Tag: Reading Challenges

#BlogTour #BookReview #Ad Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow

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Dead of Night final bannerWelcome to the final stop on the blog tour for wartime thriller, Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow. My thanks to Jess at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Headline for my review copy. If you’ve been keeping up with the posts by the other bloggers taking part in the tour, you’ll be aware of the praise heaped on the book so far: ‘A gripping page turning thriller‘, ‘An absolute must-read for fans of historical crime fiction‘ and ‘a story full of intrigue, tension and danger‘

Dead of NightAbout the Book

BERLIN. JANUARY 1941. After Germany’s invasion of Poland, the world is holding its breath and hoping for peace. At home, the Nazi Party’s grip on power is absolute.

One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife return from an evening mingling with their fellow Nazis at the concert hall. By the time the sun rises, the doctor will be lying lifeless in a pool of blood.

Was it murder or suicide? Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is told that under no circumstances should he conduct an investigation. The doctor’s widow, however, is convinced her husband was the target of a brutal hit. But why would anyone murder an apparently obscure doctor? Compelled to dig deeper, Schenke learns of the mysterious death of a child. The cases seem unconnected, but chilling links soon begin to emerge that point to a terrifying secret.

Even in times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places in hell no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive . . .

Format: Hardback (432 pages)           Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 2nd February 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

Find Dead of Night on Goodreads

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My Review

Being an avid reader of wartime thrillers I’m not quite sure how I managed to miss Blackout, the first book in the series, when it was published in 2020. I shall certainly be snapping up a copy at some point as, although Dead of Night can definitely be read as a standalone, there are lots of things I’d love to know more about, especially the book’s protagonist, Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke. For example, how Schenke’s relationship with Karin Canaris came about and his involvement with Ruth, a young Jewish woman, who seemingly played a pivotal role in events in the previous book.

Most of us, I imagine, are aware of the vile actions of the Nazi regime towards Jewish people but perhaps less so about the atrocities committed against other sections of the population in pursuit of Hitler’s warped and perverted ideology. (As the author notes, sometimes fiction can do a better job of shedding a light on such things than ‘dry tomes of history’.) It’s just such an atrocity that Schenke uncovers in the course of his investigation. But is it an act of personal revenge or something more sinister?

I thought Schenke was a brilliant character. He has a strong sense of justice and isn’t afraid to bend the rules if he believes it is right. It places him in all sorts of risky situations, even threatening the safety of those close to him, something that is never far from his mind. Bringing criminals to justice and forcing them to face the consequences of their actions is what he believes in, it’s what drives him but sometimes, perhaps, even he has to face the possibility he hasn’t the power to do so – at least not yet.  He tries to comfort himself with the thought, ‘There will be a reckoning for the evil that is being done, but I fear that won’t come for some time. Months . . . years . . . who can say? In which case, it is our duty to survive and bear witness.’

Writing about the inspiration for Dead of Night, Simon Scarrow describes it as being the story of how ‘an extreme ideology prepares the ground for unthinkable and unconscionable actions’. I expect we can all think of contemporary parallels. Navigating such a situation while keeping his integrity intact is the dilemma Schenke faces. He’s a patriot but one who has become ashamed of what his country is doing. It’s these difficult choices that make the book so powerful, exposing as it does some of the darkest deeds of the 20th century. 

Dead of Night is a skilfully crafted, completely engrossing historical thriller that will delight fans of the genre. I really hope there will be more books in the series.

In three words: Compelling, assured, chilling

Try something similar: The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr

Simon ScarrowAbout the Author

Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author with several million copies of his books sold worldwide. After a childhood spent travelling the world, he pursued his great love of history as a teacher, before becoming a full-time writer. Best known for his Roman adventure stories, Simon took to writing WW2 thrillers, and last year Blackout set in WW2 Berlin, was chosen as a Richard and Judy Book Blub pick.

