Genre:
Psychological thriller
Description:
“A
complex game of cat and mouse in the seedy streets of Nottingham ends
in death. Young artist Mia Jackson is compelled to watch the
posthumous video diaries of Jack Flood – controversial bad boy of
the London art world and convicted serial killer. Can Mia allow Drake
Gallery to show Aftermath in their retrospective of his work? Muse or
victim, why was she allowed to survive?”
Author:
Shortlisted
for the Jane Austen Short Story Award and The Virginia Prize for
Fiction, British author Jaq Hazell writes crime fiction and
contemporary short stories for adults, as well as children's fiction
and YA. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway,
University of London. Born near Portsmouth, on the south coast of
England, her first full-time job was at Buckingham Palace. She has
also worked as a humorous greetings cards designer and a journalist.
She lives in London.
For more information please visit her website.
For more information please visit her website.
Appraisal:
I
Came To Find A Girl is
one of the best stories I’ve read for Books & Pals, and when
you consider I’ve reviewed 100+ and sampled at least six times that
many titles, you’ll understand that is a substantial compliment to
the author. Finding unique stories like this is what keeps me reading
indie works.
The
writing was light and crisp with terrific imagery. How’s this for a
keen observation in a night club full of “beautiful people?”--“Boys
with shaved heads and sharp suits stood in a Reservoir Dogs group
while a Jesus lookalike in an artfully torn T-shirt popped something
in his mouth.” The prose flowed. The dialogue was clipped and
realistic. And the pages kept turning. The author owes me some sleep.
Large
portions of the story were shown through the lens of a camera being
used to record a documentary film. This unusual technique took a
little getting used to, but it proved an effective and efficient way
to cover a lot of ground, both physically (because the film was shot
in short segments at different locations) and also emotionally, as
the person holding the camera, Jack Flood, was a main character, and
the movie he was making became a key part of the plot.
The
main character, Mia, was a struggling art student heading into her
final year and working as a waitress to cover her expenses. She and
her friends were so real to me they jumped off the page.
There
was an underlying mystery threaded through the book, but it never
dominated the plot. Sure, I wanted to know “who done it?” but the
journey was satisfying enough that it didn’t need a big reveal. I
was disappointed when I turned the last page. Not because the story
didn’t feel complete—it did--I just didn’t want it to end.
Highly
recommended!
FYI:
English
spelling. English settings. Mostly these will be no problem for an
American reader with the exception of a small piece of rhyming slang
which made me smile. When someone is “Hank Marvin” it means they
are “Starving” (hungry).
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Pete Barber
Approximate word count:
65-70,000 words
1 comment:
Sounds intriguing!
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