The Hummingbird and the Bear [Kindle Edition]

Sam Taylor is was raised by a single mother who marries a man who turns into a violent step-father and Sam becomes one of the many young men who are thrown out of their `family' homes by a man who usurps the role of head of householder without choosing to serve as father. After a few years of roughing it, Sam turns his life around, at least on the material level, and becomes a self-made man. It's a familiar enough story on one level - all the real life rough diamonds who polish themselves into success are examples of this story in action.

But this self-made man, with a superb standard of living, `perfect' girlfriend and every possible advantage, is unmade when he meets a woman whom we cannot resist and who can't resist him. And at this point the story becomes something darker, more complex and quite disturbing: it's about love, but also about risk and the way that risk can be a kind of compulsion. From the moment Sam and Kay meet at a wedding they are compelled towards each other, regardless of that risk. For Sam the risk is the collapse of his beautiful, but precarious lifestyle but for Kay the risks are greater: she's already married and to a powerful man - who doesn't like losing anything, least of all his wife.

As the story unfolds we see similarities between Sam and Kay - both have fracture lines in their family histories that they have concealed but which bring them together in a mutual and ultimately destructive love affair. The collapse of their fake lives is set against the collapse of the finance industry in which Sam works and where Kay's husband is a major player to create a micro/macro scenario of loss, damage and spiralling madness.

The Hummingbird and the Bear is an unusual book - written by a man about themes usually reserved for `women's literature'; part love story and part fast-moving thriller; somewhat of a moral fable but also a forensic examination of the global banking collapse, it's a rare creature - a romantic book you could give to a man to read without having to apologise for handing him a 'relationship story'. Highly recommended for intelligent readers who enjoy passionate writing.

Nicholas Hogg has produced a tense, fast moving page turner here. I couldn't put it down and managed to rattle through the book in a couple of days, which is never a bad sign.

Once again the author has managed to capture his deep understanding of the cultures he has obviously spent considerable time in and incorporate them seamlessly into a flowing tale. Imagine Bill Brysonesque observations subtly woven into a thrilling novel.

Congratulations to Mr Hogg once again and I am thoroughly looking forward to the next installment.

...it seems I'm in the minority in not exactly being overwhelmed by this novel. I found it a fairly decent, though not spectacular read if I'm honest and this is the sort of book that I will easily forget about now that I've finished it. I'm not knocking the writing style, which was certainly appealing enough- its just I found it hard to feel any kind of connection or empathy with the main characters and the plot itself seemed a bit dry and uninteresting though the premise had initially appealed to me.

The book is about `self-made' man, Sam, a financier who seems to have it all- a great job and a beautiful fiancée. It's not until he encounters Kay, a married American woman at a mutual friends wedding and he feels an instant connection with her that he wonders if he has really been as happy as he thought. The two of them begin a powerful affair that threatens to destroy them both.

This is the story of love, romance and taking risks and contains some other very heavy subject matters. It is also set against the collapse of the economy, which whilst I found a nice piece of symbolism, did make the story a little bit duller than what I'd anticipated.

My feelings about the characters in this book were also mixed- I didn't particularly like any of them, barring Jenni, quite possibly because I didn't approve of their actions, but generally I found them lacking in any particular substance. I also had to suspend my disbelief somewhat at the end of this novel- it just grew borderline ridiculous and the sensationalism didn't seem to anchor very well with the rest of the book. Despite that though, the author is very good in creating a vivid scene and I had no trouble in imagining the multiple settings and surroundings depicted in the novel itself. The novel shifts between some interesting places which I feel were portrayed quite clearly.

As I'm in the minority in not being knocked out by this book, maybe this is one you need to try for yourself? It could be that I'm missing the point or not picking up on the something wonderful about this book that other reviewers have fallen on- though if that is indeed the case then I completely fail to see what that is. My lasting thoughts of this book: it was a fairly pleasant way to pass a couple of hours, but certainly didn't set my world on fire.