The Man In The Seventh Row by Brian Pendreigh

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy "The Man in the Seventh Row"...here

Overview...

 Roy Batty grew up in Edinburgh, the son of a butcher. Roy became a film fanatic and saw many classic films of the 60s and 70s. Still a film buff as an adult, when he goes to the cinema he repeatedly finds himself watching himself playing the familiar characters on the big screen from his seat in the Seventh Row. His soul is slowly dissolving into the ethereal melting pot of cinema. Why? we flashback over Roy's life to see what led him here. Is it real? or is it a mental breakdown, or a dream? Roy meets a kindred spirit, a fellow film fan. Can she save Roy from being swallowed up? In addition to the main story, there are 3 additional short stories that are connected, albeit tenuously and tangentially, to the main story.

My Review..

This is a strange book in many ways. Often when doing a review I know exactly how many stars to give. In this I was torn between 3 and 5. Which is odd in itself, why the gap? why not 3 or 4 or 4 and 5? and it took me a while to work out why. 

It does not follow any set formula for a type of book. Large parts of the narrative are given to describing Roy's favourite movies. Most people spend their lives in reality with the occasional trip to distraction in the cinema. Roy seems to live his life in cinema with the occasional trip to distraction in reality I found that the plot  wasn't really important. The plot seems hazy and blurred. In most books the narrative is a device to move the plot along, yet in this book it feels, to me, as if the plot is an excuse to talk about the narrative. Which if you are as skilled as the author is (both in writing and his chosen subject) is no bad thing.This view may be down to me and my often idiosyncratic tendencies  and obviously others may will have a different take but personally I am not a huge fan of magical realism. I often prefer things to be like me, big and simple.

On the other hand the nuts and bolts of the writing are bang on for me. When I review a book, I underline interesting or unusual phrases possibly to use as a quote. My pen was working overtime in this book. In particular I found one large paragraph (too big to quote) about the hopes and dreams of the people who drift to LA in an attempt to find stardom quite moving.

The early part of the story reads like an autobiography. This was my favourite part of the book. Roy recounted his childhood including trips to the Cinema in Edinburgh and while on holiday in North Berwick. It was here sat in silence with his dad, enjoying a shared experience, that they bonded.  This and the films resonated with me. Substitute the Gwent Valleys and Porthcawl and he could have been describing me. 

We Welsh are known for introspection and melancholia and it struck me that the author writes like a Welshman. He writes "hiraeth" exceptionally well. Hiraeth does not really translate in English. In English it means home sickness but it is so much more. It is home sickness on steroids. It is a deep longing and pull in your soul to a place, time and people that may no longer be there, if they existed at all. It is the irresistible  pull back to the land of your fathers. Reading this part of the novel was like sticking a thumb in a week old bruise. The pain felt so sweet. 

This is not a book that you gallop through towards the crashing end. Luckily enough I am of an age and enough of a film fan to have seen all the movies Roy talks about, which I would imagine is a great help in reading this book. Barry Norman or Mark Kermode would love it. This book is like a conversation with an old friend in front of an open fire with a glass of whiskey talking about old films. It is a book that you wallow in and let the hiraeth seep in through your pores.

The 3 short stories at the end of the book are interesting but add little to the main narrative. Though the second story "hommage" does have a very clever spin.

So 3 or 5 stars. What the hell. I cant decide. We'll split the difference. It's a 4

Selected Quotes

"Cinema is a place where illusion and make believe are real."

"His father was never really the sort of man who would have ever been so presumptuous as take a starring part. He only really had a supporting role in life."

"He thought he had seen him up there on the screen, but it was difficult to be sure because his eyes had filled with tears. They ran down his face and he wiped them away. In the cinema, in the confessional darkness, no one can see you cry."

"but he had seen enough films from Oliver Twist to Lady and the Tramp to know that just because someone is dirty it did not necessarily mean they were dirt."

About the author...

Brian Pendreigh is an award-winning writer and journalist, whose regular outlets have included The Guardian (1999-2007), The Times and The Scotsman. He has written several film books and most recently was editor of The Times on Cinema (2018). He was twice Britain’s Film Journalist of the Year and his work has been picked by the Scottish Examination Board for English interpretation questions. He is a keen long-distance runner and pub quizzer (with wins on Mastermind, Eggheads, 15 to 1 and Only Connect). He lives in Portobello, Edinburgh. His lounge overlooks the Pentland Hills and his bedroom looks out to the sea and romance.

