VALPOT'S BOOK PLEDGE 51 TO 55

51: For One day More
This book did really well - a bestseller I think - from a very successful writer (Mitch Albom). I have to ask: why? The protagonist's marriage has failed, he has turned to drink, his family disowning him (not even inviting him to his daughter's wedding), and he almost had a baseball career but quits his dull job, and is now considering killing himself. His childhood was spent trying to please his father (who deserted his mother for another woman) and taking his mother for granted, which he now regrets as she is dead. On the way to his old family home to kill himself, he is involved in an accident. A little dazed he staggers on towards his old own where he meets his mother,and gets to spend a day with her. The day is interspersed with flashbacks of his childhood plus a new appreciation for his mother, before he is returned to life by the medics, no longer suicidal but anxious to make amends with his daughter and estranged wife. Well, apart from the unoriginal story line, the uninteresting glimpses of childhood (dull and lacking in insight), and the cliched characters - it's probably wouldn't be bad if it had anything else. Which it doesn't (the writing is polished enough, though the language unexciting). So - don't bother.
Rating: Darren Shan wannabe

52. The Prestige
I enjoyed this book though I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't seen the film first. Well written, characters well drawn, and interesting idea. I did think the plot was a little thin for a full length novel - but if I hadn't known what was going on (more of less), I might have found it more intriguing.
Rating: Curate's Egg (Good in spots).

53. The Coffin Dancer
I enjoyed this a lot. I read it before I read The Bone Collector (first in the series, excellent film made) but not having read the first did not impair my enjoyment. Exciting thriller, interesting forensics, and good characters. Jeffrey Deaver does go in for a lot of twists at the end of his books, perhaps one too many but very well done here.
Rating: Not Bad

54. Left to Tell
True story of a Tutsi woman surviving the holocaust by hiding in a pastor's tiny bathroom with 18 other women and trusting in God. Her parents sounded wonderful saintly people, who were brutally murdered, as were two of her three brothers. An upsetting read, especially reading the accounts of her family's murders, but it shows how quickly people can descend into evil killing gangs. Imaculee, the author, now works for the UN trying to promote forgiveness and peace in Rwanda. It's remarkable how she can forgive the killers, who were once family friends, neighbours or locals whom her parents had helped.
Rating: Not for the faint hearted

55. Something Wicked This Way Comes
I enjoyed this atmospheric tale by Ray Bradbury of the evil circus that comes to town, although too much time is spent by the father agonising over his age without resolving it totally.
Rating: Not Bad