The Jacaranda FM Book review

Each month we’ll pick a few books in different categories that are impossible to put down and will have you reading secretly under the covers until 2am. If you’re not an avid reader, perhaps we can encourage you to pick up one of these, and maybe you’ll love it far more than you ever expected?

All of these books are available via takealot.com or from Exclusive Books.

If you have a book that you think should make the cut, feel free to let us know!

Romance category - Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury

Karen Kingsbury is a New York Times bestselling author, and she’s back with the first book in a new series. As the title suggests, angels are sent to earth to intervene in one young man’s life to set him back on the right path in life and love.

Tyler Ames is a baseball player who has just suffered a career-ending injury. As his life starts to spiral out of control, a series of bad choices separate him and his true love and put them at opposite ends of the country.

With the help of two earthbound angels, Tyler finds himself on the path to redemption – but it is fraught with uncertainty and difficulty, from both the human protagonists and the angels.

A sense of very tenuous hope keeps you reading throughout, and the emotional connection you feel with each character is Kingsbury’s real trump card. A lot of readers have found the first chapter or so difficult to read and a bit off-putting, but don’t let this deter you. Stick with it and you’ll love the rest!

Fiction category – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is the story of two sisters in Nazi-occupied France during World War 1. Older sister Viann has to say goodbye to her husband as he is sent to war to fight against Nazi forces. Her estranged younger sister, the beautiful but compulsive Isabelle, is sent to live with her.

Outspoken and spontaneous, Isabelle quickly meets and falls in love with Gaetan, who tells her that France can win the war from within. Not one to stand down, Isabelle bravely joins an underground resistance team dedicated to helping others and defeating the Nazis. Her codename is ‘The Nightingale.’ She helps many before being captured.

This novel is one packed with real feeling, suspense, and drama. Two love stories are woven into the main plot, but they are secondary to the story of two sisters’ individual experience of conflict, resilience, courage, and freedom in a nation ripped apart by war and fear.

Crime and Mystery category – The English Girl by Daniel Silva

This is the 13th book featuring Gabriel Allon, a reluctant but brilliant Israeli spy and art restorer. No worries though, you can read them out of order and still “get” the entire book.

A young woman disappears in Corsica and Allon is called upon to help the British. When it transpires that she is the mistress of the British prime minister Jonathan Lancaster, it is clear that his career is in jeopardy. If the affair were to be discovered he could be ruined for life, and that is exactly what the kidnappers plan to expose. Lancaster, meanwhile, has decided to handle the matter privately rather than contact the British police.

Every novel in the series features a restored painting which is central to the plot, and this one is no different. The thriller follows Allon across Moscow, Marseille, and London while he tries his best to track down the missing woman and return her safely, all the while fully aware of the ever-increasing list of men who want him dead.

This is a truly gripping story, and you will be kept guessing right until the very end.