To begin with, I think my overall impression is that this isn’t actually an enjoyable book. That isn’t to say it’s bad; in fact it’s quite clever, and has some wonderfully evocative passages. The main problem is that none of the characters are very likeable, and while on paper it sounds like an intriguing supernatural mystery, in delivery too much time is spent on internal characterisations, and not enough on the actual action. This is strange, as it is quite a visual story, but the balance of character, action and environment are inconsistent for too much of the time.
The main character, Jack, and his search for redemption through revisiting his earlier life and realising what really mattered in his life could make for a decent narrative, but the addition of the mysterious strangers (dark angels?) and apparent time-travel muddy the waters, and demand more of a resolution that we actually get. Derrick deliberately leaves too much open to interpretation, and while all the clues are there and he probably knows them, a casual reader isn’t going to deconstruct and analyse the text in a way which is probably needed to understand when and why sequences are mirrored or connected. The unsatisfying ending says to me that he had neither the bravery to commit to a totally ambiguous conclusion, nor the desire or skill to neatly tie up the loose ends he leaves scattered throughout the story. To be generous, different readers with different expectations might get different things from it. The Liverpool resident interested in social history, the fan of Dickens or Poe, those who enjoy internal monologues, but none of those things really tie together in a way that might truly enthuse the more general reader.
One of the most challenging elements of this book is the pacing. The opening one-page chapter grabs the attention well and pulls you in, but the second chapter (there are only five in the whole novel) takes far too long to actually go anywhere, building a character study and a mystery that no-one but the author and main character really care about in that much detail. Foreshadowing elements work after re-reading, but the first time they occur they leave the reader confused and frustrated as to why the story has wandered off on a tangent again (a trait of Derrick’s). The story picks up as more characters are introduced, but the pace then slows again for yet more internal monologue. And just as events start to fall into place, the rug is pulled from under you, and the setting moves back to the present day and the ‘twinkly’ stranger in the pub, for more philosophising (‘clever’, but unnecessary). The second time jump is a bit too similar to the first, which may be deliberate for structural purposes, but is slightly wearing, though at least there is far more interaction and plot development in this chapter.
This isn’t a bad book, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a first taste of Kit Derrick’s work. If you enjoy his writing style and sometimes convoluted philosophies and plotting, you will probably get something from this book, but I wouldn’t rate it as one of his stronger novels.
Try it and see if you agree.
Available from Amazon – mybook.to/RavenSound
Stay safe
Kit