The Colours Of Deathâ€� is the first of three books set in an alternative version of contemporary Lisbon where it has been known since the beginning of The Colours Of Deathâ€� is the first of three books set in an alternative version of contemporary Lisbon where it has been known since the beginning of the twentieth century that a percentage of the population, referred to as ‘The Giftedâ€� in polite society, is born with telekinetic or telepathic abilities. Inspector Isabel Reis is Gifted and a homicide detective in Lisbon. She’s also very aware that the Gifted are treated as more of a threat than a treasure: assessed as children monitored throughout their lives and increasingly distrusted by ‘regularâ€� people. So, when a murder occurs that seems to involve the use of telekinetic powers, Reis understands the risk of backlash. A risk that increases when she finds out who was killed.Â
The pace of the book is unhurried, with Reis� personality and history being revealed slowly as she investigates the secrets and lies that are wrapped around a murder apparently committed by an unknown and very powerful Gifted. If you're looking for an action-packed techno-thriller, this book will disappoint you. If you want to get inside the head of a complex character in a world that is recognisable, believable but different in crucial respects, then this is a book to relax into,
I loved how well thought through this book was. The murder mystery worked as an intriguing puzzle that escalated into a tense thriller but the plot also delved deeply into how the Gifted were treated. In the minds of the general public, the distinguishing feature of the Gifted is that they are abnormal, unnatural and potentially dangerous. In the minds of governments around the world, they are a threat to be contained, controlled and possibly weaponised. Neither mindset sees the Gifted as properly human.
I liked how Patricia Marques used Isabel Reis’s fears of losing control of her power and of being 'disappeared' in the night if the powers that be perceive her as an unacceptable threat and her childhood memories of being marked as different, of being tested and tagged, of losing her mother's love and of being made to feel that her own abilities needed to be guarded against, to make the world of the Gifted feel real.Â
For me the middle section of the book ran a little too slowly. The final twenty per cent of so more than made up for that. It was tense, action-packed, surprising and satisfying. ,
I've already brought the next book in the series, 'House Of Silence' to the top of my TBR pile....more
'Flowertown' was S. G. Redling's debut novel. I went looking for it after reading her Science Fiction novel, 'Damocles', an impressive First Co[image]
'Flowertown' was S. G. Redling's debut novel. I went looking for it after reading her Science Fiction novel, 'Damocles', an impressive First Contact story with a twist. I was surprised to find that her grimly plausible thriller 'Flowertown', was an even better novel than 'Damocles'.
'Flowetown' tells the story of the surviving residents of a small town in rural Iowa who have spent seven years in quarantine after the accidental spillage of an experimental pesticide contaminated them with a lethal and highly contagious biochemical agent. Many of the residents died. Those who survived have been undergoing experimental drug regimes to arrive not just at a cure but at something that will remove the biochemical agent from their systems so that they are no longer carriers. The lockdown is enforced by the Army. The medical regimen is run by a division of the same company that made the pesticide.
This is a quietly disturbing novel. Its plausibility makes it menacing but its strength comes not from the mechanics of the situation but from the emotions that the situation produces. It is a novel that is soaked in the despair that comes from normalising the unacceptable and recognising it as unchangeable. The atmosphere is so claustrophobic and so filled with the rage that is the only refuge against impotent hopelessness, that I had to take regular breaks as I read the story.
From the beginning, 'Flowertown' is an uncomfortable read. The main character is hard to like. She's tough but sour. She flips between despair and rage except when she's high, which is most of the time. Then something happens that makes her sober up and pay attention and you get glimpses of who she used to be and who she might have become if this hadn't happened to her. It's not that she becomes easier to like, she's aggressive, reckless and unstable, but as you understand what she's been through, you see that those are the traits that helped her to survive.
The first half of the book felt like it was contaminating me with the despair that Flowertown residents feel. As I understood how they had been treated and what they had survived, I grew angry on their behalf but I couldn't see a way out. By the second half of the book, I started to see that something new and even worse was about to happen to Flowertown and that our heroine had been set up to take the blame for it all. Often, at this point in a thriller, there would be a renewed sense of excitement as you consider how the hero will win through. In 'Flowertown', the atmosphere of hopelessness was so well developed that it seemed to me that the bad guys had to win and that the only question was how badly everyone else would lose. Then, in the last quarter of the book, the pace accelerated towards an action-packed ending filled with surprising twists on what was really going on and who was driving it.
For me, one of the most chilling things about this book was that, although it's ten years old, it feels contemporary. The plausibility of the plot was increased by having recently seen how the authorities treat the infected in a pandemic. What gave it teeth was the gaslighting and social engineering that weaponised fear and anger to drive people inside and outside of Flowertown to a specific result.
It seems to me that 'Flowertown' deserves to be one of those books that everyone talks about. I'm now recommending it to anyone who will listen.
Merged review:
[image]
'Flowertown' was S. G. Redling's debut novel. I went looking for it after reading her Science Fiction novel, 'Damocles', an impressive First Contact story with a twist. I was surprised to find that her grimly plausible thriller 'Flowertown', was an even better novel than 'Damocles'.
