A Week in December by Sebastien Faulkes

This is the second book that I have read as part of my reading challenge that I set a few weeks back.

Sebastien Faulkes is one of my favourite authors although I have to say I have preferred his books set further in the past (ie. Birdsong, Charlotte Grey, Human Traces). Nevertheless, I had high hopes for this book!

From pinterest

The story focuses on a number of people who live in London and whose lives are intertwined one week in December sometime around 2007/2008 ish. There are quite a lot of characters ranging from wanker bankers to an Eastern European footballer to a would-be terrorist bomber. There are so many characters that it took a while for me to work out who everyone was and how they were connected. I think this is why I was slow to get into the book (and the reason it lay unfinished above my bed for so long!).

 It touches on a lot of modern themes such as causes of recessions, terrorism, loneliness and seemingly common in Faulkes' novels, mental illness. It also touches on love in a few stories, enough anyway to satisfy my sugar coated demand for a few happy endings!

One comment on the back said it was 'hilarious' which I didn't agree with. It was amusing in parts but with a black humour, mocking aspects of modern culture such as reality TV programs.
 
I would recommend it if you haven't read it. Although if you're like me, I'd read it in a short space of time to keep track of all the different characters! If you have read it, what did you think?

Sorry for the short review again, but I don't really know what else to say!

Cheerio!