HAVE YOU SEEN . . . ? by David Thomson (R454 Penguin)
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Elmari Rautenbach
There are people who can think of nothing better than to curl up with a good book at the end of the day. Then there are the movie nuts. This book is for both. The subtitle says it all: A Personal Introduction to 1 000 Films Including Masterpieces, Oddities and Guilty Pleasures (with Just a Few Disasters).
Veteran British film writer David Thomson has produced a doorstopper of very personal opinions, tirades and praise singing. There’s a page on each of the 1 000 films Thomson has loved, regarded as particularly interesting or hated with a vengeance. The entries are arranged alphabetically which makes for interesting reading - films from the early 1900s back-to-back with blockbusters such as Titanic.
Illustrated and informative, this collectors’ item could be a great Christmas present for film fans.
THE FINAL DAYS by Alex Chance (R186 Random House)
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Pieter Vermaak
Psychologist Karen Wiley receives a disturbing letter from a child - a cry for help - but she has no idea how to find the person who sent it. She starts receiving letters from Jon Peterson, a man with plenty of inner demons who has murder on his mind. Karen turns to detective Egan Blake for help.
While all this is happening a girl is abducted from a trailer in Utah and Egan believes the incidents are all connected.
He and Karen travel to Utah to search for the missing pieces of the puzzle. There they discover that to solve the mystery they have to dig deep into the past and find out more about a local legend - the Cult of the Final Days - that’s still haunting the town.
This suspenseful debut novel is truly chilling at times and is a real page-turner.
