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jaceyFor some reason I missed blogging this book when I first bought it as an e-book from Book View Café, so this is to remedy the omission.
The Macallans run the city, not only as a tough-as-old-boots Mafia-like crime family, but they are magical too. No wonder no one can withstand them. No one except one of their own. Young Ben Macallan has had enough. He wants a normal life, university, a girlfriend who isn't scared witless of his family's reputation. He 'disinvests' from the family firm. And they aren't really sorry to see him go; they don't think he's got the guts for the lifestyle.
It's all going so well, but then members of his family start to die – horribly – and Ben learns that blood is thicker, and stickier, and messier than water, and a damn sight more complex. Like it or not he's drawn back into the family business, seeking the murderer, following clues in true whodunnit style. Not only whodunnit, but whydunnit.
I bought this before I had a kindle and had to read it on screen as a pdf. It says a lot for the book that I stayed glued to the laptop and read it straight through. It's gripping, visceral and nail-biting. The pace is relentless without feeling rushed. Mr. Brenchley makes you care about the characters in spades, and not just the main characters either. Even the innocent bystanders and thuggish members of the family get your sympathy - mostly.
Ben struggles to find his place in life, and in the manner of all good coming-of-age stories undergoes change by the end of the novel.
Highly recommended.
The Macallans run the city, not only as a tough-as-old-boots Mafia-like crime family, but they are magical too. No wonder no one can withstand them. No one except one of their own. Young Ben Macallan has had enough. He wants a normal life, university, a girlfriend who isn't scared witless of his family's reputation. He 'disinvests' from the family firm. And they aren't really sorry to see him go; they don't think he's got the guts for the lifestyle.
It's all going so well, but then members of his family start to die – horribly – and Ben learns that blood is thicker, and stickier, and messier than water, and a damn sight more complex. Like it or not he's drawn back into the family business, seeking the murderer, following clues in true whodunnit style. Not only whodunnit, but whydunnit.
I bought this before I had a kindle and had to read it on screen as a pdf. It says a lot for the book that I stayed glued to the laptop and read it straight through. It's gripping, visceral and nail-biting. The pace is relentless without feeling rushed. Mr. Brenchley makes you care about the characters in spades, and not just the main characters either. Even the innocent bystanders and thuggish members of the family get your sympathy - mostly.
Ben struggles to find his place in life, and in the manner of all good coming-of-age stories undergoes change by the end of the novel.
Highly recommended.
