Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: What it is Like to be Duped? Read this Thriller to Find Out

A well crafted thriller that plays little tricks with the reader. But the manipulation really lies in the reader’s oblivion to this fact until halfway through the story.

Nick has been accused of foul play after his wife, Amy goes missing. All clues would appear to lead to an eventual discovery of a body, but no body is found. This confounds the police, particularly Boney who can read situations beyond what is apparent. Something doesn’t add up.

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Diary of a Psychopath

Alternating chapters tells Amy’s story via a secret diary up to the point of her disappearance. Nick apparently has been an unpleasant husband, spending all her money and growing more moody and selfish. The final straw is when Amy discovers Nick is having an affair with the local bimbo.

It would seem Amy had sacrificed her life as a writer and her friends in New York to live in the Deep South where she grows increasingly isolated and disillusioned. The story really drew me in and I enjoyed Flynn’s eloquent writing which underlined the sort of person Amy is. My feelings towards certain characters in the thriller took a 180 degree swing, not only regarding Nick and Amy, but also her ex boyfriend, Desi.

Duping the Reader

I did feel some unnecessary padding towards the final third of the book, where Amy loses money to a couple of tramps, and the ending was slightly unsatisfying, but did not detract from the entertainment value. But in the end, Flynn was making a point. Be careful of who you meet. Not everyone is what they appear to be. Some people make an art of duping. Lies can be wrapped in truth. But the nature of the narcissist will always come out in time.

The Savage Hour by Elaine Proctor: A Slow Paced South African Murder Mystery

Matriarchal figure, Ouma is found drowned in the pool of a small African village and at first everyone thinks it was an accident. But footprints are found near the site as well as mysterious substance beneath the fingernails. Investigator Jannie is sent to solve the mystery and instead opens a can of worms within the locals.

South African Whodunit

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The people are grief stricken after the death of a figurehead who also acted as a doctor, counsellor and psychological anchor. But Ouma’s death is not what it seems. There are hidden grievances, jealousies and desires.

Yes, an interesting sounding story but the fact was, the pace was far too slow. Large chunks of the book simply described the sluggish pace of the community where little happens. It is only at around the final third of the book that anyone gets to examine the mysterious footprints near the body.

Solving the Mystery

There is a lot of grimness and misery. Klein Samson’s love is never requited and instead he yields to hunger of heart and stomach. Ex prostitute, Cheetah is treated with disdain, and then there is the stifling loneliness of Isla. Life in the village is brutal, poverty is crippling and the landscape is cruel. There is little hope. I simply wanted the story to end and found myself resisting the temptation of skipping chapters. Others might have given in. Not a page-turner.

The Wire in the Blood by Val McDermid: Psychologist Task Force versus Serial Killer

Tony Hill is a psychologist who sets a task for his team of budding police officers: to look for a pattern in the mysterious disappearances of young girls across the UK. Officer Shaz is the brightest button of the crew, pitches her theory a high-profile celeb, Jacko Vance is the killer. This propels her colleagues into laughing fits.

Only when she starts probing deeper and making enquiries does something shocking happen that demonstrates Vance’s prowess as a truly chilling killer.

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But with this revelation early in the novel, there are few other surprises in store, other than learning some of Vance’s backstory, which Tony’s team does to get a conviction.

McDermid’s character and community descriptions are vivid, and I love some her turns of phrases, which brought clear imagery. But the plot got tediously hampered by two big-footed plods who decide to freeze the task force on suspicion of murder, simply because the victim ‘knew’ her colleagues. Both plods were so big-footed, they were almost unbelievable.

And so Tony and co have to go it alone in nailing Vance. They complete an in depth profile of their subject to prove he has the disposition of the archetypal serial killer. But this alone is not enough to nail him. Time is running short in finding the location of a young girl Vance has kidnapped.

I didn’t see the relevance of a subplot involving serial arson within an industrial estate. The two stories did not link up at the end. The main plot was rather too indepth in its journey through coppers’ conversing and recapping on events. At times, I wanted the story to move on.

