Hannibal iiii mi '\ - Thomas Harris l l/\ R R |\ (Heinemann £16.99) '1"? Hannibal 'The
Cannibal’ Lecter returns to chill the ||.\NN|I’.J\I innards as Thomas 'Happy’ Harris shows you how psychological horror should be done. Mason Verger lies in a bed with his neck snapped and face hanging off thanks to Hannibal’s handy work. Verger wants revenge — and he wants it as slowly, painfully and ironically as possible.
Why take it to the beach? Simply because you’ve been waiting for this for so long, you can’t wait any longer before getting your teeth into it.
Harry Potter
HARRY
l’()'l:l‘lfi R And The
’3'“ Prisoner Of
“ " Azkaban .I.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury £10.99)
Now in his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the bespectacled Harry Potter is set for his most fabulous adventure yet with his chums Ron and Hermione. The follow-up to The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets is already making Edinburgh-based J.K. Rowling a literary and cultural phenomenon.
Why take it to the beach? It’ll get any kids you may have with you well out from under your feet. But it's also a cracking read for anyone: Harry Potter is a compelling central character and this one’s got a mass murderer and sinister security forces in it.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Louis de Berniéres (Vintage £5.99) Writing books and
- winning prizes go hand in hand with Mr de Bernieres, and this epic tale of war, music, love, suspicion and bestial savagery scooped the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best book in 1995. Four years on, it’s still removing itself from the shelves unit after unit after unit.
Why take it to the beach? You won’t be alone. It’s a compelling romantic adventure set in sunny Greece — so good weather is promised even if you’re trapped in your apartment. Jeremy Paxman thinks it’s ’absolutely brilliant’.
blood and tease your 2
Fortune
Hotel
Edited by Sarah Champion (Hamish Hamilton £9.99) The editor of Disco Biscuits brings you another instant cult
I:Hl|l1"'|-'|"HK
classic with seventeen travel stories of 1 the twisted variety. The likes of
Douglas Coupland, Will Self, Esther Freud, Grant Morrison and Howard Marks tell of their ventures into those far-off nooks and crannies not covered in the Sunday supplements.
' Why take it to the beach? It's filled with tales of bad hotel rooms, strange . and unpleasant tropical diseases, and
the pros and cons of drug smuggling — so you’ll appreciate the smooth golden sands wherever you may be.
The Lighthouse
Stevensons
Bella Bathurst (HarperCollins £15.99)
Robert Louis wasn’t the only one in the Stevenson family with a bit of nous, you know. Freelance journo Bella Bathurst’s riveting account tells of the two centuries and four generations of Stevensons who dedicated their lives to making the seas around Scotland
safer for mariners. Bob himself saw the T worth of his family’s deeds — ’I might f write books till 1900 and not serve
humanity so well.’
7 Why take it to the beach? The only wails you’ll encounter reading this will
be those of delight.
The Nation's
Favourite
Simon Garfield (Faber £5.99)
The story of Radio 1 and its continuous fight to keep the ratings high and prevent the DJs from strangling one
; another is a compelling one. They may 5 well be regretting the moment when they opened the door to Simon
Garfield smack in the centre of their biggest crisis — the trials and tribulations set in motion in 1993 by new controller Matthew Bannister and the spectre of his saviour, Chris Evans. Why take it to the beach? It’s bitchy, hilarious and scandalous. The retelling of the clashes in the DLT/Simon Bates years have to be read to be believed. And it might divert you from the pains of local radio stations playing by the poo|5ide.
Dead Souls
Ian Rankin
(Orion £16.99) Inspector Rebus is one of those 905 cops whose problems go way beyond those on his beat. Dead Souls covers territory such as returning sex offenders and conVicted killers to the streets, the new Parliament, council estate vigilantism and a touch of Stalking. Grimly addictive, in other words. In Rankin's hands, Scottish crime fiction has never looked healthier, as the Scottish bestseller lists regularly testify. Why take it to the beach? Just because you’re getting away from it all doesn’t mean you can’t experience that special Auld Reekieness. And next , summer you won’t be able to read a Rebus adventure without picturing John Hannah with the TV series coming later this year.
The White
[LIB]
fill: House Connection Jack Higgins
W. Wlflfilu‘uw (Michael Joseph
E‘Jilillilllll:)7l,(lflifitig £1539)
Assassinations, the Irish peace process, terrorists turned, the end of Western civilization as we know it — it’s all here in the new book from the man who gave us The Eagle Has Landed and Drink With The Devil. Craftsmanship doesn’t come much craftier.
Why take it to the beach? There really is no one quite like Uncle Jack for pure, unadulterated, thrilling escapism. Then again, he has had the practice, having thrashed out some 59 of the buggers.
The Business 9
Iain Banks (Little, Brown £16.99)
You'll notice the
gives," dropping of the "9 middle initial ‘M’, BUST.KEESS which indicates that this is one of
Banksy’s non sci-fi literary advenures. ; And what it is is a transglobal financial ' thriller which takes on Michelangelo,
the Roman Empire, the United Nations, , Silicon Valley and porno art, as Our heroine Kate singlehandedly takes on the shadowy conglomerate that is . . . The Business.
Why take it to the beach? Who better f than ’the 905 Robert Louis Stevenson’
(© Independent On Sunday) to let you drift off to that treasured desert island
of the mind. And he can still bang out i
a cracking yarn too. i
HOLIDAY BOOKS
Read on
Roddy Doyle has been responsible for causing more than his fair share of holiday hilarity in the past, but his new novel - which leads the way in the hectic late summer book market — marks a step into new territory. Set during the early decades of the 20th century, A Star Called Henry combines a love story with a look behind the legends of Irish republicanism.
The Detainees received a general thumbs down for Doyle’s fellow Celt, Sean Hughes, though one Irish Sunday newspaper bizarrely described it as ’one of the most important novels of this generation'. His follow-up, It’s What He Would’ve Wanted, is about a silver lining breaking through the clouds of secrets, suicide and metereolgical mayhem.
Booker Prize winner Barry Unsworth returns with a disturbing analysis of the notion of heroism in his first novel for three years, Losing Nelson. A writer’s painstaking research for his biography of Lord Nelson leads him into a shadow existence where he faithfully re-enacts the life and times of his subject.
Funny lady Arabella Weir publishes Onwards And Upwards, the ups and downs of three best pals as they speed their way to the big four-oh. Meanwhile, Scots who make it onto the beach include short story writer Chris Dolan with his debut novel Ascension Day and Alex ‘Sir Alex' Ferguson, who has enlisted the aid of Hugh Mcllvanney for Managing My Life.
And if crime in the shape of stolen travellers’ cheques isn't enough for you, Ruth Rendell continues to churn them out with Harm Done, while Colin Dexter makes his farewell to Inspector Morse with The Remorseful Day. (Brian Donaldson)
8—22 Jul 1999 THE “ST 97