A Life Eternal

Product Information

The characters are wonderful; not just Willow, but her new found companion Ruby, the mysterious Raven and Rev. Starting in the battlefields of the Somme, to the prohibition era in New York, travelling across European capitals as the century's events play out, from Dunkirk to D Day, through to the present day. We follow Rob through the decades and watch as he passes through the twentieth century into the twenty-first.

It’s neither about characters nor story, and, to be honest, there aren’t actually any “characters” at all. It's set in a very modern world of computer viruses and chips, but there's a wonderful old school type of thriller vibe to it that I connected with straight away. My husband has always asked why I wouldn’t choose to be invisible, or be super fast, or read people's minds and I deny those options for the chance to live and see it all . As the story progressed, I quickly felt empathy to the main character Rob Deakin and by the end I was there with him, living the struggles as he comes to term with his plight.British Sergeant Robert “Rob” Deakin was mortally wounded during a firefight that occurred on the Somme in WWI. Deakin has a feeling of cynicism and a bleak view of humanity that pervades throughout the century, which is understandable, but it means he spends a lot of time in solitude, and he isn’t a strong enough character to carry the book. The story takes us deep into the world of Chinese politics as well as the work of the CIA, MI6 and various other inteligence agencies. Not only a thrilling and constantly surprising supernatural thriller, but one of the warmest and most humane novels I’ve ever come across. I can't start this review any other way than saying this is one of the best books I have read for a long time and is easily in my Top 5 favourites already!

Shadow of the Knife might be described as Jack the Ripper "spin-off" fiction, in that it's set in the East End of London a couple of years after the notorious real-life murders, references the details of those crimes and theories around the killer's identity, but maintains a primary narrative thread that is entirely fictional. Handy and Jackson find themselves locked in a race against time against a deadly and powerful foe, not only to protect the women of Whitechapel, but their own lives and reputations. From the author of The Prophecy Trilogy Books, Point of Contact and A Life Eternal comes a second collection of short stories to thrill, terrify and entertain. Then we have the mysterious Medic, the true friend Jonathon Greene, the alluring Molly, the beautiful and wise Madeleine, the endearing Pearl, and many other wonderful characters that bring richness and depth to this story. I have read all of Richard’s books starting with the absolutely amazing, bone-chilling Minstrel’s Trilogy of horror novels.I’ve always responded this way, and I continue to stick by this response because while I recognize that so many negative things could and probably would come from that (losing said family and kids to time being the main one), I still don’t ever want to stop experiencing the world. I picked this up because of the tagline - and, yes, the cover looked cool - because that’s the sort of esoteric pondering I think to do. As Handley and Jackson dig deeper into the murder the gap between poor and wealthy is exposed with terrifying consequences. Steve is back, alongside the absolutely brilliant Hartley Keg, as well as Blessing (who I have to say has a bit of a rough ride), and the darkling.

Anyway, I won't go into detail about the story, just know that it's an extraordinary tale that is so, so well done.When I have conversations with my friends or my kids about what superpower I would pick if I could pick any from the list, I always and without pause say “I’d live forever”. The positives for this story are in its secondary character development and in the direct foreshadowing offered as occasional bridges between scenes, characters, and time periods.

The wonderful sequel to Haven Wakes takes us once more into the magical, futuristic world of Steve Haven.It moves fast, skipping through years and focusing on the big events in our history, namely the World Wars. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. It more than set the scene, as I became invested in Rob Deakin, his background, and the life he was going to lead.