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This is debut novel by my friend Dave Evardson, songwriter and musician from Grimsby, North Lincolnshire, which is where the book is set, though it's a post-apoclyptic Lincolnshire/East Yorkshire around which has been built a massive, impenetrable wall. Is it to keep people in or something else out? That is essentially the question asked in this book and whether it gets an answer or not depends on your point of view.
I was initially thrown by the fact that the main character is a marshal and his mode of transport is equine. The opening scene the marshal's camp is attacked by arrows. My brain kept jumping to the wild west, and it took me a while to sort it out. Once I realised the location I had fun guessing exactly which bit of the area they were in.
The level of technology and society is faux-medieval with law abiding settlements set in wild tracts of land beset by outlaws. (We never see any large settlements or hear much about them.) The good guys keep slaves.
The marshal is a young lawman, Dominic Bradley.
There are one or two first novelish flaws. To be honest the first chapter is a little clumsy, but it picks up after that and rattles along at a good pace with the Dominic finding clues which lead him towards a discovery that turns the pseudo-medieval setting on its head and leads him to discover something about the wall while thwarting a pretty nasty villain and finding true love. It keeps you guessing to the very end.
This is an ebook from Fireship Press with a print-on-demand facility. I originally read it pre-publication, but now have a shiny paper copy. Thanks, Dave.
I was initially thrown by the fact that the main character is a marshal and his mode of transport is equine. The opening scene the marshal's camp is attacked by arrows. My brain kept jumping to the wild west, and it took me a while to sort it out. Once I realised the location I had fun guessing exactly which bit of the area they were in.
The level of technology and society is faux-medieval with law abiding settlements set in wild tracts of land beset by outlaws. (We never see any large settlements or hear much about them.) The good guys keep slaves.
The marshal is a young lawman, Dominic Bradley.
There are one or two first novelish flaws. To be honest the first chapter is a little clumsy, but it picks up after that and rattles along at a good pace with the Dominic finding clues which lead him towards a discovery that turns the pseudo-medieval setting on its head and leads him to discover something about the wall while thwarting a pretty nasty villain and finding true love. It keeps you guessing to the very end.
This is an ebook from Fireship Press with a print-on-demand facility. I originally read it pre-publication, but now have a shiny paper copy. Thanks, Dave.