Vance convinced as a psychopath, a twisted mind sheltered behind ‘Teflon’ man, non-stick and too glossy in front of the cameras. But the ending heralded a question mark on whether Tony could get a conviction once they had found the girl in Vance’s house. Since Vance had sexually abused his victim and spat at her, his DNA on her body would have been in no short supply. The story was set in 1997, so DNA science was still around.

Vivid scenes and with some compelling drama, but I did feel the thriller would have been tighter with some scenes cut.

House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill: Gothic Horror of Weird Taxidermy and Creepy Artefacts

Young auctioneer, Catherine is about to start a new life working for Osberne’s Valuers and wants to prove her worth by inspecting the collections of now dead mad genius M H Mason. His niece, Edith, now in her nineties, is the sole heir at the Red House.

But Catherine has a past she wants buried. We glimpse unsettling memories of Ellyll Field, of her childhood, also known as the Hell. And we also learn about the disastrous end to her TV career, due to a bullying boss.

Gothic Horror

But Catherine is about to face her biggest challenge yet. Old Edith is anything but a pushover as she takes Catherine on a nightmare tour of her uncle’s horrible collection of nasty taxidermy and creepy old doll’s faces with eerie gazes. Nevill throws in some sinister imagery of Seventies Britain of child abductions and unsettling lullabies of ice cream vans that leaves an unsavoury taste in the mouth. Catherine soon sees a connection between her childhood ‘hell’ and the Red House.

Nevill has a writing style to rival Stephen King – his descriptions of horrors within the Red House are truly chilling and I relished some of the descriptions. But the climax of the story seemed to go on too long, and Catherine was too much a victim of circumstances, without a will of her own.

It is evident that Catherine undergoes a prolonged mental breakdown in the final scenes, but not knowing what was real left many questions unanswered. I felt the story could have been tightened and scenes cut without affecting the story.

Mystery by Peter Straub: Solid Crime Novel of an Amateur Sleuth against Corruption on Mill Walk

Peter Straub is a slightly off the wall thriller writer. Kobo and Ghost Story are among my favourites. And Mystery doesn’t disappoint – one third of the Trilogy about the Blue Rose murders. This thriller could stand on its own.

Sleuth Mystery

A polished, if a little complex plot, Mystery is worth sticking with and remembering the numerous characters. The tale begins with young Tom who, after a near death accident that renders him in a wheelchair for months, takes an interest in the crimes of Mill Walk, a small Caribbean island where he lives.

But his grandfather, Glen doesn’t take to Tom’s pastime too warmly, and neither does other influential figures of the island, namely his doctor. But this doesn’t stop sleuth Tom, who collects paper clippings and interviews of the underdogs of the island.

He learns how Magnate family, the Redwings virtually own the island and keep the police force and officials in their pockets. Glen wastes no time in sending Tom to Eagle Lake on the mainland to get him out of the way.

But this doesn’t stop Tom’s snooping, and along with the enigmatic hermit, Von Heilitz uncovers further corruption on the island. Tom grows very unpopular with the Redwings, who also take vacations on Eagle Lake, (not least because of love interest’s Sarah’ preference for Tom rather than a betrothed to a Redwing).

Tom’s passion for Sarah felt a little too textbook to be convincing. Early in the story, when Tom’s lower body is swathed in plaster after his near-fatal traffic accident, he fears he had been castrated. For months, he lived with the secret fear. But didn’t react in the cathartic way I had expected when discovering he had not been castrated after all. This robotic behavior continues on-and-off throughout the story.

I grew fond of the downtrodden nurses and underdogs of Mill Walk who were incorruptible. The neighborhoods of the island created a sense of a imperfect yet colorful society that was at times alluring.

Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly: Flaky Family and a Female Psychopath Readable Thriller

Natty, perfectionist and workaholic owns a hotel owner in Windermere along with her husband Sean, when their daughter Felicity is taken to hospital to have her appendix out. And in steps old university friend, Eve to save the day and run the business while Natty is tending to her daughter.

