Review: Now he’s out but not free.....read on!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
John Daniel Smith,, aka Jack or JD has been in prison for the last 25 years – he was 25 when he went in, convicted of murder of a young women and has just turned 51. He’s served the full stretch as he’s IDOM, ‘in denial of murder’ (according to the system)and maintained a ‘not guilty’ plea, in other words innocent, and now he’s out but not free -  he wants to find out the truth of what happened that night, clear his name, stop the terrifying nightmares and move on.  Despite his feeling that he has nothing, friends from the past, his music, his sister have always been there for him and are still there when he gets out and it’s their love and support that make his life start up again. We learn of the circumstances of Jack’s life at the time of the murder, his job at the scrapyard, the band, Blizzard, he plays bass guitar blues with, the women he knew, his young daughter and Liz her mother.  He was definitely a bad lad, but he didn’t deserve to be locked up for 25 years and his sister’s revelation that she knows where his estranged daughter is now, in enough to release up 25 years of anguish and suppressed emotion. As such, the dual quest begins – to find the truth which leads to Jack’s ‘encounters’ with lawyer Caroline Dupree and to find Maggie, his daughter, a journey which leads Jack to Goa and some quality spiritual and bodily restoration!The path to redemption and truth is not a smooth one, but Jack, a dyed in the wool cynic, has some lucky breaks (even in prison though he only realized that much later – thanks Gertie!) and slowly the pieces start to fall into place of what really happened and why that night.  Thanks also to a committed ( as well as gorgeous) lawyer, evidence is gathered to warrant re-opening  the case, and with an action packed denouement the truth is out. All in all a wholly credible and satisfactory ending which pleased me no end.The book is excellent, the characters, even minor ones real and the plot extremely well drawn. I loved the dry British humor that permeates the conversations and thoughts especially of Jack. The pace of the story is never over hasty and time is taken to go into detail such as the India section, Jack’s existence in prison which I really liked as it enriches the whole experience. I enjoyed this book immensely and will definitely be following Derryl Flynn’s work from now on.