Orenda Books Book Tour: The Cure by Eve Smith

There is a fascination as old as humankind about life without end and youth at all costs. In her new intelligent dystopian thriller, The Cure, published this month by Orenda Books, Eve Smith opens up a full Pandora´s box of challenging topics and ideas.

The genre is very much out of my reading comfort zone, but I´ve read another book by this author before, and the topic interests me a lot. Plus, I will read without any second thoughts any book published by Orenda. The intellectual reward was as expected.

A vaccine against old age diseases is abusively used for extending life until the biblical 120 - a ´genetic upgrade designed to extend lifespan´. Wishful thinking, but think about the whole world overpopulating the planet and the dramatic consequences for societies and economies. No retirement, no new jobs for the ´younger´ brood. With some long-time psychiatric side effects. 

The Cure exposes all those ideas through a very eventful and elaborated story. Mara and Ruth, two women from very different backgrounds, do have their own personal reasons to stop the perpetuation of this condition. In an unexpected team work, they do put together their information and skills to reach out to the source of the new evil.

I always found the topic in itself fascinating, but after reading the book I got even more ideas and inspiration about it. The dystopian ambiance, although at some extent relatable to our modern pace, is very well described. There are fascinating descriptions with a very strong visual impact, my favorites being related to lab designs, an intricacy of technical details that do make so much sense.

I personally loved that book. My plan for 2025 is to challenge myself to try new intellectual pathways and this dystopian thriller showed me how much creativity and valuable ideas are generated by this genre. It just gives reality a different boost.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Le Barman du Ritz by Philippe Collin

This year so far I had the chance to read fantastic newly published multi-awarded books in French. With no exception, there are extraordinary examples of the strength of French literature and the diversity of topics that do concern the French writers.

Le barman du Ritz by Philippe Collin, whose podcast is a recommendation for anyone interested in recent history commentarries, is my latest read. Built around real characters, particularly Frank Meier, the barkeeper of Ritz hotel during the German occupation, it develops into a story about compromise and opportunism.

Meier, a hidden Jew, was part of some initiatives saving French Jews from Shoah, while cashing generous rewards. Played a neutrality game trying curiously or opportunistically to get into the shoes of some big Nazi representatives hosted in the hotel. Like the leadership of the hotel itself, or some of its illustrious residents, like the notorious Coco Chanel, survived, oblivious or just preferring not to know too much about what was happening in the real Paris. Unable to express his feelings, to get involved in his own son´s life. A lukewarm character. 

Meier is the main character of the book, its voice and main storyteller, either through his own account of events, organised chronologically, or through his diary entries. It is a one-sided perspective, therefore I would be a bit careful to name it ´the big novel of the Occupation´, as the world we see is the one seen from the Ritz precincts. However, took from the perspective of the barkeeper from Ritz, it touches upon a diversity of aspects, moral or survival-related - that do explain the behavior under occupation, particularly the German occupation of Paris.

A novel placed in history revealing stories of everyday life anti-heroes.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Random Things Tours: Hunkeler´s Secret by Hansjörg Schneider translated by Astrid Freuler

Now retired, coping with some unexpected medical problems, Basel inspector Hunkeler is brought back to the real action after a local personality in the banking sector, terminally ill, died suddently. Partially asleep he witnessed the moment of his induced death and due to a game of circumstances, he may get bak on the track trying to trace the culprit. Only to reveal a very selective game of reasons and political and economic conditions that lead to the crime.

Compared to other books from the series I´ve read and reviewed before, Hunkeler´s Secret by Swiss crime author Hansjörg Schneider, translated into English by Astrid Freuler has a predominant end-of-life mood, from the thoughts of the characters themselves to the situations they are facing - depression, medical intervention, terminal illness, suicidal thoughts. 

With his unique eye for detail, Hansjörg mirrors the bourgeoise world of Basel and Switzerland in general, with the long-forgotten revolutionary past of some of the main characters, including himself. Those thoughts generate another cycle of cynical thoughts, as well as his deep lectures about WWI. In the microcosme of Basel, the class of classes and cultures may lead to anti-social behavior and understanding those patterns may help us figure out the crime context, which is unexpected but changes 180 degrees the angle of the story.

The story follows a slow or very slow pace, but although it is short from 200 pages it has some moments of tensions that may just wake the reader up while following Hunkeler´s new passions involving goats, world wars and nature or Swiss soul observation. 

A recommended read to anyone keen to learn more about Swiss less-perfect daily world, and curious about contemporary crime novels in this geographic literary realm.

The cover also deserves a mention, for its simple elegance.

Rating: 3.5

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Cover Reveal: First Contact, Second Chances by Fay Abernethy

 

Creating a great cover may involve almost the same energy required for writing a book. The choice of colours, design and lettering requires a lot of attention and dedication that together with the story will ultimately lead to the overall success of the publication.

Hence, my interest in taking part to events aimed to display beautiful covers. I am usually accepting invitations for participating to cover reveal virtual events. I like the excitment of being part of a surprise book cover revelation and I am rarely disappointed.