The Gathering of the Seven Stars by Andrew James Graham

⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy "The gathering of the seven stars"......Here

The blurb...

 A multi million pound Football betting scam appears to be a front for something much more sinister when a brutally tortured body is discovered. Twelve years earlier Europe's Chinese Communities reported a large increase in crime and disorder and now it's happening all over again. DS Oscar Smiles, returning from compassionate leave, must deal with the ghosts from his past and put aside his personal worries as a notorious underworld figure battles with a Triad gang to control the dragon Gate area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

My Review..

Somethings rotten in Newcastle. A body is found having suffered numerous cuts. He is soon linked to Newcastle Football Club and illegal Chinese gambling. Enter the unlikely duo of DS Oscar Smiles, clean freak with OCD. His parents have recently passed away and he is a little lost. A sensitive, touchy feely type, but with a very logical mind and his boss. DI McGovern, his boss, is slovenly, fat, slightly racist and misogynist Glaswegian, divorced 1970s throwback. In no time they are on the trail but the bodies begin to rack up as they bump up against each other in pursuit of the killer. 

There are several suspects including a local Chinese man done good and bully boy loan shark intent on moving up in the underworld.

This is a cracking provincial city, police procedural. The author clearly loves his city including the more dodgy parts. The book is definitely  a work of fiction because at one point it says that Newcastle went top of the league! ha ha lol.

The characters and tone are spot on for me. Tough, slightly seedy backdrops. (A particular favourite scene was the kaleidoscope of chaos at a Social Security Office.) The author is a Housing Officer and one can only speculate as to some of the scenes over the years that he has snuck into this book. The mixture of realism, dark humour and  caricature are an intoxicating mixture.

The book gathers pace as the bodies rack up, new characters are introduced and back stories are filled in. 

I can envisage McGovern and Smiles developing into a long running series. Cant wait for book 2!

Selected quotes...

"There's a lot going on. McGovern chimed in, in his usual thoughtless manner, Yes son, far too many turds for one toilet."

"There was such a thing as having to much to say. Which could be translated as boring the fucking pants off someone. Sometimes he needn't wonder how Oscar was still single."

"His few strands of grey combed over his skull in memory of his hair."

"He is the best XangQi player this side of the Great Wall and I mean the Chinese one not Hadrian's one down the road"

About the author....

Andrew James Graham was born and brought up in the town of Wallsend, North Tyneside.
The Gathering of the Seven Stars is his debut crime thriller.
The working class son of a former shipyard worker he has used his many years experience working as a Housing support officer in some of the most socially and economically deprived areas of Tyneside for inspiration in his writing.He is unfortunately a supporter of Newcastle United Football Club.

Backstories by Simon van der Velde

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

30% of all profits from the sale of Backstories is shared between Stop Hate UK, The North East Autism Society and Friends of the Earth.

To buy Backstories please click the link....Backstories by Simon Van der Velde

Outline...

Dreamers, singers, heroes and killers, they can dazzle with their beauty, their talent or their unmitigated evil, yet inside themselves they are as frail and desperate as the rest of us. But can you see them? Can you unravel the truth?

These are people you know, but not as you know them.

Peel back the mask and see

My Review...

14 short stories of heroes or villains at a crucial time in their lives but with a difference, you do not know the identity of the protagonists and it's down to you to recognise them.

Engaging and intriguing this book is off the beaten track and offers something a little extra to the norm.

It is like a mash up of "through the keyhole" "Quantum Leap" and "Guess Who" board game. Not a whodunnit but more of a who is it?

I can see this type of short story being a very useful tool in the teaching of English or History. You really feel as if you "walk a mile in their shoes" Of course the only downside would be if the reader is not familiar with the person at the heart of the story.

I enjoyed some of the tales more than others. I found I was especially drawn to the killers! Also some of the stories are in the first person and some are in the third person. I found the first person tales to be more immersive. For me the more macabre seemed to be more memorable ones.

