The Green Mile, book review. (Stephen King)

I happened upon this six-book set on the internet a few weeks ago, and thought it was about time I added it to my collecting, and so, on arrival, I dipped in. Two hours later and I'd finished the first book and was reaching for part two.

Ever read a book you literally can't put down? A book you slip into your pocket in case you have a spare five minutes? A book you take to the little room? You know the one I mean!

Well, this is that book.

Told in the first person by an ageing ex-prison guard from Cold Mountain penitentiary, who worked on E-Block back in the late 20's and early 30's, we quickly find ourselves immersed in the day-to-day running of the establishment, the prisoners, guards and the warden's lives.

E-Block is where death-row prisoners spend their last few weeks, and it's a relatively quiet place, calm and solitary, (but for Percy Wetmore). As the reader is introduced to the various characters on the mile, (the green mile), one becomes accustom to its routines, and before you know it, you're so immersed in the 1930's American penal system, that you forgot you're reading a book of fiction.

You barely get to know some of the inmates before they visit the chair, but the main death-row prisoner is, John Coffey, a mountain of a man, but a man with a gift, a gift for healing.

King's build up, of Coffey curing the narrator's urinal infection, bringing Mr Jingles, (a mouse that's been stamped on by Percy Wetmore), back to life, and then going on to cure the warden's wife's brain tumour, is stunningly good, and the realisation towards the end of the book, that maybe Coffey didn't murder and rape the two young girls he was on death-row for, that maybe he was actually trying to help them, puts a nice twist on proceedings, but the most shocking part, the part that is at the heart of how horrific humans can be, is part four: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix.

Percy Wetmore is the antithesis of John Coffey: He is a cruel, vindictive, educated white man with friends in high places, and with his connections he pulls a few strings, struts around like he owns the place, even managing to convince the warden to put him 'out front' for an execution.

I won't describe the results here, you'll have to read the book, but be warned, this part will make your toes curl, (if you've seen the film, you'll have a taste of what happens), and I won't divulge how old the narrator is at the end of the book either, or which friend from the mile still visits him, or what happens to Percy Wetmore, but what I can and will tell you, is that this is one of King's finest books, (I've yet to read them all), and that you should all grab a copy and give yourselves nightmares; you'll thank me for it in the end!

Five stars then, and a very Merry Christmas to all you bibliophiles out there.

Inferno, book review. (Dan Brown)

If you've ever read one of Dan Brown's other Robert Langdon novels, The Da-Vinci Code, for example, which most of the world has, then you'll sort of know what to expect with this one.

The thing is they seem to be getting more and more elaborate, and clutching at more and more straws, yet draw a similar conclusion. 

Take Angels and Demons as an example. Mad man steals a lethal vial of anti-matter, which if the church don't pray hard enough and finish conclave, elect their new pope, the said madman, the whole of the Vatican along with the whole Catholic religion, will be destroyed.

The Da-Vinci Code: mad man decides to put an end to the holy grain, (which happens to be a human, not a chalice) by killing all those who might be descended from Christ (this has been going on for centuries apparently), but if Langdon can solve the unsolvable cryptext, which first he has to find, and then elicit the help of a Grail lover, who happens to have loads and loads of cash, all might end well. 

So, Inferno! Inferno is about a mad man, who has untold wealth, (ring any bells yet) who intends to change the world for ever, because he believes that humans will go extinct within the next one hundred years. Good plan, well, forget about the plan for a second, we're in Italy, Florence to be precise, where we get to experience the beauty of that ancient city, as our main character gets repeatedly shot at, escapes, shot at again, bundled on a plane, taken to Turkey, where more mysterious stuff happens, so all can end well, again.

Don't get me wrong, if you like fast paced action, you'll like this book. If you like expertly researched books, which make you feel like you're actually there, then again, you'll like this book. My problem is that all this running around by the same character is getting a bit long in the tooth now. 

So Inferno gets a well-deserved three stars; and I hope, I wish, that Dan Brown moves on from Robert Langdon now, and his next book is just as well researched, just as fast paced, but more believable. 

Inspiration for the day goes to all the men and women who are manning the phones, driving the ambulances and stick or sowing us back together this Christmas. I salute you.