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| BiP staff review by Leonie |
The Alexandria Connection
by Adrian d’Hage
Oct 2014 | Michael Joseph | $29.99pb * Available 22nd OCT
The eminently-qualified author Adrian d’Hagé has written a thrilling tale of politics, history and modern terrorism. Archaeologist Aleta Weizman and CIA agent Curtis O’Connor are on the trail of a long-lost papyrus which holds the promise of clues to the source of a new form of energy. Meanwhile, a clandestine group known as Pharos is meeting in Alexandria to bring chaos to international financial markets with a series of spectacular terrorist attacks on the world's fossil-fuel supplies. In Cairo, amid the anarchy of Tahrir Square, thieves break into the famed Museum of Antiquities and steal a priceless artefact: the mask of Tutankhamun. Is the audacious theft linked to the Pharos group? Fast-paced and well-researched, The Alexandria Connection will keep you enthralled from beginning to end. It would make a great Christmas present.
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| BiP staff review by Leonie |
The Long Way Home
by Louise Penny
Sept 2014 | Sphere | $29.99pb
In the previous novel How the Light Gets In, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache was badly injured, both physically and mentally. Both Gamache and his junior officer, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, were attacked by corrupt officers in the Quebec police force. The new novel finds Armand and his wife settled into semi-retirement in the little village of Three Pines, where the tranquillity of life in the peaceful village is helping the healing process. Although Armand is on sick leave when a friend asks him to help to find her missing husband, he and Jean-Guy cannot refuse. They are drawn into the sometimes murky world of the Quebec art scene as they try to track down the missing man. One special treat in Louise Penny’s ‘Gamache’ novels is the way she portrays the Quebec countryside. Even if you have not read Louise Penny’s books before I am sure that you will enjoy this one.
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| BiP staff review by Christine |
Hello from the Gillespies
by Monica McInerney
Oct 2014 | Michael Joseph | $29.99pb
The Gillespie family is like a lot of families – outwardly happy and loving, with well-adjusted children all doing well within their chosen fields. Or are they? For all of her married life Angela has sent a Christmas letter far and wide titled Hello from the Gillespies. Normally cheery and full of good news, this year the words will not flow. There are disquieting issues everywhere she looks: her husband Nick seems distracted and their relationship is strained; her thirty-two-year old twin daughters have both self-destructed in their careers; her daughter Lindy cannot find her niche and is drowning in debt, and her change-of-life young son has just run away from boarding school. Try as she might, Angela just cannot pretend any more... Hello from the Gillespies is an enjoyable light read which Monica McInerney does so well. It is perfect for those times when you just want to relax.
