Book Review – “The Trial” by Rob Rinder

Absolutely Brilliant! They were the first words that came to mind when I finished reading “The Trial” by Rob Rinder yesterday, having commenced it last weekend. From the very first page until the last, the author keeps you enthralled.

Adam Green, a pupil barrister at the Stag Court Chambers in central London, desperately attempts to gain favour with his obnoxious master, KC Jonathan Taylor-Cameron, by working all the hours the God sends in defending petty criminal cases, whilst at the same time doing all the leg work for the defence cases of a high-profile murder, as well as an alleged fraud. The latter of these two, if successful, could see his boss earn a rather substantially large pay-out.

“The Trial” is a fast paced, highly entertaining, murder mystery, with many twists and turns and with an unexpected ending, that you definitely don’t see coming!

To lighten the tension, Adam’s mum’s frequent telephone calls do bring a smile, if not a burst of laughter from time to time. (I have to mention that Adam’s mum very much reminds me of the character ‘Joyce’ in Richard Osman’s “Thursday Murder Club” series – a must read if anyone hasn’t read them yet).

The nice thing about trainee barrister Adam Green is that he stops at nothing to find justice for their client, Jimmy Knight, who allegedly kills the hero senior police officer Grant Cliveden. The case becomes a personal quest, when aspects of it trigger some suppressed family memories.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I am looking forward to reading the sequel: “The Suspect”.

5 Stars is well-deserved.

RLB – Tomewriter

Book Review: “Tidelines” by Sarah Sasson

“Tidelines” is a story of ‘easy’ reading – a tale of the closeness of siblings growing up amidst a wonderful Australian backdrop.

The scenery ‘painted’ by the narrative brought back some memorable images in my own mind of places I had known and loved. It was, for me, a nostalgic experience, in more ways than one.

The principle character in the story is a young woman “Grub” Donohue, and it is she who recounts the tale. She describes the story of her older brother, Elijah, and of friends who interact with them along their life journey from adolescence to adulthood. A journey which is filled with a full spectrum of emotions from the pleasures of true joy, to the immense sorrow of grief.

During adulthood, “Grub” trains as a doctor in the hope of curing and saving lives; but the stresses of the job pushes her to the ‘safer’ path of research, where the growth of nerve cells in culture, the study of genetics, DNA, molecular structures, amongst other scientific topics, were a ‘safer’ option.

All of which left me far behind as I read about them, except that they triggered a memory from the past. It related to my cousin, Ron – a young man with a brilliant scientific and mathematical mind – who, one day, as we sat around a table in a pub in Hampstead, North London, came up with a theory about our universe. With tongue-in-cheek he quoted: “We imagine ourselves to be a sophisticated society living on an advanced planet, but what if our entire universe was only just one small molecule in the leg of a wooden chair!”

It does make you think – doesn’t it?

Whilst I’m on the subject of Ron, I would mention a small injustice that was done to him.

Once again, it is Sarah Sasson’s story which sparked the thought. In the book, “Grub”, who having produced some first-class research, which she places on hold due to some emotional issues, learns that her work has been published, with no mention of her name in the scientific journal, and the credit is taken by one of her colleagues.

In the 1970s whilst Ron was at Caius College, Cambridge doing a PhD in mathematics, he and a couple of mates put their heads together to create an Information Technology company. I remember Ron enthusiastically telling me all about the work they were carrying out. It had become so intense, that he abandoned his studies so he could concentrate on the project full time. By the 1980s he was travelling weekly from London to New York to Rotterdam and back as they developed and founded the company. Today, it is one of the largest IT companies in the world, yet when you ‘Google’ the names of the founders, Ron isn’t mentioned. I expect if my cousin hadn’t died of a massive heart-attack in September 1987, aged 36, then he’d be up there with them. I guess we’ll never know.

Anyway, moving back to “Tideline’s”, the book is well-written and a page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, and highly recommend it.

A 5-star rating is warranted.

RLB – Tomewriter