I just finished the last of the Strike novels by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling), The Ink Black Heart. This was number six in the series which includes The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White and Troubled Blood. It was, in my opinion the best yet. It all centres on the murder and attempted murder of two people who created an online cartoon based in Highgate Cemetery (by the way, if you are ever in London, I would recommend you go and visit Highgate Cemetery, it's an amazing place) and their online critics/fans. It’s a long read, over a thousand pages but doesn’t feel like it and I didn’t want it to end. As to the perennial question of Strike and Robin, and will they won’t they, there are no spoiler alerts here and if you want to find out, you’ll just have to read it or look elsewhere. I haven’t watched the TV series at all and probably won’t. The books always have so much more in them and you form your own picture of the characters.
I was in Dublin on Saturday to see a friend and read Hiroshima by John Hersey, on the way up and down on the bus. It details the events of 6 August 1945 through the direct experience of six people and provides an update on how their lives turned out afterwards.
It would be something if we could read that now as history and were comfortable in the knowledge that the lessons have been learned but, sadly, that is not so. The lunatic fringe is still running the show and making huge profits from the death and destruction of endless war.