Eyewitness- Rebecca Forster



This is not the easiest Forster to get into, not that that will deter her fans. Don't let it deter you in the unlikely event that this is the first one you have sampled. When you do catch up with the characters, a problem we share with the local police, one will be rewarded in as least as big a way as is customary with a Forster.

The parallel story telling requires a little effort, a temporary requirement to multi-task. I found it necessary to be relaxed about remembering the early flood of characters, and corpses. Soon enough we get to know all the characters we need very well. There is always a lot going on, plenty of energy to keep the mind's light-bulb lit.
The mix of cultural expectation, and the deeply engrained private pasts that we all carry with us are the keys to this powerful read. Our own histories have complex emotional affects, just as do those of Forster's characters. The parallel storytelling, the sub-story that starts the chapters will provide the glue. You will need the glue, but be relaxed about watching it set. The witness theme gets a clever re-design, rather than just a new coat of paint, in this one. Clashing colours just take a little getting used too, Forster doesn't write in beige. Waves from all the characters colourful pasts impinge on the physical forces of the present. They flash through the pages creating yet another brilliant Forster novel. Witness the crimes for yourself.

Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

The Last Days of Night- Graham Moore

Image
     I found this to be a very entertaining read, which helped give me a real feel for the period when the electricity cables started to connect the cities and then towns of North America. Moore did a great job of invoking a sense of place and time. I felt the magic of those times, so appropriately generated, by profound technological progress. The alchemy of turning night to day was of an order of wonder only matched in my lifetime by the Apollo missions to the Moon.      My difficulty with this reading is small and to many will seem pedantic. That being my strong preference that writers of historical fiction never play fast and loose with the known timelines of events. Facts and the time on which they act should be sacrosanct in the reporting of history. The writer should only weave his fiction, his story, on the solid framework of all commonly accepted truth. He may of course dispute details if there is a case to be argued, such that perhaps in one infamous earlier history ‘th
Lire la suite

Memory Factory: Heist of the Century- Russ Golish

Image
Golish has produced a technically well-written science fiction, based on near future power politics and warfare. The twist with a difference is the medical enhancement of two rival leaders brain function; enhancements that has been compromised by the Perfect Recall team for a third superpower. Doctored memories are replayed in the protagonists’ minds, upsetting mental balance and so altering tactical decisions. One is eventually driven to a mental and physical breakdown, but only after his has ruined any chance of military success. We are in a post polar ice-caped world, which has managed to maintain current levels of technology, but at great cost to humanity. The world is in power blocks based on existing geo-political realities, projected forward through the growing climate and general environmental crisis. The blocks are in an almost constant state of military rivalry that breaks out into regional war. The book has very much a male mindset, relying to a high degree on the esca
Lire la suite

Another Space in Time, Returns

Image
Amazon Link This is the standalone sequel to "Another Space in Time" My latest book, is a full length speculative fiction read- running to over 120.000 words. So it has length for the money. Has it got excellent content for your hard earned money? Obviously I think so. I can't guarantee that any individual will like it, but I can hope and say a very sincere thank you to all those who buy my book.  This is the continuing story of a murdered man's new life on another earth-like world. Rodwell is engaged by the local police of Axa-Goranas to help them capture or kill his twin brother's terrorist/gangland  boss. Rodwell replaces his brother as one of Youzhny's principle thugs. Discovery and pursuit soon follow, across land and sea, whilst Rodwell struggles to ensure that his new family are safe. I would love feedback from readers. Obviously I hope for praise, but I will be pleased to engage in a conversation if that is one's wish.  However you
Lire la suite