“Far To Go” by Alison Pick (Headline)

Reviewed by Alyssa

A compelling and thought-provoking novel

The story of one family’s epic journey to flee the Nazi occupation of their homeland in 1939, and above all to save the life of a six-year-old boy.

Pavel and Anneliese Bauer are affluent, secular Jews, whose lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the German forces in Czechoslovakia. Desperate to avoid deportation, the Bauers flee to Prague with their six-year-old son, Pepik, and his beloved nanny, Marta. When the family try to flee without her to Paris, Marta betrays them to her Nazi boyfriend. But it is through Marta’s determination that Pepik secures a place on a Kindertransport, though he never sees his parents or Marta again.

Far to Go is inspired by the author’s own grandparents who fled their native Czechoslovakia for Canada during the Second World War.

In Far to Go, Pick has created a complex and compelling work. The novel alternates between the historical narrative following the Bauer family, and the frame of a present-day first person narrator grappling (personally and academically) with the legacy of the Kindertransports. At first, the relationship between these two narratives is not apparent, but as the novel progresses, we begin to see more and more clearly how they are connected. While the historical portions are stronger than the frame narrative, Far to Go is nonetheless an impressive novel.

"The Final Reckoning", by Sam Bourne (Harper Collins)

"The Biggest Challenge to Dan Brown's Crown"? Nope. This is so much better!

Just a quick review, here: This was my first Sam Bourne novel, having put off reading his others because of the constant references to Dan Brown (yes, I know, I did the same, above...). In The Final Reckoning, however, after a slightly slow beginning, I found myself hooked to one of the best books I've read all year (much to the annoyance of my girlfriend, who I was visiting at the time). Its two gripping storylines - one set in present day London and New York, and another set during the Holocaust - mesh perfectly, if rather darkly (the details of life in the Lithuanian ghettos will stay with you, for sure).

Following an accidental shooting at the UN building in New York, some-time disillusioned UN lawyer, current mob-lawyer Tom Byrne is hired to solve the riddle of why the old man was confused with a terrorist. Thrown into the middle of a conspiracy that has spanned over 60 years, Byrne and the daughter of the victim, Rebecca, unearth some truly frightening truths about certain men in very high, influential places.

Very well written, combining strong dialogue and just the right amount of exposition, Sam Bourne has created a book that should appeal to everyone who wants intrigue, globetrotting, and red-herrings to keep you guessing (I actually guessed the ending, but Bourne threw me two major red-herrings that almost made me second-guess myself, the crafty so-and-so). The Final Reckoning blends fact and fiction wonderfully (the author's note at the end of the book is equally surprising).

Sure, Sam Bourne is probably going to be lazily compared to Dan Brown for a good portion of his career, though it is wholly unwarrented. Exciting, gripping and near-impossible to put down, The Final Reckoning is perfect summer-reading, but will also keep you entertained on those cold winter nights. If you want a good thriller with quality historical detail, a gripping narrative and characters you will care about... well, get this. I'm going to go buy his other books, now.

For fans of: Andrew Grosse, Matthew Reilly, James Twining, Daniel Silva, James Rollins