THE DEVIL HIMSELF by Steven Duggan

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Amazon browse

In a Nutshell: Man unjustly accused of murder seeks to clear his name.  Set in Ireland.

Jack Finch was accused of a murder he didn't commit, and sent to prison for eight years after taking a plea deal.  While he's away, his wife divorces him and marries his elder brother.  Jack knows that going back to the small town where the murder took place is not the wisest move, but he cares more about clearing his name than about the reception he will have to endure.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, loved the writing style, and I liked Jack very much, which always helps.  There is much description about life in prison, a stark portrayal of the desperation and fear that an inmate can go through, the total despair.  

I'd seen in reviews that the ending is particularly good, and I echo this, wholeheartedly - I thought I'd guessed the twist early on, but I was so, so wrong - especially as it's a double twist.  It's (they're) so well done; a round of applause well earned.  Made me want to flick back to see if I could spot any clues.  I liked how the second one hinted at what happened without actually giving all the details; this worked so well.  

I've taken a half star off because of one issue - the proofreading.  I spotted the odd wrong word and incorrect punctuation mark, but mostly it was the excessive use of exclamation marks in dialogue that kept making me wince; the vast majority were not needed and should have been removed.  Aside from that, though, it was great.  Excellent plot, a great main character, and the sort of writing style that keeps the pages turning.

IRELAND: Surviving The Evacuation Book 9 by Frank Tayell @FrankTayell

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  I came across Frank Tayell's zombie apocalypse series during an Amazon browse, and have since read most of them; for other reviews of books in this series, please click the 'Frank Tayell' tag at the end of the review.

I've missed a few of the more recent instalments, simply because of the 'so many books, so little time' factor, but wanted to catch up with it.  Although these books are not stand alones, it was easy enough to get the basic gist of the story threads I've missed, and enjoy the book for itself; might be useful for other readers to know.

I enjoyed Mr Tayell's writing, as ever, and I'm a total post-disaster/danger survival addict, so loved all the detail about what Bill, Kim and their friends must do, to this end.  In Book Nine of the series, they're in south west Ireland, and need to get back to the safe haven of Anglesey - but this means travelling across a couple of hundred miles of zombie infested country.  Sailing seems like the best option.  One thing I really liked was the way that every time Bill's group came upon a new situation, any large building where it was obvious that people had sought refuge, they assessed what happened to those people and how they might have been killed.  Later, they meet a new group, amongst which is Siobhan, a former policewoman, who is able to suggest exact time frames to him from her experience in forensics.

I felt this book could have done with a better edit; there are lots of instances where the word 'I' has been used when it should have been 'me', which drives me nuts ('she'd refused to let Sholto and I row from Menai Bridge to Bangor'), and much of the conversation is unrealistically information heavy, but that mattered to me less than it would normally, possibly because it gave me the information I needed, even if it wasn't how people really talk to each other.  There is a section late in the book in which Bill talks to himself a lot, which was completely unrealistic and would have been better written as inner dialogue.  All this being said, though, I still enjoyed the book; these comments go to show how much dodgy stuff you can get away with, if you're basically a talented writer with a great story.

I'm looking forward to the Book Ten, which I have already bought and hope to get to before long.

FIVE DAYS ON BALLYBOY BEACH by David J O'Brien

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Review Team

In this light, nostalgic story set in rural Ireland, Derek and his four best friends from university (John, Bill, Sarah and Sinéad) spend five days camping together, to be joined by six more on the second night.  Amongst those expected is Derek's current girlfriend, Ana.  Although he is looking forward to having someone to sleep with, Derek would rather she wasn't coming; he has decided he is in love with Sinéad. 

This is an easy, relaxing sort of book, and has some pleasing detail of the flora and fauna of the surroundings, which, I imagine, is written from the author's experience.  The prose itself flows nicely, is well put together as far as sentence structure and grammar are concerned, and I liked the philosophical ponderings of the main character. 

On the whole, alas, I'm afraid I found the book a little flat.  The first twenty per cent-plus is an account of how the five spent their first night and next day on holiday.  O'Brien introduces the characters by saying which companies they work for and where they come from, etc, and by giving the reader a run-down of their character traits.  I thought their personalities would have been better illustrated by sharp, character revealing or amusing dialogue, or some conflict; as it is, the dialogue is just chat, the narrative no more than a mildly interesting snapshot of a group of young people spending time at the beach and going to the pub in the evening.