14 stories is a lot and personally I think I would have preferred 5 or 6 stories but with more deeper, darker slightly longer narratives. All in the first person. However I'm sure others would disagree.

That not withstanding I found this book to very interesting and engaging. Well researched and cleverly done. Well worth reading and challenging yourself to guess who?

Selected quotes...

"Okay they're not beautiful, they're pretty ugly really, and totally past it, but they've got something real between them. Maybe, I wonder, is that what love is?"

"The officer's hand closes across her mouth reducing her screams to muffled cries that only bring the girls running faster. They burst into the atrium flushed from their morning ride, sweat damp on their faces"

"She can't help it, even though she knows it makes people crazy, makes them leave her, like her father left, like her mother left,"

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.

Red Zone by Luke Murphy

Outline...

A cheerleader is found murdered at Los Angeles USC football stadium. Calvin Watters ex USC star player, ex mob enforcer and current Private Investigator is hired to find the culprit and not embarrass the USC. He combines family and work by taking his girlfriend to meet his LA cop brother and family.

During the investigation he locks horns with LAPD investigating officer Charlene Taylor. Charlene is driven and trying to live up to the legacy of her murdered cop dad, even inheriting his old partner.

Eventually they work together, Taylor using Watters inside knowledge to progress the investigation. However Watters is not universally welcomed at his old stomping ground. 

My review...

 The investigation takes place in the totally alien (to me) worlds of US college life with fraternities, sororities, cheerleading scholarships and college football. Where crowds of 70k+ often watch inter university US football games. Yes the USA does seem a bit bonkers but college football is big business and the stakes are high. 

The two main protagonists have well filled in back stories with lots of mileage already on their clocks. They both have an aggressive attitude to investigating and interviewing suspects. My unconscious brain, as it does sometimes, cast one of the characters. In this case Calvin Watters was the Rock!

There are numerous minor characters that help to flesh out the story and a few red herrings for us to chase.

Was it a sorority initiation gone wrong, obsessed stalker, love triangle, jealous teammate cheerleader. All possibilities are investigated.

The author has brought his two main characters together from his two previous series so it is a a cross over book. I tried to think of a similar situation (dogged female police investigative officer and handsome private investigator) from a UK perspective and the best I could come up with was Vera and Eddie Shoestring 😳 which quite frankly would be hilarious! And nowhere near as glam and sexy as LA.

I found this to be an enjoyable, and solid police procedural. In an unusual setting.

Selected quotes...

"They called her “Double D” around the LAPD, and it wasn’t just because of her initials. Dana had told Charlene that they had been high school graduation gifts from her parents."

"Watters had a strong relationship to USC, and any college alumni felt a strong bond to their school, and anyone who attended, especially the football family. The bond was tightly wound, unbreakable, and Charlene wondered how the former running back would handle investigating one of his ‘brothers’."

“This is 2020. Social media is everything for a lot of people, especially college students. They live and breathe through how many friends and followers they can attract. That’s why people count the ‘likes’ on their posts,and go back ten times to check it. They wonder if they did something wrong if their count isn’t high, and they’re traumatized if they’re ‘unfriended’ or ‘unfollowed’.”

"There was never an ‘off’ moment for a detective— no punch- out clock, or time to sit back and enjoy the ride. It was constant, case after case, always on call and on the go. Charlene had cop blood running through her."

About the author...

Luke Murphy is the International bestselling author of two series. The Calvin Watters Mysteries: Dead Man’s Hand (2012) and Wild Card (2017). The Charlene Taylor Mysteries: Kiss & Tell (2015) and Rock-A-Bye Baby (2019).

Murphy played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006.

His sports column, “Overtime” (Pontiac Equity), was nominated for the 2007 Best Sports Page in Quebec and won the award in 2009. He has also worked as a radio journalist (CHIPFM 101.7).

Murphy lives in Shawville, QC with his wife and three daughters. He is a teacher who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude).

50-50 by Steve Cavanagh

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Outline...

Two sisters on trial for murder. Both accuse each other.
Who do you believe?

Alexandra Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife.

Sofia Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body and needs the police right away. She believes her sister, Alexandra did it, and that she is still in the house, locked in the bathroom.

Both women are to go on trial at the same time. A joint trial in front of one jury.

