Dark Presence by John Turiano

 3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Mind control, stalking and murder

Kimbra has not had an easy life, and in her job as a psychometrist administering neuropsychological and psychological tests on volunteers for a company called Quantum Thunder, it only gets more confusing.

We're provided with a fair bit of backstory on Kimbra, which is good, as one needs to know why and how she got to the point in her life when the book begins, with the murder of her former best friend is murdered.  Suspects abound; I changed my mind several times!

A new Quantum Thunder drug is being tested, to determine and influence the minds of those perceived as having psychic or telepathic abilities.  Kimbra decides to take it, which is when her life becomes even more frightening and confusing.

It's a good story and the writing jogs along nicely, making it a pleasantly 'easy read'.  I never really 'felt' Kimbra, though; the details are all there, but, as I often find with male writers, the male characters seemed more real than the female ones.  But that was okay.  She worked, for the plot.

I do have one negative comment, I'm afraid; the book needs a better edit/proofread as there are many, many run-on sentences (comma splices), and the punctuation is a bit off in places.  Aside from that, though, I enjoyed this story.

OBSESSION by Robin Storey @RobinStorey1 #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member; I enjoyed the last book I read by this author, Secret Kill, so chose this one straight away.

In a Nutshell: Novella, set in Australia, in which an intellectually disabled man becomes obsessed with a neighbour.

Intellectually disabled Benny Goodchild is in his early forties, works in a warehouse where he suffers taunts from colleagues, and lives alone.  His life is humdrum indeed, but trouble starts when he starts doing gardening work for Olivia, who lives nearby.  Then he gets the opportunity to earn some serious money—the sort of serious that he suspects might be illegal.

I was engrossed in this book all the way through, looking forward to getting back to it at each session.  It's written in the third person, with the deep point of view that allows the reader to see into Benny's often rather confused mind.  The story has been planned well, and I couldn't work out what was going to happen, at all—it could have taken a number of different turns.  Ms Storey has an easy, flowing writing style, and the characterisation is subtly but artfully developed, even for lesser characters.

I would have given it five stars if it wasn't for a practical issue that didn't convince me, but I do tend to read with an editor's head on, and I doubt it would bother most people; if Amazon ratings had a ten star range, I'd give it eight.  Overall, this is a highly entertaining book throughout which I was not tempted to skip-read once (which is something, for me!) and it comes with a definite recommendation.  Buy it!

THE INTRUDER by P S Hogan

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I read Rosie Amber's review of it on her blog.  Bought it straight away, and it was only 99p. 😀

Genre: slowly unfolding psychological drama, mild thriller.

William Heming is an estate agent with copies of the keys of every house his company has ever sold, so he may snoop into the owners' lives when they are out.  Sometimes, he uses this opportunity to right perceived wrongs; there's an excellent (and very funny) section about the vengeance he wreaks on one careless motorist, but it is when his ire is piqued by dismissive dog walker Douglas Sharp that his life becomes more complicated.

Heming is proud of the pleasant, unremarkable, amiable front he shows to the world; as we delve deeper into his life we discover how sociopathic he truly is, but much of that pleasant amiability comes out in his narration, making him oddly likable.  The novel is beautifully written; at times the prose is almost poetic, more like that of literary fiction than one normally finds in a popular thriller.  

I thought it was clever of P S Hogan to make Heming physically attractive, rather than the down-at-heel stereotype of your average Peeping Tom.  He has relationships with the opposite sex, but they remain physical, only; as we see later, once true intimacy enters into the game, he is repelled. 

Looking at the Amazon page again, I wonder if the publisher has done the author a slight disservice by marketing this book like a 'grip lit' thriller, with its dark cover and tag line 'the creepiest, most sinister thriller you’ll read this year'; this could explain the bad reviews, that appear to have been written by readers expecting something more sensational, with edge-of-your-seat twists and shocks.  Yes, there is murder and more, but The Intruder isn't that sort of book.  The plot is well-paced, intricately worked, entertaining and with unexpected developments, but it's more a psychological unfolding, as the disturbing behaviour of Heming's past and the reasons for his obsession with the lives of strangers are revealed.  It's definitely one of those 'I'll just read one more chapter' books; I read the second half in one afternoon.

