The Only One Left by Riley Sager
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Why, you twisty, turny thing
Seriously, in a nutshell, I loved this book. I’ve only read two books by this author and the first one didn’t quite work it’s magic on me – which is perhaps a good old case of ‘it’s me, not you’ because one thing is for sure – I couldn’t get enough of this one. It’s like Fall of the House of Usher meets The Haunting of Hill House and then was introduced to We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Picture of Dorian Gray. So. Much. Gothic. All the gothic in fact. Unusual family dynamics. A murder mystery and, quite possibly, not one, but two unreliable characters thrown into the mix. Come on, what’s not to love?
Kit McDeere is a home carer, unfortunately, events from her recent past led to a police investigation that left her career and reputation in tatters. She almost lost her job and so when she’s offered a last chance she has little alternative but to accept, even though this is not an assignment that she wants to take. Kit has been assigned to care for Lenora Hope, an elderly lady, now in her seventies and restricted mainly to her bed and wheelchair after a series of strokes left her mostly unable to move. Lenora only retained the use of one arm and she uses this to communicate by tapping once for ‘no’ and twice for ‘yes’. On the face of it, Lenora is relatively harmless, yet, she too has been the subject of debate for over 50 years. The only survivor of her family massacre and the sole suspect, Lenora escaped criminal proceedings purely due to any lack of evidence. She has remained ensconced in her family mansion since that time, her fortune and home gradually dwindling and decaying while the townspeople still believer her to be guilty.
So, firstly, the house. I mean, it’s practically a character in itself. Stubborn gates that sometimes refuse to open, creaky floors, doors that swing open by themselves, a general air of decay and neglect that permeates throughout but can’t totally disguise the wealth and ostentatious decor that was once on display. The place sits precariously above the Atlantic Ocean and the tilt and cracks in the wall are clear evidence that it’s days are numbered.
Secondly, we have a great cast of characters. Relatively small but also all with their own strange motivations. Kit, trying desperately to make a living and gain back some normality. You’re never really quite sure about her and this gives her storytelling that delicious sense of unreliability and keeps you swinging back and forth. We have a groundsman, broody and handsome, living mysteriously in a cottage within the grounds. A cook, who makes delicious morsels and is friendly enough, until pushed to talk about the past. A housekeeper who would give Mrs Danvers a run for her money and finally a young housemaid who moves from room to room with the impossible task of keeping on top of things. They’re a strange, eclectic collection of characters and I loved finding out more about them. Obviously I couldn’t help but guess about certain of the characters as the story progressed but I’m very happy to report that although some of my early suspicions started to play out the way I first thought, ultimately, I was absolutely on the wrong track – and yes, maybe perversely so, I love it when that happens and an author keeps me guessing. The final character is Lenora of course. Positively famous (well, infamous), for all the wrong reasons, she even has one of those catchy little rhymes about her that the town’s children can sing alone to and of course her house has become that place that young people like to use to taunt and dare each other with.
The mystery itself is a totally twisty turny thing. Just when you think you’ve pinned something down Riley rips the rug out from under you. There’s a really clever build up of tension that is increased by the way information is given. The process is slowed down by Lenora’s own inability to communicate easily and there’s an almost frustrating at times drip, drip, drip of revelations. It’s like seeing a scene from a movie from three different angles, then moving forward a little to find out something else has been uncovered leaving the previous scenes almost pointless (but not quite so) and it’s annoyingly and tantalisingly delicious and a little mind blowing. You simply can’t take anything for granted with this at all and in fact the ending well, it kept on going. I thought things were over – but they weren’t! That’s all I can say without being a spoiler.
I mean, strictly speaking, there’s actually more than one mystery and on top of that two time frames. The Hope family massacre took place in the late 1920s and we sometimes jump back to see what was building within the family. The story we then read with Kit as the leading lady takes place in the 1980s – probably the perfect time in many respects. Long before the era where everyone is practically permanently attached to their mobiles and also pre huge steps forward in terms of forensic investigations.
