An unexpected pressie from my mum! Another one for mnt toobie, and one I'm looking forward to.


Synopsis
The place is St Oswald's, an old and long-established boys' grammar school in the north of England. A new year has just begun, and for the staff and boys of the school, a wind of unwelcome change is blowing. Suits, paperwork and Information Technology rule the world and Roy Straitley, Latin master, eccentric, and veteran of St Oswald's, is finally - reluctantly - contemplating retirement. But beneath the little rivalries, petty disputes and everyday crises of the school, a darker undercurrent stirs. And a bitter grudge, hidden and carefully nurtured for thirteen years, is about to erupt. Who is Mole, the mysterious insider, whose cruel practical jokes are gradually escalating towards violence - and perhaps, murder? And how can an old and half-forgotten scandal become the stone that brings down a giant?

From the Back Cover
‘Wildly entertaining…a literary gobstopper’
Independent on Sunday

But beneath the little rivalries, petty disputes and everyday crises of the school, a darker undercurrent stirs. And a bitter grudge, hidden and carefully nurtured for thirteen years, is about to erupt.

I don't often read thrillers, but Joanne Harris is not someone I associate with thrillers. She has done a good job with this one. I wanted escapism, and a good old page turner and I got it. I have to confess, I saw "the twist" coming a way off, less than half way through I guessed - I'll say no more, but an entertaining read - the trouble with thrillers is that people get killed and bad things happen because someone else does wicked evil things, and that makes me slightly uncomfortable, which is odd, because if this story had been a telly detective show on the beeb at nine o'clock it wouldn't have bothered me at all.

I thought the way this was written in alternating narratives, one of whom is a bit of a mystery was clever, and effective. At first I thought some of the names of her characters at first seemed odd, but I think were created with the authors tounge firmly embedded in cheek, which made me smile. Also Joanne Harris recreates the world of a English private school very well, and made a great setting for this type of novel.

As Joanne Harris is such a popular author I may ring this when I get back from holiday.




ring starting soon
List under construction

Ozone-nut - UK
redhouse - UK
Fluffy-owl - UK
Valer1e - UK
Kleptokitty - portugal
morsecode - US
karenlea - US
Rrrcaron -US - it's here
ElHurricane -portugal
Rillaith -UK
phantomcougar -UK
Twynnie -UK
DianeO - UK
Katisha50 - UK
Back to me Heaven-Ali - UK

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Ozone-nut today.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Ozone-nut today.

safely received with thanks. I have just started something else which is 800 pages long. I might just have to put that to one side or I could be holding this ring up for a few weeks...ahh the dilemma, too much to read, so little time...

oh my goodness! I only meant to look at the first thirty pages or so to see if I should delay reading my 800 pager for this, but before I knew it I was hooked on this one. And it took me a lot longer than heaven-ali to spot the twist. You see right at the start you think .... then very soon you realise you were wrong and in fact it's .... but then there is this.... oh, I can't say, you just have to read it. I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Off to PM redhouse.

Thanks for sharing - I loved it.

oh my goodness! I only meant to look at the first thirty pages or so to see if I should delay reading my 800 pager for this, but before I knew it I was hooked on this one. And it took me a lot longer than heaven-ali to spot the twist. You see right at the start you think .... then very soon you realise you were wrong and in fact it's .... but then there is this.... oh, I can't say, you just have to read it. I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Off to PM redhouse.

Thanks for sharing - I loved it.

Arrived this morning. Thank you, I'm looking forward to this one. I'll be relaxing in the garden with it.

Excellent! A thoroughly enjoyable page turner. I am a fan of Joanne Harris and this is very different to anything else of hers I have read.
I didn't see the twist coming until it was close to being revealed.
All in all a very rewarding book. Thanks for starting the ring.
I have already PM'd fluffy-owl and expect to have this in the post very soon.

Arrived safe and sound, is next on my list to read.

I'm clearly not very good at spotting twists, as this one just passed me by. It's a really really good book, possibly my favourite book so far by this author.

Will be off in the post by the middle of next week.

Received safely, thank you.

My TBR pile is diminishing nicely so I shouldn't be too long with it.

