Friday 23 December 2016

P is for Pussycats - Chicomadre and the Little Pussycats of Firenze


A good friend recommended this to me on the strength of cats being mentioned in the title. All my friends know I'll read anything with cats or dogs. 

I was a little disappointed at first, because despite the title the cats, although important, really don't occupy much space in the book. Instead of being all about cats, as I had hoped, it's about an emotionally stunted, shopaholic Mossad hitman. That doesn't sound like much of a recommendation, and I must admit to a moment of pure quailing as I realised what I was going to be reading. Nevertheless, the book held my interest right through. By the time the cats made their appearance, they weren't needed; I'd have kept reading anyway.

The emotionally deprived shopaholic hitman, after killing various people, starts to wonder if perhaps murdering people is a bit nasty. This happens by about halfway through the book, and the rest of the book deals with him basically trying to ignore his new social consciousness. Despite this, which ought to have been the kiss of death, the book held my interest. I'm not sure why, but it was a compelling read.

This, in my opinion, is all that needs to be said. Mr Vanounou, despite breaking practically every rule in the writers' book, has succeeded in writing a page-turner, and that, folks, is what it's all about. I'd certainly read him again, and you should, too.


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