Josiah Stubb: The Siege of Louisbouurg, by CW Lovatt; reviewed by Rob Bayliss

On April 14th the second in this outstanding trilogy is released. This review of the first book is to introduce you to the story and concept, and let you get a chance to get to know Josiah Stubb.

You can preorder the book here at Amazon.

Trust me. It is worth it!

 

That solid mass of men appeard unstoppable, and indeed, there was many a nervous glance between us, as we knew that our numbers would be insufficent for the task; still we proceeded with all possible haste through the thick undergrowth when the order for double-time was given, for the enemy's goal could not be more clear.

We are introduced to Josiah Stubb and his comrades of the 51^st regiment of Grenadiers as they prepare to make a hazardous amphibious landing. It is 1758 and we are in the midst of the Seven Years' War, a global conflict, now that the major powers have colonial interests, lasting from 1754 until 1763. In Anglophone North America the struggle is known as the French and Indian War and had started two years previously.

The French fortress of Louisbourg was, up to 1758, the most expensive stronghold in North America. With its harbour, it dominated the approaches to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the heartland of Arcadia and New France while its naval squadron was a constant threat to British maritime supply lines.

Thus Josiah Stubb finds himself in boat striving for shore with his best friend Daniel Hawthorne on one side and the perverse and mannerless Ben Stokingdale on the other.  Before them the muskets and cannon of the French open fire. Their fire is so intense that the attack is almost called off until a sheltered, undefended, cove is discovered.

Josiah and his comrades find themselves in the first wave, stealth fully creating a perimeter while the rest of the attacking units land. Josiah is ordered to watch the unsuspecting enemy who think they have repelled the British. Josiah’s mind drifts off recalling the events that have brought him to this juncture: his humble origins as a son of a whore, his abused upbringing in St. Johns and the love of his life, Elizabeth. Daydreaming, he allows the enemy to gain knowledge of the tenuous British defences; his punishable laxness is noted by his superior, the popular Captain Beaumont.  Soon Monsieur is launching a ferocious counterattack on the British position. In the ensuing struggle young Stubb and his comrades give a good account of themselves and, with British reinforcements arriving, the French are forced back, yielding their outer defences.  The night after the battle Josiah is summoned to the Captain to face judgement for his misdemeanour; his history comes back to haunt him in a most terrible and humiliating way.

It is during lulls in the fighting that Josiah is able to reminisce and we learn of his abusive upbringing, by his mother and her plans for him. She does however ensure that he is literate and Josiah is determined on bettering his future and uses his skills to this end. It is then that he falls in love with Elizabeth. They are forced apart by circumstance and the machinations of others, but can he win her back?

These reminisce scenes are cleverly woven into the novel's progression by the author, so in effect we have two timelines to the story running parallel. It could almost be said the book ends at the beginning! The dialogue has C18th century accents running through it; the down at heel Stockingdale sounds exactly as the reader would expect!

Mr. Lovatt has certainly done some meticulous research into this siege, which proved to be one of the most decisive engagements of the war. The military engagements are well described and as a reader I was there as well, desperately trying to load my musket as the French advanced. I enjoyed the little details, such as having to clean the musket of powder residue, and the description of the siege lines and the effort taken in digging them.

 

The author's prose is brilliantly descriptive; we are learning of this crucial siege, but at the same time the character of Josiah is fleshed out, complete with his dreams and his demons. Josiah Stubb is a believable character; the reader feels for his attempt to come to terms with his abusive past and tortured present. He is a true child of his time, as the Age of Reason begins to change the world around him and he grasps the opportunity to better himself, driven by his love of his soul mate, Elizabeth, although he feels his romance is doomed from the onset. In the background we are viewing the birthing pains of modern Canada and see the shooting star of General Wolfe beginning to burn bright.

Only at the close  of the novel do we really learn how he first met his comrades and even who his father may be. Josiah Stubb could easily be a stand-alone book; however all is set up quite nicely for a sequel. I sincerely hope that is the case as I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I found to be a
real page turner.

