Genre: Horror
Publisher: Shawthing Publications
Publication Date: April 2016
Pages: 181
MY REVIEW:
A copy of Poor
Jeffrey was given to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author Paul Flewitt in
exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Shawthing
Publications.
The way in which this review has come about is a first
for Confessions. I met Paul Flewitt for the first time at Emcon in Nottingham
earlier this year. We got chatting and he asked if I had read his book. I
admitted I hadn’t. I didn’t admit I knew nothing about him or his book. He very
graciously gave me a copy of his book to give it a go. He told me a little
about the style of the book and signed it for me. That was it.
I loved the cover on this one but if I’m being honest, I
didn’t put much urgency on reading it. It kept waving at me from my pile though
so I picked it up to give it a go.
I think I should have paid attention to the waving
earlier.
Poor Jeffrey. He has had a life of ups and downs. Now he
has been killed in a freak accident. His friends, Tommy, Chloe and Jade miss
him so much they decide to bring him back.
Using ancient, dangerous methods, they embark on a ritual
to bring him back to life. Jeffrey would have rather stayed dead.
At the same time there is a killer on the loose in their
town. Everyone is determined to catch him but when he interferes with the
friends, all hell breaks loose as they try to help Jeffrey, and stop a killer.
All of our main characters in this one have been
mentioned above. The four friends were led by Jeffrey before his untimely
demise. Now he is back he really doesn’t want to be. He’s miserable and just
wants to be set free again. Tommy is the rash one, the impatient one, the one
who blames himself for everything. Chloe was Jeffrey’s girl. She doesn’t react
like his girl when he comes back. Jade was an outsider but wormed her way into
the group. Now she sees herself as the strong one.
The killer on the loose is just insane. He doesn’t think
he is and certainly doesn’t portray this to others but he is stark raving
looney tunes mad.
There are a host of others in the story that all come
together extremely well in their own little sub plots to bring everything
together near the end.
Talking of the plot, this is an interesting one. One part
of it is the killer on the loose. Nothing really new in this but it flows very
well in the background to the Poor Jeffrey plot. This one adds a little
freshness to the story. We have had stories before where people have been
brought back from the dead for various reasons. Normally they are OK with it
and put their new found life to good use. Jeffrey just doesn’t want to be
there. From the outset he is disgruntled and makes his feelings well known.
From here on in we sit back and watch as the group try to deal with their
individual feelings on the matter and how they intend to deal with it.
This part of the story goes much deeper than that for me
though. This paints a very vivid picture of how different personalities deal
with the mental anguish of pain and death. There are so many different ways
that people use their coping mechanisms that you could never include them all
in one story but Paul Flewitt gives it his best shot with this one.
From Jeffrey and Tommy to the local priest and the local
sheriff and the FBI agents brought in to solve the case. They are all
struggling with one or more aspects of life, and the cases presented to them. I
found this angle to be very fascinating. As well as the main story you see all
of these little internal battles going on that had the potential to explode at
any time and completely change the dynamics of the story.
I think I am right in saying this is Mr Flewitt’s first
book. You certainly wouldn’t think it. This story flows extremely well. As I
mentioned, there are a lot of little side stories and bits and bobs going on.
At no point did I find this confusing or unnecessary. It all came together to
meet perfectly in the middle towards the end and in the build up to the climax.
In terms of Mr Flewitt’s writing style there is only one
word that comes to mind. Easy. By that I mean easy to read. Easy to follow. Easy
to set down and get immediately back in the flow when you pick it up again. I
really enjoyed this one for that reason. This reads as if it has been written
by someone with ten other novels behind them. It’s confident without being
arrogant. It’s articulate without being snobbish. It’s intelligent stuff
without being a know it all. I could definitely read a lot more of this.
I have a complaint though. I wanted more horror. I wanted
more scares. There are plenty of creepy bits in it but I definitely wanted more
fear. To me there wasn’t enough of the Poor Jeffrey element to the story and
this could have been expanded on and embellished a fair bit more to make it
that much scarier.
Having said that, again going back to the point that this
is a first novel, Mr Flewitt is on a learning curve and probably still defining
his individual style. All that I can say is don’t change it too much at all.
You have a winner here.
To summarise: a killer on the loose while everyone is
trying to catch him and kids are bringing other kids back from the dead! If you
want to read a debut novel that will entertain you from beginning to end and
leave you with a nice warm feeling when you finish it, this is one for you.
General rating:
★★★★ a cracking debut.
Horror rating:
★★★ wanted more scares though.
If you would like to help support Confessions of a
Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Poor Jeffrey or any other books from Paul.
This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like
to buy books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
Sometimes magic works... Grief drives people to extreme
behaviour, and when Poor Jeffrey Kinsey is killed, his friends go to some
extreme lengths to bring him back... But Jeffrey's death isn't the only thing
going on in town... Several girls have disappeared, only to be found half eaten
by an unidentifiable creature later... it's enough to drive a town insane. For
Tommy, Jade and Chloe the next few weeks will make them or break them... and a
story begins... Poor Jeffrey; he never wanted death to be this way...
Paul Flewitt was born and raised in Sheffield, Yorkshire
where he still lives with his family. He is the father of two children and
keeper of several beta reading demons.
Paul is a writer of horror and dark fantasy, and a former
steel worker. He has contributed to several anthologies including OzHorrorCon's
Book of the Tribes, his short story "Paradise Park" appears in the
Thirteen vol 3 anthology.
Paul's debut novel Poor Jeffrey will be relaunched in
April 2016.
Paul spends his time caring for his children and devotes
much of his free time to writing his next works. He writes only for the thrill
of scaring his readers in new and inventive ways.
And for more about Paul, visit his site or find him on
social media:
Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
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