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Lucy Cruickshanks – The Trader of Saigon | Review

Title: The Trader of Saigon

Author: Lucy Cruickshanks

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 336

Rating: 4*/5

Lucy Cruickshanks – The Trader of Saigon

I picked this book up because I’m running an indie readalong with my friend Todd the Librarian on BookTube, but I realised after I started reading this that it doesn’t really qualify. It’s published by Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus, and it’s quite clearly been professionally edited and put through rigorous quality checks before it’s made it out on to the market. It’s professionally done, and rightly so.

This is technically historical fiction, because it’s set in Vietnam at some point during the mid-to-late twentieth century. It’s after the war, but before the country’s had time to heal. As for the plot, it’s surprisingly hard to talk about that without giving away spoilers. What I will say is that it involves people trafficking amidst the paranoid backdrop of communist Vietnam, and a dude called Phuc makes some very bad decisions after finding a gambling den.

Cruickshanks’ writing style is accessible and easy to read which means that it’s the kind of book that can just wash over you. She’s also fantastic at creating a sense of place, and it really kicks in right from the opening pages. You can almost taste the food and smell the markets. Cruickshanks has spent some time in Vietnam, of course, but simply spending time somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you can write about it. Lucy can, and that’s a talent.

Lucy Cruickshanks

Sure, there were bits here and there that dragged a little, but that happens with most books. But the good outweighs the bad, and I enjoyed this quite a lot overall. I might not remember the finer details in six months’ time, but it certainly kept me turning the pages right up to the end. When it comes to a book, what more can you ask for?

Will I read the next one? Maybe. There are so many books and so little time. But I’d like to.

Saigon

Click here to buy The Trader of Saigon.

Laline Paull – The Ice | Review

Title: The Ice

Author: Laline Paull

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 374

Rating: 4*/5

Laline Paull – The Ice

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

This book was interesting because it took a different approach to structure and storytelling. Most of the plot follows the aftermath of the tragic death of a young environmentalist, and the ensuing enquiry in which they try to establish the truth. That means that the critical incident happened before the story even starts, which means that all of the action is effectively set in the denouement.

To counter this, the author uses flashbacks and jumps backwards and forwards in time, which can be disconcerting from time to time but which works quite well. True, it’s sometimes difficult to tell exactly what’s going on, but it’s still enjoyable and it actually encourages your mind to put the pieces together and to slowly discover the truth for yourself.

A good chunk of the story takes place against the backdrop of Svalbard, where a wealthy businessman has teamed up with his friend, an environmentalist, to purchase some land. Only all sorts of political interests start to get involved, and many of the characters are forced to do things that they otherwise might not have done. It’s a novel of intrigue, then, and it raises some important questions about the future of our world if we continue to abuse the planet in the way that we do.

Laline Paull

The writing was pretty good, although it felt too flowery for me from time to time, and I liked the illustrations and the quotes at the starts of each of the sections. I’d say that it’s probably not suited to everyone, but if you like to read political thrillers and stuff that will engage your brain and push you to guess what the truth is, it’s worth a go. There’s a twist at the end, of course, but I didn’t guess what it was – in fact, I suspected something else entirely.

The only other thing to mention is the cover, which is gorgeous. Of course, I’ve got an advance copy and so the cover might change before you get your hands on it. But still!