The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker

Well this book could be best described as a ride, one that takes you all over the place in ways you probably weren't even expecting. With elements of Twin Peaks and Laura Palmer and a down home charm that was too hokeyish to cut with me,by about page 200 I was done, there are 600 plus pages.

However after reading two other books, this one was waving its hands at me to have another go and I'm glad I did because at about the 350 mark the book took off and turned into a very good read indeed.

The books axis is Harry Quebert, a struggling author and Nola Kellergan a 15 year old girl Harry falls in love with, the star crossed loves and their doomed relationship trigger murder, mayhem and slapstick of the sort you don't often see in novels of this sort, in fact there's lots here that you probably won't seen again.

To say that nothing is as it seems and that the book has a creepy feel is an understatement, parts of it are downright murky, almost inexplicable until the final great unravelling which is the best part of this book.

Going from the past to the present works well for this book, as does the minimal character development, what you end up knowing is about all you need to. I still have not figured out why on earth Harry would fall in love with Nola. Somerset, New Hampshire

I have to say that it's settings, places and times and it's social/cultural norms are very well written, one can see why something might have happened or why a character might feel as he/she did.

The book is however rather syrupy and a little hokeyish in places, it's almost a parody of the story itself. There is a fair bit of humour and some of it is laugh out loud, some a little more subtle .

Translated from French, this book is goodish especially as I've said when you get to the 350 mark, I don't however think it is the Book of the Year and I can't imagine thinking that it was so good that I had to read it in one sitting but each to their own.

Worth a read especially if you just want to chill and be distracted. Available everywhere.