His Roman soldier heroes Cato and Macro made their debut in 2000 in Under the Eagle and have subsequently appeared in many bestsellers in the Eagles of the Empire series, including Centurion, Invictus and Day of the Caesars. Many of the series have been Sunday Times bestsellers. (Photo: Twitter profile)

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#BookReview The Echo Chamber by John Boyne

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The Echo ChamberAbout the Book

What a thing of wonder a mobile phone is. Six ounces of metal, glass and plastic, fashioned into a sleek, shiny, precious object. At once a gateway to other worlds – and a treacherous weapon in the hands of the unwary.

The Cleverley family live a gilded life, little realising how precarious their privilege is, just one tweet away from disaster. They are various degrees of catastrophe waiting to happen.

Together they will go on a journey of discovery through the jungle of the modern living, where carefully curated reputations can be destroyed in an instant. Along the way, they will learn how volatile, how outraged, how unforgiving the world can be when you step from the prescribed path.

Format: Paperback (528 pages)    Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 12th May 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find The Echo Chamber on Goodreads

Purchase links
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Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

John Boyne is one of the authors on my list for my Backlist Burrow reading challenge so it was serendipitous that The Echo Chamber was the book chosen for discussion at my book club this month. As is often the case, the book divided opinion with some club members finding it lacking in nuance or simply unable to put up with the unlikeable characters. However, quite a few of us – including myself – found it hilarious and very enjoyable.

I don’t believe The Echo Chamber is intended to be an in-depth exploration of the impact of social media. To me, it’s a satire in which the author pokes fun at various aspects of the modern age such as the rise of social media influencers, the scourge of online trolling and our growing dependence on electronic devices. It can also be seen as his response to the abuse he himself suffered on social media which saw him leave Twitter.  The book’s epigraph includes this quote by John Ronson from his book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. ‘The snowflake never needs to feel responsible for the avalanche’.

To my mind, the members of the Cleverley family are clearly designed to be caricatures representing the worst of modern day society.  George, the head of the family, is a popular TV personality – or in his own words ‘a national treasure’. Although he believes himself to be liberal-minded he gets into a series of scrapes through his use of distinctly non-PC language on Twitter and in a broadcast interview.

George’s wife, Beverley is a celebrated – or so she would like to think – author of romantic fiction who employs a ghost to do the hard work of actually writing her books. She gets some of the funniest lines in the book. For example, she proudly recalls one of  her readers commenting on a recent book, ‘She said it reminded her of Wolf Hall. Just without all the boring historical bits’.

George and Beverley’s daughter, Elizabeth represents the nasty side of social media. She is addicted to her phone, suffers panic attacks when separated from it and is intent on increasing her followers on Twitter by any means possible.  At one point, whilst taking a break from trolling celebrities, she even engages in an argument with herself on Twitter.  What may be the greatest moment of her life comes when she gains that elusive blue tick on her Twitter account but disappointment soon follows.

My favourite character was the Cleverley’s eldest son, Nelson, who finds it easier to interact with other people when dressed in a uniform. His experiment with speed dating is one of the funniest scenes in the book. Other memorable characters are Pylyp, a Ukranian dancer, and his pet tortoise named after a Ukranian folk hero.

Each member of the family eventually finds themselves in hot water in a variety of bizarre ways and all of them are brought down to earth with a bump.

The Echo Chamber is certainly very different from the only other book I’ve read by John Boyne, All The Broken Places, although a glance at his backlist demonstrates the great variety in his writing. It’s rare a book makes me laugh out loud but The Echo Chamber did. In fact, I like to imagine John Boyne chuckling away to himself whilst writing certain scenes.  At over 500 pages, I did feel it ran out of steam a bit towards the end but it’s wickedly funny – with the emphasis on  ‘wicked’.

In three words: Funny, entertaining, satirical

John BoyneAbout the Author

John Boyne is the author of thirteen novels for adults, six for younger readers and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theatre, ballet and opera. His many international bestsellers include The Heart’s Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky. He has won three Irish Book Awards, along with a host of other international literary prizes. His novels are published in over fifty languages. (Photo: Goodreads author page)

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