Review: The latest books, dvd and digital releases

THE THICKET

Signature, cert 15

DVD £9.99

Like the much-missed Elmore Leonard who wrote westerns (3.10 To Yuma) and cool thrillers (Get Shorty) Texas writer Joe R. Lansdale is the real deal now filling his shoes.

If you’ve read any of his books you’ll know what I mean. Quirky characters walking the fine line between good and bad populate his stories. Nobody in white hats for sure. Smart, razor sharp dialogue and murky plots are Lansdale’s stock in trade, and this gritty, snowbound, blood-soaked western saga has all his moody hallmarks.

He may be small in stature but Peter Dinklage (pictured) showed in Game of Thrones that he was big on talent, and so he proves again in the pivotal role here of bounty hunter Reginald Jones who’s recruited by young Jack (Levon Hawke, following dad Ethan and mum Uma Thurman into the film business) to find his little sister who’s been kidnapped by outlaw Cutthroat Bill (who despite the monicker is a steely-edged woman played by Juliette Lewis) and her gang. The Thicket has much in common with the Spaghetti Westerns of yesteryear. Bleak landscapes - covered in snow here - rowdy and ramshackle towns with little more than saloons, brothels and a provisions store.

A lawless place where life hangs on the pull of a trigger. It’s into this grim scenario that Reginald, his sidekick Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Jack find themselves facing off against Bill’s outlaws. It was Bill who started this whole thing by gunning down the kids’ uncle who was taking them to their aunt in Kansas after the deaths of their parents, when the outlaw snatched Jack’s sister.

8/10

SHIVER ME TIMBERS

Reel2Reel; On Digital June 2

This is one of those crazy comedy-horror movies where a popular cartoon character’s turned into a nightmarish ghoul intent on serving up gory slapstick to make (some) adults chuckle.

Meet Popeye the slayer man. It wasn’t spinach that Popeye usually eats by the tin full that turned him beastly however, apparently he smoked space dust that got into his clay pipe from a passing meteor shower and mutated him into a monster.

Hmm, very likely.

Other characters from the original sailor man lore like Olive Oyl and Castor have little to add as Popeye goes on a killing spree. Some people might find it darkly funny after quite a few bevvies, but it’s pretty crude.

6/10

RANI RANI RANI

Miracle Media; On Digital June 2

This Sri Lanka film has been garnering good reactions at sci-fi movie conventions and now aims for a wider audience.

Rani (Tannistha Chatterjee) is the caretaker at an abandoned factory in a rundown Indian village who faces an ongoing struggle for survival with her feckless hubby on one hand and his brother and her grasping sister-in-law on the other. Then fate intervenes in the shape of a group of dodgy entrepreneurs seeking a volunteer who will be paid to demonstrate their new time-travel machine.

It works, but as always with time-travelling in films, messing with your life’s trajectory can produce some unexpected side effects that aren’t always for the better as Rani discovers.

6/10

THE TRAD WIFE’S SECRET

Liane Child; HQ £9.99

Inspired by influencers promoting traditional married gender roles, this is a riveting domestic thriller that rips the filter off an insta-perfect life. Madison March appears to have it all – an adoring husband, perfect children, and an enviable home life filled with sourdough and homegrown dinners. But, behind the curated posts lies a fragile facade. And when a mysterious stranger appears, Madison’s world begins to crack and a shocking illusion’s revealed.

SECRETS OF THE TOFFEE FACTORY GIRLS

Glenda Young; Headline £7.99

In the second book of a planned saga trilogy, Jack’s Durham toffee factory’s under threat when Great War sugar rationing begins to bite. But, the story gives fans much to chew over as secrets threaten the happiness of not only Jack, but workers Anne, Elsie, and Hetty. Readers will be spellbound.

THE SISTER SWITCH

Charlotte Butterfield; Avon £9.99

Identical twins Alice and Edie are the darlings of morning TV. But, off camera they fight like rats in a sack in this hilariously entertaining tale. However, when a bet sees them swapping homes, lives and families they see each other through different eyes, and it’s a wake-up call.

Reviews: Lisa Hylton

8/10

THE LOST LOVER

Karen Swan; Pan £9.99

The Wild Isles series set in the dying days of the community that time forgot on the insular Scottish island of St Kilda, is a triumph. Readers will be swept up in a wave of romance and tragedy in this third book centred around young Flora MacQueen who dreams of a glamorous, more exciting life than can be found on St Kilda. Then rich and handsome adventurer James Callaghan pays a visit and is entranced by Flora. Could he make her dreams come true? You’ll be thrilled finding out.

9/10

UNDER THE LEMON TREE

Emma Cowell; Avon £9.99

This romantic summer read whisks you off to a picture-perfect Greek island where sunshine, the aroma of Greek cooking and the smell of the lemon groves will fill your senses. So pack your imaginary bags and take flight with Kat who’s grieving for her lost twin brother when she learns she’s inherited a house on Agistri from an uncle she didn’t know. Therein lurks a family secret, but can crystalline seas. blue skies, and that lemon scent banish Kat’s darkest days and let the light of new love in?

8/10