About reading

Deadly Harvest

Carolyn Walker

Cambridge University Press

Genre: Murder Mystery

Main Characters

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Honeywell: the new head of the Criminal Investigation Department. She’s a well-trained policewoman who has decided to break down with her boyfriend in order to be promoted to a better job.

Detective Inspector Pete Fish: He’s a good policeman, but he’s jealous of Jane Honeywell because he wanted to get the job of Detective Chief Inspector. At first he doesn’t seem very kind nor wants to cooperate properly, but finally he’ll do his best to help in the case.

Mervin Peck: a sheep farmer, quite simple and bad-tempered. He’ll become a victim too.

Jack Peck: Mervin’s brother, a scientific director at Hunter Products. He’s an ambitious and unscrupulous person who doesn’t hesitate to commit serious crimes.

Jo keane: the managing director at Hunter Products and Jack’s Peck accomplice.

Susan Peck: Jack’s Peck wife.

Rose Carter: a part-time teacher and statistician found dead at Chittleham farm.

Elisa Scott: a member of Project for Animal Welfare.

Plot

A young policewoman moves to a quiet and small village because she’s been offered a job as a detective chief inspector. She expects a peaceful and boring life there, just interrupted by some car thefts and house break-ins, but soon she has to deal with a strange case of murder.

When Jane Honeywell arrives into Pilton, she thinks that it is the kind of place where nothing exciting can happen. However, she’s going to discover that she’s wrong when a woman is found dead at Chittleham farm. She starts the investigation questioning the people who had found the body and they tell her that they had never seen the victim before.

After making some inquiries, the police discover the victim’s identity. She’s Rose Carter, a teacher and defender of animal rights, who had been having a relationship with Jack Peck, who then becomes the first suspect.

During the investigation, Jane finds out some sick sheep at Mervin’s farm, but she’s discovered by Mervin who, surprisingly, tries to escape after threatening her with a gun.

He’s finally arrested and… you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens at the end.

Personal Opinion

The prologue made me feel interested and I was ready to read a very entertaining mystery novel, but the first part of the book turned out a bit boring with the typical stereotyped characters and situations. I read the first part of the book without finding out any special change in the predictable plot; however, the story becomes more interesting when a new murder is committed.

Despite being a fairly predictable plot, I enjoyed the book. You’ll find that there are some suspicious coincidences, like the part when Jane is watching a television program that gives her, and the reader, an idea about the motive of these murders. Nevertheless, from this point the reading becomes more enjoyable and you want to reach the end just to discover if you were right about your prediction.

Are you the kind of person who needs a bit of love in the story? Well, you’ll have just a little; one more common situation is waiting for us on the last page of the book when Jane and Pete seem to be about to start a relationship.

Paco_INT2ºF

TITLE:            In My Sister´s Shoes

AUTHOR:      Sinéad Moriarty

GENRE:          General fiction novel

PUBLISHER: Penguin

LEVEL:           Advanced

Kate O´Brien is thirty and after a hard period in London away from her family and friends, working with the aim of raising her professional success as  a television presenter, she comes back to Dublin to celebrate her twin nephews´ birthday. She lives an exciting and independent life until then but now she will have to face up to a dilemma that will change her life.

As a result of the breast cancer that is diagnosed to her sister, Fiona, Kate is forced to abandon her cool life, to give up her exciting job in the London media, and to move back to Dublin. Besides, her brother-in-law Mark spends his time only achieving his own success, her younger brother only thinks in his shocking music, and her widowed dad needs to rebuild his own life. What is more, after the death of her mother due to another breast cancer when they were children, Fiona looked after Kate as if she was her second mother.

That is the reason why Mark blackmails Kate to take care of his twin sons, telling her that she owes Fiona.

Kate´s life starts to turn around the stressful routine of the twins by doing unbelievable tasks , but also having a go at her irresistible ex-boyfriend or investigating her hidden family past.

Gradually we will be hooked in a story that surprises us with unexpected details of the characters.

Heart-warming, gripping, and hilarious, what Sinead Moriarty wants us to do is to see ourselves in each one of the troubles and solutions of her urban heroine. Cleverly, the writer creates a mixture of feelings and daily life challenges that will make us  vibrate, and  laugh at ourselves.

