11-22-63 by Stephen King

Sometimes a book comes along and catches you, know what I mean? It happened with Angels and Daemons; reading til 3 am sat on the toilet (didn't dare move in case I woke Mr AJ and he told me not to be ridiculous; I still have nightmares) and this was another of that ilk.
I haven't read much Stephen King; Christine, Under the Dome and I think one called the Dark Half. However, the premise on this book sounded fascinating. If you could go back and change history, would you?
Jake Epping is a teacher in a small town in Maine (see Nostalgia Critic for why this will make you snigger) whose local Diner owner, Al, has a rabbit hole in time in his store room. Only to one particular moment in time; September 1958. Al uses it for buying meat at 1950's prices and living in nostalgia. Until he wonders what he could really do with this gift.
If Kennedy never got shot...... the Vietnam war would never happen, Bobby and Martin Luther King would be saved, Nixon would possibly never be president and the world would be a better place.
But the past is obdurate (King is fond of that word; look it up) and Al gets very sick before he can accomplish his plan. Enter Jake; how would he like to go back in time.....

I enjoyed this book. The story of how Jake goes about plotting and planning to achieve the plan is peppered with references to other King classics. I have to read It very quickly to understand the part set in Derry and I'm sure Christine was a Plymouth Fury(?) but you don't need to know that to enjoy the story. Jake has to spend 5 years waiting; and makes a life as a teacher complete with girlfriend.
From halfway in, when the plan is afoot, the plot picks up and the pace increases. I couldn't put it down. I had questions.... questions I can't put into print without spoiling the book for you, but ones I needed a resolution to. Thank God yesterday was a snowy Saturday and I could just sit.....

Midwinter sacrifice by Mons Kallentoft

Bad blogger. Bad blogger. It's been a year and  a half since I posted a book review. What a bad blogger I am.
Last night was the church Bookclub's January meeting and we read and reviewed Midwinter Sacrifice. I picked the book to read purely based on the fact that it had been a Richard and Judy read last year, I enjoyed Stieg Larsson and I was missing Forbrydellsen like mad. (note to self; I cannot actually speak Danish; why do I ask to turn the volume up?)



It's a scandi crime novel set in Sweden. The chief protagonist is a female detective, Malin Fors, with a failed marriage and a 13 year old daughter pushing the limits. Oh, and a possible drinking problem and a need for sex without intimacy. So far so basic whodunnit plot. The crime is gruesome, a dead body hanging mutilated from a bare tree in the deserted land, and the story is essentially a search for the killer and assorted co-conspirators for rape, vandalism, etc. Yet even though the plot has a large amount of familiar elements the book is engrossing and manages to have a different slant on the story with subplots involving ancient norse religion, family secrets and abusive relationships.
I enjoyed reading it; the translation wasn't clunky and some of the writing reaches lyrical heights. I love the emphasis at the start on the sensual aspect of the snow and cold. The landscape really acts as another character at the beginning; it is cruel, has a scent, a texture, a very real effect on the investigation,
I was only slightly disappointed that this lyricism faded out as the novel got more plot driven, although the plot and twists that drive it are good enough that they don't need the 'prettiness' of poetry.
Malin has an ascerbic character; she perhaps is not completely likeable, but she isn't absolutely hateful. There is a strange 'ghost talking' aspect that happens every so often when the first victim speaks (in italics) and sometimes even tries to talk to Malin. One of  our bookclub members hated this device, but I quite enjoyed it and didn't feel it was irritating or interrupting the plot but actually provided further hints and leads to the reader.
Ending? Can't tell you, of course, but if you read it come and tell me what you think! Cop out or clever?
There are at least 3 more books available in the series; Summertime Death which I have ready to read, Autumn Killing and Savage Spring.