Readable thriller

That’s when Eve sets to work seducing Natty’s husband by giving him a blowjob to win his heart. And it seemed, he had fallen heavily for this creepy usurper of their 16 old family home. From that point, I couldn’t care for his fate as he didn’t feel real.

Daly has an easy to read writing style that is a irresistible, even when some of the events left me dissatisfied. Natty’s silly decision to lie to the police about an altercation in the car park despite it all being caught on camera for instance. What was the point of lying? And then not being discrete enough about her secret enquiries about Eve’s past. Natty seemed to have chucked in logic for total meltdown.

Natty’s two daughters seem to accept Eve too readily despite Eve’s creepy behavior and Sean grew ever more oblivious to Eve’s scheming. Incredibly, the two daughters seem to accept Eve’s presence in the house whilst their mother has gone missing. The elder, Alice even hugs Eve when Alice's poor mother was trying to find the truth about Eve. Surely the daughters would form a united front against this usurper of their home?

Natty’s dad was the most likable character of the story, having more sense than the rest of them put together despite boozing and smoking weed. Joanne, the copper assigned to investigate also had a cool head, and could have saved a lot of grief if Natty had trusted her from the start.

Eve reminded me of Amy from Gone Girl, only Flynn’s female psychopath was a little more believable. Eve had similar thoughts as Amy about acting like the ‘cool girl’, acting out the ideal girlfriend that every fella wants.

Overplayed Pop Songs I Never Want to Hear Again: Golden Oldies that have Gone Mouldy

Why do radio stations play the same one-hundred or so oldies over and over when there are so many lovely classics that hardly get an air play? Here is a list of old pop songs I would happy never have to hear again for my entire lifetime: the same chords, repetitive, cheesy, whatever. I don’t hate them, I simply don’t want to hear them anymore.

Anything by Spandau Ballet

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Gold (forever played in events involving gold, Olympics), True, I’ll Fly for You, to Cut a Long Story Short, Communication, Lifeline, yes, even Through the Barricades. Their tunes do the opposite to making the hairs stand on the back of my neck. Spandau’s make the hairs on the back of my neck flatten right down.

Banshee Wails to Chuck in the Slush

Not so much overplayed, I simply don't want to hear them anymore: Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat, Seven Days by Craig David, Dry your Eyes by The Streets, Earth Song by Michael Jackson, Mull of Kintyre by Wings, You’re Beautiful by James Blunt.

Eighties Chunks

Most songs by ABC, Duran Duran, the Human League, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and mixes by Stock, Aitken and Waterman.

Most Songs by Dire Straits Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life, Money for Nothing, Tunnel of Love, Private Investigations, Brothers in Arms. Huge in the eighties, what was the fuss all about?

Eighties Bowie. His earlier stuff was edgier. Shame he opted for snappy suits and Tin Machine with tinny melodies: Let’s Dance, Modern Love, China Girl. After the first bar, time to turn that dial.

Songs that Have Bent my Ears One Time Too Many

Wake me Up Before You Go Go by Wham, Shiny Happy People by REM, Maneater by Hall and Oates, Park Life by Blur, Come On Eileen, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Tainted Love by Soft Cell, Love Shack by B52s, (Is this the Way to) Amarillo by Tony Christie, most songs by Westlife (Living without Wings), Angels by Robbie Williams, Every Breath You Take by the Police, The Final Countdown by Europe.

And Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. Yes, it has a loyal following with Seventies luvvies, but the middle bit drones on and on and on....and on...and on.

Songs that Are Simply Over Played

Shame I have to include these as they are not bad songs, just overplayed by jocks who cannot delve deeper into the album from whence they came: Hotel California by the Eagles, The Joker by Steve Miller Band, Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, Walk This Way by Aerosmith, Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, Band of Gold by Freda Payne, Boys of Summer Don Henley, Riders on the Storm by the Doors and others I have missed, no doubt.