The word 'creepy' is used in many of the reviews (maybe as an echo of the tagline), though I didn't find it particularly so, maybe because the characterisation and many of Heming's own observations are so 'spot-on' and amusing; it's just really, really good.  Highly recommended.

BLIND SIDE by Jennie Ensor @Jennie_Ensor #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

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

How I discovered this book: It was a submission to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

This is the debut novel from Jennie Ensor, and it's one of which she should be proud.   Set in mid-noughties London, it's a fairly standard spurned-lover-as-stalker plot, but with a lot more to it.  Middle class marketing exec Georgie only ever wanted to be friends with Julian, but when she starts a relationship with Russian immigrant Nikolai, she discovers that she never really knew Julian at all.  Alongside this storyline is the dark shadow of terrorism relating to the London bombings of the time - and Georgie's growing fears that Nikolai might be involved.

I admit to being slightly underwhelmed by the beginning; both dialogue and narrative are rather bland, with opportunities for more 'colour' missed, and, when Georgie succumbs to sex with Julian after a drunken evening, I never got the impression that she was drunk; I actually forgot she was meant to be.  Happily, the pace and intrigue stepped up very quickly, and I began to really enjoy it.  I thought Julian was revolting from the outset, and I didn't begin to warm to Georgie until later on; Nikolai, on the other hand, was lovely.  The characterisation was very good all the way through. I cared what happened to the two main characters, which is all important.  

The novel is extremely well structured, planned and edited.  I particularly liked that the backstory about both Georgie and Nikolai appeared in dribs and drabs, all the way through, which kept my interest.  There aren't many surprises, but certainly enough suspense to call this book a thriller, albeit quite a low-key one.  But it's a love story, more than anything, I think.  It's intelligently written, with much background about the war in Chechnya and Nikolai's experiences, which were shockingly fascinating and made the book so much more than just a stalker story.

I was glad that Georgie was not portrayed as a victim, though I found it unrealistic that she didn't guess, immediately, that Julian was behind threats to Nikolai, too (this isn't a spoiler, it's fairly obvious!).  The only other bit that niggled me was minor - Georgie displays a shock-horror attitude when her lover suggests they go camping together, and is, apparently, ignorant of all such practices.  Yet she's supposed to be a keen, fairly long distance hiker... 

The ending was pleasing, though the odd surprise or revelation wouldn't have gone amiss; the last few chapters were little more than a wrapping up.  I'd say that Ms Ensor is a talented writer, for sure, and I enjoyed this book.  I felt that it could have done with a little bit more spark, but it's very well written, and a fine debut.

 

CARLA by Mark Barry

5 out of 5 stars

Psychological drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE 

I started to read this book at five o'clock this afternoon, and have just finished it. I haven't done that in ages. What a brilliant piece of work.

John Dexter is an extraordinarily mentally disturbed man who has done some terrifying things (many of which are, frustratingly, only hinted at), but he's also oddly likeable. After a while the problems created by his extreme fear-of-abandonment issues seem sort of - well, understandable. You feel sympathy for him, and want to help him. Yes, this is story of love and obsession but it's also a study of the type of psychological disorders attributed to him. The book is witty, clever, street sharp and kinda cool. I loved it. Mark Barry, thank you from saving me after a short run of abandoned books! This was a breath of fresh air, albeit a psychotic one.

A couple of things I loved about the Kindle version - when John, the narrator, digresses onto another subject, usually about a film or book that might interest you, he gives the exact phrase to type into the 'search' on your reading device so, if you like, you can skip the digression and get back to the story. Marvellous! I took him up on it a few times but not in others (I found myself wanting to read Norman Mailer's 'An American Dream') - and it worked! But this book is a perfect example of something I believe - never mind all the current trends in what are or are not acceptable in novel writing, when someone writes as well as Barry does they can stray from the plot all they like.
 
I've had this book for over a year, and am so glad I finally got round to opening it. If you've got it on yours too, please do the same!


THE NIGHT PORTER by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE CITY OF CRIMINALS by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

ULTRA VIOLENCE by Mark Barry reviewed HERE