The best books for the fall
Joy Fielding: Sweet dreams, my girl
Life does not seem to go well with Jamie Kellog: she's bored with her job, she's always arguing with her sister and the men are going to bankrupt her for the next one. But everything seems to turn when she meets the handsome Brad Fisher in a bar that immediately wraps her around with his charm. With him, for the first time, she has the feeling that she is really loved. When he spontaneously suggests traveling to Ohio together to visit his son and ex-wife, the 29-year-old does not hesitate. But on the drive from Florida to Ohio shows who Bradfish really is: A cold-blooded psychopath who does not plan an idyllic vacation with ex-wife, child and girlfriend ...
"Dream Sweet, My Girl" is Joy Fielding's 18th novel, which has now been published as a paperback. In terms of content, the author remains largely faithful to her bestsellers up to now: a naive Florida protagonist blindly trusts the wrong person and thus experiences a terrible nightmare. Also typical Joy Fielding: The surprising turn to the end of the book, which throws much that the reader has believed so far, over the pile. Still, Fielding does not manage to build a constant tension like in her world bestseller "Run, Jane, Run". For some scenes are described too lengthy, other storylines are too predictable. Nevertheless, the book is always suitable for a rainy weekend - especially because of the sweeping events at the end.
You like this book when ... ... you're into American women's psycho thrillers like Joy Fielding or Jan Burke.
Joy Fielding: Sweet dreams, my girl Goldmann Paperback 416 pages 9,95 Euro ISBN: 978 3 442 46659 7
Tony Parsons: When we were immortal
It's the summer of 1977. The three friends Terry, Ray and Leon work for the London music magazine "The Paper". They meet the big rock stars, bustle in underground clubs, take drugs and enjoy themselves with women - they live the life they have always dreamed of. And yet, they hope for more: Terry dreams of the great love - and with the free photographer Misty, in which he since the first day at "The Paper? is in love. Leon wants to improve the world. He wants to finally move something with his articles and no longer write only the eternal concert and record reviews. And Ray wants to break out of his life: He still lives at home, his father is a thug and his mother seriously depressed since the death of his brother.
"When we were immortal" describes a single night: It is the night in which Elvis Presley dies. The night in which everything will change for the three boys as well. Author Tony Parsons, himself a music critic and columnist, has made a great book about the doubts of growing up, love - and the 70s. He describes the three characters so warmly that it is difficult in the end to say goodbye to them. Because until then, they had suffered with them, hoping to catch them - and wished at least once in the 70s for a lavish party with intoxicating music and the very great feeling of freedom.
You like this book when ... ... you liked "Almost Famous" and you love music, the 70s and guitars.
Tony Parsons: When we were immortal PIPER paperback 430 pages 9,95 Euro ISBN: 978 3 492 25014 6
Thomas B. Morgenstern: The milk controller
As always: In the beginning, a murder happens. In a small, sleepy village in the Elbmarsch between cow meadows and dung heaps Else Weber's throat is cut. Why? Nobody can explain that. But when milk inspector Hans-Georg drives to the farms in the morning, he hears rumors and accusations.
Hans-Georg knows the farmers in the village like no other. For years, he drives to them to control the milk, then sits with them at the dinner table and tells her stories. People trust him. That's why his brother - the chief prosecutor - is preparing him to investigate Weber's murder case.
To use a milk controller as a protagonist sounds a little bit getting used to - and quite honestly: the story sometimes lacks the last bit of tension. But the rest is so nicely told - the village atmosphere, over decades of village feuds - that it is worthwhile not even to wander into the distance, but to dive with the milk controller in the Elbmarsch.
You like the book when ... ... you also like thrillers, where the murderer with the ax is not on every corner.
Thomas B. Morgenstern: Der Milchkontrolleur PIPER Paperback 222 pages 7,95 Euro ISBN 978 3 492 25142 6
Tom Sharpe: Fine family
Lord Petrefact is an old, cruel patriarch. He hates his family, actually hates all people. He loves to torture and harass people. At most, a smile flits over his face when he's really angry. His goal is to inflict the greatest possible damage on his family. That's why he hires the unrealistic Professor Walden Yapp. He is Professor of Proletarian History, a very hard bone that scares and frightens every employer. Yapp is to research the family history of Petrefacts and write a book about it? The end for his capitalist extended family, so hopes Lord Petrefact.
There's probably no one who can write as cynically as Tom Sharpe. Not one of the black humor so internalized. Not one who can devise even more abstruse stories. Okay, you have to like that. But if you like wacky stories, then you can retire to a quiet corner with Tom Sharpe's books, browse beautifully, and laugh heartily.
You like this book when ... ... you love black humor a la Monty Python.
Tom Sharpe: Fine Family GOLDMANN Taschenbuch 381 Pages 7,95 ISBN 978 3 442 46523 1
Daniel Scholten: The Headless Angel
In Stockholm, a woman is run over. Everything points to murder for Commissar Cederström and his team. The only problem is that nobody knows who the victim is because the genes of the dead do not seem to be related to any living people in the world. However, the tracks quickly lead to the Italian embassy in Stockholm, which wants to keep something secret from the Swedish police. When a spooky pack of white-robed, bearded men utter an ominous threat and a second murder occurs, Cederström and his colleagues know that this is something much larger than previously thought.
"The Headless Angel" is the third thriller by German Icelander Daniel Scholten around the sympathetic Commissar Cederström, who reminds a bit of Mankells Kurt Wallender. The story is spellbinding, almost mystical and does not let the reader go so fast. The only drawback: You have to be damn careful not to lose the thread in the complicated action. In addition, the reader should have a certain interest in historical contexts, since the search for the identity of the dead reaches far into the historical past.
You like this book when ... ... you like Swedish thrillers à la Henning Mankell, Åke Edwardson and Håkan Nesser.
Daniel Scholten: The Headless Angel Goldmann Taschenbuch 384 pages 7,95 Euro ISBN: 978 3 442 46467 8
Helge Timmerberg: Around the world in 80 days
Cult author and journalist Helge Timmerberg finally wants to fulfill his dream: to circle the globe once. And all in just 80 days. His world tour takes him through Italy and Greece via Egypt to Southeast Asia and South America and via Ireland back to Berlin. Plagued by lovesickness and grim premonitions, he sets off to meet disguised monks, catastrophic hotel rooms, and hiccup-ridden Indian taxi drivers on his journey. And when he finally lands in Berlin, he sees his city with completely different eyes ...
Template for Timmerberg's travel reportage of the other kind is of course the cult classic "In 80 Days Around the World" by Jules Verne from 1873, although Helge Timmerberg on his trip - due to a panic attack - spares the hot air balloon and elephant back. He has also made little changes to the itinerary: Instead of Singapore, Bangkok is at the top of his list, "the hub for world travelers in Southeast Asia." Timmerberg describes his sometimes very resigned impressions so funny that you really have to laugh loud when reading. And not only that: If you have put the book out of hand, you want only one thing: on world trip.
You like this book when ... ... fascinate foreign countries and you like the typically weird and intellectual humor of Helge Timmerberg.
Helge Timmerberg: Around the World in 80 Days BERLIN Hardcover 288 pages € 19.90 ISBN: 978 3 871 34593 7
