Review by Madiha_ -- Shifting Sands by Barry Litherland
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Review by Madiha_ -- Shifting Sands by Barry Litherland
[Following is a volunteer review of "Shifting Sands" by Barry Litherland.]
Shifting Sands is a mystery novel written by British writer Barry Litherland. Philip Tyler, a journalist at the Evening Post, hears from his friend Winston about a naked man (with electrodes and gel all over his body) who was wandering near a remote house at 2 a.m. He decides that it could be a good story for the newspaper and starts to investigate about the mysterious man. With his friends and Liz’s help (his strict boss), he will try to solve the mystery without ruining his life, since the strange event will turn up to be more dangerous than they expected.
Philip will learn that the naked man was in a clinic called Westleigh Lodge, in which rich and famous people are treated with the latest technological therapies. When he tries to get information about what they are doing in the clinic, the owners and administrators do not cooperate, always behaving in a very secretive way. Additionally, we will also learn that they would do any kind of thing to keep their secret research from the world. His investigation leads him to Wendy, a patient who was previously in the clinic, who looks very disturbed. From then on, Philip will not rest until he finds out the truth hidden behind the clinic walls.
The novel is told from the first-person perspective, which is Philips’s. It starts a little slow at first, but then it speeds up. Everything happens at the right time and with adequate speed. There are always things happening, therefore, the reader will not get bored at all. Shifting Sands has a very well achieved suspense that hooked me from the first chapter.
Barry Litherland gives in each chapter puzzle pieces that will keep readers captivated until the end of the book. The author also gives some clues that may or may not lead to reveal the incident; thus, keeping readers guessing all the time. There are many things I liked about the book, one of them is the internal dialogue that can be found in some parts of the novel; it’s very original and it adds to the book a unique signature. Moreover, I liked how strong and determined some female characters were portrayed.
In general, the characters are very realistic, especially Philip. However, there’s one character, Slattery, an ex-detective that helps Philip, who seems to me very similar to Winston, I felt he was like another part of Winston’s personality. Shifting Sands has a touch of humor that I enjoyed very much, it fits well, even if you may think that humor is not suitable for mystery books, due to the fact that usually serious things are being presented, but in this case, it even helps to lighten the story, preventing readers from feeling too much concern.
The fluent writing of the novel made it very easy to read, it does not have unnecessary descriptions or long paragraphs with irrelevant information, it’s straight to the point and that is something I enjoyed much. There are certain profanity words but only in some parts since it is used by very few characters. It does not have any explicit or graphic sex scenes.
In short, the book was wonderful, there was nothing I disliked; therefore, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. I also have to say that the book was very well edited, it only had a few typos. I highly recommend it to readers who like a good suspenseful mystery story.
******
Shifting Sands
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Shifting Sands is a mystery novel written by British writer Barry Litherland. Philip Tyler, a journalist at the Evening Post, hears from his friend Winston about a naked man (with electrodes and gel all over his body) who was wandering near a remote house at 2 a.m. He decides that it could be a good story for the newspaper and starts to investigate about the mysterious man. With his friends and Liz’s help (his strict boss), he will try to solve the mystery without ruining his life, since the strange event will turn up to be more dangerous than they expected.
Philip will learn that the naked man was in a clinic called Westleigh Lodge, in which rich and famous people are treated with the latest technological therapies. When he tries to get information about what they are doing in the clinic, the owners and administrators do not cooperate, always behaving in a very secretive way. Additionally, we will also learn that they would do any kind of thing to keep their secret research from the world. His investigation leads him to Wendy, a patient who was previously in the clinic, who looks very disturbed. From then on, Philip will not rest until he finds out the truth hidden behind the clinic walls.
The novel is told from the first-person perspective, which is Philips’s. It starts a little slow at first, but then it speeds up. Everything happens at the right time and with adequate speed. There are always things happening, therefore, the reader will not get bored at all. Shifting Sands has a very well achieved suspense that hooked me from the first chapter.
Barry Litherland gives in each chapter puzzle pieces that will keep readers captivated until the end of the book. The author also gives some clues that may or may not lead to reveal the incident; thus, keeping readers guessing all the time. There are many things I liked about the book, one of them is the internal dialogue that can be found in some parts of the novel; it’s very original and it adds to the book a unique signature. Moreover, I liked how strong and determined some female characters were portrayed.
In general, the characters are very realistic, especially Philip. However, there’s one character, Slattery, an ex-detective that helps Philip, who seems to me very similar to Winston, I felt he was like another part of Winston’s personality. Shifting Sands has a touch of humor that I enjoyed very much, it fits well, even if you may think that humor is not suitable for mystery books, due to the fact that usually serious things are being presented, but in this case, it even helps to lighten the story, preventing readers from feeling too much concern.
The fluent writing of the novel made it very easy to read, it does not have unnecessary descriptions or long paragraphs with irrelevant information, it’s straight to the point and that is something I enjoyed much. There are certain profanity words but only in some parts since it is used by very few characters. It does not have any explicit or graphic sex scenes.
In short, the book was wonderful, there was nothing I disliked; therefore, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. I also have to say that the book was very well edited, it only had a few typos. I highly recommend it to readers who like a good suspenseful mystery story.
******
Shifting Sands
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: A King Amongst Us by A.D. Lewis
