WHATBOOK..?

. . . are you reading now?

CARI MORA, the new thriller by Thomas Harris, the author of The Silence Of The Lambs. Harris doesn’t write many books (six in more than 40 years), but when he does, they’re never a disappointment.

This one is the story of a young, emotionally scarred South American woman, the Cari Mora of the title, who finds herself renting a house where, unbeknown to her, $25 million of gold bullion is hidden inside, which some very unpleasant people want to get their hands on.

I’ve only just started it, but the prose is tight, with not a word wasted, and the atmosphere increasingly menacing.

No one does flamboyant villains quite like Harris, and the central villain here is as original as he is terrifying.

...would you take to a desert island?

I THINK if you’re going to be stuck on a desert island, you need something substantial and that, for me, would have to be The Hamlyn Children’s History Of The World (pictured), a beautifully illustrated, 500-page tome written by the superbly named Plantagenet Somerset Fry. I got it for Christmas in 1975 and it was a fixture on my bookshelf throughout my childhood. I lost it when I moved abroad, aged 19, and was mortified until, years later, I found another copy in my local Oxfam.

I then re-read it all over again. Twice.

It’s told in a simple, yet engaging, style, with plenty of detail, and goes from the Stone Age to the Cold War, covering pretty much every civilisation in between.

It gave me a love of history that I’ve carried forward to this day.

. . . first gave you the reading bug?

I’VE always been an avid reader, but the book that really got me started was Agatha Christie’s The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd.

I first read it when I was nine, after a recommendation from my dad, who said it had the best ending he’d ever read. I was blown away.

Published in 1926, and one of the early Hercule Poirot books, it’s extremely clever, audacious and way ahead of its time, using a structure that’s been oft-repeated, but never bettered. I won’t give too much away for those who haven’t read it, but the twists make you want to read it all over again as soon as you’ve finished.

I then ploughed through pretty much all of Christie’s back catalogue and now count her as one of my main crimewriting inspirations.

. . . left you cold?

NOW this is a controversial one, because The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho has sold tens of millions of copies and is billed on Amazon as a book that ‘changes the lives of its readers forever’.

Indeed, a few years ago, while going through a particularly rough time in my life, a friend recommended it to me, saying exactly the same as above.

Although, on the face of it, it’s the story of an Andalucian shepherd boy, Santiago, who follows his dreams and travels to distant lands in search of adventure, it’s also in many ways a self-help book, full of inspirational and meaningful parables told by the various people he meets along the way, which I think are meant to wake the reader up to his or her spiritual side.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get on with it and still have no idea what the fuss is about. Maybe I’m just not spiritual enough.

WE CAN See You by Simon Kernick is out now in paperback, published by Arrow at £7.99.