When the six other people turn up there are six more passages about home towns and employers and character traits.  Sadly, I found few of the eleven personalities distinguishable from one another. 

The book does pick up after about thirty per cent, with more plot: Derek's romantic/sexual quandary, a confession by one character and some discord between another couple.  However, I didn't feel the potential of any of these situations was fully explored.  A catastrophic event happens near the end, but even that is dealt with in a mild sort of way only. 

I'm sorry not to be more positive; the book is pleasantly written and does have a certain charm, but there is far too much mundane detail all the way through, and not enough depth or character development.

LETTERS FROM A PATCHWORK QUILT by Clare Flynn

3 out of 5 stars

Historical Fiction

On Amazon UK HERE

When I began reading this book I had the impression that it wasn't very well researched, historically, but then it picked up and I began to enjoy it. There's a lot to the story; a great deal happens over a long time span to Jack and Eliza, who are cruelly separated as they are about to sail to America to start a new life.

My main problem with the book was that it wasn't long enough for the story. It's only an average length novel, though the story itself has so many events and location changes that, in my opinion, it needs to be at least a hundred pages longer, or possibly be spread over two books. Sometimes three years would zip past between paragraphs, with no clear break. Episodes that needed detail, atmosphere and description were skated over; for instance, at one point late in the book one of the characters becomes destititute and remains so for some time. He goes into and comes out of this situation in a matter of page or two. My general impression was that the author thought of a great story (and it certainly is that), but was more concerned about getting it finished than doing it justice, or perhaps found that she'd bitten off more than she could chew, I don't know!

Having said all that, I read the whole thing - I abandon books if I'm not enjoying them, but I did enjoy most of this despite being frustrated by it - the writer knows how to keep the reader turning the pages, for sure. It's basically a very good novel, it just could be so much better.  I'd read something else by her.

A CRY FROM THE DEEP by Diana Stevan

3 out of 5 stars

Mystery, romantic suspense, diving

On Amazon UK HERE 

On Amazon.com HERE 

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's book review team

I was looking forward to this book, as it deals with the subjects of reincarnation and time slips between the 19^th century and the present.

It’s a very good story idea, it’s well thought out, feasible, and there are no plot holes or errors of continuity.  The (American) English is perfect, and the proofreading was virtually faultless, which is always a big plus.  The subject matter of diving for historical artefacts is extremely well researched; I read in the back of the book about how much work the author had done on this and was impressed; it will probably appeal to anyone who is interested in this subject.

So why only three stars?  

I found the narrative rather old fashioned.  The romantic side of it is a bit Mills and Boon, with the occasional throwing in of something more ‘earthy’ that seemed a little incongruous.  It was predictable - as soon as handsome Daniel Costello was introduced I guessed the outcome.  I found the delivery and dialogue a tad wooden throughout; aside from Hennessey, the brutish head of the diving team, one character’s dialogue was indistinguishable from another’s, with a relaying of information as opposed to painting a portrait of the person.  Ms Stevan has used regional dialect accurately, but I never had the feeling of different ‘voices’, and could not see any of the people in my mind’s eye.

The point of view changed from Catherine to Daniel on a few occasions, and this new outlook made the story perk up.  My attention was also renewed when Catherine began to unravel the mystery, in Ireland; I thought the Irish section was the best, and I imagine well researched too (I’ve never been to Ireland, so can’t say).  However, I felt this could have been done in a much more intriguing way, perhaps with alternating between past and present so that we knew more about Margaret and James; the piece set in the 19^th century is so brief that I had all but forgotten about it by about a third of the way through. The mystery would have been far more compelling if it had been unleashed gradually, rather than the reader being told more or less everything at the very beginning.  Throughout the book there was too much exposition (dialogue used to give necessary background information, executed in an contrived manner) and ‘telling, not showing’ (delivering statements to tell the reader what a character is like, rather than allowing a picture to build up via his/her speech and behaviour, and others’ reactions to them). 

   

To sum up – it’s a fairly competent debut novel, but for me it fell flat.  However, a review can only ever be one person’s opinion, and readers who like a more conservative approach to dialogue and predictable romantic developments might well enjoy it very much; I see that it has other, more postive reviews and I imagine the author’s style will develop.  I’d like to thank Ms Stevan for supplying a review copy of this book, and wish her luck in her writing career.