19.02.26
This ice-skating drama had all the elements of a really good literary thriller but they don't add up to a place on the podium. Some parts were really interesting - the potential for abuse at the heart of competitive sport, in particular - but it needed a stronger edit to avoid a forgettable performance.
11.03.25
This was trying to be Carrie Soto but its uneven pacing and structure meant you could never properly engage with the story or care whether the characters triumphed personally or professionally. The main male character, in particular, was totally without personality. The ice skating element, while competently researched, just seemed to be the channel through which the relationships and melodramatic plot were delivered - I'd have liked more about what it's really like to compete at elite level. And where was Torvill and Dean?!
11.03.23
This suffered from the usual TJR problem of under-editing (endless exposition; a predictable romance; another page, another eye roll, another unnecessarily detailed description of what someone is wearing). As usual, it didn't have anything particularly profound to say... but yet, it was a hugely engaging read, despite the tedious tennis. I like the way names pop in and out of the ever-increasing TJR alternate celebrity universe. And the truculent and tenacious Carrie proves you don't need to identify with a character to root for them. Game, set and match!
10.01.22
This was the Moriarty book I should have been reading (for book club) over Christmas. As much as I resented having to pay £9.99 for the Kindle ebook, it was infinitely better than Nine Perfect Strangers. The characters were vividly drawn, and every detail of the story became satisfyingly relevant in some way - until it was spoiled by the silly pandemic chapters at the end, which not only made the book 50 pages too long but also read as if the publisher had asked the author to shoehorn them in at the last minute to make the story 'current'. It was a shame as, until then, the delicious unlikeliness of almost everything in the novel had been what made it so enjoyable.
Side note: I plan to avoid the current pile of pandemic-set stories. I understand publishers like current affairs, and authors like the challenge of deciding how their characters might react to lockdown, but I read novels to experience other worlds - if I wanted contemporary realism, I'd read the news. Still, I've started a new pandemic label, in case I can't avoid it.
