To The Last Page

The idea behind Christopher Ramson’s novel is a daring and original one for a haunted house story – it’s not the death that one need fear here as much as birth. It’s a sound enough concept. What other event is more significant than death? What other event involves pain, blood and violent upheaval to one’s life? What other event lies on the boundary between existence and non-existence? One is an ending, the other a beginning and The Birthing House fully draws on all the implications of the unknown that lies in both, twisting them into a troubling and darkly erotic horror story. Whether by suggestion or through his own personal fears, weaknesses and relationships problems, Conrad’s flaws and failings become tied up with or transferred onto an old house he has bought in Wisconsin. Its history as a birthing house, where midwives fulfilled the function of bringing new life into the world in the absence of a nearby local hospital, is uncovered in a book of old photographs, where one of the

It probably helps if you've read Declan Hughes's earlier Ed Loy novels, which I haven't. It's not that you'll miss anything - the backstory is fairly well covered in outline here - but the problem seems to be that the background adds an unnecessary level of bleakness and disillusionment to the deep sewer of corruption that Loy uncovers in the rich Southside Dublin families of the country's horseracing industry. That whole affair adds up to a stinking mess of race fixing, corruption and cover-ups, "close breeding", murder, prostitution, rape, institutional abuse of orphans, drug-dealing... there's even a serial killer on the loose. You name it, Ed Loy uncovers it in the best PI fashion, the whole mess implausibly just waiting for someone to be invited to come along and pick at the festering wound of the whole rotten business. Along the way, Loy has to associate with a lot of disagreeable people both in high society and in the lower classes with the

Breakneck is a fast-moving and gripping police thriller that manages to keep up an incredible momentum up with a new revelation or murder every couple of pages and keep you off-balance by the fact that almost any one involved in the investigation is potentially expendable. That makes the novel a great read – it’s very well paced and written with equal attention given to the case and the personal lives of the characters – but the case does unravel in a quite conventional manner, placing quite a strain on credibility and particularly on the effectiveness of the policing methods of RPD Detectives Mary Catherine Ruggio and her partner Kitt Lundgren. As the number of bodies pile up you would expect a bit more care and diligence on the part of the police officers, particularly as the series of mysterious executions killings being carried out by a professional hitman on a group of young adults brings the matter very close to MC’s family and their business. Yet, whether it is through the case

The book’s title sums it up well. There’s no great dramatic drive to Farahad Zama’s novel, it’s simply about the fortunes and misfortunes of the staff and clients of Mr Ali’s Marriage Bureau, set up by the old man in his retirement to do his best to find the ideal matches for his clients. Within that however there is a wealth of riches in the colourful characterisation and descriptions of tradition and customs, all delivered in lovely, clear prose. The conflict in the novel comes then from its characters attempt to preserve the spirit and meaning of tradition, particularly in the area of marriage, relationships and families, while at the same time finding a way to adapt to the necessary realities and sometimes the injustice of the modern world, the characters often “torn between two powerful forces neither of which would give way”. Although he may not be the most diplomatic of people and often speak out of turn, Mr Ali’s faith in his agency shows that he believes there is a way that bo