'Flowetown' tells the story of the surviving residents of a small town in rural Iowa who have spent seven years in quarantine after the accidental spillage of an experimental pesticide contaminated them with a lethal and highly contagious biochemical agent. Many of the residents died. Those who survived have been undergoing experimental drug regimes to arrive not just at a cure but at something that will remove the biochemical agent from their systems so that they are no longer carriers. The lockdown is enforced by the Army. The medical regimen is run by a division of the same company that made the pesticide.
This is a quietly disturbing novel. Its plausibility makes it menacing but its strength comes not from the mechanics of the situation but from the emotions that the situation produces. It is a novel that is soaked in the despair that comes from normalising the unacceptable and recognising it as unchangeable. The atmosphere is so claustrophobic and so filled with the rage that is the only refuge against impotent hopelessness, that I had to take regular breaks as I read the story.
From the beginning, 'Flowertown' is an uncomfortable read. The main character is hard to like. She's tough but sour. She flips between despair and rage except when she's high, which is most of the time. Then something happens that makes her sober up and pay attention and you get glimpses of who she used to be and who she might have become if this hadn't happened to her. It's not that she becomes easier to like, she's aggressive, reckless and unstable, but as you understand what she's been through, you see that those are the traits that helped her to survive.
The first half of the book felt like it was contaminating me with the despair that Flowertown residents feel. As I understood how they had been treated and what they had survived, I grew angry on their behalf but I couldn't see a way out. By the second half of the book, I started to see that something new and even worse was about to happen to Flowertown and that our heroine had been set up to take the blame for it all. Often, at this point in a thriller, there would be a renewed sense of excitement as you consider how the hero will win through. In 'Flowertown', the atmosphere of hopelessness was so well developed that it seemed to me that the bad guys had to win and that the only question was how badly everyone else would lose. Then, in the last quarter of the book, the pace accelerated towards an action-packed ending filled with surprising twists on what was really going on and who was driving it.
For me, one of the most chilling things about this book was that, although it's ten years old, it feels contemporary. The plausibility of the plot was increased by having recently seen how the authorities treat the infected in a pandemic. What gave it teeth was the gaslighting and social engineering that weaponised fear and anger to drive people inside and outside of Flowertown to a specific result.
It seems to me that 'Flowertown' deserves to be one of those books that everyone talks about. I'm now recommending it to anyone who will listen....more
I picked up "Valhalla" after reading a review by Glen Hates Books. Take a look HERE. It was a good review. It was an even better book, which I probablI picked up "Valhalla" after reading a review by Glen Hates Books. Take a look HERE. It was a good review. It was an even better book, which I probably wouldn't have found on my own.
Set in 2230, "Valhalla" tells the story of Violet, a teenage girl with the heart of a warrior, born into a society that sees violence as pathological and Violet as in need of a LOT of counseling.
At seventeen, on the brink of adulthood, Violet's family is murdered in front of her by the Orange Gang. Her response is instant, instinctive and lethal.
While the cops wait for her to fall into tears and request yet more counseling, Violet starts to figure out who killed her family and why. She joins the army so she can learn to be better at killing people but is thrown out because she's too violent.
The story kicks into higher gear when Violet is recruited by the legendary Valhalla, an independent group of heavily armed, cybernetically enhanced, very hard to kill and even harder to keep dead, warriors who see themselves as the good guys, and who's only rule is "Don't Fuck Shit Up".
This is a fun book that resists simple labels. It is a young adult right-of-passage book but its attitude towards religion (a cancer in society), violence (a way of letting off steam), and sex (as much fun as chocolate) is not going to get it into many school libraries. It is a science fiction book, filled with cool hi-tech weapons, medical techniques that can bring you back from the dead if your head is intact, and cyborg augmentation yet it is more focused on friendship and family and becoming yourself than it is on the toys. It is fast paced and packed with violence, achieving a body-count that would make even Hollywood action movies blush, it even includes a very graphic torture scene and yet none of it feels voyeuristic or even particularly repellent because of the tone of the story-telling.
The book carried me along quite happily, although some of the training in Valhalla went on a little too long. The plot had some nice twists and left me looking forward to the next book in the series.
The audiobook version is read by Steve Carlson, an American in his seventies, with the voice of an avuncular uncle who is also the black sheep of the family. He does a good job. I enjoyed listening to him but I wondered why he was selected. Violet is seventeen years old and from Scotland. Most of the action is in Scotland, Siberia or Norway. This would have been a very different book if it had been read by Gayle Madine, who did such a good job with "The Panopticon"
Merged review:
I picked up "Valhalla" after reading a review by Glen Hates Books. Take a look HERE. It was a good review. It was an even better book, which I probably wouldn't have found on my own.
Set in 2230, "Valhalla" tells the story of Violet, a teenage girl with the heart of a warrior, born into a society that sees violence as pathological and Violet as in need of a LOT of counseling.
At seventeen, on the brink of adulthood, Violet's family is murdered in front of her by the Orange Gang. Her response is instant, instinctive and lethal.
