Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
Genre:
Supernatural/Humour
Approximate
word count: 65-70,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
The
author’s debut novel Strangers
Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet took
him four years to write. Since then Bracha has published five novels,
including The
Switched.
He lives in Barnsley in the UK with his family and two cats.
You can learn
more about the author at his website.
Description:
One
summer morning, totally unconnected people wake up as somebody else.
They have their names, their lives, and their problems. Nobody knows
how or why it's happened, and nobody knows if or when they'll ever
get their own lives back. They must quickly learn to accept, adapt
to, and in some cases embrace their new personas, if they are to
survive in a world where the people known as The
Switched will do anything
to get their old bodies back from others who will desperately do
anything to protect their true identity, and hide deep behind their
new face.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide search for
popular television presenter Francesca O’Reilly, whose very public
breakdown and disappearance sparks chaos on social media, it quickly
becomes apparent that the switching phenomenon is far more widespread
than anybody could have known, and The
Switched become the most
famous people in the country.
Appraisal:
Ryan
Bracha doesn’t write your average novel. Not by any stretch. With
the exception of the Dead Man trilogy, each work he produces is
different, but yet the same. By this I mean the subject matter varies
from book to book, yet each is a challenging, in your face
declaration of intent which he clearly has great fun writing.
Here’s
an example. Authors have a tendency to put quotes up in their blurb
from other writers or readers. Ninety nine times out of a hundred
they’re positive statements to persuade the casual observer to buy.
Not quite so Bracha:
“The
use of gratuitous swearing actually offended my eyes...”
The
Switched fits perfectly
into this mold. As the description says it’s the story of five
people who wake up one morning to find themselves in different
bodies, ones which are nothing like their original selves. Each has
quirks and instabilities which lead to an increasingly bizarre series
of events laced with dark humour. And a significant amount of
swearing.
Don’t
expect this to be your average read.
Far
from it…
FYI:
Lots
and lots of swearing, including the C bomb.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Nothing
of note.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
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