Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes

“The Grand Duchess had been right to make her investment, even if things did not quite turn out as she had wished.”

 

If, like me, you are a dedicated fan of the goings on in Downton Abbey, anxiously awaiting every intrigue endured by Lady Mary and all the other Crawleys, then hold on to your hat. The writer behind that TV institution has delivered a delectable novel set looking back at the events of the London Social Season in the Sixties.

Outsider, Damian Baxter, is introduced to high society by the narrator, Damian is adored by the female set, out to break hearts and cause trouble. Now looking back with the benefit of age, the narrator discovers all was not as it appeared at the time, as he sets out on a quest for a dying Damian to quiz his past loves.

Fellowes effortlessly creates an attractive world that the reader revels in. The plot, while interesting, pales in comparison with the roll call of interesting characters.

5 out of 5 , not in front of the servants.

Psmith in the City by P G Wodehouse

"With the ex­cep­tion of our two selves, I think that there are hardly any men of real in­tel­li­gence on the staff."

Psmith and Mike take a job at the New Asiatic Bank and hilarity ensues. Somehow this sweet talker manages to sweet talk all and sundry with his dulcet tones and off the planet demeanour, much to the amazement of his partner in crime, Mike.

Mike enjoys the benefits of Psmith's private club membership and penchant for the nightlife. Adventures include leaving the bank to play cricket and sucking up to the boss.

While it was amusing, this was not quite and delightful as Jeeves and/or the Blandings co. Having said that, it is still Wodehouse and destined to elicit the odd giggle..

4 out of 5 xmas reads should make you smile.

Novel with Cocaine by M. Ageyev

“It was wasteful of me to contaminate the girl, I thought and felt, but what I meant by the word ‘wasteful’ was not that I had committed a horrible act; on the contrary, what I meant was that I had made a sacrifice, hoping to gain a certain pleasure in return, which pleasure had not been forthcoming.”

Vadim Maslennikov is a grade a  a**hole, that it was my misfortune to encounter due to the presence of this novel on the 1001 books to read before you die list. The novel is brilliantly executed and Vadim reminds me of a kind of precurssor to Patrick Bateman, or a number of other unlikeble literary protagonists.

The novel begins with the merciless poor treatment by the school boy of his poor mother. He appears particularly evil when he lambasts and disowns his mother in front of his school friends, suggesting she is some easy, poverty stricken woman that they could all have their way with.

As the previous comment suggests, Vadim is rather mysoginistic, no more so when he knowingly infects the wide eyed Zinochka, with his unnamed, sexually transmitted affliction and regrets only that the experience did not not live up to his expectations.

The title suggests that drugs play a much larger role in the novel than they actually do. Vadim’s penchant for the white powder comes along much later in the piece. Naturally what comes up, must come down and Vadim experiences the extreme highs and lows of the stimulant, while weighing up the meaning of life.

Apparently ( well according to the blurb), the real author of this novel is unknown, and the name M. Ageyev is a pseudonym. One wonders whether the reason behind this is the general unsavouriness of Vadim. Thankfully, the writing is compelling and I knocked this one off the list in a few hours.

4 out of 5 grumpy teenagers can cause real damage.

Mother's Milk by Edward St Aubyn

“He was finished as a man.”

I do so love the Patrick Melrose novels and appear to be flying through them. Why only yesterday, it seems Patrick was a small boy with a horrendous family life and now he has two boys of his own dealing with birth, a loss of inheritance and two strange beings known as their parents. Here we are with the 4th novel, nominated for a Man Booker Prize in 2006 and the times, well they appear to be changing.

Beginning with Robert’s rude awakening into the world, the entire novel serves as a sort of rude awakening of its own, but served up in a delectable fashion. Patrick seems a little adrift, he has lost his wife to full time motherhood and his family holiday home to a cult.

The steady decline of his mother brings its own wealth of black comedy. I felt guilty for laughing about the euthanasia suggestions – “signing and swallowing, those were the keys to the kingdom”. This fourth novel is somewhat of a trial to see how the torments of Patrick’s life will visit themselves upon his children and in many ways, Robert appears to bear the brunt of this responsibility. His all knowing abilities and position as narrator are an artifice that is nevertheless, employed to great effect.

I do so love a dysfunctional literary clan and can’t wait to read the final instalment.  I will miss the upheaval and beautiful prose.

5 out of 5 first children carry the heavy emotional loads.

The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine

“It was go or with­draw, and with­draw­ing would make things worse.”

I thought it high time to revisit Ms Caine’s world of the Morganville Vampires. Don’t be judgemental, dear reader, I know I have been delving into way too many vampire series of late. Perhaps it is too much time spent with my parents (ah the joys of the holidays) that promote the enticing nature of the undead. Strike that, that is way too harsh on my family! Perhaps the attraction stems from the respite that supernatural fiction provides from the hoards of all conquering Christmas shoppers.

Claire has had an eventful time since moving in with Michael, Shane and Eve and things are about to get turned up to eleven! Can a ghost be killed?Is Shane’s dad about to return to cause major havoc and will Claire get past first base with her good looking and completely human flatmate? All will be revealed within.

5 out of 5 dancing shoes do just that.

Vicious by V E Schwab

"He definitely felt like he'd died"

An enticing premise is brought to fruition in an entertaining fashion. Two outcast college students become, through experimentation, extraordinary (E.O.) beings capable of some truly amazing feats.

Friendship turns to deadly competition and this novel of superheros really takes flight. The jumpy time frames flashing forward and backwards while adding to the suspense, meant I took a little while to really get into the story. Despite the slow start, the story certainly speeds up to provide a rollicking ride.

I doubt I would have picked this up based upon the cover, I'd seen it recommended online somewhere or other and figured I'd give it a look-see. This would make one heck of an action movie - I'd love to see Victor and Eli square up on the big screen.

5 out of 5 super human powers have a dark side.

Incubus Dreams by Laurell K Hamilton

“He crawled across the stage in that way that the wereanimals had, as if they had muscles in places that humans didn’t.”

Supernatural lust with a body count, yep Anita Blake is back at it again. The perfect respite from family Christmas time activities is to retreat into the dark and dingy surrounds that the necromancer calls home.

Our heroine’s powers are increasing at an alarming rate and guess what, that means she has to sleep with just about everyone to avoid the bad side of the ‘ardeur’ – what a great excuse to misbehave. There is the requisite internal struggle as Anita tries to reconcile her morals with her actions.

Finally the triumvirate get it on together, awakening a whole host of new powers oh and there’s a serial killer popping off strippers that might just be a vampire (or more than one).

My enthusiasm for Jean-Claude is waning and I’ve developed a bit of a crush on Nathaniel – he’s cuddly, does whatever Anita wants and he’s a hot stripper to boot. Yep, Anita has a hard life, well except for the dealing with zombies and grisly murder scenes. Well you can’t win em all.

 4 out of 5 supernaturals get a lot of action.