 

C.W. Lovatt lives in Manitoba, Canada. Josiah Stubb: The Siege of Louisbourg is his third novel. It is available at Amazon.




This review was written by Rob Bayliss. Rob is currently working on his Flint and Steel, Fire and Shadow fantasy series. Part one, The Sun Shard is available at Amazon. You can find out more about him here

Louise Reviews The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour: A Novel of Waterloo

Please not that the author is gifting a signed paperback and an ebook for two lucky winners.

See below for details.
The winners will be drawn on Thursday the 5th November

From David Ebsworth's amazon page

On the bloody fields of Waterloo, a battle-weary canteen mistress of Bonaparte's Imperial Guard battalions must fight to free her daughter from all the perils that war will hurl against them - before this last campaign can kill them both.

This book, an immense story of war, and the lives of those who live through it, deserves an accolade for astounding depth of detail, not only in the descriptions of the characters, but also in their actions. A cinematic, full colour, masterpiece. A powerfully packed novel of the history of one of the most iconic battles, that of Waterloo, told from the female perspective. Ebsworth has characters driven by their personalities, and their battle for survival. The personalities, and their struggles are such, that the characters become three dimensional, and the struggles becoming personal to the reader. We have Marianne Tambour, who is a cantiniere; Liberté Dumont, who is a female Dragoon, and informer to the police minister, Joseph Fouché.

I first have to mention the book cover for Marianne Tambour. The detail, the story beckoning, the tale of a well-known war, with the unknown personal lives that lived within that war. This is, indeed, a cover of some note.

I have read that we view a cover in a clockwise fashion. This being the case, then, I shall start with the image of the woman, top right. Is this Marianne Tambour? Then there is the title of the book, slashing the cover in half, written in blue and red, resembling a signature, perhaps; confirming the protagonist, in colours imitating the tricolour above. Below this we have three soldiers, one of whom is most definitely Napoleon. The horses look worn down, mirroring the men mounted upon them, demonstrating the bone-weariness of war. The bodies beneath the horses' hooves, strewn like discarded chaff. Then there is the author's name, supporting the entire scene, in a capitalised font; bold, underlining the image above. We then swing our vision around and back to the top of the cover, and there is the tricolour. Is it being held by Marianne Tambour? Or is it the arm of a soldier? Only reading the story within will inform.

David Ebsworth's story of intrigue within the well-known story subject of the battle of Waterloo, is inspired. It is written as a journal, of sorts, each chapter being pinned to a day, a date, and a time. A countdown, if you will.

Chapter One 

Wednesday 14th June 1815, 2.00pm 

The boning knife flashed from the left, flensed the lower buttons from Marianne's coat in the instant she jumped back, a reflex from the strange gift of premonition - or perhaps it was a curse - that she possessed.

These opening lines, of what is Marianne Tambour's last campaign, are so powerful as to warn the reader of what is to come. Mayhem, death, and a struggle for survival.

When I first started to read Ebsworth's novel, I was hooked immediately by those first opening lines. First of all, they intrigued me. A boning knife, a knife that has a particular function; that of taking flesh from bone. The image is harrowing in its starkness. Its blade is narrow, with a long point, perfect for the task. The knife, 'flensed the lower buttons from Marianne's coat', flense, an interesting verb to use, as this is the particular action of stripping blubber or skin from whales, another very particular function. For me, that would imply the stripping of Marianne's flesh from her bones in a most brutal fashion. Imagine how close that knife came as it took the lower buttons from Marianne's coat. A hair's breadth closer, and Marianne's story would be over. It is detailed description like this; that encompasses the reader, the narrative being absorbed by osmosis, tantalising, and beckoning the reader.

Whether you are on the French side, or the English side, it matters not. Ebsworth's narrative is being told not only from the female perspective, which in itself, is refreshing, but it is also being told from the French point of view. Very often, when reading about Waterloo, we are treated to the English view of the event. For me, it was like snooping behind enemy lines, if you will, overhearing, and being alarmed at the terrible events.

