Review of Wrath of Anwen

[Tara D Morgan]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Wrath of Anwen" by Gareth J Hughes.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Wrath of Anwen by Gareth J Hughes revolves around the fictional Welsh coalmining village of Cwm Derw in a peaceful valley in Wales. The village has been here for centuries, and life has changed very little. Sons leave school and follow their ancestors into the mines.

It is the summer of nineteen sixty-seven, and Iolo, the Colliery Overman, has had a hard day at the mine. There has been a vast flood of water which has stopped production! That evening, he arrives home to find the house cold, no housework done and no dinner. Iolo has suspicions that his wife Anwen is having an affair, and he is sure he knows who Anwen's lover is. He feels that the community knows and is laughing at him behind his back. Iolo can take it no more and starts to plan his wife's and her lover's death! Will he use his shooting gun and say it is an accident? Will he hide their bodies in a dark tunnel in the mine? They live in a small community; how can he kill them without causing suspicion?

Then came the wild cat strikes, and the miners stopped working to fight for better pay and conditions. The community now has more time to talk about the disappearance of Anwen and her lover. How will Iolo cope with Ethel, the nosey neighbour's suspicions and her amorous advances? Furthermore, will Iolo get caught?

I liked Gareth J Hughes's idea for this book, and the descriptions of the wild cat strikes and the mines and their workings are brilliant, but the main storyline revolving around Anwen and her love affair is hugely confusing.

There are lots of grammar mistakes; it is a great shame that the editing and proofreading of Wrath of Anwen by Gareth J Hughes have let the book down so badly! In addition, I did not appreciate that the author masks some swear words in the book. For example, location two seven two, "Maldwyn keep an eye on the blutty horizon you're up and down and causing problems, the face looks like something from a blutty fairground ride?" he shouted. The word bloody has already been used in the book, and I cannot believe miners would be mindful of swearing! Furthermore, I found parts of the book challenging to follow, as, in every paragraph, the characters are in different locations.

I rate Wrath of Anwen by Gareth J Hughes 2 out of 4 stars. I have knocked stars off for the grammatical errors, the confusing storyline and the fact that the story did not work for me. As Hughes is an ex-miner and knows this world inside out, I believe he would be better off writing a factual book about mining which I would love to read!

I would recommend this book to adults who want to learn more about Wales and coal mining in the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies.

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Wrath of Anwen
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[Vivian Writes]

Iolo‘s story really might not be my cup of tea. I would have liked to read this story from the perspective of an investigator or private detective. Following Iolo while knowing he’s guilty the whole time simply won’t work for me.

[Shadreck Rogers]

I love the storyline although I am disappointed that you gave it a 2 stars rating. Great review though.

[NetMassimo]

This seems like a case of a good idea not properly developed and lacking proper proofreading. The author might need help from a professional editor to do things well. Thank you for your honest review!