A Shadow On The Lens by Sam Hurcom

 

231 Pages

You can buy A Shadow On The Lens...Here

You can follow Sam Hurcon...Here

You can follow the publishers, Orion Books...Here

• The Blurb...

1904. Thomas Bexley, one of the first forensic photographers, is called to the sleepy Welsh village of Dinas Powys. A yound girl by the name of Betsan Tilny has been found murdered in the woodland. But the crime scene appears staged and worse still: the locals are reluctant to help.

One night, he develops the crime scene photographs in the cellar of his lodgings. There, he finds a face dimly visible in the photographs - the shadowed spectre of Betsan Tilny.

In the days that follow, Thomas senses a growing presence watching him as he tries to uncover what the villagers of Dinas Powys are so intent on keeping secret...

• My Review...

A very well plotted and crafted debut from Sam Hurcom, boasts the best of both worlds. It is simultaneously an engaging murder mystery and creepy supernatural nerve tingler.

Its 1904 and a gruesome murder takes place in the sleepy hinterland village of Dinas Powys. Hard to think of it as a sparsely populated rural idyll as it is only 5 miles west of Cardiff and today it has a population of 9000. So it's intriguing to see it stripped back to it's historical bare bones. The newly appointed Forensic Photographer is dispatched from the London, the beating heart of the Empire to this rural backwater. He is an outsider and this is very much a "local village for local people."  There is a whiff of The Wicker Man about the place.

Upon arrival Thomas Bexley begins to feel watched, hallucinations haunt him and even the weather seems to have dark intentions towards him. Coupled with this are the strange mother of the victim who lives in a hovel in swampland outside the village and the reluctance of the locals to actively engage in finding the killer as tales persist of a demon spirit abroad in the words. It all makes for a difficult and creepy investigation for our hero.

The author's prose hits the sweet spot too. It's rhythm and syntax is ever so slightly archaic, so as to point to it's Edwardian time frame, without being obtrusive. This added a bit of seasoning to the brew.

This is well balanced book. Both the investigative and the supernatural aspects are intriguing and intertwine seamlessly together. You'll find yourself thinking is it supernatural or some other plausible explanation and your deduction will swing with every chapter. I found myself desperate to read on in the latter stages racing to the conclusion. I think this sort of engagement in a novel is the gold standard. When the book catalyses this emotion, you know its a good 'un.

I think I would have liked to have known a little more about Thomas Bexley's background but no doubt this may be further explored in the sequel "Letters From The Dead," which I'm just off to order now. Can't wait. 

• Selected Quotes...

"For years I could not speak of what is written in these pages. It marked the change in my life, the death of the man I once was. Only now, as an ever- deepening fear of what is to come plagues me, do I feel compelled to write of all that I have seen."

"Promiscuous girls are asking for trouble,’ Cummings said boldly. The man’s ignorance became clear to me then. ‘You would blame the shopkeeper who has his produce taken by the thief?"

 "In a sleepy shire such as this, it is all too easy in the bright light of day, with the songbirds whistling and the mediocrity of life being played out around you, to dismiss such fears as old wives’ tales for children who have not done all their mother’s chores. At this late hour though, with the heavy black of night as company, with the whispering of draughts through crooked rafters and the hollow, unnatural hoot of the night owl unseen, the mind wanders to its darkest corners and thinks of all too dreadful things."

"We don’t talk about it because we know it’s there. We know it’s real, feel its presence every day.’ He glared at me with his red, bloodshot eyes. ‘Don’t tell me since you’ve been here you haven’t felt it too."

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly

Mists and Megaliths by Catherine McCarthy (see our review...Here)

Fatal Solution by Leslie Scase (see our review... Here)

• About The Author...

Sam Hurcom was born in Dinas Powys, South Wales in 1991. He studied Philosophy at Cardiff University, attaining both an undergraduate and master’s degree. He has since had several short stories published, and has written and illustrated a number of children’s books. Sam currently lives in the village he was raised in, close to the woodlands that have always inspired his writing. A SHADOW ON THE LENS is Sam’s debut novel.