To sum up, this is a highly entertaining book that you can´t miss.

TITLE:  THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT- TIME.

AUTOR: Mark Haddon.

GENRE: Fiction.

PUBLISHER: The Random House Children’s Books.

LEVEL: Advanced.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

Christopher Boone: He is a 15 year old boy who suffers from autism. He is the narrator and the main character.  He lives with his father, Ed. He loves mathematics and science. He also likes pets. He has a rat named Toby as a pet. He attends a special school. Christopher´s illness makes it difficult for him to have a relationship with other people.  He doesn’t like to be hugged, not even being touched. He screams and reacts violently when people touch him. The boy does not like crowds or new places because his head forces him to look at everything that is new to him, and that overwhelms him.

Ed (Christopher’s father) : He takes care of Christopher. He strives to give his son an easy life. He overprotects Christopher.

Siobha : She is Christopher’s teacher. She helps him and his class mates with the difficulties of everyday life. She tries to make life easier. Christopher trusts her. He always asks her everything he does not understand.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PLOT

Christopher Boone is a fifteen year old boy who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome. He lives in Swindon, a big city in the south west of England, with his father.

He goes to a special school. His daily routine consists of going to school and then staying at home with his father studying maths, and science, his favourite entertainments.

One night Christopher discovers one of his best friends, Wellington (the poodle dog of his neighbour, Mrs Shears) dead in his neighbour’s garden. The dog had a pitchfork through its body. The boy feels really sad and decides to find out who killed him.

Christopher likes Sherlock Holmes novels a lot, so he decides to write a book about the murder. The book is titled “The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time”.

During the investigation he interviews all his neighbours, which is stressful for him, because he has never talked to them before, although they live in the same street.

One day his father discovers the book, and his son´s investigations as well. His father thinks that talking to unknown people is dangerous for his son. So he decides to hide the book, and tells Christopher to abandon the investigation.

While his father is working Christopher starts looking for the book all around their house. He finds it in his father´s room, in the wardrobe. He also discovers, by chance  a lot of letters that his mother had written to him, dated after his father told him that she had died in hospital of a heart attack. Christopher comes to the conclusion that his mother is still alive, and also that his father has lied to him.

He is completely shocked by the discovery to the point that he is unable to move. He stays in bed screaming, shaking and vomiting for hours.

When Ed arrives home from work he notices that Christopher has found the letters that his mother has been writing to him for ages. Ed cleans everything and confesses that his mother is still alive and also that his is responsible for Wellington´s death.

Christopher is afraid of his father, he doesn’t feel sure with him anymore, so he decides to travel to London to look for his mother.

He will go to London by train, so he will face many difficult situations such as going alone to the railway station, buying the ticket to London, catching the correct train and being in the train with a lot of unknown people.

In this novel two different settings can be distinguished: the first one is the detective novel related to Wellington´s murder and also to the important mysteries of Christopher’s family. The second one is related to Christopher´s emotions, his ideas, wishes and fears.

PERSONAL OPINION

Mark Haddon has written a gripping book I could hardly put down.

Before reading the book I knew slightly what autism is. It is one of those diseases that we hear about but we really don’t know how the patients´ daily life is.

The author has created a lovely character who faces living in a hostile world with courage. A hostile world made for “normal” people and not for the marginal people.

What I like most about this book is that the author makes the reader know how the protagonist feels all the time: when he is sad, when happy, when overwhelmed, when he is afraid.

I highly recommend this book.

Title:The Secret Garden.

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Genre: Adventure.

Publisher: Longman.

Level: Elementary.

Brief summary of the plot:

The book is based on the story of a sickly little girl tucked in herself, Mary Lennox, who after losing her parents by an epidemic, travels from India to Misselthwaite Manor, a mansion in Yorkshire, where her reclusive uncle Carven lives. She was a selfish, arrogant and haughty child, and she  always got what he wanted. She never had the love of her parents. The walls of the mansion exude sadness and keep more than one mystery. One day, defying warnings of adults, Mary goes into a private garden in the manor house, that has been closed for ten years and which will become a magical refuge for herself and her three new friends: Colin, her disabled cousin, Dickon, her innocent and full of goodness brother and a robin. The three children and the robin restore the site which in turn will help them build a special relationship that will change their destinies forever.

