Carol Naylor's REVIEW it...

                     Pumpkin Farmer by Michael Hughes. This is presented as a satirical view of American society, two formidable characters, one weak and suicidal, the other, a dangerous man who likes to live on the edge of danger, suffering constant itches or bouts of boredom, high on drugs to get his kicks, with sadistic tendencies. Selfishness pervades the book and there is a superficiality about the attitude of the characters presented. The peripheral characters exude wealth and liberation but in selfish terms, a total disregard for humanity. It is a dark story and it's difficult to engage with any of them or warm to them. It seems to be a modern trend to introduce characters into a story who are flawed throughout without any redeeming qualities. Take Paula Hawkins, for instance: The Girl on the Train. " Another victim of reality, of predator and prey, that was how the world worked. It ate its weak, that was the truth...

The Scent of Almonds and Other Stories by Camilla Lackberg. Lackberg is a popular Swedish writer described by The Independent as “ the rock star of Nordic Noir,” who has sold more than 12 million copies in 55 countries. Family relationships with their petty jealousies as well as the sea and gathering storms, omens of disasters play prominent parts in this collection of short stories. The physical environment is depicted in an oppressive way enabling Lackberg to use pathetic fallacy effectively to create tension and horror. The author presents you with three short Agatha Christie type stories and one novella, perfectly readable but without the depth of her novels such as The Ice Child or Lost Boy. All of the stories are set in the Swedish fishing village of  Fjallbacka. In " Dreaming of Elisabeth" we meet Malin and husband Lars who seem to have grown apart and out of love. We are told that the wall between them was insurmountable: " Merely air breathed in a...