Category: Books

Are kids’ books just for kids?

I’ve not done much about books recently, and partly that’s down to the fact I’ve not had a lot of spare time to get through the huge pile of novels I want to read. Between (ab)using my cinema pass, studying and this collection of evil electrons called The Internet I’ve let my enjoyment of the written art slip slightly.

The last three books I’ve read have all been part of the same series – the Alex Rider novels by Anthony Horowitz. Yes, they’re “kids'” books but do note that the author has also worked on adult television screenplays and that there is a whole genre of books that didn’t exist when I was younger.

Way back then, shortly after the invention of the printing press, books went from “children’s” to “adult” with no real middle ground. Partly due to the maturity of the Harry Potter content, there is now an enormous collection of books filling that gap. With detailed plots, mature content, interweaving plot strands and characters you can really identify with these books are worth reading by anyone. Simply take a decent “adult” novel, strip out the sex and bad language and a lot of these books could be confused with something for a more mature audience.

The Alex Rider collection are consistently good quality. I’ve not read the Young James Bond novels, but I can’t see them being anywhere near as good as this series, simply as the protagonist doesn’t want to be a spy. The detailed background Horowitz has created means that the character develops as he learns a little more about his past as each book is released. And not all of it is good.

The research given to each title is superb, allowing Horowitz to throw facts at readers and educate them while entertaining at the same time. Everything from how to walk a tightrope to the effects of basic physics on maneuvering in zero gravity have come up in the (so far) seven books. I was surprised to see that Horowitz had met fellow author Stephen Leather (of whom I am also a huge fan) in Bangkok during his research for Snakehead. Leather writes what are, to all intents and purposes, adult Alex Rider books. These are the novels I would say kids would walk right into if they enjoy Alex’s stories.

The fact that I mentioned one of his books (The Long Shot) in a blog post several years ago and received a “thank you” email from him has no influence on how much I like his work. Honestly.

I just ordered another book, Gone by Michael Grant, after I saw it in the children’s section of Waterstones recently.

Don’t miss out on some great reading simply because it’s not in the grown-up’s section of the library or bookshop. See what the teenagers are reading these days and jump on their bandwagons.

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Zero by Eric Van Lustbader

Not much of a review as I’m short of time, more a listing to myself that I’ve read this. Zero is one of Lustbader‘s many Japan-centred novels although a large part is also played out in Maui. The plot follows two generations of familes – both Japanese and American – and hops back and forth along the timelines filling in gaps as it goes.

The plot’s pretty decent, but as with a lot of his books it takes some amount of time to pick up pace while the ending is frantic as every plot thread is picked up and tied up neatly.

Not bad, but heavy going language-wise. Mind, it’s as educational as it is entertaining, especially for those with an interest in Japanese culture.

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The Alchemist’s Secret by Scott Mariani

The curse of Dan Brown lives on in this adventure novel as one man (and a woman he picks up along the way) battles against a church-related organisation to retrieve the secret of eternal life. By curse, I don’t mean that it’s a bad novel, just that it’s buried in amongst a lot of similar times since The Da Vinci Code became the book of the decade despite being possibly the worst-written of all its peers.

The Alchemist’s Secret isn’t one of the best in this genre, but it’s a far cry from the worst. The pacing is good, the story unwraps well and the dialogue’s not at all clunky (Dan Brown – kindly refer to this text before writing anything else as your dialogue sucks). However, where it does fall down is that it’s very, very predictable.

By the end of chapter three, if you’ve read any of this type of book or seen any Hollywood film of the last 40 years, you’ll have guess how several of the plot points work out. What’s important is that Mariani makes you care enough about the plot to follow it through until the inevitable happens.

As with many good books, there’s a large dollop of truth and history mixed in with the fiction. It’s interesting when you get to the Author’s Note to find out exactly how much. With luck it will even encourage the reader to take a quick delve into the non-fiction section of the bookshop to discover more. Or at least a trip to Wikipedia.

Not bad. Not a classic, but not bad. I’ll be keeping an eye out for The Amadeus Letter.

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The Dealer by Paul Kilduff

Cover of "The Dealer"
The Dealer

Once in a while you find a new author that you’ve never heard off and end up very pleasantly surprised, wanting to hunt down anything else they’ve written. Paul Kilduff, for me, is one of these.

I’m not even sure where I picked up this copy of The Dealer – I think it might have been at a nature reserve near Dundee! Wherever it was, I’m very glad I did. It’s been some time since I sat and ploughed through a novel in the way I did with the last half of this one.

As an ex-financier himself, Kilduff’s in a good position to write about the City and all it’s money-related goings-on. His gift is to do so without getting overly complicated or boring. After reading the book, not only did I feel highly entertained but also that I’d learned a little bit about how all those rich people in expensive suits make a (ridiculously large) living.

The plot follows a dodgy dealer, a madam and an investigator trying to prove allegations of insider dealing. Every chapter end with the reader wanting to know what happens next to these main characters and a handful of others. Backgrounds are drip-fed so there’s always something new to find out and the ending doesn’t wrap up quite as neatly as may be expected – in a good way.

Despite all the fun I had reading the book, the ending really stuck out for me. Kilduff’s technique of using fake newspaper articles instead of closing chapters is a smart way of giving a “what happened next” approach. Somewhat reminiscent of a movie flashing up a short paragraph for each main character before the closing credit, but allowing the author to give more detail and also pace things out a bit and add just a final bit of tension.

The reviews inside the book liken him to a “Grisham beater”, but I’d say he’s a sideways step from the American giant in terms of subject matter. Certainly, his ability to tell a story about what is a fairly complex business in terms which the reader can easily understand and become engrossed in is up there with Grisham.

As far as I can tell from the back, The Dealer is only Kilduff’s second novel and was published in 2000. Hopefully this means he has a few more out by now. I know I’ll be keeping an eye out for them.

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Pay the Devil by Jack Higgins

Cover of "Pay the Devil"
Jack Higgins - Pay The Devil

After the last Jack Higgins book, I wasn’t holding out much hope but Pay The Devil was much better. Originally written under a pseudonym, it was re-released some time ago and bundled in a 2-novel volume that I picked up in Ko Tao.

The archaic writing style which partially spoiled the last novel works well in this one. It’s set in the US and Ireland around the end of the American Civil War so the language used actually adds to the story rather than making it feel clunky. It’s a fairly simple sale, too, with a handful of characters a good pace and some decent technical and historical points being raised.

As ever at the moment, I don’t have time to delve deeper, but I do recommend this if you have a lazy afternoon or two to spare.

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