Book Review: The Summer That Never Was

As I mentioned previously, I read a lot of books while I was on vacation. (Just to name a few: Einstein for Dummies, by Carlos I. Calle, which wasn’t bad; The Chancellor Manuscript, by Robert Ludlum, which was also pretty good; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John le Carré, which was up to le Carré’s usual standard of brilliance; Valhalla Rising, by Clive Cussler, which I thought was crap; The Dark Half, by Stephen King, which I liked.) However, I’m not going to bother posting reviews of all of them, because it’s too much work, and I’m a lazy, lazy man.

However, I just finished another book last night, The Summer that Never Was, by Peter Robinson. It’s a mystery novel, apparently one of a series involving Inspector Alan Banks, one of the main characters in the book. (There is a blurb on the front cover, by Stephen King: “The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are, simply put, the best series now on the market.... Try one and tell me I’m wrong.”) I thought the book was great; there are actually two mysteries going on at the same time, and I liked the way Robinson cut back and forth between them.

If you’re into mysteries, I highly recommend this one. The writing is good, the plot is good, and the characters are good. What more could you want?