But one of these women is lying. One of them is a murderer. Sitting in a jail cell, about to go on trial with her sister for murder, you might think that this is the last place she expected to be.....
You'd be wrong. 

My Review....
I had seen Steve Cavanagh on a few youtube things with other crime writers like Mark Billingham, Luca Veste and Val McDirmed. He seemed a very entertaining and clever guy so I thought I would read one of his books and it did not dissapoint.

Cavanagh is an ex lawyer so knows his stuff. The setting is the law courts of New York and you would think that the author is a native of New York but surprisingly he is a Northern Irishman with a thick accent to boot.

I think this is the 5th or 6th in the series but I had not read any of the previous Eddie Flyn novels. A situation I hope to rectify throught out the course of the year.

This is a book of multiples. We have two potential killers and two protagonists. Eddie Flynn and Kate Brooks.

Our hero Eddie is an experienced street fighter of a lawyer who was once a conman, so has plenty of transferable skills as well as friends in low places. As a lawyer he will not fight for an innocent verdict of someone he believes to be guilty.

Kate is a junior lawyer representing one of the sisters. She eventually ends up blossoming as a lawyer and unfurling her wings. She too believes her client innocent.

The book is a plotters dream with more suspense than Hitchcock's braces. The chapters are seen through several characters point of view but only two are in the first person. One is Eddie the other is "She" the killer sister, whose identity is not revealed. With all these well written viewpoints we get a slick, fast paced tale.

Eventually the good hearted lawyers (I know eh!) begin to suspect malice aforethought by at least one if not both of the sisters. 

The only negative for me is the fact that I'll never listen to "She" by Elvis Costello again 😳🗡❤

As the investigation continues loose ends must be tidied up and the body count begins to rise.
Well plotted, great characters. Cavanagh writes like a young Grisham. 

Selected Quotes
"A murder trial with an innocent client is like saving someone who’s fallen over a cliff edge. You’ve got their hand. You’ve got to hang on. You’ve got to haul them to safety. Their life is in your grasp. Your strength is all that separates them from a chasm."

"Moonlight seemed beautiful to her. It was the devil’s neon."

"Whoever tells the best story wins."

"Verdicts are often flawed because people are flawed."

"The Magnum held five rounds in its cylinder. Each round looked the same size as a cigarette lighter and cost two and a half bucks. No matter what kind of problem you had, as long as you were carrying that gun, two dollars fifty was probably all you needed to spend in order to solve it."

About the author...

Steve Cavanagh is an Irish author from Belfast and at the age eighteen he studied law by mistake. He is now the international award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn novels. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel. Steve is still a practicing lawyer (someday he’ll get the hang of it) and co-host ofthe chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. He has been involved in several high-profile civil rights cases, his Eddie Flynn novels have been published in over twenty countries, he’s married with two young children, and in his spare time he is mostly asleep.

Feral Snow by Mark Lowes

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy Feral Snow...Here

You can follow Mark Lowes...Here

Description...

Alone and stranded in the Arctic wasteland, would you risk your life to save a stranger or try to get home?

Paul is a father-to-be; traumatised by his past, he's terrified of becoming a father after his own beat him until he was unilaterally deaf. While working as a freelance cameraman in the Arctic, he's caught in a blizzard, separated from his crew, and falls into a chasm. Alone, and waiting for death to come, personal demons plague his mind.

When a young native girl falls into the chasm with him, Paul must learn how to accept responsibility and what it takes to give your life for a child.

My Review...

Good authors know what interests readers, even when the reader themselves dont know. When asked what they like to read, readers will often reply  crime fiction, horror, SF or some other genres. They mistake the frame for the picture. What enchants us is not really the type of story, rather  it is the human condition that enthralls us when we read, love, hope, honour, despair, fear. So for example the Shawsank Redemption is a tale of the endurance and beauty of the human spirit even in the most difficult conditions entwined within a prison break story. A good author can splice the human condition and a rollicking yarn together. I think this is why Stephen King is so successful. In this his debut novel Mark Lowes also demonstrates this author's gift.

We really experience our flawed protagonist through his external trauma of cold, injury, wild animals etc but even more so we feel his internal adventure of fear, shame, regret and possible redemption. We live both his real and metaphorical journey.

