5 recent reads: Games Traitors Play

Friday, September 9, 2011 6:00

Cover for Games Traitors Play. Photo / Supplied

Games Traitors Play
by Jon Stock, HarperCollins, $40
Reviewed by: Iain Duffy

In Marrakech it is hot and Daniel Marchant (a regular in Jon Stock stories) is on the lookout for Salim Dhar, the world's most wanted terrorist.

While Daniel watches, the rest of the Western world's intelligence services are looking elsewhere. Marchant is persona non grata with the CIA and they don't think Marchant knows the time of day, let alone Dhar's whereabouts. However, he does know and it is this knowledge that really moves the story along, hindered most of the way by the CIA and a somewhat stunned MI6 who are trying to believe that, despite the evidence to the contrary, Marchant is a renegade.

A thriller with sufficient red-herrings to keep you busy trying to outguess the hero and the villains.

The Voyagers: A Love Story
by Mardi McConnochie, Penguin, $37
Reviewed by: Elisabeth Marrow

Don't be put off by the cover of this book. Yes, it is a love story but not in the Mills & Boon style as the cover might lead you to believe.

Instead this is a beautifully written portrayal of how two people meet and fall irrevocably in love during three short days. It follows the consequences of their love on their lives and how fate takes them on a merry dance through World War II and beyond.

I did not expect to enjoy this book but when I eventually closed it, tears in my eyes, I realised I had been very much mistaken.

Subtle, understated prose which brings to life the 1940s and the very real emotions of two lonely people separated by a combination of bad timing and war.

I'll Walk Alone
by Mary Higgins Clark, Simon & Schuster, $40
Reviewed by: Kevin Ball

Interior designer Alexandra Moreland is struggling to get her life back together after the kidnap two years earlier of her toddler, Matthew.

A series of photographs then turn up, which appear to show Alexandra abducting her own child from a pram in a park.

And then materials start turning up that she has not ordered, and a mystery one-way trip to South America is booked in her name and her bank account drained.

Alexandra starts to doubt her own sanity.

Did she steal her own child? Did she make bookings, order materials, empty her own bank account?

If you're of a slightly nervous disposition I'll Walk Alone will drive you up the wall - although all does end happily.

Expert Witness - Behind the Scenes with a Real-life Forensic Scientist
by Anna Sandiford, Harper Collins, $32.99
Reviewed by: David Reed

Here is an unusual book - something of interest regardless of education or inclination.

Sandiford is a PhD investigator of the science-based evidence from crime scenes. She was trained in Britain and came to New Zealand 10 years ago. She now has her own consulting company.

Her story is fascinating as she tells about how she became interested in forensic science; also why she came to New Zealand. Sandiford's writing is clear, to the point - and not confused by academic jargon.

There is even the occasional bit of extraneous wit. She explains not only the science, but clarifies the social and personal backgrounds that have a bearing on each case.

She includes a detailed description of the effects of using cannabis and alcohol.

The Afrika Reich
by Guy Saville, Hodder & Stoughton, $37
Reviewed by: Kevin Ball

Imagine if the Dunkirk evacuation had failed, with hundreds of thousands of people taken prisoner. Riots at home force the British Government into submission and to sign a treaty with the triumphant Germans. With the Americans still holding off from joining the fight, Axis forces sweep through Africa, setting up puppet states.

It's a big leap of imagination, but once you get your head around it The Africa Reich comes together as a very readable novel.

Retired mercenary Burton Cole accepts one last assignment: to assassinate Africa Reich architect Walter Hochburg, the man who ran off with Burton's mother. The epic battle between these two men will grip the reader.