Deborah Kellaway

Advantages: An interesting concept, strangely adictive writing style
Disadvantages: A lead character you will probably end up hating

...I seem to quite regularly fall foul of the book shelves in Tesco and Sainsbury during a perfectly normal shopping trip. I've found that around 95% of the time I find books and subsequently authors I really like in these situations. It was during one of these normal, everyday trips that I came across Who Moved My Blackberry™? The yellow cover drew me to it and the testimonies splattered all over the cover made me curious and so for the princely sum of £3.93 I decided to take a gamble on it. It focuses on a year in the life of A&B's Marketing director, Martin Lukes who is also the books co author. In fact Lukes himself is a creation of Financial Times columnists Lucy Kellaway, the books other joint author. At the start of the book Lukes is looking to move on and a job at Sainsbury's looks the ideal opportunity for him. When that falls... Read review

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Advantages: great book to read on holiday
Disadvantages: hard to put down

...Name of Book The Hostage by Susan Wiggs Fiction or non-fiction? Fiction Type of book Historical romance set in the 19th century Chicago fire on October 8th 1871. Described on the back of the book as "one small spark ignites the entire city of Chicago, sending its residents into panic but amid the chaos, a chance encounter leads to an unexpected passion". Storyline Deborah Sinclair, an heiress to her wealthy father, is determined to refuse the high-class society marriage he has arranged for her. She is unaware of the fire sweeping towards them but a stranger appears and as fire consumes the elegant mansion she calls home, she is taken hostage, by Tom Silver in a revenge attack on her father. Characters Deborah Sinclair - a rich heiress to her father's fortune, she is in the beginning of the book shown to be a fairly selfish person... Read review

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Advantages: readable, mysterious, interesting plot
Disadvantages: no sympathy for main character

.... The accused is China, an old roommate of Deborah's from California, who was in Guernsey accompanying her brother on a business trip. The Characters: DI Lynley and DS Havers get a break in this novel. The investigation is conducted by the St. Jameses--primarily Deborah. This is where I think the author faltered. While they make wonderful peripheral characters in her other books, neither Simon nor Deborah is a strong enough character to hold the novel together. Both seem bogged down by their own pettiness and character flaws. As a reader, I could never trust that the investigation was in capable hands (as I do with Lynley and Havers). The Assessment: I was glad to read the novel. It was a great read, and I enjoyed it immensely. I would recommend it, but not as strongly as I would several other books by the same author.... Read review

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