Tag: NetGalley

#BookReview #Ad Resurrection by David Gilman @AriesFiction

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ResurrectionAbout the Book

Somewhere in the Sahara, on the desolate border between Sudan and Chad, a P51 Mustang with long-range drop tanks slowly emerges from the dunes. Inside, the skeletalized remains of a man missing for three decades. His flying jacket bears no insignia, a worn leather attache case lies by his side, held securely by a manacle around his left wrist.

Inside a document men will kill for. Die for. The sands of time have shifted, and whoever finds that aircraft finds information that could expose the most valuable spy the UK intelligence service has ever known. The British, the French, and the Russians are on the trail. And so is Raglan.

Format: eARC (402 pages)              Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 5th January 2023 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

If you’re seeking a book that puts the ‘thrill’ into ‘thrilling’ then look no further than Resurrection, the third in the series featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan. (Click on the titles to read my reviews of the previous books in the series – The Englishman and Betrayal.)

The striking prologue and the first section of the story which follows is set in a part of Africa, the border between Sudan and Chad, whose turbulent history I knew very little about. And I knew even less about Russian involvement in the area including the activities of the Wagner Group, a private military contractor with close links to the Kremlin, who, as the BBC recently reported, are now active in Ukraine. It’s one of the many things about the book that makes it feel so bang up-to-date.

At the same time as Raglan is engaged on his dangerous recovery mission in the desert – one which has a link to his own past – the hunt is on for a double agent at the heart of a nation’s intelligence service. We could be in John lé Carre territory except that the nation in question is Russia. A fanatical patriotism means the character leading the clandestine search will stop at nothing to unmask the traitor.

The book’s short chapters, that often end with a killer last sentence, keep you turning the pages and the level of technical detail is superb. Having read the book I’m now confident (well, almost) that I could fly a monoplane, ascertain the right dose of antivenom serum to administer, survive alone in the desert for several days, escape drowning in an icy river and assess the relative merits of using 7.62mm or 5.56mm rounds in a Special Operations Combat Assault rifle.

A number of characters return from previous books, including Raglan’s friend and former comrade, Serge ‘Bird’ Sokol, and my potential rival for Raglan’s affections, Colonel Elena Sorokina of Moscow CID. At one point she observes, ‘You cause me much trouble, Englishman. I ask myself why I let you. The answer is not clear to me.’ Well, it’s as clear as day to me.

Ruthless villains, fascinating locations, fist fights and fire fights, car chases, intrigue and a mystery from the past. Oh, and a seemingly indestructible hero. What’s not to like?

Resurrection is another absolutely gripping, action-packed page turner that takes you from the unforgiving Sahara desert to the dangerous ‘Shanghai slums’ area of Moscow, all at whirlwind pace.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Pacy, compelling, intriguing

Try something similar: No Way To Die by Tony Kent

David GilmanAbout the Author

David Gilman has enjoyed many careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, and photographer. An award-winning author and screenwriter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed Master of War series of historical novels, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for The Last Horseman. He was longlisted for the same prize for The Englishman, the first book featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan.  David lives in Devon. (Photo: Twitter profile)

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#BookReview #Ad The Darlings of the Asylum by Noel O’Reilly

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The Darlings of the AsylumAbout the Book

To marry is madness. To escape is impossible.

In 1886, a respectable young woman must acquire a husband. Violet Pring’s scheming mother has secured a desirable marriage proposal from an eligible Brighton gentleman. But Violet does not want to marry. She longs to be a professional artist and live on her own terms.

Violet’s family believes she is deranged and deluded, so she is locked away in Hillwood Grange against her will. In her new cage, Violet faces an even greater challenge: she must escape the clutches of a sinister and formidable doctor and set herself free.

Format: ebook (381 pages)                  Publisher: HQ
Publication date: 8th December 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

The Darlings of the Asylum joins the list of historical novels I’ve read in which young women are prevented from pursuing their chosen career, displaying their talents or exercising any independence over their lives by the expectations of family or society. In this case, Violet Pring’s ambition is to become a professional artist. Actually, ambition isn’t quite the right word. Violet’s need to express herself and unleash her vivid imagination is part of her psyche. It’s the thing she lives for and when engaged in drawing or painting she can often lose herself for hours on end in a kind of artistic frenzy. And her paintings, full of sexual imagery, are certainly not the sort of thing genteel ladies of that time are expected to produce. 

What Violet definitely doesn’t want is to marry as her mother, in particular, is anxious for her to do. Violet fears that, if she does, even to someone as seemingly understanding as her friend Felix, creating art will be viewed as nothing more than a pastime to be fitted in between tedious domestic duties and meaningless social calls. Violet is encouraged in her artistic ambitions by her art tutor, Miss Fanshaw, a woman who has managed to carve out the sort of independent life for herself Violet would like to emulate, and by rakish artist, Wilf Lilley, who praises Violet’s unconventional, unrestrained style of painting.

When Violet’s artistic impulses are frustrated, her extreme reaction, as well as the nature of her paintings, sees her diagnosed with ‘moral insanity’ and committed to Hillwood Grange Lunatic Asylum (known to the inmates as Hellwood). There she is exposed to the malevolent ministrations of the utterly hateful Dr. Harold Rastrick, a man who displays a perverted misogyny, is a believer in eugenics and carries out foul experiments on a group of female inmates, the ‘darlings’ of the book’s title. At one point, he even ponders the use of vivisection ‘if done humanely’. He is an absolute monster, representing in an extreme way the sort of vile attitudes towards people with mental conditions, learning difficulties and physical disabilities in this period. In fact, these attitudes persisted into the 20th century as we know only too well. Indeed some might argue they still do. As a person with epilepsy (thankfully controlled through medication) it was particularly shocking to see epileptics included in the category of ‘incurables’, ‘freaks of nature’ and ‘imbeciles’. 

I confess that for some time I struggled to empathise with Violet although of course I was appalled by the treatment she, and others, receive at the hands of Dr. Rastrick.  Violet’s unwavering focus on achieving her own desires means she fails to appreciate until quite late in the book the harm she has unwittingly caused. And although I could understand her desire for freedom, that didn’t mean I felt comfortable about the way she achieves it. However, what I did think was clever is how Violet’s artistic talent enables her to create portraits of her fellow inmates that reflect their individual characters and their humanity, in stark contrast to the ‘identikit’ photographs taken by Dr. Rastrick in which the women resemble ‘ghosts of themselves’.

The Darlings of the Asylum is rich in atmosphere and there’s a real Gothic flavour to the depiction of Hillwood Grange. It’s a dark tale of obsession and the desire for self-expression.  

I received an advance review copy courtesy of HQ via NetGalley.

In three words: Atmospheric, intense, disquieting

Try something similar: The Deception of Harriet Fleet by Helen Scarlett

About the Author

Noel O’Reilly was a student on the New Writing South Advanced writing course. He has worked as a journalist and editor at the international business media company RBI, and is now a freelance writer. His first novel is Wrecker and The Darlings of the Asylum is his second. He lives in Sheffield.

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