Okay, in terms of criticisms. You might want to go into this with a huge pinch of salt, by which I mean you don’t really want to over scrutinise everything, just go with the flow and enjoy this gothic mystery for what it is. And, in some ways, there are so many twists that you could almost throw up your hands in despair. It’s totally over the top, a little crazy even, but I kind of loved that about it.
I have no hesitation in recommending this one. I couldn’t figure out the murder mystery at all, the whole story was positively drenched in dark gothicy goodness and I simply couldn’t put the book down. Win. Win.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion
My rating 5 of 5 stars.
Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more.
You may have noticed that I have been absent from the blogosphere for some time now. And this is not the first time, I was also very quiet with both reading and blogging during the start of the year. Anway, for those of you who may not be aware my dad passed away in January. To cut a long story short my mother also passed away in May this year. This wasn’t totally unexpected as she had a long term illness and also was unbearably sad and I think made the unconscious decision to simply ‘give up’. In a nutshell the first half of the year has been very sad for me. And, I’m usually a very upbeat person so I’ve been in quite unfamiliar territory. All that being said, I’ve finally reached a place where I just want to get back to myself, I don’t like the new ‘alien’ me, and fundamental to this, in the first instance, is reading, and in the second instance blogging and having a way to discuss books with people who also share that love of reading.
So, the past few weeks, I’ve been reading, a lot, and it’s felt good, plus I’ve read some really good books that I just want to buzz about. This brought me to the realisation that I’m ready to jump back into my blogging again, more than that, I really miss it. That isn’t to say that I don’t feel sad any more, more that I want to get back to myself eventually and taking part in the things that I enjoy feels like the best step in that direction. With that in mind, I won’t be using this place to dwell on things, this is my happy place and I want to keep it that way (you may be much relieved to hear!)
Anyhow. Moving swiftly on.
I have at least 10-12 reviews (quite possibly more, eek!) to write and post – so the blog will be quite busy for a little while. I’ll cut out some of the other memes for now whilst I catch up. I’ll also be doing some hopping around to see what I’ve missed and looking at some of the upcoming reads that I have on my plate.
On top of that I’ve been working my way through my SPFBO allocation. I will post separately about this but I will say I’ve made good progress and I’m definitely on track. I won’t say more at this point.
It feels good to be posting again. It’s amazing how quickly you get out of the habit but hopefully this is my first step to getting back on board.
Under Ordshaw: An Author’s Tale
29 May 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 5 Year anniversary, Phil Williams, Under Ordshaw
Today I’m really happy to be taking part in an event celebrating the five year anniversary of a book that first came to my attention through SPFBO. I read Under Ordshaw in 2018 and loved it, in fact it was a Semifinalist in the competition. Phil Williams is an author that I have no hesitation in recommending whose body of work goes from strength to strength. Ordshaw is a fantastic creation with infinite possibilities not to mention a labyrinth of underground tunnels and a posse of snarky fae. Anyway, don’t take my word for it – read the books. I’m really pleased to be able to share Phil’s story with you today so take a look at his journey below and click on the link to access a free copy (this is for a limited period only so jump on board quickly).
Celebrating 5 Years of Ordshaw
Five years ago today, Under Ordshaw was released and the world was exposed to a unique British city with the occasional magical/horrific twist. The series has now seen two story arcs completed with The Sunken City Trilogy and The Ikiri Duology; two new arcs started with The City Screams and Dyer Street Punk Witches, and a host of short stories. To celebrate Ordshaw’s anniversary, here’s a trip down memory lane – and as a gift of Under Ordshaw for free for the next few days (29th – 31st), available in all major eBook stores, everywhere.
What is Under Ordshaw?
It all started with poker player Pax Kuranes discovering a secret labyrinth under her otherwise normal (if rough) city. Also, she discovered some very unusual, but mostly horrible, monsters – and a community of rather offensive and violent diminutive fairies. All this in a city otherwise rooted in reality, with distinct, characterful boroughs and a deep, detailed history (inspired variously by some cities I’m most familiar with, such as London, Nottingham, Bristol and Luton (not a city, with spite)). The books mostly explore the seedier, darker side of Ordshaw, involving criminal gangs, shady government organisations and impoverished, rundown neighbourhoods, with some hints at the brighter, cheerier suburbs.