Marianne has a tenacity which helps her to stay alive after her husband's death. She not only has herself to look after, but also her child, Poppy. Here Ebsworth impacts the feeling of survival, a child, after all, is a precious thing, the future of a population. War is a destructor of populations, and so we are ensconced in two battles, the one of Waterloo, and the survival of Marianne, and her child.

There is much brutality in this story of war, if you could, you would look away, but the draw is to watch, to flinch, to be torqued into a curl of anxiety, followed by relief. We are manipulated by Ebsworth's text, he leads, and we follow.

This is from Chapter Eighteen: 

'Fouché tells me you're something of a sword-sharpe,' he said. More lather, she thought. That's good. She slipped her fingers inside the knuckle guard, wrapped them around the wired leather in a tug-of-war over some disputed garment. The Lieutenant's eye was drawn inevitably to them and it was the only chance that Liberté needed. 

This is a most compelling fight scene, told entirely from the female perspective. The sword-fight between Lieutenant Henry and Liberté, is written in such a way that the draught from the swords is palpable, as they sweep past. They were fighting with sabres,

These were hardly duelling blades, after all. There was no subtle slash and parry for a Dragoon, the heavy sabre either wielded straight as a lance, or hacking like a bludgeon. A butcher's clever, she always thought, this backsword, as opposed to the light cavalry sabre's flensing knife.

The sword fight is described cinematically. Detail after detail laid before the reader, jamming the brain with the same rush of adrenaline as the characters must be experiencing. I was left breathless after reading the sabre duel. I know nothing of fencing, per se, other than it is an art. So the description, so rich in its detail, left me in no doubt as to the stamina and the art, needed by the combatants.

If you like to read books about the battle of Waterloo, and you are au fait with the history, then this book is one for you. If you have no notion of the battle, then this book is also one for you. Ebsworth's fine art of creating a world, one which is both believable, and all encompassing, is a unique talent. His use of prose is superlative. Marianne Tambour, is a tour de force.

To win a copy please leave a comment below or on our Facebook page

From David Ebsworth's amazon author page:

David Ebsworth - aka - Dave McCall

David Ebsworth is the pen name of writer, Dave McCall, a former negotiator for Britain's Transport & General Workers' Unioin. Dave was born in Liverpool (UK) but has lived for the past thirty years in Wrexham, North Wales, with his wife, Ann. Since their retirement in 2008, the couple have spent about six months of each year in southern Spain. Dave began to write seriously in the following year, 2009. He has recently published his fourth work of historical fiction. The Last Campaign of Marianne Tamboiur: A Novel of Waterloo. His previous books have been about: the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745; the Spanish Civil War in 1938; and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. Dave's main passions are his family, history, travel, Spanish food, swimming and sailing. He is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

David Ebsworth is author of many books, which can be found on amazon

You can also find him on Facebook

And on his website

Louise Rule is author of Future Confronted, a biographical account of her family's struggle to come to terms with a much loved son's terminal diagnosis and is currently writing her first historical novel, The Touching of Stones set to the background of the Scottish Wars of Independence. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE REVIEW!

The Review is one year old this month! 

Yes! That's right! 

ONE YEAR OLD!

Okay! Okay!

I'll wait while you all finish singing Happy Birthday!

THANK YOU ONE AND ALL !

Paula Lofting wrote the very first Review post, which was a 'Welcome' blog, and went out on 1st September 2013.

Then next post was by Lisl, who did a book review and author interview with Sarah Bruce Kelley. This was followed by Lisl's Bits & Bobs chatting about The Adventures of Merlin. 

Following on Lisl's heels came Paula Reads: The Handfasted Wife by Carol McGrath, and Paula's People: Helen Hollick Talks about her Foray into Writing. 

We then had a review by Marsha of Medieval: Blood of the Cross by Kevin Ashman. 

Bernard Cornwell

Paula Lofting interviewed the esteemed author, Bernard Cornwell,in December 2013! And in the same month his book, The Pagan Lord, was reviewed by Mark Thistlethwaite, of The Historic Novel Society, for The Review.