The author has a very descriptive turn of phrase, which he uses wonderfully well to describe the relentless, biting cold (see selected quotes) I found my self gripping my hot tea a little closer and edging ever closer to the fire as I was reading. It also speaks to the author's talents that even in a vast  expansive backdrop like the arctic he can still make us feel everything so intensely.

You end up cheering our hero on, even when you find out some of his past that even he would rather forget.

Our protagonist runs away from the imminent birth of his first child to be a wildlife cameraman in the arctic. From the dedication at the start of the book, you can see the author was about to become a first time father himself. Talk about self projection. He need not worry, in my experience any man who stresses this much about becoming a good father already has all the building blocks he needs to be a good dad.

I have seen this book described as a cross between 127 hours and the revenant. I would go a little further and throw in a pinch of "a christmas carol" with a sprinkle of "it's a wonderful life."

An exceptional tale of arctic survival and character reflection. Amazing when you realise this is a debut novel.

Selected quotes...

"Cold sets into his lungs like an infection. It spreads through veins, strangling the life from them until they are no more than scrawled blue ink across pallid skin."

"The coolness soothing the side of his face like the cold hand of a lover."

“I’ve dealt with disappointment forever. But disappointment in yourself is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced."

"His body is beginning to shut down. Someone inside him is going from room to room and flicking the light switches off."

"It isn’t fair that he suffered the childhood he did, that he’s terrified of fatherhood as a result."

About the author...

Mark Lowes is an author from Cardiff, Wales in the UK. He's been writing stories since before it was cool. He also had a beard before it was cool but the less people know about that, the better.  He works for a national charity helping deaf children develop their literacy skills. He has worked in education his entire professional career, however, he will always come back to his dream of writing.  FERAL SNOW is his debut.  Please follow Mark Lowes on Twitter: @MJLAuthor

I am here to kill you by Chris Westlake

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Outline....

A sleepy Welsh village out in the sticks has a women's support group where nothing happens and life continues to meander on its mundane way. That is until a beautiful stranger turns up and ingratiates herself into the group.  She secretly begins to stir the pot and long buried issues begin to surface once more. Sexual tensions rise, cliques are formed and broken. Is she controlling the group? Is someone controlling her? What is her history? A young man's death sparks police involvement. It's all spiralling out of control or maybe it is all going according to plan...

My review...

I was first drawn to this book because it has a great cover and is set in a small village 50+ miles outside Cardiff much like the village I was born and brought up in. However the author's village is very different to my own. It is a lot more middle class and it is full of twisted, duplicitous inhabitants and that's the beauty of this book. It set me to thinking, perhaps the people in my village were like that but I just was unaware of it. All sorts of things go on under a rock but you can only see the rock.

This book is a sequel to Chris Westlake's first book "30 days in June" that tells the tale of a serial killer from the Bridgend area of Wales. Thanks to some clever writing I am here to kill you can be read as a stand alone though with the benefit of hindsight I would have read 30 days in June first. (As an aside; immediately after reading I am here to kill you I bought 30 days in June that should tell you how much I enjoyed this book)

It is written in the first person, however the author avoids the pitfall of only seeing one point of view by having each chapter devoted to one of the main characters and seeing the narrative from their point of view. Very "Quantam Leap" and it works because there are huge differences in the characters. From the bored Thai bride, to ex hooligan with a heart of gold to the sad lonely widow who organises the support group. The author inhabits their souls extremely well.

Old memories are dredged up from those affected by horrific crimes. Others begin to see they are living a lie. Hidden desires  are revealed and passions released. What originally seemed a bland community slowly morphs into Soddam and Gomorrah.

The author writes with a sure touch  about the most scariest of things......yes that's right Women. Here  they can be lovely cuddly bottles of nitro. Each one has depth and shade no 2D cardboard cutout stereotypes here.They can be just as ruthless as the men and a lot more cunning. Take Sheena as a case in point. The sexy stranger who enters the metaphoric quiet pond of the sleepy village of Pontbach and causes the ripples to radiate. She is manipulative and manipulated, depraved and wicked like a cross between Jessica Rabbit and Priti Patel.

