Reviewed by: Keith Nixon
Genre: Crime / Humor
Approximate word count:70 -80,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
Rob Johnson
worked as an administrator and publicist for touring theatre companies before
turning his hand to writing plays. Then the author undertook a series of jobs.
He now lives in Greece. Lifting the Lid is
the author’s debut novel.
You can
learn more about the author at his website.
Description:
Trevor is a
dull man, the one unusual fact about him – his wife disappeared one day and
never returned, presumed dead. Sandra is a PI, on a nice little earner to carry
out a simple job. But a broken toilet lid throws the whole process into utter
chaos. Soon Trevor and Sandra are embroiled in an escalating case of mistaken
identity and farce, chased by the police, the secret service and criminals.
Appraisal:
This is a
story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s an enjoyable romp, full of
largely incompetent characters who lurch from one mishap to another, that
steadily improves from beginning to end.
What starts
out as a simple mistake, Trevor breaking a toilet in the hotel he’s staying in,
spirals out of control. He attempts to avoid paying the bill for the toilet by
taking someone else’s, but discovers some hidden paperwork, and decides to
follow it up. Almost immediately Trevor is in over his head.
The author
quite neatly escalates the story as it proceeds, adding several layers of complexity
and characters, widening the conspiracy, making the end result much more
interesting than it initially seems.
The
characters are well drawn. Sandra is tough and resilient, Trevor is a bit
useless, but surprisingly stays the course. The various police officers and
secret service agents are arrogant and incompetent, the criminals sleazy and
blunt. There’s a strong sense of humour throughout.
I guess my
only complaint would be regarding Trevor’s missing, presumed dead wife, Imelda.
The way this is resolved at the end seemed a little… pointless. However, that’s
minor and my own personal opinion. A nicely told story.
FYI:
A few swear
words.
Format/Typo Issues:
None
No comments:
Post a Comment