Review by KayTee929 -- Breakers by Barry Litherland
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KayTee929
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Review by KayTee929 -- Breakers by Barry Litherland
[Following is a volunteer review of "Breakers" by Barry Litherland.]
Breakers, written by Barry Litherland, is a thrilling page-turner. This paranormal mystery keeps the reader engaged and wanting to reach the end. It opens with an introduction of sorts by a character named Billy, a fisherman by day who tends to participate in illicit transport activities after dark. Billy provides an account of his personal belief system, or previous lack thereof, before deciding how to begin the story of an experience that changed his life. Not exactly a stranger to the law, when his friend Denny disappears on a fishing trip in which Billy is the only witness to what happened, the police immediately suspect him. Billy attempts to tell them the truth of what happened that fateful trip, but the truth is so outrageous that the police laugh it off, chalking it up as yet another one of Billy's famous lies. It isn't long before Billy is a suspected accomplice in further crimes when the coast guard reports the presence of a mysterious yacht just offshore and the bodies of undocumented people begin to wash ashore. An encounter with a hitman known to law enforcement sends Billy on the lam. Detective Inspector Jack Munro, along with his partner Aaron Marks, are investigating all of the strange occurrences, trying to put together pieces of a puzzle they can't quite seem to make fit. When Billy calls Jack desperate for help, the two end up forming an unlikely alliance.
Mixed with Billy's story is another, this one of a man named Clive, who had recently inherited a property from a distant relative. He decides to renovate the property and moves his wife, Laura, and son, Danny, from the city. But strange things start happening as soon as he begins renovations: spooky, unexplained noises and voices; a skeleton cropping up on the shores near his home; the appearance of his son's "imaginary friend"; and the ominous feeling of something unseen lurking in the shadows. When history begins to repeat itself, it is clear that something unusual is happening.
I have chosen to award this book 3 out of 4 stars; there were some items that I disliked about this book, yet there were also many aspects that I enjoyed.
One item that I disliked about the book was the use of very similar character names: Jenny, Benny, Denny, Danny, Munro, and Murdo to name a few. Even though some of these characters were minor, mentioned briefly or only in passing, it was a bit confusing and seemed like the author was struggling to assign original names to some of the characters. Another item I disliked about the book was that the author mentioned a lot of characters, with some of them being given their own chapters (examples include DI Hawkins, Laura, Karif, and Melanie). The characters that had their own chapters could instead have been interspersed within the story, especially considering the author didn't dedicate the same attention to fully developing their characters and only included some of them for a chapter or two. The author often mentioned these characters from the viewpoints of main characters and I felt the author could have just continued with that rather than given some of these characters their own chapters. Contextually, they each add their own viewpoints, which contributes to the overall story development, but when the author is consistently switching between characters and writing everything in first person, it gets to be a bit overwhelming.
The author's use of the first-person point of view throughout the book can be viewed as both a blessing and a curse. At first, it wasn't obvious to me which characters were narrating which chapters as the name of the individual was immediately above the beginning lines of the chapter. I caught on once I began the second chapter, but I feel there needs to be a more obvious distinction (suggestion: maybe make the name part of the chapter heading?), especially considering the book jumps around between characters as you get further into the story.
In contrast, despite being slightly confusing, I found the use of this point of view to be an effective way to immerse the reader into the story. This helped to give the reader a good insight into the main characters. The main characters were well-developed and each character provided their own renditions of events that happened. Most of the characters mentioned in the novel, with the exception of some of the ancillary characters, had a role to play in the development of the story. Nearly every chapter ended with a cliffhanger or a small piece of the whole picture, which made this book a real page-turner. It was almost like getting different pieces of the puzzle at different times, which came together at the end to provide the full picture with an ending that satisfied all of the reader's curiosity. Additionally, the author's ability to blend two different storylines into one story is commendable. The two stories, for the majority of the book, seem to run in parallel to each other and it leaves the reader wondering how everything will eventually tie in together.
Another item I liked about this novel was the author's word choice. The author's word choice throughout was very descriptive and helped to paint vivid pictures of the scenery. It also helped to bring the characters to life, with the reader being able to feel what the character was experiencing and thinking. There were even times I felt that the word choice played an important role in the distinction of chapters, at least in the beginning of the novel. It almost seemed to me as the if the author changed his word choice and writing style depending on the character who was narrating that particular chapter.
Although there were some items that I personally disliked about the book, I would still say that, overall, it was very well written. The book appeared to be professionally edited with minimal typos, keeping in mind that this book was written according to grammar rules and spellings used in Europe, which might seem incorrect to someone from the U.S., for example, but are in reality correct given the style used by the author. I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries. This book blends crime fiction with the paranormal and was an interesting read. Unfortunately, as there was some language use throughout, I would not recommend this book for anyone who has a problem with foul language. I felt the language use was not excessive and the words used were relatively mild compared to what could have been used, but some readers may still find the language offensive, so for that, I add a word of caution.
******
Breakers
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Breakers, written by Barry Litherland, is a thrilling page-turner. This paranormal mystery keeps the reader engaged and wanting to reach the end. It opens with an introduction of sorts by a character named Billy, a fisherman by day who tends to participate in illicit transport activities after dark. Billy provides an account of his personal belief system, or previous lack thereof, before deciding how to begin the story of an experience that changed his life. Not exactly a stranger to the law, when his friend Denny disappears on a fishing trip in which Billy is the only witness to what happened, the police immediately suspect him. Billy attempts to tell them the truth of what happened that fateful trip, but the truth is so outrageous that the police laugh it off, chalking it up as yet another one of Billy's famous lies. It isn't long before Billy is a suspected accomplice in further crimes when the coast guard reports the presence of a mysterious yacht just offshore and the bodies of undocumented people begin to wash ashore. An encounter with a hitman known to law enforcement sends Billy on the lam. Detective Inspector Jack Munro, along with his partner Aaron Marks, are investigating all of the strange occurrences, trying to put together pieces of a puzzle they can't quite seem to make fit. When Billy calls Jack desperate for help, the two end up forming an unlikely alliance.
Mixed with Billy's story is another, this one of a man named Clive, who had recently inherited a property from a distant relative. He decides to renovate the property and moves his wife, Laura, and son, Danny, from the city. But strange things start happening as soon as he begins renovations: spooky, unexplained noises and voices; a skeleton cropping up on the shores near his home; the appearance of his son's "imaginary friend"; and the ominous feeling of something unseen lurking in the shadows. When history begins to repeat itself, it is clear that something unusual is happening.
I have chosen to award this book 3 out of 4 stars; there were some items that I disliked about this book, yet there were also many aspects that I enjoyed.
One item that I disliked about the book was the use of very similar character names: Jenny, Benny, Denny, Danny, Munro, and Murdo to name a few. Even though some of these characters were minor, mentioned briefly or only in passing, it was a bit confusing and seemed like the author was struggling to assign original names to some of the characters. Another item I disliked about the book was that the author mentioned a lot of characters, with some of them being given their own chapters (examples include DI Hawkins, Laura, Karif, and Melanie). The characters that had their own chapters could instead have been interspersed within the story, especially considering the author didn't dedicate the same attention to fully developing their characters and only included some of them for a chapter or two. The author often mentioned these characters from the viewpoints of main characters and I felt the author could have just continued with that rather than given some of these characters their own chapters. Contextually, they each add their own viewpoints, which contributes to the overall story development, but when the author is consistently switching between characters and writing everything in first person, it gets to be a bit overwhelming.
The author's use of the first-person point of view throughout the book can be viewed as both a blessing and a curse. At first, it wasn't obvious to me which characters were narrating which chapters as the name of the individual was immediately above the beginning lines of the chapter. I caught on once I began the second chapter, but I feel there needs to be a more obvious distinction (suggestion: maybe make the name part of the chapter heading?), especially considering the book jumps around between characters as you get further into the story.
In contrast, despite being slightly confusing, I found the use of this point of view to be an effective way to immerse the reader into the story. This helped to give the reader a good insight into the main characters. The main characters were well-developed and each character provided their own renditions of events that happened. Most of the characters mentioned in the novel, with the exception of some of the ancillary characters, had a role to play in the development of the story. Nearly every chapter ended with a cliffhanger or a small piece of the whole picture, which made this book a real page-turner. It was almost like getting different pieces of the puzzle at different times, which came together at the end to provide the full picture with an ending that satisfied all of the reader's curiosity. Additionally, the author's ability to blend two different storylines into one story is commendable. The two stories, for the majority of the book, seem to run in parallel to each other and it leaves the reader wondering how everything will eventually tie in together.
Another item I liked about this novel was the author's word choice. The author's word choice throughout was very descriptive and helped to paint vivid pictures of the scenery. It also helped to bring the characters to life, with the reader being able to feel what the character was experiencing and thinking. There were even times I felt that the word choice played an important role in the distinction of chapters, at least in the beginning of the novel. It almost seemed to me as the if the author changed his word choice and writing style depending on the character who was narrating that particular chapter.
Although there were some items that I personally disliked about the book, I would still say that, overall, it was very well written. The book appeared to be professionally edited with minimal typos, keeping in mind that this book was written according to grammar rules and spellings used in Europe, which might seem incorrect to someone from the U.S., for example, but are in reality correct given the style used by the author. I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries. This book blends crime fiction with the paranormal and was an interesting read. Unfortunately, as there was some language use throughout, I would not recommend this book for anyone who has a problem with foul language. I felt the language use was not excessive and the words used were relatively mild compared to what could have been used, but some readers may still find the language offensive, so for that, I add a word of caution.
******
Breakers
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Superbugs by Tayma Tameem
