Now I have already posted a review for this book in “Coming Soon” but as it certainly deserves front page status, and while I get my ducks in a row again following my recent illness, I thought that today I would post it again front and centre.
Simon Beckett is the author of the David Hunter series of books, all of which are available now and are all brilliant.
Stone Bruises is his first standalone novel and here is what I thought of it…
Review
Sean is on the run. We don’t know why and we don’t know from whom, but we do know he’s abandoned his battered, blood-stained car in the middle of an isolated, lonely part of rural France at the height of a sweltering summer. Desperate to avoid the police, he takes to the hedgerows and country lanes only to be caught in the vicious jaws of a trap.
So I adore Mr Beckett’s David Hunter series and was eager to leap into this, his first standalone book, and wow it was a page turner and a half. Immediately dropped into the action as we meet Sean, abandoning his car and heading off in a panic…only to find himself in a very surreal situation…
Rescued it seems, from the trap, he finds himself on a run down farm and in the bosom of a strange and enigmatic family…but as we read on we realise that the danger Sean has left behind may well be nothing when compared to what he is about to face…
Written in two timelines – as we see Sean’s London life and the events leading up to him abandoning the car and also in the present as he recovers from his injury and gets more and more entangled into the strange existance of those on the farm, it is compelling stuff. Slowly but surely things are revealed – and trust me you will have a few late nights with this one.
As always the writing is suberb – You may have to wait a while inbetween Mr Beckett’s books but it is always always worth the wait and the same can be said for this. The characters are all fascinating – certainly if Sean was not injured in such a way he would have been running for the hills again but as things move on, he starts becoming part of the family in ways that may not be easy for him to escape from.
Note I have been careful not to say too much. This novel is so atmospheric as to really make you feel every part of it, and most of that comes from meeting the people that live in its pages and understanding more about them..almost impossible to put down, it will keep you right there until you are done.
The setting is perfect – the French countryside comes alive with the reading and adds to the effect.
All in all a brilliant involving read – If you have loved the David Hunter novels you will like this, and if this is your first time reading a Simon Beckett novel, I can almost guarantee you will then read more.
Happy Reading Folks!
Tomorrow its possible I may talk Stephen King…..
