Monday 7 December 2015

Jonathan Hill

The versatile Mr Hill does it again with a new genre for him, the psychological thriller. A compact story but it's all there.


The Anniversary

Amazon.com

My review -

This novella is narrated by a misfit of a man who lost his partner last Christmas and who, naturally, makes others feel uncomfortable in a season usually associated with merriment. We never learn his name. We see him observing others, studying their reactions and apparent feelings while being untouched by them himself. His loss initially elicited my sympathy but he is not a character to warm to. He draws the attention of a colleague and invites her to visit on Christmas Day – the anniversary of his partner’s death.


The story is episodic, flitting from scene to scene, and could be disorientating if it were not for the little clues, the words or phrases slipped in, which allow us to connect things up. Ah – that’s what he meant. You need your thinking head on but the experience is worth it. I love this story because it has the feel of a jigsaw and gives the same satisfaction as the reader slips another piece in place and the picture fills out. Very well done and a cracking, if uncomfortable, little read.

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