Personal Opinion:

In my opinion, The Secret Garden gets a mark of  5 out of 10.
This book is a wonderful story in which you feel that you are the protagonist, and where you share Mary and her friends´ adventures. You can imagine the great gardens of the house, the secret garden, the birds and animals that accompany them in their daily life, the arrival of spring and the discovery of friendship.
The narrative is simple and exciting, full of very vivid and realistic descriptions. These are what really give life to the pages.

THE CALL OF THE WILD
JACK LONDON

Jack London was an American writer born in San Francisco in 1876. Towards 1897 he traveled to Alaska driven by the gold rush, this trip inspired many of his works, such as “White Fang”, which became a movie , and “The call of the wild” whose plot is about the return of a civilized being to their original state and fighting for survival.

“The Call of the Wild” is a story of a dog called Buck, who´s kidnapped and sold as a sled dog in Alaska. Buck has to learn to survive in the lands of Alaska, which are new and unknown lands to him. During his trip Buck has several masters, but of them all, the one who wins Buck´s love and loyalty is John Thornton. Another character in the book is about a wolf that represents the call of the wild. Buck has to decide whether to continue with Thornton or answer the call of the wild.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it´s a really entertaining read. I really liked the story, although it has scenes of violence and cruel struggle but I think this makes it more realistic, since it´s set in a harsh environment for both dog and man.

Title: THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST

Author: Captain Frederick Marryat

simplified … by Michael West

Edited: London : Longman, 1976

Genre: Adventure

Level: Pre-intermediate

The Setting:

The CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST is a historical novel originally written for young people, by Captain Frederick Marryat and published for the first time in 1847. This book is a brief and simplified version of the original work.

The story takes place during the English Civil War (1642–1651) when the disputes between the Parliament and King Charles II ended with the rise of the puritans that were led by Cronwel. Puritans were known as Round Heads due to the form of their hats.

King Charles was defeated and then executed by the rebels. Cronwel was made Lord Protector and Englan turned into a republican Commonwealth. Under his dictatorship, from then on, he initiated an implacable and cruel persecution of all his enemies: the suspects of loyalty to the King, the Catholics, the Scottish and the Irish people.

The New Forest, situated in the south of England, was and remains yet, a Royal Forest, it has been used by the kings to go hunting. Nowadays it is a National Park.

The Plot:

Colonel Beverley, who died in the battle of Naseby, was loyal to the King. When the Rounds Heads burned their mansion in the New Forest, his orphaned children escaped a certain death, thanks to a loyal servant, an elderly forest guard. Pretending they were his own grandsons, the forest guard was able to protect the children’s lives. In addition, the children, two boys and two girls, discover a new life in the forest and how to do things by themselves

The story continues with diverse vicissitudes and adventures throughout the history of England in those days, until the moment the Restoration by King Charkes III takes place 9 years later. The children, already adults, will recover then their family estate.

Conclusion:

In my opinion the novel is quite easy to read. I think the reading is pleasant and interesting since it hooks the reader until the end, at least to anyone who likes the historical novel. Although it is a brief version, the author’s message remains clear enough He tries to instill the children in the Victorian era, values such as honor, loyalty and the spirit of self-sacrifice.

In short, it is an enjoyable novel, I recommend it.

Review by José María Yáñez

(2nd year basic level)

Title: ‘David Copperfield’

Author: Charles Dickens

Review by Arancha Rodríguez Bernardo

MY COUSIN RACHEL

Author: Daphne du Maurier

This story was written by Daphne du Maurier and first published in 1951.

This edition was published in 1992 by Heineman elt publishing house at Intermediate level.
It is a thriller where feelings like love and economical interests are dangerously related .

Philip Ashley was only a child when his parents died. His cousin Ambrose, a rich and unmarried man twenty years older than him becomes his guardian and Philip his only heir.

