More of wot I have read…

High Society by Ben Elton

I enjoyed this book and have found the author’s style of writing has changed over time so that he approaches this subject with some sensitivity and sophistication perhaps not apparent in all of his previous works.

‘The war on drugs has been lost. The simple fact is that the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. From pop stars and royal princes to crack whores and street kids, from the Groucho Club toilets to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we are all partners in crime.

High Society is a story about Britain today, a criminal nation in which everybody is either breaking the law or knows people who do. It takes the reader on a hilarious, heartbreaking and terrifying journey through the kaleidoscope world that the law has created and from which the law.’


A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

This is an odd but strangely captivating story with some interesting, if outlandish, characters and storyline.

‘On New Year’s Eve, four strangers make their way to the rooftop of a London apartment building called Toppers’ House. Their goal, however, is not celebration but obliteration. For various reasons, each one has decided that the time has come to put an end to his or her life. As they inadvertently meet and begin to share their stories, they find themselves citizens of a sort of independent state, where street-level laws no longer apply. And gradually, very gradually, they help one another to discover reasons to live, at least for the time being.

Hornby tells his story through the alternating, idiosyncratic voices of his four main characters. There is Maureen, the mousy, fifty-something mother of a mentally and physically incapacitated son, who has done little but care for him for the past twenty years; Martin, a disgraced former TV morning show host and ex-con; Jess, an obnoxious and explosive teenager; and JJ, the lone American in the bunch, an aspiring rock star.’


The Client by John Grisham

Another enjoyable read even though I am not necessarily a fan of the genre. The plucky young boy as the main character is interesting and the author’s obvious knowledge of criminal law makes for a good read.

‘A US state senator is dead, and a young boy is told the name of the killer - a mafia hitman, Danny "The Blade" Muldano - by Muldano's lawyer. After the lawyer's suicide, Muldano and the boy are the only people who know the killer's identity.

By the author of The Firm and The Pelican Brief.’