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74. THE BAPTIST and PERIL by Ruby Barnes
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Mallory Anne-Marie ForbesArchie.Standwood.Author@gmail.com
Mobi
Mod
Oh! Did think it was a package deal, but yes sure; at an average of a book every 1-2 days, I can handle it:) and if it will help the author out, I'll do both.
Received, and thanks so much:)
Fascinating! Utterly riveting; I couldn’t take my eyes off the page. Devouring the novel, I marveled at the protagonist/narrator: so self-referential, so self-convinced of his right-doing (regardless of legality or moral value), yet in some ways so emotionally immature and childlike, easily led by certain others, readily induced to act in ways which are not beneficial-for himself or for those near him. His character is a fascinating psychological study, intertwined as it is with various religious allusions and overtones.
Author Ruby Barnes gives us a masterful portrayal of the protagonist, John-from the inside through first-person narrative, and from the outside, as in later life he develops an obsession with a sort of friend. Through this individual, Feargal, we see John as if we were watching him in a mirror, for he is a reflection of the better parts of John’s own personality and character. (Spoiler: I shall refrain from going into further detail about John’s discovery of Feargal and his intent to befriend him, for those who have not yet been fortunate enough to read this story.)
John is on a tight-wire by midlife, balancing demands of his inherited business, his wife and family, and what passes for normalcy, against his medications (which he often forgoes), his friendship with the elusive (now you see him, now you don’t) young Feargal, and remembrance of his mission to eradicate the spawn of Satan-those over whom John spies a red halo. While on the outside he appears to maintain, on the inside forgotten memories and actions, and behavior patterns he had earlier set aside, are beginning to taunt him in ways he does not understand.
“The Baptist” is a powerfully written, strongly-motivated novel, one that could be read and reread and new layers of meaning would be discovered on each reading. Rarely have I seen a protagonist dealt with in so scrupulous and fascinating a manner as Author Barnes delivers John to the reader. Amazing novel!
Wow! What a great surprise on a Monday morning, Mallory. Go reabh mile maith agat! A thousand thanks!Ruby
4 StarsGerard is finding himself in a heap of trouble. A drunken evening, and he gets confused about which way is home. The river looks different, odd even-is he in the right place? Then he’s attacked by, of all things, a mugger-and while trying to defend himself, remembers that someone else had been beaten to death in that area earlier. Looks like he could well be the next victim! This mugger is not out for just what’s in that wallet (good thing, cause Gerard’s is empty); looks like he’s out for serious blood. Before very long, it’s not just the attacker who’s out for blood, it’s the potential victim, Gerard himself. And soon he is victim no longer-and now what?? Maybe Gerard Mayes would have been better off-much better off-if he’d stayed at home in the brittle confines of Port Glasgow, Scotland, with the rough and ready, instead of moving to Dublin, Ireland-where he ended up drunken, and a murderer.
Gerard is certainly no one’s idea of perfection. A bit of a lout, he’s extra-maritally active, he lacks the Puritan work ethic, as he himself admits, he’s a murderer-and now he’s being heavily blackmailed, because of that very murder (which was only partially unintentional, let him tell you). What’s a man to do when he finds himself boxed into a situation like this?
Author Ruby Barnes, who so excelled in his novel “The Baptist,” once again demonstrates that he has his ear to the ground and attuned to the rhythms of life, this time in modern-day Dublin. Gerard, his protagonist (I certainly can’t term him “hero”) is sometimes likable, often not-but he’s surprisingly self-analytical and open about his own failings, faults, and foibles-also a surprise. I can recommend this for lovers of modern suspense.
Just to say I'm delighted with those reviews and would welcome further reviews, good, bad or ugly ;-]
Mod
epub
reviews only on GR, Smashwords and Shelfari. Both sound good!
Will get the Smashwords coupons to you by email, Midu ;-]
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Baptist (other topics)The Baptist (other topics)
Peril (other topics)
Book title: The Baptist
Genre: Psychological thriller
or
Book title: Peril
Genre: Crime thriller
Book Description for The Baptist
A contemporary psychological thriller set in the medieval Irish city of Kilkenny.
The Baptist - all chiller, no filler.
He's clever, calculating and uncatchable. If you hear a knocking on your door don't let him in.
To deliberately drown your brother in a bathtub is a terrible, if clean, thing. Might it not be excused, if he is the manifest son of Satan? But that wasn’t the view of the Authorities, when they committed John to Fairfield Mental Institution. It wasn’t all bad; they let him keep his hair long and he met Dirty Mary. Like an institutionalised Bonnie & Clyde, they roamed the Victorian asylum and grounds, fulfilling their deluded fantasies. There were casualties.
John and Mary loved, lost and left. Thank God for Care in the Community.
~
When God shines a light, it burns. Feargal and his friends relight my fire.
The last prophet must wander, cleanse.
I am not the One. I am merely sent to prepare a way for the One.
I am The Baptist.
Book Description for Peril
PERIL is the story of Gerard Mayes, an anti-hero. Men want to be him, women want to redeem him. Ger's story is fiction, but his origins are real - everyday folk living and working in a Dublin city center wracked with organized begging, drug addicts, and violent crime. It's not all leprechauns and shillelaghs in Ireland.
Ger is a slacker. A consumer. He thinks life owes him, takes what he can and goes with the flow. His perspective on life, like that of another famous slacker The Big Lebowski, is sometimes humorous, but the story takes a noir turn when Ger kills a mugger and is held to account for it. All things move toward their end, of that you can be sure.
PERIL is a full-length novel of 91,000 words.
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