Manda Scott

This month - September 2014, Paula has interviewed yet another esteemed author, Manda Scott. Manda chats about her book The Emperor's Spy and about her Boudica Books. It's a most engaging, and interesting chat, and one not to be missed.

The Review Group has gone from strength to strength. Since day one we have had an amazing 54,922 views of our pages across 249 posts. Our posts have been reviews of books, interviews with authors, and special blog posts from some of our members. We are a diverse bunch, working well together, each one of us having something special to bring to the group.

As the year has progressed, we have added more interviews with Louise's special posts called, The Review Group Author Interview. The interviews give the authors a chance to reach out to our readership, and in turn, the posts generate lively interactions between the author and those who drop by to read the interview.

 

OUR BOOK LAUNCH EVENTS are special events where we pull out all the stops and showcase one particular author and the book that is being launched. The event includes an interview with the author, and a review of their book. It is an interactive event where people ask questions of the author, talk about the book, and generally have a brilliant time! These events also serve to place the author in the limelight for the duration of their event.

Wendy J. Dunn

Our latest Book Launch Event was for Australian author, Wendy J. Dunn, whose book The Light in the Labyrinth was about to become available. Wendy's event interview can be read here, and author Anna Belfrage reviewed Wendy's book.

I know Wendy will agree that we all had a fabulous time!

We also offer free giveaways for books that have been reviewed. This is very popular both with authors and readers. A lucky winner is drawn from the 'hat' from those who have left a comment about the book on the blog or The Review Blog Page. It's always exciting announcing the winner, and exciting being on the receiving end too!

We have a strong and enthusiastic book review team, who regularly read and review the books on our reading list. The list is updated every month, so there are always books to choose from. The reviews, in turn, highlight that author and their book for one week.

We have great new ideas coming to fruition in the coming year. Great and exciting times ahead! For example, The Review has recently started yet another exciting development. A Review Group on Goodreads. So please come and join us there too!

So everyone! 

Please raise your glasses and join me in a toast!

TO THE REVIEW! 

HERE'S TO AN EVEN GREATER SUCCESS NEXT YEAR!

Dollywagglers by Frances Kay - Reviewed by Rob Bayliss

                                           Please see below for giveaway information!

"After the plague, most of us are dead, and some of the survivors aren't behaving very well. But we can still have a laugh, can't we? Letting go is for softies. I'm alone--delightfully and comfortably alone. I don't do crying. . ."

In an all too near dystopian future the world has been devastated by a flu-like epidemic. The survivors of the “eppie” stumble through the ruins, as food and security become rarer commodities. Survivors are split between those who accepted a libido destroying vaccine and those who refused it. “Refs” were forced to bear a tattoo on their forearms declaring their status. Most people have “parped” (died) and society has broken down into a lawless land of gang warfare.

Through this bleak wasteland shuffles our main character, the androgynous Billie. We follow Billie as she employs her strategy for survival; she is tall, dresses in men's clothes and seldom speaks to avoid revealing her gender. When she does speak she can entertain and tell a tale because, before the eppie, she had been a puppeteer, a Dollywaggler.

Billie is embittered and seeking redemption as she embarks on a journey from London to the Suffolk coast, where once she plied her craft. During her fraught travels she faces vengeful gunmen, gangs of lawless teens and is almost forced into a harem. She seems to have found a paradise of peace before her journey’s end but the brutal horror of her world snatches it away.

Meanwhile back in London, Sally stays in a house and strives to survive any way that she can, trading herself for food. While in the shadows, the depraved predator Rodney indulges his wicked tastes; that is until he discovers he is a puppet himself, a puppet called Leon. Those who pull his strings have a plan, a plan to rebuild the world to their design as has always been their wont.

Dollywagglers is an extraordinary book; the tale is as dark as night and yet interspersed with a good deal of humour, especially as Billie observes the world with a knowing and wickedly dry wit. A Dollywaggler herself, she sees how people and events are manipulated.

