Surreal

Reading Sonya Hartnett's Surrender was a real eye-opening experience. This book may not appeal to everyone coz it isn't an easy read, but at the heart of the story is an intriguing protagonist whose state of mind is under constant attack and the reader is never certain whether to believe him. I certainly had a hard time reading this novel but I'm glad I did coz it gave me the opportunity to see things in a different perspective, a complex and complicated state of mind, not entirely sound, but not unsound too. Hope you know what I mean. At every stage of the story you are never certain of the reality that is happening. Surrender by the way is the name of the dog of the protagonist, Gabriel. If you are looking for a challenging read, this is one title you should have a go at.

Something Different

I read this book called Zoo, by Graham Marks who happens to be married to another author called Nadia Marks, who by the way, as i meander along, wrote a chick-lit title Bitter Sweet. The interesting things about Zoo is that the author took the trouble to go to US to do his research even though he is British. Probably not a new concept but when i read the novel it didn't come as coming from a British author as there was a great deal of American in it.
The story starts with a kidnapping of a boy called Cam but as he soon discovers, the kidnapping was the real beginning of his life for he discovers horrific details of how he came about, about his life which has been a lie. Almost akin to Maximum Ride by James Patterson but different in many ways. I don't like giving the story away but it was gripping and it makes you think that about the saying that things are not what they seem. Many things are a facade and the true picture manifests when the person or thing or situation is under stress.