The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Rating 3⭐s

You can buy The Picture of Dorian Gray...here

You can find out about the author...here

253 pages

• The Blurb...

Oscar Wilde's alluring novel of decadence and sin was a succès de scandale on publication. It follows Dorian Gray who, enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his depravity. This definitive edition includes a selection of contemporary reviews condemning the novel's immorality.

• Our Review...

Wilde's famous for his one and only novel. Dorian a young, very wealthy and strikingly handsome man loves himself so much he wishes for eternal youth as he is sitting, having his portrait painted. Low and behold after a while he notices his picture is ageing cruelly, but he is not. Dorian decides his life from now on will be one of excess and hedonism, knowing that there is no cost to his depravity (at least in the physical.) But how much depravity can one man sustain. How will it end. Will his past come back to claim revenge at some point?

Wilde famously was sent to prison for homosexuality, in a time when this was illegal. Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray (TPODG) feels like it is written by a man who wishes there was no consequences to his vices. If only Wilde could drain the shame out of himself and trap it in a painting, leaving him to lead a care free life. Of course the irony, these days his actions would not be illegal, he would suffer no guilt or shame. One century's crime is another centuries freedom.

Famous his wit and insight into society, TPODG is rife with razor sharp wit, beautifully balanced one liners and sage like asides on life and class. See selected quotes for just a few. So why only 3 stars? Well I feel the novel is less than the some of its component parts. It is pure upper middle class indulgent naval gazing, where the most pressing issue is how to deal with "ennui." No, i didn't know what it was either, It's a deep, existential weariness that comes from feeling like nothing is worth doing. I don't think i have ever been that far up the financial food chain to be rich enough from what is essentially very posh boredom. 

He is forever naval gazing and talking about himself. It is so very narcissistic and self indulgent. It is not a very attractive quality. "But it's just the character of Dorian Gray"  you say. But for reasons stated earlier Gray and Wilde seem to me to be one and the same person. His attitude to the lower class in general and women in particular speak to a lack of empathy. Yes he is insightful and witty but that wit is disparaging and cruel and self aggrandising. I can appreciate the humour and societal analysis but I don't think I'd go for a pint with Oscar Wilde/Dorian Gray.

• Selected Quotes...

The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world. They can sit at their ease and gape at the play. If they know nothing of victory, they are at least spared the knowledge of defeat. They live as we all should live—undisturbed, indifferent, and without disquiet.

"she is a peacock in everything but beauty,"

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself,

I should fancy that the real tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self-denial. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich."

In the common world of fact the wicked were not punished, nor the good rewarded. Success was given to the strong, failure thrust upon the weak. That was all.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like.

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Chasing Shadows by Matthew J Evans

 

322 pages

You can buy Chasing Shadows...Here

You can follow Matthew J Evans...Here

• The Blurb...

You've never met a detective like DI Angelis before. Where The Police Procedural meets The Supernatural

Detective Inspector David Angelis investigates the gruesome murder of a friend and neighbour and uncovers a conspiracy in which he is at the centre. But they’ve got something very wrong about him, and his newfound abilities are not what they seem to be. Angelis exposes the dark world of designer drugs and the deadly psychopath they have created.

Chasing Shadows is the first in a police procedural crime thriller series with a supernatural twist like no other.

• Our Review..

Stepping out of my comfort zone of bog standard real-life type crime thrillers we have Chasing Shadows. Where our protagonist David Angelis after being horrifically injured in the line of duty as a police officer is in a coma when in a last throw of the dice he becomes a candidate for a new radical drug trial. Cue two years later and David is now back on the job with a promotion but he is now blessed with "special powers" including, but not limited to, mind control and being able to tell when someone is lying. When people connected to the unethical drug company begin dying David is drawn into the investigation and is on the trail to find how he developed his powers. 

Should someone with his powers be allowed to live? After all he could, if so wished, rule or even destroy the world. Why would someone with such incredible power be happy being a copper in Chichester of all places. Is David the only one? To this end a shadowy-Governmenty-Agenty woman is tracking his every move.

The story is told partly in first person (David) with the remainder told in third person.

Initially I struggled to track the large number of characters introduced early on but by halfway I got hold of it. One point that came to my mind was that if David has all the powers then it is a bit of a mismatch when catching the crims in this novel, even the ones jacked up on rage inducing, strength enhancing meds, It would be like Man City v Boreham Wood. He needs someone his equal to battle. There are more books in the series so the Magneto to David's Professor X may yet emerge. 

Its the sort of story I would have loved as a youngster. It has lots of special powers,  Marvel hero type stuff. I think I would describe the tale as YA with a hard, adult, religious,  battle between good and evil spine through it. And who doesn't love the eternal battle between good and evil, darkness and light. From Moses and the Pharoh, Gandalf and Sauron, King Arthur and Mordred through to Skywalker and Darth Vader it is literally a tale as old as time.  

It is a very unusual and interesting book, unusual to me at least. I dont know if the author has perfected it but he is definitely onto something with this Prime Suspect/Constantine type mash up. It will leave you pondering this world (and the next.)

Oh and the twist is a little rip-snorter!

• Selected Quotes...

"I sense people are hurting everywhere I go. It’s background noise, like the rumble of traffic. I’ve learned to push it away, but sometimes I can’t. I just wish the gift or curse I received had the power to take that hurt away."

"I didn’t think I was a religious man, but I’ve seen such darkness today. I need to step into the light again. I look around, and I’m struck by the silence. This is one of those thin places. I’m wondering if the people praying over the centuries have punctured a million holes between heaven and Earth. Is that how it works?"