Frances Kay creates some great characters and the story draws you in without compromise. At times it made me laugh even though (this being a dystopian tale) I knew my smile would be brutally snatched away soon enough. It is beautifully written and descriptive, such as how the author describes the band of ransacking brigands - "... as they move across from Swansea to Bristol to Birmingham to Luton to Norwich, a spinning, dizzy ball of noxious gases, they attract, they magnetize, they pull the surviving world into their field of gravity."  I loved the way the disaster has its own developing mythology and terms such as parped, eppie and refs had so easily slipped into the everyday lexicon of the survivors. As soon as I had finished Dollywagglers, I wanted to read it again just in case I had missed something. It’s on my Kindle and I will return to it very soon.

Does Billie find her redemption? Without giving too many details away, yes and no. When all seems lost a glimmer of hope for the future emerges. Dollywaggler she may be but Billie refuses to be a puppet...

Dollywagglers is available as an ebook and paperback at Amazon.

For a chance to win a copy of Dollywagglers, simply comment below or on this review's associated Facebook thread.

Frances Kay is a full member of the Irish Playwrights & Screenwriters’ Guild and of the Society of Authors, UK, with an impressive background in screenwriting, and published by both Picador and Crimson Romance.

Once upon a time, Frances was the voice and puppet of Cosmo in the BBC’s You and Me programme. 

This review was written by Rob Bayliss. Rob is currently working on his Flint and Steel, Fire and Shadow fantasy series. Part one, The Sun Shard is available at Amazon.

Dr Babus Ahmed's Book Surgery - Dr Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

The long-awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed The Shining sees Danny at ordnance grow into a middle-aged man who works in a care home. Daniel Torrance has faced his demons figuratively and literally as a responsible member of society in a small town. During the course of his work in the care home he provides comfort to those who are dying and for this reason is nicknamed Docto r Sleep, as he encourages those who are near death to go to sleep.

However, Daniel's life is complicated by Abra Stone, a young girl who also has the shining but more powerfully so. Abra contacts Daniel as a baby and infant and again as a 10-year-old when she comes across a group of travellers called The True Knot, who are responsible for the disappearance and deaths of many children. This sinister group targets Abra and Daniel is called in to protect her.

I found the book chilling in places but not really terrifying in the way I found The Shining. Read as a continuation rather than a book to rival the horrors we encountered in the first book of this series, Doctor Sleep is more about developing and introducing old and new characters respectively. My curiosity about the Torrance family and Dick Halloran was satisfied and I became mesmerised by the magical Abra. The True Knot are heinously despicable as villains led by the ruthless yet beautiful Rose, who is a worthy adversary to our two protagonists.

Doctor Sleep challenges our perception of people, as 10-year-old Abra befriends a middle-aged man to help her; in the current state of our society this is very taboo and suspect, even though Daniel would never dream of harming a child. Yet The True Knot are a group of friendly travellers you may see and not even think about as a source of danger to anyone. King tries to show us the hazards of judging a book by its cover in Doctor Sleep and he couldn't have made those grandmas and grandpas in RVs more sinister, but they don't have the scare factor of the ghosts we have met in The Shining. This could be because the villains in this book have to hide in plain sight and aren't found in shadowy, unoccupied hotel rooms where malevolence is more easily imagined. I did feel at times that the villains were too easily outgunned, but this didn't detract from the story or characters on the whole.

I loved reading Doctor Sleep. I was engrossed in the powers of Abra as a baby and her family were wonderful characters too, especially her great-grandmother. It was sad to see Daniel Torrance go through rock-bottom in his life but heartening to see him turn things around and build a life with friends and support. I enjoyed reading the characters so much I hope there is another book in the series, just so like Danny Torrance, we find out what happens to Abra and an elderly Daniel Torrance perhaps?

Paula Lofting says: Babus has been a reader for The Review for a couple of months now and has become a valued member of our team

My Bio

I am a Bengal cat enthusiast in the UK, who retired from a career in General Practice on health grounds some years ago. I suffer from pulmonary hypertension and OCD, which I am very open about and I have a voracious appetite for books, particularly good thrillers of any description. I blog my reviews regularly on my blog: http://www.ajoobacatsblog.com, but my reviews also appear on other excellent book review blogs occasionally. 

