Review by Ben97 -- Shifting Sands by Barry Litherland
Posted: 06 Jul 2020, 04:46
[Following is a volunteer review of "Shifting Sands" by Barry Litherland.]
Shifting Sands by Barry Litherland is such a riveting and entertaining book full of humor, sarcasm, drama, mystery, and rising ebb and flows of suspense. The drama takes place in Sefton, England. The author has articulately written the book in the British-English but that is not meant to make you fret for the book had a seamless flow.
Winston had a quirky story to tell about a stark naked man he encountered the previous night. Rambling and whimpering weakly down the street, the poor man had electrodes attached to his body sparkling with gel. The story intrigued Tyler - a journalist for the Evening Post newspaper. After prying into this mysterious incident, he unravels the clandestine business happening behind the gates of Westleigh Lodge. A private organization, Logrum Research, claimed to be making a rehabilitation center out of this building. However, Tyler could smell something fishy was happening behind those gates. Tyler appears to be relentless in his inquiries into this case, despite the threats from the company. Nonetheless, the ground that he is standing on seems shaky. Will he succeed in his quest for truth or will he perish in the shifting sands?
As for the writing style, the book was narrated from the first-person perspective as the author absorbs the readers into this mysterious world of imagination through the eyes of Tyler. I liked how the author portrayed the characters in the book, capturing both their vulnerabilities and strengths. He superbly conveyed humorously Winston's incongruity of being outrageously loud in social places.
Moving on, I was tightly engrossed and mesmerized by the rising tension in the book. The author graphically conveyed the heat of the threats and imminent danger from the villainous company as the protagonist probes into its discreet operation. The author also peppered the book with evocative descriptions of the scenery and incorporated engaging dialogues throughout the book.
Readers who anticipate reading a pleasant combination of mystery and comedy will relish reading this fiction book from cover to cover. I had occasional soft chuckles throughout the afternoon from the wry instances inscribed on almost every page. Nonetheless, I would not recommend the book to young readers as it had elements of profanity that would not be descent for the children.
Lastly, I had nothing to dislike in the book from the narration, character development, editing, formatting, and writing - all confirmed the author did a superb job. There were no grammatical errors, and it was evident that the book was well proofread and professionally edited. Hence, I commend the book a 4 out of 4 stars rating. It was a fascinating read!
******
Shifting Sands
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Shifting Sands by Barry Litherland is such a riveting and entertaining book full of humor, sarcasm, drama, mystery, and rising ebb and flows of suspense. The drama takes place in Sefton, England. The author has articulately written the book in the British-English but that is not meant to make you fret for the book had a seamless flow.
Winston had a quirky story to tell about a stark naked man he encountered the previous night. Rambling and whimpering weakly down the street, the poor man had electrodes attached to his body sparkling with gel. The story intrigued Tyler - a journalist for the Evening Post newspaper. After prying into this mysterious incident, he unravels the clandestine business happening behind the gates of Westleigh Lodge. A private organization, Logrum Research, claimed to be making a rehabilitation center out of this building. However, Tyler could smell something fishy was happening behind those gates. Tyler appears to be relentless in his inquiries into this case, despite the threats from the company. Nonetheless, the ground that he is standing on seems shaky. Will he succeed in his quest for truth or will he perish in the shifting sands?
As for the writing style, the book was narrated from the first-person perspective as the author absorbs the readers into this mysterious world of imagination through the eyes of Tyler. I liked how the author portrayed the characters in the book, capturing both their vulnerabilities and strengths. He superbly conveyed humorously Winston's incongruity of being outrageously loud in social places.
Moving on, I was tightly engrossed and mesmerized by the rising tension in the book. The author graphically conveyed the heat of the threats and imminent danger from the villainous company as the protagonist probes into its discreet operation. The author also peppered the book with evocative descriptions of the scenery and incorporated engaging dialogues throughout the book.
Readers who anticipate reading a pleasant combination of mystery and comedy will relish reading this fiction book from cover to cover. I had occasional soft chuckles throughout the afternoon from the wry instances inscribed on almost every page. Nonetheless, I would not recommend the book to young readers as it had elements of profanity that would not be descent for the children.
Lastly, I had nothing to dislike in the book from the narration, character development, editing, formatting, and writing - all confirmed the author did a superb job. There were no grammatical errors, and it was evident that the book was well proofread and professionally edited. Hence, I commend the book a 4 out of 4 stars rating. It was a fascinating read!
******
Shifting Sands
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Thank you for a great review!