Review: Echoes by Phil Oddy

 

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction

Description:

Estrel Beck steps off a train in the big city to go to an important meeting, and finds his unlovely, humdrum life going haywire. He is reliving the same day over and over, with no memory of any of the iterations. What will happen to him if he can’t break the loop? How did this happen to him, and why? There are people who seem to know him: are they friends or enemies? All he has are questions. And a few jottings on a disintegrating paper napkin.

Author:

Phil Oddy is a British author living in North Hertfordshire (which will only be a meaningful nugget for you, dear reader if, like me, you live in the UK). He juggles gainful employment, family and writing with volunteering for things like building websites for literary festivals, so he’s not afraid of much. Echoes is Book 1 of his trilogy ‘Entanglement’. Book 2 (Entrapment) is available and Book 3 (Eclipse) should be available this month (March, 2025). So since sending us Book 1 for review Oddy has finished and published two more books. He is really on a roll. If the ‘Entanglement’ trilogy floats your boat, you can binge all three.

Appraisal:

For this first book in the trilogy Oddy has developed a protagonist who is passive, unambitious and incompetent. In the opening chapters of the book he is a grumpy lump of unformed clay, constantly tired, never liking to complain, never wanting to be noticed. This, obviously, has to change as the book goes on. He never becomes 007. But he does discover some self-esteem. Nevertheless, if the book has a weakness it is Estrel Beck, because he is also the narrator, so we learn the whole story through him: he is wimpy, he vacillates, he repeats himself more often than the story can really bear, and he often contradicts himself. I rather wanted to give him a good shaking at points.

It is giving away nothing not in the blurb to tell you that the central quest for Beck is to stop looping. The people whom he meets and who appear to befriend him have other agendas, however. Sometimes Beck’s needs coincide with those of his friends: more often not.

Trinity is a dour city. Its people work hard but live dull, joyless lives. Oligarchs rule. Violence is meted out by these alpha-dogs. There is also in-fighting between them. There is a resistance movement attempting to take down the cynical government. Much of the book is concerned with these various machinations, into which Beck is drawn, spat out, and drawn in again – all the while the plotting cleverly keeps his tatty but oh-so important paper napkin to the fore. This part of the book is pacy stuff. It begins to look as though Beck has a role in the revolution, despite not knowing there was one until he started looping. Will he finally find his niche in life?

One thing irked me from the moment the character appeared. Clar is consistently referred to as ‘they’. This leads to some tortuous prose and occasionally spills over onto other characters in a most confusing way. No reason for this clunky exposition is ever offered. You will have to draw your own conclusions.

In summary, the book has an intriguing premise. It ends in a satisfying way, while still providing a goodly set up for two more volumes to come.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: That Which May Destroy You by Abda Khan

 Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Description:

“The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…?

Miriam Hassan stands in the defendant’s dock at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the cold-blooded murder of her well-known, rich, charismatic husband Zaf, to which she pleads not guilty. However, nothing is straightforward.

There is conflicting witness testimony. The couple argued on the day in question, and Miriam was overheard threatening him. A witness places her at the scene of the crime. Miriam’s evidence casts doubt on her guilt, but no one can corroborate it.

It soon becomes apparent that both Zaf and the marriage were not as they seemed. Miriam discloses details about the ‘gaslighting’ and emotional abuse she suffered, and the court also discovers that Zaf in fact had a number of enemies. On the other hand, Miriam stands to inherit Zaf’s vast fortune if she walks free.

Through the moving testimony in the courtroom and dramatic flashbacks of the two-year marriage, the reader is taken on a gripping and thought-provoking journey, but when the shocking truth is finally revealed, the reader will be left with a moral question that may be difficult to answer.”

Author:

“Abda Khan is an award winning lawyer turned author. Her first novel Stained (2016) has been praised as the 'contemporary Tess of the d'Urbervilles' by Booklist (USA). Her novel Razia (2019), is a gripping story about a lawyer's fight for justice for a modern day slave. Khan's debut poetry collection, Losing Battles Winning Wars, is a thought-provoking journey through the challenges she has navigated as a first generation British Pakistani Muslim woman. Khan was Highly Commended in the Nat West Asian Women of Achievement Awards, 2017, and won British Muslim Woman of the Year at the British Muslim Awards 2019. Khan also teaches creative writing and produces and directs community based creative projects.”