"I’m looking at Martina now, and I’m getting the darkness, the violence and anger. It’s exuding from every pore of her skin."

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

Constantine by John Shirley

Later by Stephen King

Lucifer by Mike Carey/Neil Gaiman

Midwinter of the Spirit by Phil Rickman

• About The Author...

I’m a crime author living near Chichester, West Sussex, UK. My novels are usually set in locations close to my home, and this is an area of Sussex that I love and know well. I’ve served many years here as a police officer, and I now use this experience to help me write crime fiction.

I have so far published three crime thriller books in the DI Angelis Crime Thriller series: Chasing Shadows, Hide Her Away, and Take You Home. All are available on Amazon Kindle and in paperback. These novels are dark police procedurals with a strong supernatural element that distinguishes them from other police crime thrillers.

I first tried my hand at crime writing during the COVID pandemic. As a result, in 2021, I published my first novel, Chasing Shadows. My policing experience helped me write true-to-life police procedures in my novels, with a fictional balance to keep the action moving. (from matthewjevans.co.uk)

(photo is Matthew with his son Zac)

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.

Mists & Megaliths by Catherine McCarthy

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy Mists & Megaliths............Here

You can follow Catherine McCarthy....Here

The Blurb....

Welcome to Wales, land of mists and megaliths, where mythical creatures and ancient spirits lurk in the strangest of places.
This collection of 10 supernatural stories offers a flurry of folklore, a gathering of ghosts, and even a cosmic cave creature.

Stories include...

Lure: A fisherman who nets the tail fin of a lure becomes obsessed with finding the rest, but what else lies hidden in the ancient lake?

Carreg Samson: A Neolithic burial chamber stares out to sea, remembering times long since past, but when it loses its heart of stone to a young girl the repercussions are hard to bear.

Coblynau: An old man watches the mountain which was once a slag heap of coal. He listens for the knock of the Coblynau, certain they will come for him... soon, just like they did to warn of the Aberfan disaster.

Author Catherine McCarthy’s second collection invites the reader on a regional journey, evoking a sense of quiet horror from the cosmic to the Gothic.

My Review...

This is a really good collection of short stories that give a real flavour of the dark, Celtic folklore of Wales and bring it into the modern era. A mini Mabinogion.

Horror really isn't my thing so was a tad wary of doing  a review for a horror book. However, this book is not so much horrific as supernatural/creepy.  Turns out that I really enjoyed this Welsh Twilight Zone. There are 10 terrifying tales, so there is sure to be something for everyone.

1. Gragen. A tale about a jealous sea spirit.

2. Two's company, threes a shroud. Comic claustrophobia in a grave.

3. Jagged Edges. The spirit of a railway man haunts a disused station.

4. Mara. What actually is a spirit box?

5. Retribution. When a village is turned to idol worship, And a monster is caged.

6. Ysbrid Y Mor. A stranger comes promising hope, do you let him in?

7. The Ice House. What we do in life echoes in the afterlife.

8. Lure. Who is fishing for who?

9. Corblynau. The mining trolls of Wales.

10. Carreg Samson. If the ancient standing stones could talk.

Each tale offers a little something a little different from the comedy of Two's company, to the foreboding of catastrophic karma of  Carreg Samson, to the moral tale of being a welcoming people in Ysbrid Y Mor.

What really comes through in the writing is a respect, awe and dare I say love for the ancient tales and locations of Wales. I have been to a few of the locations in the book. Namely the ice-house, Cefn Coed Cemetery, Porthgain and as a young lad swam in Cefn Golau pond next to the cholera graves. (Now having the read the ice-house, the fact that I swam there creeps me out a bit 😳.) She has chosen the locales very well, because having been there I can testify that they do, indeed, feel like "Thin Places." A Thin Place is where the dividing line between this world and the next is at its most shallow and can, on occasion, be breached. 

Aside from the creepiness of the tales, the writing can be powerful and gripping. In one section in particular in Corblynau the last miner in Wales is in a nursing home and suffering from dementia and the way the author writes about him is absolutely heart breaking.

There is also a short pre-amble before every tale, which gives a little background information and sets the scene. A nice touch and very informative.

This collection is a display of the dark, spiritual heritage of Cymru. As well as being ripping yarns in themselves they give you something to ponder about in your own lives afterwards.

Selected Quotes...

"If Charles were still able to give a derisory snort, he would have done so, but the cartilage in his nasal passages had long since decomposed."

"The end of the line. Or was it the beginning? Harold thought it depended entirely on one’s perspective."

"I suppose in retrospect I hoped to glean some reaction from the creature, however small, and it made me wonder as to the instinctive need in us humans to communicate with our fellow men. You see, the more accustomed I grew to the creature’s appearance, the more readily I accepted it, until it seemed almost human."

"Decades of coal dust nestle in lungs which rattle like a percolator as he breathes."

About the author...

Catherine McCarthy is a spinner of dark tales, often set in her native Wales, U.K.
She has published two novels and two collections of short stories and her new novella, Immortelle, will be published by Off Limits Press in July 2021.
Her stories have appeared in anthologies such as Graveyard Smash, The One That Got Away, and Diabolica Britannica, and her flash fiction has been published by Crystal Lake Publishing and Flame Tree Press.
In 2020, she won the Aberystwyth University Imagining Utopias prize for creative writing.
Catherine lives in an old farmhouse with her illustrator husband and its ghosts, and when she is not writing may be found hiking the rugged coast-path or photographing ancient churchyards for story inspiration.