The Watcher Ross Armstrong

If I’m grumpy today, Ross Armstrong, it’s all your fault. If you hadn’t written The Watcher I might be properly refreshed after a good night’s sleep. But because I simply could not put the book down until I had finished it I am now tired, bleary eyed and …………….grumpy. So if it affects my review you’ve only yourself to blame!

As I read the opening blurb I yawned a little as the premise is not a new one, its been done before so I wondered how and if this writer might deal with it and make it different and engaging. The ‘how’ might cause me to offer spoilers which I must try not to do but the answer to the ’if’ query is, yes, he does make it different up to a point.

Opening paragraphs made me think Rear Window meets Girl on the Train but the prologue was tantalising. Crucial with a thriller because if it isn’t you can so easily lose your reader. What I also found interesting was a male writer with a first person female protagonist. Probably down to past experience but alarm bells go off in my head. However I think a very good, convincing job was done here. Much has been said and written about the differences between the male and female mind so it is always interesting to see how a writer deals with the exchanges and interactions and responses from a mind set that is not their natural one. 

The structure of the novel written in the form of one person addressing has been done before. If done well it works, be it diary, letter, journal etc, it is intriguing to wonder who the recipient is, and it also allows the writer to convey aspects of the narrative that wouldn’t work with direct unfolding of events. I liked the chapter headings which piqued my curiosity but ultimately they didn’t deliver with the impact I was hoping for. 

The novel began slowly, scene setting and allowing the reader to adjust and relax? Not for long. The pace accelerates and without wishing tor reveal too much it seems to mirror the pace of our heroine’s mind. Lily is yet another troubled character that seems to populate the so called psychological thriller so much in vogue at the moment. But without an unreliable narrator there would not be quite so much of a story. And do we enjoy reading about flawed characters because they make us feel better about our own quirks?

Once could examine the story deeply and find some social comment but there’s no compulsion to. It can be enjoyed as a darn good, debut thriller. I did piece together what had happened to a certain extent which pleases me but there were also some twists that were unexpected. That also pleases me. The conclusion isn’t one that ties up all the ends neatly. If you look for that in a novel it might disappoint but on the other hand if you want to go away thinking about what you’ve just read you’ll be delighted. 

I appreciate that I received an uncorrected, proof copy but I found mistakes in abundance and I do hope these are spotted and dealt with accordingly. It would be a shame if they find their way into the finished product.

Thanks to  Real Readers for giving me the opportunity to meet another promising novelist.Consider my appetite whetted.

The Life Assistance Agency - Thomas Hocknell

‘Bless’ was the first word that came to my mind as I started to read this book. ‘Bless’ for a debut novel and that indefinable force that pervades a writer’s first work and fills me with an emotion that is equally indefinable. Then I ceased my blessings because this guy means business!!

It’s going to be a difficult one to review without giving too much away. And if you are going to read it, which I’m sure you are, I don’t want to spoil it for you. Other reviewers have offered comparisons with Dan Brown but for me I was reminded fleetingly of Douglas Adams who surely has to be an influence? But also of Susanna Clarke’s Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange in terms of the mood and situations created. 

This is a deceptive book. On the one hand it is a witty, contemporary adventure story but on the other there are some supernatural and spiritual notions to be explored. The diary entries of the excursions into Elizabethan Europe were authentic and well paced enough to complement the present day narrative. I think it was these diary entries that so firmly reminded me of Susanna Clarke’s story. 

The relationships between the sets of male characters offer an interesting parallel which I like to think was intended rather than accidental. Historical mirrors almost. Without wishing to offer any smattering of sexism the female characters were functional rather than engaging and whilst in some situations the latent feminist in me would be strongly objecting it does seem to work here and I wasn’t unduly offended.

I have to say I did see part of the final denouement and the clues were all there for the taking. That usually makes me feel pretty smug. But the other part I didn’t see until too late!! There was something satisfyingly complete about the entire story. which I didn’t anticipate initially. 