The author swings our allegiance between the cast members as our understanding of them grows. There are several plotlines which I would love to expound upon but will refrain from doing so in case I give the game away. 

If you cant tell already I really enjoyed this book. A thrillingly, well plotted, complex thriller that shows that underneath we are all far deeper than can be seen from the surface. Its up there with Alex Michaelides The Silent Patient. 

Selected quotes...

"It's different for me. I've lived here all my life. Why would you want to jump from the big sea, with endless possibilities, into a goldfish bowl, where the same things happen day after day? Why would anybody willingly make that choice?"

"I love her because she stops me from being alone."

"My house is meticulously clean and tidy - very minimalistic. It is the perfect example of how a normal, sane person should live. Of course, there is nothing accidental about that."

"I swear to God, her tiny, child- like tits perked up. Who needs plastic surgery when you have gossip to share?"

About the author...

Chris Westlake was born in Cardiff and brought up in Wick, a coastal village seven miles from Bridgend. He now resides in Birmingham with his wife, Elizabeth, and two young children, AJ and Chloe. 

After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris' short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award. He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award. 

He has written three previous novels, Just a Bit of Banter, Like, At Least the Pink Elephants are Laughing at Us, and 30 Days in June. You can find out more about Chris, and his books, at his website, chriswestlakeauthor.co.uk 

Promise (A Book of Death) by D.P. Applebury

 

⭐⭐

Outline

Promise (A Book of Death) tells the tale of a man who dies and passes on to the afterlife where he becomes a sort of apprentice to the Grim Reaper. We follow his adventures through time and various locations.

My Review

My over riding impression after reading this book is one of confusion. At only 159 pages it should have been a quick read. However, it was more heavy than it need have been.

I found the prose very thick (especially in the first third of the book) and often found myself re reading a sentence several times before getting to grips with its meaning. It is not an easy read. See selected quotes for examples.

The plot jumps from place to place and era to era, which can add to the confusion.

The author is trying to describe the afterlife and time,  which are abstract concepts in and of themselves and are difficult to describe and understand. Added to this is the fact that there is only limited dialogue due to the fact that our protagonist often travels on his own and even when he doesn't the Grim Reaper isn't a great conversationalist.

There is a decent, head warping twist at the end and there is a potentially interesting tale within this book. The author clearly loves the English language and has an extensive vocabulary but I feel it needs to be very much more user friendly.

Selected Quotes

Furthermore, and this is the principal of paramount predominance, I have been, I currently am, and I forever will be entangled as a cohort and acquaintance of eternity.

Light, and the absence of it, shared tone with pigment in a beauty that would feign to mask its foreboding.

I could still hear its gentle babbling meld with the hypnotizing throb of my puissance. 

Having gained the knowledge of choosing my destinations, I subsequently reclused completely into individuality as I made history my home.

About the Author

David Peter Applebury's debut novel "Promise (A Book of Death) is

the first of many more tales to come

David is a musician  vocalist, award winning poet, a decent cook and a self proclaimed nerd. Born and raised in the Pacific North West of the USA. He currently lives in Longview Washington. You can find him on Twitter as @dp_applebury

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

By Special Guest Reviewer Adele Powell (R.M.) (R.N.)

This story pulls you in from the very first dramatic scene. We meet Lydia and her 8 year old son Luca as they are hiding from the Mexican Cartel ‘Los Jardineros’. We quickly find out the cartel has murdered 16 of their family members and Lydia is wise to the fact that the cartel will not stop until they kill her and her son too.

However, the reason for this is kept hidden from the reader, ensuring a page-turner story! The story documents Lydia and Luca’s treacherous journey running from the cartel, from Acapulco to the US border. I have never heard or read very much about a refugee’s journey to the US border, so this was a complete eye opener! 

We learn about the perils that can easily befall a refugee on this journey such as, drug trafficking, sexual assault, and murder. We also learn how easily accidental death can occurby falling off ‘La Bestia’, the infamous freight train network that refugees and immigrants travel on by literally jumping on the moving train and hauling themselves to the roof. This risk being preferable to dying of thirst whilst walking miles through the desert. 

There are a couple of key elements I personally took away after reading this story. 

