The Paperbackers

Right before World War II,21-year-old Harry Clifton faces a dilemma: to join the fight or take his place at Oxford. Soon enough he confronts long-buried family secrets and realises that his father,who was supposedly a war hero,may not even be his father. Jeffrey Archers five-book Clifton Chronicles began with Only Time Will Tell in 2011. The second instalment The Sins of the Father (Pan Macmillan,Rs 350) has just been released.

Days before Britain declares war on Germany,Clifton,who has joined the Merchant Navy,is rescued by an American cruise liner,SS Kansas Star,along with the rest of the crew after they are hit by a German U-boat. He assumes the name of a dead American officer,Tom Bradshaw,to escape his tumultuous past. After landing in America,he realises his mistake when he is arrested and ends up in an even murkier situation,with no way of proving his true identity and shackled to a past that could be worse than the one he wanted to escape: first-degree murder. A high-end Manhattan lawyer promises to help him but leaves him penniless and guilty in court. Complete with wavering family loyalties,Archer entertains and retains the suspense.

From Guillermo del Toros dark world of fantasy creatures and terrifying wars,seen in films like Pans Labyrinth and Hellboy,comes his Strain Trilogy,a vampire series co-authored with Chuck Hogan (author of Prince of Thieves: A Novel). The Fall (HarperCollins,Rs 250),book two of the series,is no dewy-eyed teenage vampire fiction. Here vampires are parasitic creatures set to release a deadly virus among humans. The Fall is a testimony to the fear that spreads and the hunt that ensues to contain the virus.

In the first book,The Strain,an outbreak of a contagion and a war in New York were foreseen; The Fall fears worse. Dr Ephraim Goodweather is a modern-day Van Helsing who tries to annihilate the bloodthirsty masterminds with a ragged crew. As the city burns,this group,which also has a Holocaust survivor and a veteran exterminator,attempts to stand steady. Pacy and with bloodcurdling details,the book does not romanticise vampires.