Dan Brown's back; this month's popular fiction: PAPER HEART by Cecelia Ahern, THE LONG SHOE by Bob Mortimer, THE SECRET OF SECRETS by Dan Brown
By WENDY HOLDEN
Published: | Updated:
Paper Heart is available now from the Mail Bookshop
Pip’s a beautiful sandwich- maker in a petrol station in rural Ireland. It attracts an amazing number of wealthy, clever and handsome men, all keen on Pip.
Respectively, they are Sammy, sinister son of the local quarry-owner; Io, a mysterious scientist-cum-pilot, and Jamie, father of Pip’s daughter Bella.
It was a teenage pregnancy and the couple were brutally divided by Pip’s controlling mother Josephine.
Josephine’s grip on Pip echoes the grip on the community of the dangerous and destructive quarry. Can everyone break free and find happiness?
While the plot and characters can feel a bit kitchen-sink, Ahern’s a wonderfully emotional writer and sweeps you along.
The Long Shoe is available now from the Mail Bookshop
The surreal urban landscape is Mortimer’s great theme; he sees the strange in what seems ordinary. He writes brilliantly about buildings, which become characters in themselves.
Matt’s an unassuming South London bathroom salesman who loses first his job, then his girlfriend. But has Harriet really left, or been kidnapped?
Matt suspects the latter after he spots her on security TV in Satsuma Heights, the posh flat development in which he is unexpectedly offered a home.
His neighbours are a fat gangster and a malign yoga teacher; do either of them know where Harriet is? The supporting cast includes flirty housewife Carol and an excellent talking cat. A thoughtful, good-natured comedy.
The Secret of Secrets is available now from the Mail Bookshop
It’s hard to sum up this 139-chapter, near 700-page behemoth, but I’ll do my best. Dishy Prof (and Brown regular) Robert Langdon is in Prague with gorgeous, clever Dr Katherine Solomon.
An expert in wider consciousness, she’s written a book on it and is giving a lecture. Meanwhile, amid the cobbled passages and soaring spires, a clay-covered monster called The Golem stalks.
After the lecture, it all kicks off. Katherine and Langdon find themselves uncovering a secret lab, setting fire to an ancient library, fleeing the US Embassy and tangling with the secret police of more than one continent.
Someone high-up does not want Katherine’s book published but why? I’m still not sure, but I enjoyed the Gothic atmosphere, luxurious settings and energy of it all.
Daily Mail