The First Blast of The Trumpet (The Knox Triology)

Please see below for info about giveaway!

Set in the turbulent midst of 16th century Scotland the book takes you deep inside the daily lives and loves of three young women who as childhood friends and rivals will face wildly different fates as they grow older. From unwanted marriage, to being mistress to the king or being chosen to be prioress of an abbey, their struggles and triumphs are recorded in a growing tapestry of emotion and colour conveyed through a masterful use of Scots and English language, which perfectly captures the atmosphere of the time.

What I particularly enjoyed about this tale is that the author has not attempted to create a rose-tinted version of this historical Scotland but rather portrays a warts-and-all depiction where the poor can be trampled into the mud by the wealth of church potentates with as little thought as standing on a snail. Life is cheap!

A recurring theme throughout the book is just how little control any of the characters have over their lives. One girl will be married, one will become prioress of Haddington's St Mary's Abbey on orders from her uncle! Family duty must come before all else!

It is only with the introduction of John Knox as he grows from infancy to teenage years that this predetermined, unchangeable fate is challenged. Appalled by the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, where salvation can be purchased wholesale from priests, which he has been chosen to serve (again, choices made by others forcing people to follow a pre-ordained route in life), young Knox starts to be drawn towards the 'heretical' ideas of the Protestant reformers. When the Church responds to the challenge of reform by becoming ever more entrenched in blind dogma and lashes out in a frenzy of show trials and public burning of heretics, Knox, along with more and more of the common folk is drawn further and further from the control of Rome until Knox turns from the church completely.

Having rejected his assigned fate of being a priest, he is reluctantly at first persuaded into preaching the reformed Word of God with a fiery passion which dismays those who love him. His public defying of Church authority cannot go unpunished and so it will prove to be. For Knox, who has rejected all notion that he must follow a course laid out for him by others, and wishes to spread the truth of the Reformed Religion, he knows he must 'dree his weird'!

Marie Macpherson has produced one of those books which once you start reading, sinks its hooks deep in you and won't let go until you reach the end. I look forward with anticipation to reading the next instalment of this fine tale. This book is but the first blast of the trumpet for what looks sure to become a triumph.

Marie MacPherson has so graciously made available TWO copies of First Blast of the Trumpet, and all you have to do to get your name in on the draw is comment below~~simple as that! Facebook users may also comment on this review's associated thread. 

Available for purchase at Amazon and Amazon UK. 

About the author...

Marie Macpherson (nee Gilroy) was born in the Honest Toun of Musselburgh, six miles from the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. After gaining an Honours Degree in Russian and English, she spent a year in Moscow and Leningrad to research her Ph.D. thesis on the work of the 19th century Russian writer, Lermontov, said to be descended from the Scottish poet and seer, Thomas the Rhymer.

The rich history of East Lothian - especially the Reformation period - provides the inspiration for her first fictional work, based on the early life of the Scottish reformer, John Knox.

Prizes and awards include the Martha Hamilton Prize for Creative Writing from Edinburgh University and 'Writer of the Year 2011' title awarded by Tyne & Esk Writers.

She is a member of the Historical Writers' Association.

Book Review: Tom Blake on Strange Metamorphosis by award-winning children's novelist P.C.R. Monk (and giveaway)

Strange Metamorphosis by P. C. R. Monk
Review by Tom Blake

This book is an
indieBRAG winner

Please see details at the bottom of post for a giveaway!

This book is the story of a boy, intelligent and eccentric, called Marcel. He has a difficult decision to make about his life: to take the apprenticeship at Villeneuve and follow his father’s footsteps, or to take the scholarship at a renowned technical college in Paris, without any guarantee of success. Quite a predicament.

After much deliberation, Marcel confides in the alleged magic oak tree. The decision seemingly becomes less important after something magical happens to Marcel, throwing him into an unexpected buggy world.

Given the quest to find royal jelly to change back into a human, Marcel is left to fight for survival as a small human but rapidly turning into a bug. The quest makes him learn about himself, make (bug) friends and fight the enemy.

When I chose the book, I didn’t quite know what to expect, being a mystery/thriller/horror author and reader. But I decided to give this book a chance to see if I could find a new genre to enjoy.

Beginning the book, I felt comfortable reading it, feeling it was a genre which I’ve missed out on. I enjoyed the setting of the South of France, and I liked Marcel’s unconventional personality: indecisive, shy and gullible, but with much potential in life. Which is very believable of a fourteen-year-old boy.

As I read on, I enjoyed the idea of Marcel being turned into a bug and fighting to turn back into a human, such an original idea. But as I read on, I couldn’t help but think of James and the Giant Peach and A Bug's Life and some other books and films. That point isn’t negative, because although similar in some ways, I felt Strange Metamorphosis has its own themes, an innovative story, different to all the other bug life kind of stories. I also liked the wide variety of bugs throughout the story. They were not obvious characters and type of bugs for Marcel to interact with; I think that is what I liked most.

The main objective of the story and for main character Marcel is pretty straightforward, with the occasional side track of a story. I didn’t dislike the simplicity of ‘boy searches for the royal jelly’ but I do think that there could have been more to it; then again I would think that being a mystery thriller reader.

Throughout the book, I could tell that the author P. C. R. Monk is a very intellectual individual and experienced within the writing industry. His writing flowed fluently and the tone of the book was also fun. But at times, I felt that the style was too formal as well as Marcel’s language. As I was reading I couldn’t imagine the Marcel in my mind uttering the words I read. This also questioned my initial thought that this was a book suitable to children as well as young adult. The plot and genre would be suitable for children, but the way in which it is written it is for YA.

Finally I would like to mention the front cover. It’s very interesting and having constantly taking a glimpse of the front cover as I read; it urged me to read faster to get to the part where he becomes a bug.

Overall I am glad that I took the time to read this book, it was a nice change from the usual genres I read. It was a book that was simple yet intriguing, with a wide range of characters and an original writing style from Mr Monk.

                                                                             

Author P.C.R Monk

Read about the author P C R Monk on his website and his bio here. Apart from winning a BRAG Medallion award for Strange Metamorphosis, Mr Monk has also been awarded a Children's Literary Seal of Approval.

The author is kindly giving away a copy of Strange Metamorphosis. Please leave a comment here on the blog if you would like your name in the draw. 

*Facebook users* may also comment here for a chance to be entered.

Tom Blake is the author of Endurance and The Author. His genre lies mainly in thrillers and horror. This is Tom's debut for The Review and you can follow him on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter and on his website.

T. J. Blake

Anna Reviews: The Light in the Labyrinth

The Light in the Labyrinth
by Wendy J Dunn

If there is one period in English history that has been depicted, over and over again, it is Tudor England. There seems to be something utterly irresistible about Henry VIII and his glorious daughter Elizabeth I, some sort of fascination that attracts readers like flies to a honeypot. Personally, I am not a Tudor fan – I feel a certain fatigue when yet another book detailing the intrigues at the royal court makes an appearance. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy books set in the period – but I’ve had my fill, I think, of Henry and his hapless wives.

This is not to say that the sad end to the passionate affair between Henry and Anne Boleyn leaves me cold – beyond a doubt, this is one of the more scorching love stories in history – but it is a story where fiery passion turns to bitter ash, a spiteful, ageing king wreaking his revenge on his proud and wilful wife. Still: it is a tale all of us have heard, in one way or the other, so is it at all possible to set these sad events to a new, entrancing tune?

When The Light in the Labyrinth landed on my desk, I was therefore somewhat hesitant. Yet another book about Anne Boleyn, this enigmatic lady who so enthralled the king that he broke with the Holy Church for her sake – what new insights could possibly be offered? One chapter into the book, I no longer cared about new insights. I cared about prickly, confused Kate, Anne Boleyn’s fourteen-year-old niece.

Katherine Carey is a resentful, angry young girl. She considers her mother a fool for marrying beneath her, she is jealous of her new half siblings, condescending of her commoner stepfather and the only thing little Kate wants is to go to court and serve her adored aunt, Queen Anne. In Kate’s book, Anne is everything her own mother is not: fashionable, witty, powerful – and of course, extraordinarily happy, now that she has achieved her ambitions and become queen.

Kate’s mother, Mary, does not want her to go to court, but at long last she relents, even if her demeanour clearly shows Kate just how much her mother hates letting her go – or is it fear that causes her mother’s face to pale? Kate doesn’t care. She is going to London to live with the queen and to finally see her brother, Harry, who for the last few years has lived at court, despite being younger than Kate. She vaguely recalls her mother’s distress when Harry was taken from her – several years ago – to be brought up elsewhere, and she doesn’t quite understand why her brother was so brutally separated from his family, but conveniently blames her mother for it. In Kate’s opinion, everything is her mother’s fault – a typical adolescent reaction.

It is rather fitting that Kate enters London via London Bridge, having to ride below the garish display of the rotting heads of the king’s executed enemies. She is entering a dark world, a labyrinth of conspiracies and undercurrents, and very soon Kate’s entire universe will be severely rocked as she uncovers secrets about herself – and about the court. Even worse, it does not take Kate long to understand that her beloved aunt is far from happy. In fact, Queen Anne is distraught, living her days on a knife-edge of fear and hope – hope that she might yet give the king a son, fear of what he’ll do if she doesn’t.

While it is Anne Boleyn’s subsequent fall from grace that is the main theme of the book, this is really the story of how Kate grows from a truculent difficult child to a very young woman of integrity and courage – brave enough to confront the king, mature enough to see in him a confused and angry man who no longer knows who to trust.

In Kate, Ms. Dunn gives us a complex and credible character, one it is easy to love and care for, despite her initial despicable behaviour towards her mother and stepfather. Forced by circumstances to take on far more responsibility than she is ready for, Kate more than rises to the challenge, even in those moments when all she experiences is suffocating fear. The story is told in third person, consistently from Kate’s perspective, but here and there the author has inserted Kate’s own thoughts, taken from her secret journal, and these first-person passages add depth to Kate’s personality.

Had The Light in the Labyrinth only dealt with Queen Anne’s unhappy end, it would have made for quite the dreary read, no matter how much life Ms. Dunn blows into her cast of characters. Fortunately, she has added a sweet and innocent romance between Kate and her future husband Francis. All that teenager angst that goes in hand in hand with first love is excellently depicted – and quite, quite timeless, causing this reader to smile in recognition.

Ms. Dunn has obviously expended a lot of effort on her research. It shines through every casual description of rooms and gardens, clothes and pastimes. A myriad of characters populate these pages, but Ms. Dunn does a good job of only properly introducing the truly important, while the rest blend into the colourful background of scheming courtiers and invisible servants. Even more important – and especially in a book aimed at a young adult audience – all this information is expertly woven into the fabric of the tale, thereby avoiding any heavy-handed “info-dumps”.

All in all, The Light in the Labyrinth is quite the read – no matter the age of the reader. And yes, thanks to Kate, a new voice has been added to the well-known haunting melody – a voice that mellows and matures as the story evolves and yet retains a touch of bittersweet innocence right to the bloody, inevitable end. It is with regret I close the covers on Kate’s story, and I can but doff my cap and applaud Ms. Dunn for a work most well done!

About the author 
Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian author quite obsessed with all things Tudor, as evidenced by her previous novel Dear Heart, How Like You This, which is about Sir Thomas Wyatt, a close confidante to Anne Boleyn. Recently, she has uncovered facts that give an indirect explanation to her fascination with the Wyatt and Boleyn families – it seems Ms. Dunn’s ancestors had business dealings with these two families and may well have known both Anne and Thomas. Somewhat creepy, but quite intriguing…

Ms. Dunn can be found on her website, and The Light of the Labyrinth is available both on Amazon and Amazon UK.

Anna Belfrage is the author of six published books, all part of The Graham Saga. Set in the 17th century, the books tell the story of Matthew Graham and his time-travelling wife, Alex Lind. Anna can be found on Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and her website. If you would like Anna to review your book, please see our submissions tab above.