Appraisal:

This was an interesting and thought-provoking book. The way it is structured with the timeline shifting back and forth from Miriam being in court on trial for murder and then shifting to her life leading up to this point kept the reader guessing and wondering what the story was. Did Miram kill her husband, Zaf? Maybe, maybe not. If she did, will she be able to show it was self defense or something else justifiable? Even if she should be found guilty based on the legal aspects, should she really? I suppose some people could fall on either side of the argument for most of the way and definitely when the story concludes the answer might not be clear. However, it will also get you thinking about cultures and religions (and no, I’m not talking about just Muslims as depicted here, but plenty of others) where misogyny is normalized and marriage that should be a partnership is expected by some to be a dictatorship. The results can be ugly.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an Advance Reader Copy, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

Review: In the Joining of Souls by Jordan Gray

 

Genre: Literary Fiction

Description:

“Shattered trust. Buried secrets. A friendship on the brink.

In a small town where everyone knows everyone's business, Jordie and Hannah share an unbreakable bond—until tragedy rips their world apart. As grief consumes him, Jordie embarks on a desperate search for answers, uncovering a web of lies that shatter his understanding of the past and force him to question the people he trusts and the memories he once clung to.

With guilt, betrayal, and long-buried secrets rising to the surface, Jordie must confront a devastating truth: Can he ever truly move forward, or has the past already shaped his future beyond repair?

A gripping novel of love, dedication, and redemption, perfect for fans of emotional suspense and small-town mysteries.”

Author:

Jordan Gray says he’s always been a reader of a wide variety of books and a lifelong desire to write stories himself. The free time after retiring from the corporate world is finally allowing him to do this. This is his second book.

Appraisal:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and now that I’ve finished it, I’m not sure how to describe it. You’ve got mystery, coming-of-age, and even a bit of paranormal thrown in to the story of two kids Jordie and Hannah, who are “soulmates.” That’s their term, not mine, but I agree, they are. They live in a small town and struggle with the difficulties of fitting in that many kids experience. Then disaster strikes. What that means and how it shakes out, I won’t say. What I will say is that once I got drawn into their story I couldn’t stop reading, having no idea where the story that turns out to be a fairly long one, was going to go, and never being quite sure, but definitely caring what the answer was.

If you like coming-of-age kinds of stories, you ought to like this one. If you’re a big fan of the classic novels “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Catcher in the Rye” which are two of Hannah and Jordie’s favorite books, they’re your kind of people and you should be able to relate to them and their story too.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

From the information available it isn’t clear what country the author lives in or where the story takes place, but you’ll spot spelling conventions and word choices at least some of the time that appear to indicate the answer is the UK.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an ARC (advance review copy) so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 155-160,000 words

Review: Gold in Them Texas Hills by Russ Hall

 

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Description:

“All that glitters is not good.

Al Quinn’s plans to live a quiet retired life are shattered when trespassers begin encroaching on his lakeside property at night with flashlights and a metal detector.

First, there are two men, then four, then six showing up almost every evening on Al’s land. Some of them are armed and willing to fire their weapons. Al has no idea what’s motivating the unwelcome visitors. But they soon realize their lives are being threatened by some dangerous men.

Sheriff Clayton makes matters worse by asking for Al’s help on a different matter. With an election coming, two women are getting ready to claim that thirty years ago, Clayton went too far with them when they were underage Girl Scouts. Clayton swears he’s innocent, so Al agrees to look into the situation.”

Author:

The winner of multiple awards, Russ Hall has more than twenty published books that include mysteries, thrillers, westerns, poetry, and nonfiction. Hall lives near Austin, Texas.

Appraisal:

I’ve read multiple books in the Al Quinn series and like the characters. Yeah, that the star and I share a name (not to mention his infant nephew, Little Al), so that might give him an advantage in winning me over. But I’m always eager to see what their latest adventures are. Having spent a bit of time in Austin over the years I also enjoy how when Al mentions he’s in a certain part of town and what its like, I can easily picture it, knowing for example that the southeast near the airport isn’t a great area or picturing the area to the northwest of the city where Al Quinn’s family lives takes me right there.

But along with the setting and the characters we also have the story, what’s happening to the characters in the setting. Who was doing what was mostly not a mystery to the reader, we knew that most of the way for the big mystery, who are the armed men that keep sneaking onto Al’s property and why were they doing this. But how it is going to turn out kept me involved. There was a bit of a mystery around Sheriff Clayton and whether Al would be able to prove what the Sheriff was being accused of was untrue, but even there we knew the answer and so there was more thriller than mystery. However, not knowing how it was going to shake out and whether Al and his family was going to get through it all okay, really pulled me into the story. Even among the bad guys, who we get to know and understand a bit, there are some the reader isn’t going to view in the same light as others, so you’re pulling for some to pay a larger price than others. It all makes for an intense and interesting read and makes me eager for the eleventh book in the series to see what Al and crew are up to next.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

Although the version I read was an advance reviewer copy and I can’t judge the final product in this area, I found no significant issues in the reviewer version.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 55=60,000 words