The topic of the book announced by my current cover reveal is out of my reading comfort zone, but the visual presentation is more than satisfying. 

First Contact, Second Chances by Fay Abernethy is the third in the fantasy solar punk series The Shantivira Book. An ex-British officer, captain of the Shantivira is trying to protect the Earth from an alien invasion. But it seems that the Earth needs to take some radical measures, including an uplift and restructuring of the global economy in order to survive. His mission is difficult and put him in unexpected circumstances, such as fighting against cannibalistic space pirates. Sounds like a lot of fun, isn´t it?

The cover offers this mixture between serious and playful, with a predominant yellow and blue match. The graphic is very elaborated, especially the Zeppelin-like space ship. The lettering is taking control of the space at a certain extent, but in a very smooth way. 

For sure, one of those covers that would catch my eye instantly, before ever trying to find out what is the book about.

Many thanks to Rachel for having me for this event.

Random Things Tours: The Blue Alley by PC Cubitt

 

´How we can stand back when we see children in danger?´

Karen Hamm is an academic like no other. Her professional interests in West Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, may encounter the most non-academic circumstances, like for instance ferocious mafia tugs or traffickers of all sorts. As she spots an odd couple in Amsterdam´s airport: a white Jesuit priest with two black children, she not only took a picture of them, but she embarked on a race to save the children from the hands of the predators. An adventure that will take her from Amsterdam to Spain and Morocco and back to her hometown of Yorkshire.

Karen may be naive sometimes, but she is unstoppable and this is a character threat that may make it pleasant to the reader, although some of her mistakes are outrageous. I mean, who really is about to get the tracks of dangerous mafia boss(es) while sharing her business cards to whom happens to be around. But she is lucky and some of her contacts proved to be very useful later. 

The Blue Alley by PC Cubitt is both suspenseful and a literary testimony of the intricated ways of child trafficking and human smuggling in general. It displays the vulnerability of victims faced with the underground support network of the culprits. A thoughtful inspiration, in addition to the breathtaking action.

PC Cubitt is an academic herself with interests in the African continent.

Rating: 3 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women they Destroyed by Maureen Callahan

The Kennedys are considered in the US and worldwide a precious American brand, Especially the couple JFK-Jackie, a dream power team that it´s the representation of wealth, power and prestige. Identified with the modern American spirit, freedom supporter during the Cold War - his ´Ich bin ein Berliner´ said from the balcony of the Schöneberg Cityhall in 1963 remains an important reference.

Being a ´Kennedy´ means belonging to a family who still plays a revered role in the current politics - although Pres. Donald Trump is planning to destroy Jackie´s Rosegarten at the White House; we haven´t heard yet what her nephew, the current controversial Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has to say about it.

But there is another absonded face of Kennedy family: Kennedys - men - as womanizers and eventually as lady killers.

The well documentd book by Maureen Callahan, Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women they Destroyed puts the myth into question in a very frontal way. From the beloved JFK and his affairs to the other risk lover members of the family, there is no place for doubt about their behavior and aggressive habits. It is also a book about the women who adored them for all the wrong reasons and put their honor and lives at risk for the illusion they promised. Overall, an interesting material for thinking about the many nice clean faces of the predators.

There were few instances when I felt like there are some parts repeating themselves - especially about Jackie - but it is a myth shaking book that deserves the right attention, both from journalists, psychologists and recent times historians.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Götterfunken by Hannes Köhler

Set between different timelines, Götterfunken - it could be translation as Divine Sparks, but also refers to the Beethoven´s Ode to Joy - by Hamburg-born Berlin-based Hannes Köhler is a story of failed youth utopias. 

How far can a revolution go? And for how long, one started, it is still revolution? What deters an anarchist mindset?

A group of young and very young Spanish, French and German anarchists are roaming the streets of Barcelona in the last years of Franco dictatorship. Friendship, love, drugs and anarchy. Those were the times then, but closer to our times, end 1990s, first two decades of the 2000s, they switched sides, adding up to the bourgeoisie that they hated so much.

The novel, very animated and full of recent historical and social details, particularly about Franco´s Spain, is following those destinies, with a back and forth from one timeline to another, which helps to better understand the facts and motivations as well as the sudden changes of destiny.

It is a rare topic, especially regarding Franco´s reign, for the German-speaking literature, and Köhler is offering a generous context that helps understanding the framework of the story. But the focus is however on the characters, especially their motivations and life pathways, through dialogues and cross-memories adding little by little new elements to the story.

Although I enjoyed the novelty of the topic and the approach, I felt like the story is too much forced to be slowed down and the dialogues, although welcomed, do not necessarily lead to next steps. There is a conversational thread that do not lead to any development into the story. In real life, such ´maintenance´ conversations are necessary to build relationships between people, but the story is much shorter than a lifetime hence the frustration I had few time while reading the book.

I just read that Köhler just published a new novel so would be more than curious to explore it too. 

Rating: 3.5 stars