Firstly, it highlighted that any person could find themselves in the position of desperation, seeking a better life. Lydia begins the story as a middle-class bookshop owner, but tragic circumstances change her life immediately and she finds herself a refugee.

It’s interesting to read Lydia’s thoughts about this dramatic transition as, like most people, she’d heard about immigrants and refugees in a transient way, on the news in the background or an attention-grabbing headline. She never fully imagined herself in that position, believing herself impervious to this fate.

Secondly it also brought to life the very real terrifying journey of survival that millions of people are part of every day. One particular quote completely sums up the desperation of a refugee at the US border ‘She spits through the fence. Only to leave a piece of herself there on the American dirt’.

Written during the Trump presidency this story also highlights how utterly heartless it is to dismiss a refugee’s traumatic experience or indeed exacerbate it by detention and family separation at the US border. 

There is some controversy surrounding this book, as many readers have felt that the story is cultural appropriation as Cummins is not a refugee or immigrant and is also not Mexican. Personally, I feel that this book is written appropriately as Cummins had completed 5 years of research prior to writing and it is also a fiction book, it does not proclaim to be documentation ofa real-life journey or person. It gives the reader a small insight into the perilous journey of a refugee, and hopefully increases empathy and understating in the reader. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book. The story is equal parts tragic and gripping. Cummins’ excellent description ensures you feel like you are journeying through the unforgiving landscape with Lydia and Luca. The reader also finds themselves trying to decide which people to trust and which to treat with suspicion, a testament to Cummins cleverly written characters. 

Although full of heartbreak and edge of your seat moments, Cummins also subtly weaves in acts of kindness, emotion catching the reader off guard. It is a story so beautifully written you will be moved.

Guest Reviewer Adele Powell (RM) (RN)

Adele is currently a research Midwife based in London. She loves reading autobiographies and stories (fiction or non fiction) about different cultures to her own. Her favourite authors include Khaled Hosseini, Min Jin Lee and of course the great literary midwife Jennifer Worth.

Reviewer Noel Powell

Noel Powell (@grumpyoldbooks)

Is the main reviewer on this site. All reviews are by him unless stated otherwise. He is a 50+ bibliophile from Wales, whose day job is on the shop floor in heavy industry. He also enjoys hiking and watching rugby and NFL. He is married with two adult children. He particularly enjoys crime and historical fiction but will have a bash at any genre.

Post Mortem by Gary Bell

 

⭐⭐⭐

The blurb...

Can Rook keep his criminal past a secret when facing the most dangerous case of his life?

Thirteen men have died in a London prison. Barrister Elliot Rook QC, who risks losing everything if his secret criminal past is revealed, must defend Charli Meadows, the vulnerable single mother accused of smuggling the deadly tainted drugs inside.

But just as Rook becomes suspicious of those closest to Charli, a note arrives at his flat – threatening violence if the trial is not called off.

While Rook battles to defend Charli and protect himself, his young protégé Zara Barnes is fighting for her livelihood. In a few short weeks, only one tenancy at the legal chambers will be available to the ever-multiplying mass of pupils. Determined to make it hers, Zara takes on her biggest solo case yet.

But will her gamble pay off?

My Review...

I would like to thank Net Gally, Bloomsbury publishing and Raven books for this Advanced reader copy (A.R.C) in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Post mortem is the tale of Elliot Rook the once homeless barrister now fighting for justice in the courts as well as the odd spot of breaking and entering and occasional punching of a known criminal, his protege is the young and equally feisty Zara who is coming to the end of her time as a junior with Rook's law firm and the big guns at the company must soon decide wether to keep her or not offer her a place  at chambers. Against the backdrop they take on two new cases. A prison officer accused of smuggling a deadly batch of drugs that has killed several inmates is taken by Rook, while Zara gets a case of alleged wrong place, wrong time when a young man is arrested as a drug dealer in a police pub raid. As they work together they realise that their cases are connected and a new drug gang is behind them both. 

  I found the plot interesting and twisty enough to keep me turning the page. The depictions of crime and drug ridden Leyton in London and the speech patterns of the locals did seem stereotypical but then again they may be justified as I have never been there 🤷‍♂‍. 