When Philip is twenty two, Ambrose leaves to Italy and meets Rachel, a charming woman. He falls in love with her and they marry.
Everything is perfect until one day when Philip receives a letter where his cousin says he is very ill. When Philip arrives in Ambrose’s house he has already died.
Signor Rainaldi, the man who arranges things for Ambrose and his wife (money, business…) explains to him that the reason of his death was tumour he had in his brain.
But Philiph doesn’t believe it, he thinks there is something more, so he decides to meet Rachel and find out the truth.

What happened to Ambrose?
Have Rachel and Sr.Rainaldi something to do with it?

It is an entertaining story whose end is really unpredictable and surprising.
I definitely recommend it

Book review by Olaya Cachero Villaverde

1º D Intermediate Level

‘The Sugar Glider’ (by Rod Nielsen) is an exciting adventure book set in Australia.

In this story, a pilot called Don comes back to that country in order to spend more time with his daughter and see his ex-wife.

However, when he arrives, Paul, a friend, offers him a suspicious job: to fly a mysterious cargo from Brisbane to Melbourne. But the plane has a defect and crashes, killing Paul. After that, they will have to fight to survive in the hottest part of Australia. Don discovers that it wasn’t an accident and what they really were carrying was Uranium. So he starts to think that this was not a job for the Government and tries to return to Brisbane, where he finally meets his ex-wife and her new lover, who is a selfish and wealthy businessman.

The main characters are:

• Don Radcliffe: a pilot who returns to Brisbane hoping to rescue a failed marriage and to spend more time with his daughter Sylvia.
• Don’s ex-wife, now in love with P. Forsha. She still seems to feel something for Don.
• Judy Radcliffe is don’s daughter, aged 14. She is very intelligent and brave, always willing to take risks.
• Paul Copeman is one of Don’s oldest mates. He needs to fly “The Sugar Glider”to the Melbourne air museum.
• Patrick Forsha is a rich and selfish businessman. He started a relationship with Sylvia 6 months ago. Don hates him.

This book develops themes like: greed, environmental awareness, the Murri people (native Australians that traditionally occupied most of modern-day Queensland) and family values.

I believe that this book is worth reading because it is impossible to put it down. I enjoyed it very much, although it is sometimes a bit predictable.

My favorite chapter in this book is Accident because it describes in a very moving way Paul‘s tragic death. It is curious the way the writer expresses the character’s feelings and makes his readers get so involved with their situations.

This story reminds me of a civil war (due to all those problems related to the Murri people who demonstrated against the government ), family love (because ,despite the disadvantages, Don and his daughter keep together loving each other) and the power of truth (when Forsha’s partner realizes he’s not the honest man he pretends to be in front of her).

Title: Emergency Murder

Autor: Janet McGiffin

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Cambrigde University Press

Level: Upper- intermediate

Summary of the plot:

The story happened at midnight atMercy Hospital’s Emergency Room. A sick woman arrived; she was called Nanette Myer and died few minutes later because of a heart attack. Her doctor, Maxine Cassidy couldn’t do anything for her.

Nanette was Dr. Hank’s wife and he couldn’t believe the death of his wife because she was healthy. Maxine ordered an autopsy of the body and a blood test, where a poison called tetrodotoxin, which comes from puffer fishes, was found.

Maxine was the main suspect because she had used this poison for her research six months before at Marquette University where she shared her lab with other collages called Virginia and Aaron.

Virginia was a famous researcher who was trying to find out the cure for leprosy.

The detective who run the the case was called Grabowsky and with the help of Maxine they found a lot of interesting clues together. Because of this reason Maxine was attacked three times. Her life was in danger.

Nanette was wearing strange clothes and she had been seen talking with some people in a rough neighbourhood the day she died. The reason of her behaviour was that she was getting information for her university degree watching “street life”.

Finally, Maxine discovered that Nanette was killed by Virginia because she found out that Virginia was doing illegal experiments with homeless people.

Personal opinion

In my opinion, it is an entertaining book because it starts with a death and you don’t know who the murderer is until the end. This made me want to read more and more until I finished it.

I read it quickly because ,apart of being unpredictable, it had few pages and the vocabulary wasn’t very difficult. Moreover, between Maxine and Grabowsky there is an affectionate romance that I liked.

In conclusion I like it so much and my mark is a four. I recommend it to all the people who like thrillers with a little bit of love.

Sandra Álvarez Artime 1º E

(1st year intermediate level)