‘Violet’ by SJI Holliday
My reading at the moment seems to have been quite grim. One of the odd things about books is that sometimes the thing you want to pick you up is a fairly nihilistic thriller about jealousy and obsession. I’m not saying ‘Violet’ was great, but it was a fun, quick read. It’s the story of two backpackers from the UK who meet by chance in Asia (or do they…?) and decide to travel together for a while, just as mates (or are they…?) and as time goes on they get into some scrapes that seem to be just by accident (or are they…?) and it rattles along quite nicely from there (or does it…?). One of the things that’s quite effectively done is that although you know from the blurb and the setup that one of the backpackers is scheming something, it’s never 100% clear which one it is. You might be 80% sure that Violet isn’t what she seems, but there’s just little bits indicating Carrie might be a little bit iffy, too. It works pretty well.