  I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if it were a bit more realistic, in that Rook rose from homelessness to barrister, even being homeless through his early semesters as  junior barrister. It all seems a bit too far fetched for me. Make him a working class lad done well (like the actual author/barrister) by all means but just can't see a practising, albeit junior, barrister living on the street. 

 I believe this book is the second in a series. It can just about be read as a stand alone but there is a fair bit of reference to Rooks earlier adventures. 

 An enjoyable legal thriller/whodunnit, with an interesting plot. It also had engaging lead characters (in my head Rook was played by Alan Davies of Q.I. fame, must have been the curly hair.) 

Selected quotes....

‘You think he’s still dangerous?’ Zara asked. ‘Everybody is dangerous. If you don’t realise that soon, then you’re both going to end up in the ground.’

The houses were small, terraced, squashed up together like drunks in a crowd. ‘It’s this one?’ Zara said as I stepped through a front gate onto gravel that was more dandelion than stone. ‘She’s no Tony Montana.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

Born the son of a coal miner, Gary Bell QC left school without any qualifications and drifted in and out of a number of jobs before being convicted of fraud aged eighteen. He then spent two years penniless and homeless in Europe, before returning to his studies aged twenty-one and, after seven years, became a barrister. He has spent the last thirty years at the Bar, becoming a QC in 2012. He specialises in defending major fraud and murder trials

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

By Special Guest Reviewer

Dr. Alex Hurlow (@AlexHurlow) 

Hamnet was the son of a famous playwright from Stratford upon Avon. At the age of 11, in 1596, Hamnet died and around four years later his father wrote the play Hamlet. And if it seems that I am giving away spoilers, be reassured that the author, Maggie O’Farrell, tells the reader as much in the historical note that prefacesthis imaginative work.

The narrative follows the last days of Hamnet and the effect his death has onhis family in the following years. It is a meditation on grief and loss that is both stunning and haunting in equal measure. If it isn’t already clear, I liked this book.

Despite being given headline billing and being central to the plot, Hamnet is not the focus of the story. Instead, it is another character traditionally relegated to a supporting role that is given new life here: Hamnet’s mother Agnes. This is Agnes’ story, and we are left in little doubt of this.

Her marriage has often been presented as an unhappy one. There have been suggestions of a shotgun wedding and reluctance on the part of Shakespeare to accept his wife. Frequent reference has been made tohim leaving her only the ‘second-best bed with the furniture’ in his will. All these points rest on subjective evidence and have been challenged by others. 

O’Farrell takes the opposing view and presents us with a character who is not defined solely in relation to her more famous husband. The choice of ‘Agnes’ (as she is named by her father in his will) rather than ‘Anne’ invites us to consider her with fresh eyes. Similarly,when Shakespeare is mentioned he is always ‘the father’ or ‘the husband’, in a style that mirrors Jean Rhys’ treatment of Mr Rochester in Wide Sargasso Sea, he is not the focus. 

We meet a young woman who has talents in healing, brewing and a deep connection to nature. She possesses a quasi-supernatural empathy that allows her to discern the thoughts of those around her. These mysterious traits allow her to recognise the potential of the frustrated Latin tutor she marries, encouraging him to head to London to realise that potential for the good of their marriage (not in spite of it). 

The death of Hamnet pushes this relationship and the wider family to the brink. And here I will only give a few examples of the heartbreak O’Farrell is able to evoke because these are the true spoilers. Hamnet’s twin sister Judith asks her mother what the word is for someone who was a twin, but is no longer a twin? Like a widow or an orphan, Judith looks to give a name to her state of grief, but her mother cannot answer. Every life has its kernel, its epicentre and for Agnes it is Hamnet crying out for his mother while she is away picking medicinal herbs, blissfully unaware of the events to come. A moment that lies at her core. But it is not all melancholy, the ending provides closure and hope.

The fact that O’Farrell chooses the plague as the most likely death for Hamnet makes this novel all the more timely (though she would not have known at the time of writing). In that sense it could prove both cathartic and distressing depending on the reader’s own experiences in the past year. But it is beautifully written and builds gradually. It is not immersive in the way that Hilary Mantel recreates the world of Tudor London and instead is predominantly character driven (though not without its own charming descriptions of family life and nature). Overall, O’Farrell reimagines the life of Agnes to heart-aching effect, the best I’ve read for a long time.