The Journey to the Story
Under Ordshaw was written and released over about 18 months, between 2017 and 2018 (alongside and overlapping my dystopian Estalia books). Blue Angel and The Violent Fae followed in 2019 to complete The Sunken City Trilogy (with The City Screams emerging somewhere in between). My plans for it emerged much earlier, though, while frequently riding the metro working in Prague, 2008 (a job that also inspired parts of Dyer Street Punk Witches).
The bare roots of the story came together in a screenplay around 2008. I spent two or three years revising it, taking it to producers and directors. In its earliest form, it resembled something of the final structure of Under Ordshaw, but followed the Barton family with no Pax in sight. At some point this warped, as screenplays do, into an animation involving talking penguins, and there were rumours at one point of Whoopi Goldberg coming on board. That all petered out, until some years later when I’d got a couple of self-published books under my belt, and had a burning desire to revive and combine a slew of older works.
A Shared Universe
I wrote Under Ordshaw with big plans in mind from the offset. There was to be an opening trilogy, but also a series of independent or loosely connected tales. Blue Angel hints at a character in The City Screams; The City Screams introduces a character from The Ikiri Duology; and Under Ordshaw itself references criminals discussed in Dyer Street Punk Witches.
My goal was to explore different tropes and story arcs framed in one particular Ordshaw lens: grittier action thrillers (in a vein of the emergent cinema of the 90s) with the propensity for wild fantasy twists and turns. There would be a witches saga, a haunted house tale, a Faustian story, secular crime stories and more. Then, there was also the opportunity for absolutely off-the-wall adventures, as Kept From Cages introduced.
Five Years in the Open
For all my lofty goals, Under Ordshaw got off to a fairly inauspicious start, and really owes the spark of life it found to Mark Lawrence’s SPFBO and the many wonderful contacts I’ve made following that. The book was a semi-finalist for Lynn’s Books in 2018 and Lynn kindly put me in touch with other bloggers who helped review and promote the series. It picked up momentum through the attention of a lot of great reviewers, which in turn has always encouraged me to keep hammering at my greater scheme. Never mind that sales have always been an uphill struggle, and Ordshaw doesn’t neatly fit the existing markets – the rewards are there in seeing readers’ responses to the series.
I have slowed down in recent years to split my focus over other projects, but little by little, Ordshaw has spread further into the world. We’re now up to seven novels in the series. Dyer Street has opened up a whole new venture, while Kept From Cages also reached the SPFBO semi-finals and went on to give Mark Lawrence himself a paper cut. And the books themselves are only improving as they go: I’ll forever love Under Ordshaw, but it is a particular starting point, with a certain roughness to it. Each entry that follows aims to expand and improve on that.
The Next Five Years
My plans for the future vary between the simple (add more books to the series) and elaborate (design Ordshaw animations and games; Ordshaw theme park?). What’s on the more immediate horizon are a sequel to The City Screams, with the long-overdue return of Pax and Letty, and the sequel to Dyer Street Punk Witches. There’s also an interactive story I’ve been itching to write forever. Then there will eventually be more from the Cutjaw Kids and Katiya and a couple of other standalone tales, and I’d like to go back to where this started and produce fresh screenplays from the books. Because the world needs more foul-mouthed fairies, criminal jazz musicians, weird monsters and punk witches, in every format.
For now, though, my most heartfelt thanks to everyone who’s come along for the ride, and everyone who’s yet to step into Ordshaw (don’t forget to grab your copy for free while you can!). I couldn’t have got anywhere near as far as I have without the support of a wonderful community of readers and writers, and I look forward to sharing more with you.
***´
Thank you so much to Phil for his contribution today. I think the story of his journey so far makes for fascinating and refreshingly honest reading and I look forward very much to seeing what he comes up with next.
