking alongside any other Le Carre books you may have.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House for the review copy.

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Review of The Other People – C J Tudor

Driving home one night, Gabe sees the face of a little girl he knows in the rear window of the car in front. She mouths one word – ‘Daddy’. He never sees his five-year-old daughter, Izzy, again.

The police believe she’s dead. But three years later, Gabe still drives the roads, searching for the car that took Izzy, never giving up hope . . .

Fran and her daughter, Alice, aren’t searching – but running. Always one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them. Because Fran knows the truth about Gabe’s daughter – and she knows what those chasing her and Alice will do if they ever catch them . . .

The Other People

\C J Tudor

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Gabe is searching for daughter Izzy, who he last saw three years ago.  Stuck in, a traffic jam on his way home from work, he saw a little girl’s frightened face pleading him from the back window of the car ahead.  Thinking it looked like Izzy, Gabe persused the car but couldn’t catch up with it, so told himself he was imagining things and headed home, only to find his wife dead and daughter missing.  Now he lives in a camper van, searching the roads where he last saw her for any trace.

Fran is always running, hoping that the people searching for her and her daughter Alice don’t find them, as she knows what they‘ll do to her.  Alice is terrified of mirrors, as she goes into a trance and sees the girl in them.  When she wakes there is always a pebble clutched in her hand.

Katie is a waitress at a ro      adside café Gabe visits each week in search of Izzy. A single mum, she works the night shift so she can be home for her kids during the day.  Katie knows tragedy and she also knows a secret…..

These three separate stories all weave together seamlessly in a cleverly intricate plot and while it’s not apparent at first how the three stories connect, it become clear by the middle of the book just how closely entwined they are.  As the story progresses it becomes clear Fran knows what happened to Izzy. But what links Fran and Katie?

I found the mirror thing and the pebbles a bit too weird and scary for me – I don’t like horror – but I liked the thriller part of the story.  It was cleverly written and absorbing to read. I recommend it for any thriller fan.