While the cops wait for her to fall into tears and request yet more counseling, Violet starts to figure out who killed her family and why. She joins the army so she can learn to be better at killing people but is thrown out because she's too violent.
The story kicks into higher gear when Violet is recruited by the legendary Valhalla, an independent group of heavily armed, cybernetically enhanced, very hard to kill and even harder to keep dead, warriors who see themselves as the good guys, and who's only rule is "Don't Fuck Shit Up".
This is a fun book that resists simple labels. It is a young adult right-of-passage book but its attitude towards religion (a cancer in society), violence (a way of letting off steam), and sex (as much fun as chocolate) is not going to get it into many school libraries. It is a science fiction book, filled with cool hi-tech weapons, medical techniques that can bring you back from the dead if your head is intact, and cyborg augmentation yet it is more focused on friendship and family and becoming yourself than it is on the toys. It is fast paced and packed with violence, achieving a body-count that would make even Hollywood action movies blush, it even includes a very graphic torture scene and yet none of it feels voyeuristic or even particularly repellent because of the tone of the story-telling.
The book carried me along quite happily, although some of the training in Valhalla went on a little too long. The plot had some nice twists and left me looking forward to the next book in the series.
The audiobook version is read by Steve Carlson, an American in his seventies, with the voice of an avuncular uncle who is also the black sheep of the family. He does a good job. I enjoyed listening to him but I wondered why he was selected. Violet is seventeen years old and from Scotland. Most of the action is in Scotland, Siberia or Norway. This would have been a very different book if it had been read by Gayle Madine, who did such a good job with "The Panopticon"...more
IN A NUTSHELL 'Blood Like Mine' was a gripping story, cleverly told, that combined a serial killer narrative with a horror narrative and gave both a feIN A NUTSHELL 'Blood Like Mine' was a gripping story, cleverly told, that combined a serial killer narrative with a horror narrative and gave both a few twists while delivering an emotional story about the love between a mother and her daughter. It was a story that kept surprising me without making me feel that the narrative was doing gymnastics.
Blood Like Mineâ€� (2024) came as a complete surprise to me. I liked the cover and picked it up as something for my wife and I to listen to on a long car drive. It was so compelling that we kept listening to it after the drive was over. We were wrapped up in the people and we needed to know how the story ended.Â
I think this is a story that it’s best to go into blind, knowing only that it’s a powerful blend of crime thriller and horror novel, with a strong focus on the personalities of the people involved. The relationship between the fugitive mother and daughter is close, complex and convincing. The FBI man pursuing them is self-destructive and hard to like.
The plot uses familiar tropes from the serial killer and horror genres but makes them feel fresh by changing who I cheered for (HINT - it wasn’t the FBI guy). The plot didn’t go where I thought it would, even after I’d fully understood the situation that the mother and daughter were in. It kept me on the edge of my seat to the last page.
Perhaps what surprised me most about it was how engaged I became with the mother and daughter as I learned more about them and what they'd been through.
If you're looking for a genre read with a difference then I recommend listening to the audiobook of 'Blood Like Mine' narrated by Elizabeth Rodgers and Michael Braun. It will be ten hours well spent....more
IN A NUTSHELL Wow! What a marvellous horror novel. A Perfect Halloween read. One of the most original, surprising and menacing pieces of dark fiction IIN A NUTSHELL Wow! What a marvellous horror novel. A Perfect Halloween read. One of the most original, surprising and menacing pieces of dark fiction I've listened to in a long time.
'William' is now one of my "I must recommend this to anyone who will listen" books. It's 220 pages of pure pleasure.
'William' takes place on Halloween, in a house that is all Gothic Victorian Mansion on the outside and all Smart Home, high-security technology on the inside - much like the story itself. This is a novel that, like 'Frankenstein' considers the consequences for the creator of bringing a new, independent intelligence into the world. Except, both the creator and the creation that Mason Coile conjures are totally modern and instinctively duplicitous.It is a story not just about the dark potential of AI but of the dangerous hubris of those who create them.
The story is told in a straightforward way, without melodrama or slasher movie Jump Scares but, from the first page, it is quietly disturbing. You can feel that something is not quite right but you can't name what's making you uneasy. Is it that Henry, who is socially awkward and desperately keen to win the approval of his estranged pregnant wife, Lily, is struggling to understand why Lily has brought two guests to the house and what she expects of him? Is it the we-know-something-you-don't way that the guests, the handsome Davis and the brusquely confrontational Paige, treat Henry? Or is it Henry's obsession with his creation, William an AI-powered robot with all the charm of the ventriliquist's dummy talking to Anthony Hopkins in 'Magic'?
It doesn't take long before unease becomes menace, as a sense of impending doom settles over the people in the house. As the menace became palpable, reached a climax and morphed into pathos, I thought I knew what was going on. I was so wrong.
Everything changes in the final section of the book. Menace becomes sheer terror as the reality of the situation is finally revealed. The ending was unexpeced and superb.
If you're in the market for something memorable, original and gripping, get yourself an audiobook copy of 'William' and settle down for five hours of satisfying story telling perfectly narrated by Honey St. Dennis....more
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