Friday Face Off : Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
5 May 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Atalanta, Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Jennifer Saint
Today I’m returning to the Friday Face Off, originally created by Books by Proxy). I’ve missed these for the past few months and so would like to get back to comparing covers (and hopefully I will be updating this page with a new banner. This is an opportunity to look at a book of your choice and shine the spotlight on the covers. Of course this only works for those books that have alternative covers (although sometimes I use this to look at a series of books to choose a favourite). . So, if you have a book that has alternative covers, highlight them and choose your favourite. If you’re taking part it would be great if you leave a link so I can take a look at what you’ve chosen.
My book this week is a very recent read (not yet reviewed in fact – watch this space next week) – Atalanta by Jennifer Saint, Here are the covers:
My favourite this week is :
I prefer the warmer tones and all the little details. Which is your favourite?
Join me next week in highlighting one of your reads with different covers.
The Tyranny of Faith (Empire of the Wolf #2) by Richard Swan
4 May 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Empire of the Wolf #2, Richard swan, The Tyranny of Faith
My Five Word TL:DR Review: The gift that keeps giving
I would just mention that as this is the second book in the series the following review may contain spoilers (although I strive not to include any) so if you haven’t started this series yet (please do so immediately) and before reading further. Thank you.
To say I had initial doubts about requesting book 1 this is turning into a tour de force that would have been a crying shame to have missed. I love this series so far. No middle book syndrome here. No siree. What really puzzles me is how did Richard Swan just pop up and with his debut novel create such a satisfyingly good first book in series? It’s breathtaking. This is a rollercoaster of a ride emotionally, the characters continue to impress and the story is packed with treachery and surprise.
The story starts almost immediately where we left off in The Justice of Kings and Helena is still our excellent storyteller narrating events in such a refreshingly honest voice that it’s easy, if not impossible, to become attached. Rebellion is still stirring and Vonvalt returns to the Capital City, Sova, where he finds people openly speaking against the Emperor, not to mention fanatical preachers provoking dissention against the Magistratum. The Emperor immediately sets Vonvalt to work rooting out the culprits but before Vonvalt can turn his sights onto the real threat -Claver – his attentions are drawn away when the Emperor’s son is kidnapped and demands that Vonvalt seek answers and find his son.
I’m not going to elaborate on the plot as there are twists and turns here that I don’t want to spoil. What I’d like to focus on instead are the winning elements of the story.
Well, firstly, for me the characters are so well written. Helena, as I already mentioned, is refreshingly honest. She’s still a young girl and naive in many respects. Her emotions for Vonvalt are in turmoil, she feels attracted to him but at the same time feels that some of his actions of late are questionable and this is a feeling that is about to explode. It all leads back to my question during book one about who is responsible for keeping the Justices on the straight and narrow. And this is another aspect that feeds beautifully into the characters themselves, leading their actions and giving their motivations new meaning as we discover things from their past that they’re not proud of which continue to haunt them. And, we have four central characters with this instalment with Sir Radomir joining Bressinger, Vonvalt and Helena. They are an interesting bunch to read and the author lets us spend some quality time with thiem which really helped.
The writing is so easy to like. On the face of it, I feel like this should be a really ‘dry’ read with lengthy debates about justice, peacekeeping and faith and how it plays into the Magistratum, and to be fair there is plenty of food for thought here to really provoke the reader, but, at the same time the writing is so easy to engage with. The pacing is good and there’s a balance between the winning elements that is almost perfect. It’s not all action to the point that you just feel exhausted on behalf of the characters, but when there is action it’s gripping and tense. There’s a mystery taking place and although you know that things are going to go pear shaped (Helena does like to drop hints) the eventual reveals are still a surprise.
Not to wax lyrical, I loved the story with this. It takes a turn for the dark, Vonvalt is weighed down with his own issues, the Emperor isn’t seeing straight (as you might imagine with the kidnap of his son and heir) and Claver seems to have grown in strength. And may I say at this point what a fantastic ‘baddie’ Claver makes. Ooh, he’s so bad, I dislike him intensely but really like him in turns of the series.
The magical elements whilst similar to book one have increased in strength and I loved the times where the story took us to the demons and underworld, it’s decidedly creepy.
I am loving this series and can’t recommend it highly enough.
Also, can we just take a minute to look at that cover – I love it.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 5 of 5 stars
Books and travelling with Lynn 