Take your pick from the week's best reads with the Mirror Book Club. This week author Adrienne Brodeur's beautifully written account of a startling and tumultuous life is featured.
We also have a masterpiece of a thriller from Liz Moore while Rosamund Lupton returns with a story of an armed siege in sleepy Somerset.
And last - but by no means least - iconic horror master Stephen King returns with a warm-hearted novella.
Wild Game, by Adrienne Brodeur
Chatto & Windus, £16.99
Adrienne Brodeur was 14 when her mum Malabar confided in her that she had embarked on an affair with her second husband’s best friend Ben. She felt privileged to become her mother’s confidante and conspired to help the long-running affair run smoothly. But as Adrienne grows older, she realises her mum never had her best interests at heart.
Then Malabar hints that she would love Ben to have a grandchild, which results in Adrienne marrying Ben’s son.
But as her mental health begins to suffer, Adrienne realises she needs to break free of her mother’s influence. Set against the glamorous backdrop of Cape Cod, this is a fascinating, beautifully written account of a startling and tumultuous life.
BY CHARLOTTE HEATHCOTE
Three Hours, by Rosamund Lupton
Viking, £14.99
Armed gunmen take a school in Somerset hostage. They shoot the headmaster and threaten to kill students if police set foot in the building.
In the three hours that follow, police race to find out what the gunmen want before they kill everyone. Rolling news coverage begins and the students’ parents are frantic with worry.
Setting this gripping story over three terrifying hours creates extraordinary tension.
By ELIZABETH ARCHER
Long Bright River, by Liz Moore
Hutchinson, £12.99
The US is in the grip of an opioid crisis and every time police officer Mickey Fitzpatrick is called to deal with an overdose, she fears she will find her younger sister, a sex worker and addict, dead. So when Mickey realises a killer is preying on street women, she is determined to track him down. This is a thrilling and heartbreaking exploration of the strain the opioid crisis puts on families. A masterpiece.
BY JON COATES
Elevation, by Stephen King
Hodder, £7.99
The 72-year-old supernatural fiction legend is on outstanding form at
the moment – as this warm-hearted novella proves.
When Scott, 42, weighs himself, his scales show he is getting lighter and lighter – but he doesn’t look like he has lost weight, and anything he touches becomes weightless.
This won’t end well for Scott but he spends the time he has left using his strange powers to help a lesbian couple ostracised by the local community.
BY JAKE KERRIDGE
Join the Mirror Book Club!
Each month we choose a paperback we think you’ll enjoy, either fiction or non-fiction. When you’ve read it, we’d love you to join our Facebook group and tell us what you thought, good or bad.
- Current Mirror Book Club read: Someone Like Me, by MR Carey
