Fanfiction and Thriller

I've been feeling so lazy recently, or maybe, it's because I've been trying to catch up with work (didn't work - no pun intended), that I've been neglecting lots of things. But I really want to post (yet, I don't want to work), so, forgive this rushed review(:

The first book I want to review, I read on Sunday/Monday (well, I reread it at my Aunt's place before watching Man U vs Chelsea, so it counts as Monday morning I suppose. It's called "Darcy's Voyage" (formerly Pemberly's Promise) by Kara Louise. It basically re-imagines the entire premise of Pride and Prejudice, asking "What if Darcy and Elizabeth met before?" (Even before the voyage, since they met two years before than).

The interesting thing, is that I've never heard of the book, and never intended to borrow it. I actually found it when I was rushed-browsing through the new local library (I very foolishly didn't check closing time, which meant that I arrived one hour before it closed, only to find that I couldn't borrow any books because I didn't have enough money to pay the fine, so I had to top-up the EZ-link card at the MRT station). I actually didn't want to borrow it, because I was afraid it would not live up to a Pride and Prejudice 'sequel' (very few do), but I'm glad I did.

I've heard read criticism online that it's glorified fanfiction, and well, maybe it is. To others. I find it a really good rewriting of a basic story, keeping the original characterisation and chemistry between Darcy and Elizabeth. While most stories with Darcy's Point of View is really hard to write, because we all imagine him differently, this book seems to pull it off effortlessly. I suppose that any book inspired by an author could be called fanfiction, but I think that this book goes beyond it, to imagine a whole new aspect to Elizabeth's society.

The other book I read is "What lies beneath" by Sarah Rayne, and it was lent to me by Aunty Florence. I don't normally like thrillers (I'm a scaredy cat at heart), but for some reason, Sarah Rayne's books really appeal to me. This one is actually very different from most books, because the protagonist is unexpected:

She's a murderer.

While the story, again, has two different plots (and some subplots which I felt were really unnecessary), they came together fairly early in the story (or maybe, I read it too fast), which was really pleasant. But I'm digressing, the whole story is about madness (hereditary and not), and how that leads to one being a killer. Well, we actually have two killer's point of view, the past and the present killer. They have a really surprising connection (read the book if you want to find out), but still very believable.

It was an interesting read, because it's hard to get into the mind of the villain without making your readers close the book (I still haven't been able to read Lolita), but surprisingly, one of the villains actually seems sympathetic. Until the end of the book, where you really really feel as though that you can't sympathise with her (too evil). But the other villian, evil and easy to "hate" from start to finish.

So, there are another two good books for you to read, I really hope you do(: