Hello there and welcome to damppebbles. How is your Wednesday going so far? I hope it’s turning into a great day with lots of time for reading and plenty of relaxation. Today marks the twenty-second day of #R3COMM3ND3D2023 and what a corker of a year it’s turning out to be! As things stand, we have two front runners. They are The Good Liars by Anita Frank and All Of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins. Will that still be the case by the end of play? Let’s find out…
I am over the moon to welcome an utterly fantastic blogger to damppebbles today, it’s the fabulous Karen of Hair Past A Freckle. I am the biggest fan of Karen’s blog and her beautifully written, well considered reviews. If you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting yet then you know what to do. Hit that subscribe button and never miss out on any of Karen’s posts again!
So, what is #R3COMM3ND3D2023? It’s about sharing the book love. It’s a chance for authors, book bloggers, reviewers and bookstagrammers to shout about three (yes, *only* three) books they love. They can be written by any author, in any genre and published in any way (traditionally, indie press or self-published). But there is a catch. All three books must have been published in 2023. To make things interesting there are a couple of teeny, tiny rules; 1) the book must have FIRST been published in 2023 and 2) special editions and reissues do not count. See, it wasn’t too painful. I just like to keep you lovely people on your toes 😉
Let’s not hang about, here are the books Karen recommends…
The Silent Man by David Fennell
The Silent Man is the third book in David Fennell’s excellent DI Grace Archer series. It’s a breathtakingly tense, emotionally-charged thriller and easily one of my top reads of the year. Right from the start the creeping sense of dread is tremendous; David Fennell inexorably ratchets up the tension as the intruder observes Jason Todd and his young son, Lucas. It’s chilling enough when he’s outside but once inside, the mercilessly cold murder of the father, leaving his head bound in duct tape, with a sinister emoji-like frown drawn over his facial features, is terrifying.
The Silent Man should probably come with a health warning; I spent much of the book holding my breath and my nerves were scarcely given time to recover before Grace Archer makes her entrance and is soon facing an alarming encounter of her own. The adrenaline pumping scenes here are swiftly followed by an even more frightening revelation as she realises just how much danger she and her beloved Grandad are in. Gangster Frankie White’s enduring feud with the Archer family means the stakes are even higher for Grace. This storyline is the climax of an ongoing plot and is superbly crafted.
Grace’s relationship with her colleagues has always added a further layer to the series, particularly her friendship with Harry Quinn and the cliffhangers and dramatic revelations in some of these scenes are among the most intensely gripping in the book. Meanwhile, the chapters which reveal the warped actions of the killer are spectacularly dark and disturbing but there’s another strand to this complex, intricately woven storyline which is just devastating.
This is a dark, spine-chilling novel but I also connected with The Silent Man on a deeper, more emotional level. It’s almost viscerally obvious how much care David Fennell takes to ensure all his characters are nuanced, believable creations and not merely plot-devices. The immersive sense of place means ordinary homes have never felt more menacing but it’s not unremittingly creepy; there are also some lighter, more humorous scenes. The Silent Man is an exhilaratingly atmospheric, suspense-packed thriller from beginning to end but it also left me immensely moved. The first two books in this series were brilliant but this is an utter triumph – an outstanding rollercoaster of a read which I’ll be recommending for years.
Karen’s Review of The Silent Man
Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan
The Malabar House series is consistently historical fiction of the highest calibre, featuring everything I hope to find in a book, particularly this genre; the sense of time and place is always impeccable, the plot is intricately crafted and the characterisation nuanced and empathetic. However, Vaseem Khan also infuses his books with light and shade and the examination of complex topics is thoughtful and honest. Death of a Lesser God is the fourth book in the series and arguably the best yet.
The start of the book finds James Whitby mere days away from being hanged for the murder of a prominent Indian lawyer. He acknowledges that no man is an island and questions whether somebody like him who embodies the evils of empire could expect a fair trial; “Can a white man expect justice in Nehru’s India?” Persis Wadia is given the impossible task of reinvestigating the case without it becoming public knowledge. During the course of the investigation, she uncovers a link to a second case; a double murder in 1946. The investigation eventually leads Persis to Calcutta and as always, Vaseem Khan’s descriptions of the country are richly transportive. We can almost feel the suffocating heat and humidity of monsoon season as Bombay and later Calcutta are evocatively brought to life. One of the most impressive elements in Death of a Lesser God is that there’s obviously real affection for the country, while still allowing for a candid appraisal of its foibles and failings.
The scenes set in the Sundarbans mangrove forest are the most striking; the oppressive sense of danger is overwhelmingly tense but there’s a beautiful lyricism to Vaseem Khan’s writing which encapsulates the fascinating juxtaposition between the cities of India looking towards the future and the persistence of faith and mysticism, which in the mysterious Sundarbans, even touches somebody as prosaic as Persis Wadia.
Despite examining some difficult topics, the observant humour, especially of the characters, is a sheer delight throughout. The mystery itself is complex, compelling and surprising on a number of levels. There are magical moments sometimes when reading a book feels like alchemy in action and I loved every moment I spent with Death of a Lesser God.
Karen’s Review of Death of a Lesser God
The Forcing by Paul E. Hardisty
Climate-change thrillers are becoming a popular subgenre and I can only see them becoming even more prevalent as we head towards whatever the future may hold. Paul E. Hardisty sets the standard in style here, and the near future he imagines in The Forcing is agonisingly plausible, with each new terrible development or awful revelation only too easy to believe. Of course, there will be people who doubt the likelihood of the predictions made but Paul is a renowned environmental scientist who has seen and documented first-hand the damage being done to our planet, he writes with authentic knowledge as well as real heart. The world in The Forcing has moved closer than ever towards disaster; the skies are poisoned, scores of species are extinct, some continents are burning while swathes of others are already underwater, with more at risk. With more and more people fleeing north, a policy which means anybody born before 1989 and therefore considered culpable will be relocated to the ravaged southern states. David ‘Teacher’ Ashworth receives the letter he has been expecting at the start of the book and grimly accepts his fate. The pitch-perfect characterisation and exceptional sense of place ensures the journey Teacher finds himself on is brought vividly – and often terrifyingly – to life. What takes place here is utterly horrifying because it uses history and what has passed before to inform what may occur again. It comes as no surprise when society falls apart and the most heinous acts are perpetrated by people against those they once lived and worked alongside as colleagues, neighbours and friends.
Paul E. Hardisty’s stunning dystopic thriller is a frightening commentary on the worst of humanity and what we risk if we continue to ignore all the warnings but it is also a wise, hopeful reminder to truly appreciate whatever time we have left – and this beautiful planet we share. This is one of those books which make me grateful to be a reader and I finished it with tears pouring down my face.
Karen’s Review of The Forcing
Thank you so much, Karen. Three books which sound right up my street so will be added to the TBR forthwith.
About Karen:
I live in Dorset with my family and work in a small primary school as a teaching assistant, ELSA (emotional learning support assistant) and midday supervisor. Reading has always been my passion and sharing my recommendations of the books I have loved on my blog gives me so much pleasure. I also recommend a book every week on Alfred, Shaftesbury’s local radio station and podcast.
Karen’s Blog and Social Media Links:
| Hair Past A Freckle | X (formerly Twitter) @karlou | Facebook | Instagram @hairpastafreckle_bookreviews | Threads @hairpastafreckle_bookreviews | Bluesky @karlou72.bsky.social |
#R3COMM3ND3D will only run for the month of November this year so places are very limited. If you would like to take part in #R3C this year (and I would LOVE you to!) then please get your three choices in ASAP. If I’m unable to fill all 30 dates then any posts scheduled for the end of November will be brought forward and I will close the series early (but I don’t want to do that, it sounds miserable! 😂). Here are two different versions of the form if you fancy taking part.
If you’re a book blogger, bookstagrammer, reviewer or an author and you have three books published this year which you want to shout about then please complete the following form (or click this link: https://forms.gle/d6HbMLZJjEtUSm8FA)
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