Review: Made me fall in love with reading again
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2013
Having waded through some real dross over the last two years (my radar for detecting good reads is clearly faulty) I cannot explain how refreshing it has been to discover Luke Smitherd books. I'm not sure whether I've just found a writer who gets me, or just a writer who gets people, but I finished "The Stone Man" (which I also rated with 5 stars) only a few weeks ago and got straight into this, which incredibly was his first book, and found it just as compelling, intriguing and cleverly woven with enough thought being put into the characters and the situation they are in to make me wonder (despite this being a truly surreal story) how exactly would I behave or react in that situation.I am so pleased that Coventry was the setting for this as, having lived there in the past, I was able to immerse myself in the surroundings and enjoyed picturing our subjects on roads like Gosford St and even around "Alders" department store. I also have the benefit of appreciating the history of Coventry. My one recommendation, should this ever go to press (and there are countless examples of significantly worse stories achieving that accolade) would be to include a basic map of the square-mile on the first page. Although perhaps stealing a trick from Dan Brown, I honestly think it would help assist readers without the luxury (if you could call it that) of having lived in Coventry, to help them achieve the complete immersion in the story that I did. Gutted it had to come to an end but it has completely restored my faith in books and reminded me just how rewarding reading can be. I also think that this could present well in any theatrical medium. Brilliant.