Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital

According to the author bio, Janette Turner Hospital is an author and academic who teaches English literature. You can tell. This book is crammed full of literary tricks, allusions, allegory, symbolism and whatever else English professors get off on. But she makes it work, and work well. The story itself revolves around the consequences of a hijacking and the discovery of the truth behind it. The plot turns aren't particularly difficult to spot, but that's largely beside the point. At times the voice jumps from a narrator to one of the characters, but throughout the erudition and writing remain eloquent without being grandiose. The plot merely serves as a vehicle for some great writing, and the book isn't any less for it. It's not perfect, and there are parts that slip and feel forced. But they are minor compared to the effect of the whole.

In a world awash with crap books, this is one that makes you go hmmmm. It won't take you long but you'll enjoy it, recognise it is far above most of the humdrum that passes for writing these days. It grapples with themes of alienation, identity, connectedness, consequences and the difference between the search for truth and knowledge. You get literature in the form of a thriller. That's value for money.