Where has all the Non Padded Bras Gone? Invasion of the Padded Cups

Shops stocking lingerie seem to be sending the message that all women want bigger boobs. Er, no. Some women simply want a bra that offers support and comfort. What do I see when I venture into the high street shop stocking lingerie? Racks and racks of padded bras. No non-padded bras to be seen.

Doreen Bra non padded
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Bras with a Padded Big Cup

I decided to try George at Asda the other day to be confronted with further racks of padded bras, every colour, support and style. I couldn’t find a normal bra anywhere. Yes, I could find sports bras, but you have to be a contortionist to get them on), and I could find kid’s bras (some of these were padded! Padded bras for twelve-year-olds, I ask you). But no other choice of bra.

When I asked the shop assistant where I could find a non padded bra for adults, she said the padded bras were what the ‘younger generation’ wanted.

I see.

So us over-thirties don’t count, in the consumer demographic? So George only cater for the teenie chavs who want a 34 inch Zbust? Shame on you, Asda!

Where to Get Non Padded Bras

The terrible fact is, it seems all the other supermarkets are up to the same trick! Not only Adsa, but Tesco, Primark and other high street fashion shops. They are catering mostly for the female consumer who wants a breast augmentation. This is a terrible message to send the average female consumer who already has image hangups.

The message I would like to send to George at Asda and co, is: not all women want to look like Jodie Marsh! I like how I look and most women do too. They want an ordinary bra that offers support, comfort and most of all, retain the body image nature gave us.

Where to Find Non Padded Brazier

Bras to Enlarge the Cup

In the quest for the elusive non padded bra, I went to Debenhams. They stocked a couple of Doreen bras, which looked the ticket, but they were £30 each! I went into Co-op and found the same deal. Once you could find a couple of non padded bras quite cheaply, but not anymore. No pad, no bra.

I had to go online to buy my non padded bras, and they were £15 a pair cheaper than in Debenhams. Do the shops not realise, that boobs without proper support can cause back trouble? Maternity units in hospitals will testify. Some women don’t like having big boobs, and they don’t like having no support in the chest area either. I think fake boobs out of proportion to the body looks ugly.

But I found even big-cupped bras were padded. Is no boob big enough not to warrant a padded bra?

I went into the average market town on a quest for an ordinary non padded bra with support non-wired. I would have thought most women could find such an essential item like as a pair of comfy socks or a sun hat. But no pad, no bra.

I sincerely hope this exclusive choice of padded bras in shops will be gone. Begone along with the horrible message this is sending the female consumer. Not all of us want huge tits! Bring back the non padded bra!

Overrated Chocolate Bars: Review from a Chocolate Lover

Has the taste of chocolate in the UK chocolate bar grown increasingly insipid? I used to like the chocolate bars displayed on the shop counters: Kit Kat, Twix, Minstrels and so forth, but nowadays, I eat them for the sugar rush, floundering for the chocolate flavor, then immediately regret eating them for the disappointment.

Has the Recipe of Chocolate Bars Changed?

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These high street chocolate bars taste more like sweet milk, bland. And as for the ‘layer’ of chocolate over the nougat or biscuit, about as thick as one micron, could you really technically call it a ‘chocolate’ bar? More like mostly-milk-sugar-biscuit with one milligram of chocolate included.

I can still taste other foods like I used to, but now find myself opting for the posh chocs like Thornton’s, (I luv them Sevilles)  Green & Blacks or Marks & Spencer’s selection rather than touch the bars on offer at the supermarket counter. But of the bad bunch, Cadbury’s are still the best.

Milk chocolate remains my favourite. But I feel chocolate really comes into its own when combined with another ingredient like hazelnuts, orange or a little biscuit. Similarly, beef isn’t so interesting on its own; it needs a little mustard or horseradish sauce to bring it out. So what is going on with the chocolate bar in supermarkets with the nuts, biscuit and caramel? They don’t have much chocolaty taste, and like they certainly don't taste like they used to.

