Ordinary Thunderstorms (2010)
by William Boyd
This one was recommended to me by Stephen King via Entertainment Weekly and I've got to say that Ordinary Thunderstorms was one of the better books I've read in a long time.
Adam Kindred is a climatologist who has moved back home to London from the US for a new job. Following an interview, he stops off for a bite to eat in an Italian restaurant where he strikes up a casual conversation with another single diner, Philip Wang. When Wang leaves and forgets his briefcase, Adam gives him a call and agrees to drop it off at Wang's apartment. Upon his arrival, however, Adam finds Wang dead and his apartment ransacked. Adam soon finds himself the sole suspect in Wang's murder, and, in order to save himself, he joins the thousands of London homeless while trying to discover why Wang's employer -- a fancy pharmaceutical corporation -- is trying to frame him.
It's always tough for me to describe why I like books, but what sold me on this one was Boyd's writing style. On one hand, it's immensely easy-to-read, but on the other hand, he likes to use words like "balustrade" and "refulgent" and "importunate" as if these were things we said in casual conversation (then again, Brits always sound more intelligent than us Yanks). There's a great balance in his writing style (with hints of dry humor to boot) that had me riveted throughout the entirety of the book.
Thoroughly impressed with this one and will surely pick up another William Boyd book in the near future.
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