Review: FAST-PACED GANGSTER THRILLER!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 17, 2014
There are some novels which look plain enough on the outside, and your first reaction is to skip and look for other more interesting reads. Written by an unknown author and with a dead pan title, the urge to pass it over was almost irresistible, except that I’m too well aware that formulaic authors have often little new to offer and that it is in unknown quantities that surprises often come. And it’s always a surprise to try out new authors who write with such passion and zeal, hoping to find an audience and doggedly determined to tell their stories.Cannonside by Andy Christopher is no extraordinary story. Yet, this gangster thriller set in a London borough that revolves around two brothers - Ollie Castles and Jimmy – is as exciting as any novel of its genre can be. A normal character, Ollie’s path is determined when Jimmy’s rivals unleashed a torrent of violence aimed at exterminating the family. How he chalked out his future is what Cannonside is all about.Andy Christopher deserves much praise for dreaming up an absorbing storyline. However, as a debutant writer, there are certain areas which need much improvement. With a good editor, this book could have been brushed up, and the sentences could do with some rewriting. But all in all, it is a fine book and a good story worth sleeping over.