Here’s my List of Overrated Chocolate Bars in the UK.

Bounty Bar: chocolate over coconut flakes that loses flavor so quickly, it feels more like flaked skin caught between the teeth. Wait a minute, perhaps I had just chewed a fingernail!

Minstrels: The shells are more brittle than flaked bone and the chocolate taste sought after is washed away quicker than shit in a rainstorm.

No Chocolate Flavor

Snickers: The Marathon of olde. Peanuts glued together with a brown paste that sticks to your teeth along with a broken nut or two – or was that a filling that just came out? Never mind, just wash it down with hot tea then let the plaque commence!

Ditto for Lion Bar, Picnic, Star Bar, Toffee Crisp, Topic and Double Decker only with various blends of nougat, rice crispies, nuts, biscuit and bits of dried fruit designed to snuggle into every crevasse of your mouth. I wouldn’t mind this so much, if I didn’t mourn for the chocolate taste. Where did the chocolate go? Nothing but a sweet sludge on the tongue!

Maltesers: An inferior version of the Crunchie, without any chocolate flavour only a gluey maltcomb centre that sticks around longer than a fart smell in a lift.

Revels: Once my childhood favourite, but now, is a parody of itself. Once, the centres were the whole point of Revels. The orange centre was once the best. Now it is an overstatement with a chemical aftertaste. Not a good combination with that gluey maltcomb, bits of nut and dried fruit. And there are hardly any in a packet! What a swizz! Shame on you, Revels!

Twix: Come on, it’s not a chocolate bar, it’s 99.99999% biscuit and caramel, and 0.00000001% chocolate. No chocolate flavour to speak of, only very bland biscuit and an overly-sweet caramel. Ditto for Breakaway and Penguin,

Kit Kat: See above, only with a slightly thicker chocolate coating. Nice if you happen to get a rogue one that has no biscuit, only choc.

Milky Way: Texture like polystyrene that slides between your teeth, leaving a weird aftertaste. Good for wallpapering perhaps.

Smarties: Yes, the orange ones used to taste the best, but not anymore. The shells seem more brittle than of old and the chocolate tastes like the Easter egg chocolate that is 'flavored' rather than real chocolate.

Bournville: Please, it’s just medicine for upping your iron count, isn’t it? At least this one hasn’t changed in decades. But then, who cares?

Mars: Toffee with that Milky Way polystyrene that turns to sludge in your trap. Has a loyal following but I no-like. Best stick it in fried breadcrumbs like they do up North or feed it to the pigeons.

Yorkie: Not chocolaty. Just very sweet, very brown and very chunky. Like a Chippendale without the brawn.

Galaxy: Silky, melting, like their seductive adverts but leaving an insipid, milky taste. Shame. The Galaxy caramel is simply....sickly. Ditto for Rolos and chocolate eggs (filled I believe with white and yellow icing sugar).

Milky Bar: Revoltingly sweet and milky. Well, it is a milky bar after all. But it’s not white chocolate. It’s just....well white – or rather an off-white buff. A buff ‘chocolate’ bar without the chocolate.

The Best Chocolates out of a Bad Bunch

Aero, Wispa, chocolate buttons, Ripple, Flake, Drifters and Crunchie (although the honeycomb centre sticks like glue). At least they have some flavor of chocolate that lingers longer than most.

The Truth About Chocolate Bars

It seems the consumer can be fooled by adverts: the suggestion, the colour of the wrapper, the appearance of the bar, the product description and worst of all, the ‘retro bar’ label. It’s been there since my childhood, therefore it is an old favorite. Only, it isn't anymore. The recipe has changed.

But let’s take all that away. The taste buds have the last say. Chocolate bars have changed in my opinion and I have heeded my taste buds. I rarely buy those chocs from the supermarket like I used to. I have decided to go upmarket. Maybe it is because I am a chocolate lover that I have decided to give up on the chocolate bar found on the supermarket counters.