Review: In Bloom, by C.J. Skuse
A pregnant woman, her boyfriend in prison accused of murder, and on the run from police and nosy journalists — well, that’s one way to describe this delightful book. The other way is — a…
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The Georgian crisis deepens
Georgia’s increasingly authoritarian and pro-Russian government has made a major miscalculation. Protests against the fraudulent elections on 26 October were showing signs of dying down. When the Georgian Parliament met — with all the opposition…
World leaders unite in support of workers rights. Not really.
At the recent G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Gilbert F. Houngbo, praised the leaders for recognising the need for social justice and decent work….
Review: Sweetpea, by C.J. Skuse
I’m almost embarrassed to say how much I enjoyed this book. The best way to describe it is that it’s an updated version of American Psycho set in England of today, with a young female…
Review: Prequel, by Rachel Maddow
I used to think that the only really good books about the right-wing, antisemitic, isolationist and racist mass movements in the United States during the 1930s and early 1940s were John Roy Carlson’s “Under Cover”…
Georgia’s democratic future depends on us
More than three weeks have passed since the elections in Georgia and the dust has not yet settled. Though the election results, which showed a clear majority for the pro-Russian ruling party, have now been…
Review: The Wehrwolf, by Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu writes horror as well as espionage thrillers, and this one started with a really good premise: imagine if the Nazis with their “Werwolf” resistance movement at the end of the Second World War…
Review: Shaken, Not Stirred, by Alma Katsu
The final volume of the novella that began with The Spy Who Vanished, this is the weakest of the three. It’s much more of a shoot-em-up, with an unsatisfying ending, in my view.
Review: On Enemy Ground, by Alma Katsu
This novella (or short story) is the sequel to The Spy Who Vanished about a “Russian James Bond”. Not as good as the first, but still well-written and engaging.
The first “MAGA movement”
On the eve of the Second World War, the American journalist John Roy Carlson infiltrated a large number of pro-fascist organisations across the country. The book he wrote, Under Cover, was a best-seller. The inside…