I couldn't put this down once I'd started.

I ws mystified at first and could barely understand the links between the sub-plots but I persevered and I'm glad I did.

Well written and constructed, as Joanne harris usually is. I do enjoy her books.

But I have to say - I saw the twist in the plot from way back.

It suddenly came to me that something hadn't been made totally clear and I saw it. This is so unlike me, that I think there may have been a word or a phrase that the author used to give it away in a subtle way (if you see what I mean). I don't flatter myself I'm that clever.

Can well recommend it.

Many thanks for sharing it Heaven-Ali.

I'm pm'ing kleptokitty today for her address.

Kleptokitty requests removal from this list (but only because she's getting a copy from another source - think red and white, beard and boots and you're pretty close).

So am PMing ElHurricane for address.

I was a tad suprised to find this one on the doorstep as I'd asked to be missed off the Ring, but once I'd got it I cracked on with it anyway & will 'recycle' (ahem) my own as yet pristine copy.

I really enjoy Joanne Harris books & this was certainly no disappointment. I found it really engaging right from the off & ended up staying up half the night in order to reach the end. I have to admit that I miss the foodie tastes & smells of the earlier books, but the atmosphere of an old English public school still came through clearly.

Thanks very much for sharing this.

5th March
Now have the address of Morsecode, so this will be on it's way to the US tomorrow.

This book arrived safe and sound in Buffalo, NY today.
I'll try to get it back on the road fairly quickly.

I finished this book last night. While I liked Harris' use of the chess metaphor (and the chess pieces displayed at chapter openings to indicate the narrator) throughout the novel, I'm not sure that I really liked the book as a whole. For me it wasn't compelling enough to be classified as a page-turner. Part of that, however, may be that I wasn't really in the mood for the dark, revenge thriller that this book is (similarly, I wasn't crazy about Holy Fools, which I read a few months ago, either). To be honest, I didn't see the twist coming, whether that is because I wasn't invested enough in the book to attend to the littlest clues, I don't know.

I have a couple of other Joanne Harris books on Mt. TBR so I'll probably read those, though as of right now I'm pretty sure I won't be searching out her books in the future.

In any case, I already have karenlea's address so I'll be sending this book on to her tomorrow. I hope she enjoys it more than I did.

Caught!!! I have one ring ahead of it and should be able to start it within the week. Thank you for sharing.

Unlike a few of the other readers, I didn't catch the twist until close to the reveal. I enjoyed this book and thought that it was very different from other Joanne Harris novels. I liked the chess metaphor and I liked how the plot unraveled.

I will be mailing this book to the next reader at the end of this week. Thank you to Heaven-Ali for sharing!!!

Received this one in the mail yesterday. Have a few to read beforehand, but it won't take long!
Ruth

Obsession, revenge, total plot twist, I loved it! I never saw it coming, and I was surprised many times throughout this read. You can't help but start caring for most of the characters and the ways in which their lives were put in turmoil without them having a clue to as what hit them. Thanks so much for sharing this book. Pming the next in line and will have in the mail as soon as I receive an address.
Ruth

Just arrived.
Thanks Rrrcaron and Heaven-Ali

As I got a copy of the book, I won''t keep anymore.
It will follow it''s course as soon as I get an address.
Thanks Heaven-Ali for sharing.

Going on its way to Rillaith tomorrow.
Thanks again for sharing

Arrived safe and sound, and currently in my pocket mid-read.

As I haven't heard anything from this book in over a year I assume it has stalled.

soffita1 has kindly offered a replacement - which she will read before sending out.

Gentlemen and Players ring

This book has washed ashore at the Lost Book Island after not being heard from for many months. This new arrival will be shown to a room and be allowed a bit of rest before being introduced to the many fun things to do here at the island.

All around there are books sipping cool drinks under shady palms while other books participate in a wide variety of beach sports. There is plenty of sand, surf and sun here for all of the lost and wayward books to enjoy.

It is hoped that very soon a new journal entry will come to rescue this book from the island and send it back out into the BookCrossing world so that it may continue on its journey. It is hoped that the new journal entry will tell all the interested parties where this book has been this long time and where it will be traveling to next.