Tag: come unto these yellow sands

DAY 30. – Book you couldn’t put down.

On By kepagewriterIn 30 Day Book Challenge1 Comment

First of all, I would just like to say that I’m not sure that not being able to put a book down is necessarily a mark of quality. I read The Da Vinci Code really quickly because I wanted to find out what happened but afterwards it felt a little unsatisfying – like snacking rather than having a proper meal. Sometimes books that are a little more difficult to deal with or slower to start are often ultimately more satisfying.

I find when I read detective fiction, they are always quite difficult to put down as there is always a mystery to be solved. Most recently, I read Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon and read it really quickly. There was real depth to this book and I will certainly be reading more by that author. Currently I am reading The Moonstone and that is quite hard to put down and I am certainly curious about what will happen.

Eclectic Reader Challenge – Romantic Suspense – Come Unto These Yellow Sands

On By kepagewriterIn Eclectic Reader Challenge1 Comment

Ok, a confession first, I think. I was not really expecting to like this genre. I thought I’d get it out of the way early on in the Eclectic Reader Challenge, so to speak. I think I have already mentioned my problem with the r-word. I love a thriller or detective novel but I have to admit that I couldn’t see how the addition of the r-word could possibly improve matters. I’m quite a fan of the hard-boiled style of detective fiction and was imagining that this was about as far from that as possible.

It took me ages to decide on a book. Probably because I had

come untoalready decided that I was going to hate it. I wasn’t really expecting to be all that thrilled when I downloaded Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon on to my kindle.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was hooked after the first chapter. In fact, I could not put it down. I was actually disappointed when my less than punctual husband was actually on time for once when he met me in the pub because I would have to stop reading. Both the romance between Swift and Max, and the suspenseful tale of one of Swfit’s student’s possible involvement in a murder were interesting and entertaining. I found I was as concerned about the ups and downs of Max and Swift’s relationship as I was about finding the real killer. I was well and truly hooked

The back stories of Swift’s addiction and the small town homophobia he finds directed at himself added depth to the writing and made this more than just a simple detective story. The characters were convincing and I felt concerned for them – especially Swift whose speciality seemed to be to put himself in danger. Finally, and possibly most importantly, I did not see the ending – or many of the twists and turns – coming.

So thanks to this reading challenge I have discovered a new author who I will definitely read more of and possibly a new genre to explore. I certainly will be more willing to read in this genre now.