Lifeguard by James Patterson & Andrew Gross

Everything is going right for lifeguard Ned Kelly. He is involved with Tess, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and what's more, a million dollars is within touching distance; his share of the score for the robbery of some world-class art. All he has to do is trigger alarms to throw the cops off the scent. But when Tess is brutally murdered and the others involved in the robbery are massacred, Ned is the prime suspect. He has been set up...

It was alright and quite a quick read. Loulou says James Patterson's book s are usually quite good and I'll give him another read before disagreeing altogether. This isn't the sort of book I usually read, now I remember why, but it was part of my book club selection and I'm open to pretty much reading anything with words ;) It had some fairly predictable bits and some that were just truly unbelievable. It's probably best recommended as a quick holiday read to keep you busy while lazing in the sun!

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

A Special Relationship & Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy

Sally Goodchild, a thirty-seven-year-old American journalist, suddenly finds herself pregnant and married to an English foreign correspondent, Tony Hobbs, whom she met while they were both on assignment in Cairo. From the outset Sally's relationship with both Tony and London is an uneasy one - as she finds her husband and his city to be far more foreign than imagined. But her problems soon turn to nightmares when she discovers that everything can be taken down and used against you.

I quite enjoyed it. It is one of two Douglas Kennedy books we have at Book Club which initially I avoided since they appeared "way to girlie" from me ... Eventually, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give his The Pursuit of Happiness a read.

Manhattan, Thanksgiving Eve 1945. War is over and Eric Smythe's party is swinging. Everyone is there, including his sister Sara. Then in walks the gatecrasher - Jack Malone, an army journalist fresh from a defeated Germany. This chance meeting between Sara and Jack will have profound consequences.

This one I thoroughly enjoyed and I think it has a much more intricate and enthralling story than Special Relationship. Although SR was quite a hectic story, you knew it had to all end happily ever after no matter how bad it got in the middle, otherwise why would you read it ;) It's not quite the same in Pursuit, there's much more going on. Anyway, I enjoyed these two and would happily read other Douglas Kennedy books, no matter that there'll never be a forensic pathologist in any of them or how girlie the cover will predictably be ;)

Buy A Special Relationship online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Buy The Pursuit of Happiness online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Spud by John van de Ruit

It's South Africa, 1990. The country still squirms under the iron fist of apartheid. Two major events are about to happen: The release of Nelson Mandela, and more importantly, it's Spud Milton's first year at an elite boys only private boarding school. Cursed with parents from well beyond the lunatic fringe, a senile granny, and a dormitory full of strange characters, Spud has to forge a new life for himself in this foreign and sometimes hostile environment. Surrounded by names such as Gecko, Rambo, Rain Man and Mad Dog, Spud takes his first tentative steps along the path towards manhood. (The path, it seems, could be a rather long road.) Armed with only his wits and his diary, Spud takes us from illegal nightswimming to the cricket field, from ghostbusting to teacher baiting. He also invites us into the mind of a boy struggling to come to terms with a strange new world; a boy whose eyes are being opened to love, friendship and complete insanity.

It is a good fun read and from what I gather even more enjoyable if you're a boy who spent any time in boarding school (or so my Dad says!). It definitely had some laugh out loud moments and paragraphs I just had to read to the boyf when we were reading under the trees on his farm in the Free State. Completely enjoyable and even more so because it's set here in our very own South Africa, which I really like.

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot