Category: Reading Challenges

#BookReview The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys by Jack Jewers

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Samuel Pepys Paperback Cover copyAbout the Book

It is the summer of 1669 and England is in dire straits.

The treasury’s coffers are bare and tensions with the powerful Dutch Republic are boiling over. And now, an investigator sent by the King to look into corruption at the Royal Navy has been brutally murdered. Loathe to leave the pleasures of London, Samuel Pepys is sent dragging his feet to Portsmouth to find the truth about what happened.

Aided by his faithful assistant, Will Hewer, he soon exposes the killer. But has he got the right person? The truth may be much more sinister. And if the mystery isn’t solved in time, then England could be thrown into a war that would have devastating consequences . . .

Format: Hardback (360 pages)       Publisher: Moonflower Publishing
Publication date: 4th August 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

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My Review

As the author explains in the Historical Notes, Samuel Pepys kept a diary for almost ten years but then suddenly stopped for reasons that can only be speculated upon. The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys imagines what events in Pepys’ life he might have recorded in his diaries had he continued. As a result we have the author to thank for giving us an insight into an unsettled period in English history following the Restoration of Charles II, a time when war with the Dutch was a real fear and whose side you had been on in the Civil War still mattered. The author cleverly incorporates elements of this into a plot that involves murder, conspiracy, treachery and political intrigue whilst at the same time being a rip-roaring adventure.

As imagined by the author, Samuel Pepys is not only a diligent diarist but an intrepid investigator, a faithful friend and someone who, in the course of the book, discovers a perhaps surprising taste for adventure. He also has a high pain threshold. If you don’t believe me, look up the word ‘lithotomy’ and then think ‘without anaesthetic’. He’s a less than faithful husband unfortunately with the result that his relationship with his wife Elisabeth is fraught, at least when the book opens.

The book immerses the reader in the London and Portsmouth of the period in all their grimy and fetid detail. The streets and alleyways are a place of danger and poverty is rife. For many it’s a miserable existence, enlivened only by attending cock-fights or watching a hanging.  Or in Pepys’ case frequenting whorehouses, which gives rise to a terrific scene at the start of the book.  There are plenty of action scenes as well depicted in a way which perhaps reflect the author’s experience as a filmmaker. Pepys ascending the stern of a ship via a rope ladder or the tactical use of a trail of gunpowder are scenes that spring to mind.

The book includes some great characters, some of whom are based on real individuals, such as Pepys’ longtime assistant Will Hewer. There are some fantastically feisty female characters, notably a sisterhood who in their resistance to a male hegemony in which ‘the law is an instrument of men’ prove themselves able to give just as good as they get, if not better. The plot has plenty of twists and turns leaving Pepys to observe ruefully at one point that ‘for every answer, another question’.

By the end of the book, it’s clear that not everything was as it seemed, things that seemed connected were perhaps not and that, for reasons of state, there are things that must be kept under wraps. With still some time to go between the end of the book and our hero’s demise in 1703, perhaps Jack Jewers may treat us to further adventures for Samuel and Will?

With its combination of intriguing plot, interesting characters and great period atmosphere, The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys will definitely appeal to fans of historical crime mysteries.

My thanks to Funmi at Midas PR and Moonflower Publishing for my digital proof copy.

In three words: Entertaining, inventive, intriguing

Try something similar: Rags of Time by Michael Ward

Jack JewersAbout the Author

Jack Jewers is a filmmaker and writer, passionate about history. His career has been spent telling stories in all media, and his body of work includes film, TV, and digital media. His films have been shown at dozens of international film festivals, including Cannes, New York, Marseille, Dublin, and London’s FrightFest, garnering multiple accolades, including an award from the Royal Television Society and a nomination for Best Short Film by BAFTA Wales. The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys is his first novel.

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#BookReview The Boy Who Saw by Simon Toyne

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TheBoyWhoSawAbout the Book

Who is Solomon Creed? A dangerous psychiatric patient, who has escaped from a high-security facility in America, or an innocent amnesiac trying to establish his true identity?

His search for the truth about himself takes Solomon to the beautiful southern French town of Cordes. But his arrival coincides with the brutal murder of an elderly French tailor, the words ‘Finishing what was begun’ daubed in blood on the walls.

Instinctively, Solomon knows he must help the tailor’s granddaughter and great grandson escape, and together they go on the run. Their flight, though, will set in motion a terrible sequence of events, leading to the exposure of a far-reaching conspiracy with its origins in the Holocaust but with terrible consequences for modern-day Europe. And what will it mean for Solomon himself?

Format: Hardback (544 pages)     Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: 15th June 2017 Genre: Thriller

Find The Boy Who Saw (Solomon Creed #2) on Goodreads

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My Review

As if the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge weren’t difficult enough, I decided to make it even harder for myself by constructing my list from the twenty oldest unread paperbacks on my bookshelves. And vowing to read them in date order. Yes, I know. I also decided to adopt a ruthless approach: if a book isn’t working for me, I’ll set it aside, put it in the pile for the charity shop and pick up the next one. The Boy Who Saw is the second book from my list and at no point did I think about setting it aside.

I absolutely loved the author’s Sanctus trilogy (comprising Sanctus, The Key and The Tower) and felt the same about the book that first introduced the enigmatic Solomon Creed to the world, The Searcher, when I read it back in 2016. Since I described The Searcher as ‘a cracking thriller’, I have no idea why it’s taken me so long to read this follow-up apart from the fact it’s quite a chunky read.  However, the number of pages are quickly forgotten because of the pace with which the story unfolds, the complex and intriguing plot and the author’s trademark teasing chapter endings.

The plot moves between the present day and the period of the Second World War. The events of the latter are revealed bit by bit through excerpts from two memoirs. They describe the horrific treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis and by one individual in particular, described as the Devil in human form for whom ‘Death was his to command’.  It would be nice to think that some of the events described came purely from the author’s imagination but I fear not.

Although the origins of the murders may stretch back decades, events in the present day encompass plenty of contemporary themes: far right extremism, anti-immigrant prejudice and political corruption. And it wouldn’t be a top-notch thriller without a race against time, a breathless pursuit, some full-on action, characters who aren’t what they profess to be and some really bad guys equipped with the latest technology. As the officer in charge of the murder investigation, Commandant Benoît Armand, ruefully observes, ‘Law enforcement in its current state was like a Band Aid on an arterial wound’. However, the arrival on the scene of Solomon Creed with his unique abilities tips the scales back in favour of the good guys – and then some.

I’m not even going to attempt to summarise the twists and turns of the plot, so you’ll just have to trust me that it will keep you guessing right to the end and probably, like me, frantically turning the pages.  I’m not afraid to confess I suspected just about every character of being involved in the killings and was wrong every time.

The author continues to tease the reader with the truth about Solomon Creed’s identity right up to the end of the book, leaving it perfectly set up for a third book – at least I hope so.

In three words: Gripping, suspenseful, assured

Try something similar: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

Simon ToyneAbout the Author

Simon Toyne is the international bestselling author of Dark Objects, the Sanctus trilogy and the Solomon Creed series. He wrote Sanctus after quitting his job as a TV executive and it became the biggest selling debut thriller of 2011 in the UK. His books have been translated into 29 languages and published in over 50 countries.

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