The Silent Brother by Simon Van der Velde

 

325 Pages

You can buy The Silent Brother...Here

You can follow Simon Van der Velde...Here

You can follow the publisher Northodox Press...Here

I received a free copy in return for an open and honest review.

• The Blurb...

The Past Never Dies. When his beloved little brother is stolen away, five-year-old Tommy Farrier is left alone with his alcoholic mam, his violent step-dad and his guilt. Too young to understand what has really happened, Tommy is sure of only one thing. He is to blame.

Tommy tries to be good, to live-up to his brother’s increasingly hazy memory, but trapped in a world of shame and degradation he grows up with just two options; poverty or crime. And crime pays. Or so he thinks.

A teenage drug-dealer for the vicious Burns gang, Tommy’s life is headed for disaster, until, in the place he least expects, Tommy sees a familiar face…

And then things get a whole lot worse.

• My Review...

This is, in places, a heart rending novel. A cross between Shuggie Bain and Brighton Rock but set in Newcastle. 

It tells the all too familiar tale of Tommy. A young lad with an alcoholic mother, violent step dad and a younger brother taken into care. Sadly his life is mapped out for him. Squalor, drink, drugs, petty crime, after all apples don't fall far from trees, do they? Is there a chance for redemption? Can he rekindle his love for his childhood sweetheart? Can he find his lost brother? More importantly can he survive the grubby, seedy backstreets of Newcastle.

The writer has a definite gift for placing you IN the story. It's like VR with 360 vision. However it is a  double edged gift. We have all seen places like the one depicted in the story and all know people like Tommy. If like me you can't stand to watch the news anymore for all the sadness and deprivation in the world, then through the writer's skill you will feel the sadness and deprivation in Tommy's world. I think I often read to escape this world not to experience it again through prose. The words can feel too real sometimes and that's not denigrating the author : it's praising him. It is an emotional hard read in places. I don't set much stall by how many stars a book gets. I think its more about the review narrative. I gave this 3.5 stars  basically because I don't like heart breaking sad stories that reflect the world I was brought up in, it's a bit raw, a bit tender. However I think most people will give this emotionally immersive novel more stars than this grumpy old man, who has seen the reality of Tommy's story played out in real life too many times.

The author has a distinct style. It catches certain, definitive, individual snapshots of the past and sees them through a lens of memory such as the moment when Tommy's brother is taken, or the fight following the football match. He writes like how I remember my youth. Not getting the full flow but shining a bright beam on the highlights (or lowlights), and letting you deduce the path between them. It reminds me a lot of how David Peace writes.

Of course he used this signature style in his excellent earlier anthology Back Stories. Where you are invited to guess the unknown famous/infamous protagonist in several short stories.

After reading this book, you feel that you have lived through it vicariously.

• Selected Quotes...

"Sure, you cant change where you're from, but you can change where you're going. And if you do, then you can change who you are."

" They wouldn't call this a community pub. But there's one thing it's got in common with the Black Boar. The drug, This is Saturday night and people are out to get pissed. Laughing, fighting or f*****g, they're out to escape from themselves."

"He was bluffing like the rest of them. Lying his head off because that's what the world is. Doctors, lawyers and the prime-f*****g-minister, all telling us everything's going to be alright when the truth is nobody really knows what they're doing."

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (see our review Here)

Back Stories by Simon Van Der Velde (see our review Here )

• About The Author...

Simon Van der Velde has worked variously as a barman, laborer, teacher, caterer and lawyer, as well as traveling throughout Europe and South America collecting characters for his award-winning stories. Since completing a creative writing M.A. (with distinction) in 2010, Simon’s work has won and been shortlisted for numerous awards including; The Yeovil Literary Prize, (twice), The Wasafiri New Writing Prize, The Luke Bitmead Bursary, The Frome Prize, and The Harry Bowling Prize – establishing him as one of the UK’s foremost short-story writers.

Simon now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with his wife, labradoodle and two tyrannical children.