Friday 2 October 2015

THE AMERICAN POLICEMAN by John Privilege

5 out of 5 stars

Post apocalyptic UK drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE



Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team

I adored John Privilege's first novel, The Turning of the World, so leapt on this when it came out.   I started to read it almost immediately, but couldn't get into it.  Has that ever happened to you?  You start to read a book you think you're going to love and it just doesn't 'speak' to you at all? 

I left it.  I started it again yesterday, two weeks later—and, from the first sentence, I found it unputdownable.  Weird; I think I must have just been tired or in the wrong mood the first time!  Then, I thought there were too many characters, and I couldn't work out what was going on.  The second time, I could visualise it all straight away.  I'm only saying this because there ARE a lot of characters introduced in the first 5%, and it leaps straight into the action, so if you get confused, too, put it down and try it again later!


This is really, really, really good, I loved it, even sneaking five chapters in at 4.30 in the morning when I woke up to go to the loo!  The basics:  It's set in London, a fair amount of years after a pandemic which destroyed the world as we know it.  Enter The Collective, formed by (amongst others) relics of the old government, who transform London and the South from a dangerous world of terrorising gangs into a supportive and safe society.  Detective Timothy 'Con' Conlan is charged with solving a gruesome murder, the first in the capital for two years.  But this is no ordinary murder.... 


Con is a terrific character, so much more than your average American cop with a personality disorder.  I loved the structure of the book, in particular.  I'm a great fan of well-placed back story, and this has plenty of it—gradually, we are shown what each major character did 'Before' (ie, before the pandemic), and, most importantly, during the 'Breakdown' (when the world went to pot afterwards).  We also, later on, learn more about Con's upbringing.  I love stories about the breakdown of society, so found these parts fascinating, and they brought the whole thing together—that's the art of good back story writing, I think, to not only stick it in the right place, but also write it so well that the reader finds it as absorbing as the main plot line.  And this book is certainly written well.

The Kindle formatting is a little random in places, I've mentioned that for those who are bothered by such things, but it didn't matter one jot, I would have loved reading this if it had been typed on a manual typwriter and presented to me on tatty bits of paper.  John Privilege has a fabulous imagination, and has dreamt up the state of the post-pandemic world so well.  The suspense is just right, and the end 'twist' not only worked but surprised me.

It's great.  Get it!


THE TURNING OF THE WORLD by John Privilege reviewed HERE



11 comments:

  1. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it, Terry. Normally I don't comment on reviews, I prefer to thank the reviewer for taking time to read the story privately. But I wanted to share my own frustration at the Kindle conversion process. I was ultra-careful with this one (The Turning of the World hit Kindle like a custard pie) and had it very professionally proofed. I was happy with the version I uploaded but opening my own Kindle copy saw it was full of spacing and other irritating errors. It's just a little embarrassing and I hope it doesn't spoil the story for anyone. Thank you for reading it. Someday I'll finish the sequel. I like those pictures.

    John (Privilege - I'm not anonymous; just a bit last century)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no, no, it doesn't spoil it at all, I just wanted to mention it because some people are ultra picky and do things like saying, I got this book on your recommendation but the formatting is a bit off, and stuff like that, so wanted to cover myself - because I think reviews are for readers, primarily. If a book is fab I couldn't give a stuff. Rather read this than a perfectly presented but not very good book any day! I know, I know, it's a total arse pain, the person who does mine too ages to get to grips with it.

      Hint for next time: you might do this anyway, but just in case you don't, when you're typing it, keep the left hand margin justified. Press 'enter' after each end paragraph. Then, you can set the formatting so that each new para is 3 spaces in (or whatever), and you don't get the ragged bits.

      Delete
  2. Fabulous review for a book well worth a read, glad you enjoyed it so much Terry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel a bit depressed because there's no more of it to read :(

      Delete
  3. Fantastic review Terry! This sounds like just my kind of book, so I've added it to my TBR. (On kindle, so thanks for the warning about formatting.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's not that bad, just raggedy left edges and some gaps when there shouldn't be and not where they should - it didn't stop me enjoying it in any way, ref what I wrote in response to John, above. Tis fab!

      Delete
  4. I shall definitely be getting this one - loved The Turning of the World - thanks Terry and Rosie :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Georgia, and Cathy, you might want to look at the acknowledgements in the back of the book, too! I'm so glad John picked me up on my over-promotion of a Kindle Countdown, all those months ago, or I'd never have discovered him :)

      Delete
    2. Just have! Nice :) Thanks, John!

      Delete
  5. Sounds fantastic, I have this on my review list and can’t wait to get to it now!

    ReplyDelete