Irish Times reviewers cast a critical eye over the latest batch of paperbacks, including Stephen L. Carter's wonderful The Emperor of Ocean Park, and Irish writer Cathy Kelly's Just Between Us.
This Is Not A Novel. Jennifer Johnston, Review, £6.99
Family, memory and the lasting impact of the past continue to fascinate Jennifer Johnston. In this characteristically wry, intelligent narrative, Imogen attempts to make sense of the disappearance of her beloved brother and an ancient betrayal that traumatised her as a girl, against a backdrop of emerging family history contained within forgotten family papers. As a narrator she proves likable, if rather tragic, having been denied so much through circumstances and various dysfunctional relationships. Johnston, always the most ironic of novelists, is quite correct - it is not a novel, it is the story of one woman's life derailed by the abuse of trust and love. There are many good things here, not least Johnston's handling of her familiar themes such as the shadow cast by the Great War over a disappearing social class. - Eileen Battersby
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self. Clare Tomalin, Penguin, £8.99
This wonderful biography of Pepys immerses the reader in 17th-century London - odours are smelt, sensations are felt, pageants are played out and pity aroused. A rare balance between intellectual content and vicarious emotion is struck. Events of great political moment and the diarist's domestic life are treated in alternate chapters but there is also some melding of the two. 'Changing Sides', the chapter on the perils of loyalty to a leader , must surely serve, even today, as a handy mini-manual for apprentice and veteran politicians contemplating a leadership or party shift! The account of Pepys's private life, gleaned from his diaries, are all that a psychiatrist would wish for from a patient - they are revealing, racy and insightful. This work is also magnificent on the two "greats" - the plague of 1665 and the fire of 1666. - Kate Bateman
Dorian. Will Self, Penguin, £7.99
Adapting Wilde's end-of-century tale of decadence and hidden corruption for modern times is a clever idea, and with his mannered style and talent for the Wildean one-liner, Will Self is a good writer to have had it. One hundred years on, it is a video installation rather than a painting that records Dorian's physical and moral decay while the man himself maintains the flawless facade that enraptures hundreds of victim lovers, including the artist Baz Hallward and his cynical upper-class cohort, Henry Wotton. While the death-dealing Dorian rampages, promiscuous and unharmed, through pre-millennium London, AIDS begins to stalk Baz, Henry and the rest of their circle. Self is, as ever, hard on his creations, and it is easy to see why this book caused offence, but the story is told with energy and panache, and by the end it is clear that even their creator has been won over by the characters he satirises so unmercifully. - Giles Newington
Just Between Us. Cathy Kelly, HarperCollins, £6.99
Cathy Kelly's latest book, Just Between Us, opens as a 40th wedding anniversary is being planned. The story deals with the lives of four women - a mother and her three daughters - in the run-up to this momentous occasion. As the party draws nearer, they must each contend with their own individual problems, from low self-esteem and the alcoholism of a spouse to infidelity, jealousy and the fall-out from a family break-up. Kelly has the ability to create believable and likeable characters. She captures the scene, banter and mood of a stereotypical well-heeled group within Irish life. This is assured, well-crafted writing. Just Between Us is her sixth novel. It lacks the drive of earlier books, possibly because there are four heroines rather than one, but fans will still enjoy immersing themselves in this confident blockbuster. - Catherine Foley
The Emperor of Ocean Park. Stephen L. Carter, Vintage, £6.99
Yale law professor Stephen Carter's début novel caused a
sensation when it was first published in the US. The very idea of an upper middle-class African-American man not only existing but actually writing about other upper middle-class African-Americans seemed to amaze many critics. When you look past the fuss, however, what's left is an above-average legal thriller. Talcott Garland is a black law professor at an Ivy League university. His father, Oliver, was a controversial judge whose chance of becoming a Supreme Court judge was destroyed when his friendship with Jack Ziegler, a shady former government operative, was revealed. After Oliver dies, Talcott discovers his father had a lot of secrets - and that the judge's former friends and enemies want Talcott to reveal them. Scott Turow and John Grisham fans will love it. - Anna Carey
Dead Air. Iain Banks, Abacus, £7.99
Kenneth Nott, a shock-jock DJ at an edgy London radio station, describes himself as a "professional contrarian". His on-air abrasiveness has meant he has rarely lasted more than a year in any previous job - and his diatribes against various extremist groups have resulted in death threats. Ken rarely lasts longer than a year with any girlfriend either and he has already exceeded that with Jo, to whom he has been serially unfaithful, once with his best friend's wife. As if he hasn't enough aggravation already, Ken begins a torrid affair with the beautiful wife of a fearsome gangster. When an attempt is made to abduct him, the list of suspects is understandably long. Dead Air relies heavily on Ken's opinionated riffs and outré behaviour and even the high tension introduced towards the end doesn't compensate for the overall lack of a sustained plot. - John Moran