This isn’t a book I would have selected to read left to my own devices. Nudge Books offered it to me as a maverick choice and maverick is a good word here. This is a maverick book. And I was blessed to have had the opportunity to read it.

Where Dead Men Meet - Mark Mills

Mark Mills has been on my ‘to do’ list since The Savage Garden. I know, I know, that’s years ago. I throw my hands up and fully acknowledge my tardiness. But having finally got around to ‘doing’ him again courtesy of Nudge Books it does give credence to the old adage that some things are worth waiting for.

I will begin by what is wrong with this book. The ending. That’s what’s wrong. There shouldn’t have been an ending. I didn’t want it to end, not ever, I wanted to go on reading! It’s all a thriller should be for me.

Despite the time lapse between my reading of this and The Savage Garden it was easy to return to Mr. Mill’s style of writing. There were some thematic similarities with what I had read before. There is the tried and tested formula of a young protagonist, a feisty female and a true love of Italy. And another well researched, historical, crime thriller that has you turning the page eagerly to see what happens next.

There are times when the tried and tested become cliches and there were elements in this plot  that I had a faint feeling I’d come across before. I hesitate to detail them for fear of offering spoilers but instead of coming across as cliched they gave me more a feeling of deja vu which added to the mystique of the plot as a whole.

Not for the faint hearted there are some scenes of brutality but they are important to the development of the narrative and our response to the characters. The story is tightly woven and unfolds, a thread at a time, allowing us opportunities to try and piece things together. There are no detectives in this thriller, just ourselves, the readers. There are surprises. There are elements the reader is made aware of but not the protagonists and you have a sense of wishing you could warn them what is round the corner, literally, almost!!

It’s an economic book without being brief. All the detail is necessary and there are no extraneous embellishments. Such books are a pleasure to read. The writer understands his own genre which may smack of stating the obvious but in my experience it isn’t always so. 

Mark Mills is staying put on my ‘to do’ list but I will not allow such a time lapse before I read some more of his work.

Himself - Jess Kidd

Please read this book with an Irish accent

I was originally given an ebook version of this book to review but then good fortune sent me a complimentary paperback so I’ve been able to read it properly and enjoyed it all the more for that.

A powerful opening chapter sets the tone for this debut thriller from a bright young talent, Jess Kidd.

Eloquent, descriptive passages and abundant similes stamp this firmly as an enthusiastic debut novel.

A deceptive portrait of a sleepy Irish village seeks to conceal what has transpired in its murky past. Ballykissangel it ain’t! (Ballykissangel? Sorry, that’s me showing my age! TV show from the 90’s. Google it). A reference to Under Milkwood on the book cover had me sniggering with contempt which lasted milliseconds once I started to read. I got the allusion totally. 

And all is moving along swimmingly when The Sixth Sense - ‘I see dead people’ - interferes.

The supernatural and the spirit world isn’t my thing in fiction and I was worried that the initial credibility of what was an engaging narrative would erode for me.

I needn’t have worried!  This writer deals with the themes in such a way as to make it all palatable. All credit for a bold, ambitious premise from a first novel and it certainly makes an impact. Underneath all of this is a murder mystery, the bare bones of which has been done many times before so respect for this writer’s attempt to take a different approach.

Identity is a key theme, one man seeking to verify his own identity, and seeking identities - parent, murderer. And are the sins of the father visited upon the son? You’ll have to read it to find out.

There’s a feast of characters some of whom could be straight out of Father Ted and others straight out of Stephen King! There are some subtleties in the narrative that make you do a double take. Echoes of something read before, a wondering as to whether the comedy you saw was really intended? Mrs. Brown’s Boys or Samuel Beckett?

There are some starkly, brutal descriptions that at times I found gratuitous especially where animals were concerned. There was enough quality in the writing to leave it to the readers’ imaginations.

Overall I found the book weird yet curiously compelling and in a saturated market I guess you have to find something different to make your work stand out and whether you love it or hate it Jess Kidd does something different with this novel. I suspect this is a name to note and to watch out for.