Paul Engles

The Missing by Jane Casey

Reviewed on February 16, 2010

The Missing is Jane Casey’s first novel, a thriller set in a Surrey commuter town, narrated by an English teacher at a girl’s private school. Sarah Finch is a thwarted soul hiding a tragic secret. Her brother disappeared from their front garden when she was eight years old and never returned, no body was found. [...]

Orphans of Eldorado, by Milton Hatoum

Reviewed on February 12, 2010

A tiny Roman numeral at the top of the spine announces (in a whisper) that Orphans of Eldorado is the thirteenth instalment of Canongate’s critically acclaimed Myths series. However, it seems that Canongate have relaxed their branding, as Hatoum’s slim novel is issued as a trade paperback, and a colourful one at that. The decision [...]

None of This Ever Really Happened, by Peter Ferry

Reviewed on January 21, 2010

None of This Ever Really Happened was publisposhed in hardback under the title Travel Writing. The new title is fitting for a novel that places the author at the centre of a story that blends fact and personal history with fiction and is also populated by personal friends and famous writers. It must also be [...]

Your Face Tomorrow, by Javier Marias

Reviewed on January 14, 2010

Your Face Tomorrow is a truly remarkable novel, in every way. Granted, some perseverance is needed initially, as the way in which Marias’ narrator allows his story to unfold is unique and startling, but perseverance is swiftly displaced by compulsion, and you are compelled to turn each page not so much by a racy plot [...]

Broken, by Karin Fossum

Reviewed on December 3, 2009

This intriguing, daring novel is marketed as crime fiction (by which I mean it looks and feels as if it belongs in that genre) and is written by one of Norway’s leading crime novelists, but though a pivotal crime is committed, it radically subverts all generic expectations. Broken sets its post-modern stall out early: the [...]