Review by nmbotela -- Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)
Posted: 29 Jul 2020, 02:59
[Following is a volunteer review of "Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)" by Barry Litherland.]
Waves Break (on Unknown Shores) by Barry Litherland follows the life of Philip Tyler, a local journalist in a small town in the UK. Philip narrates his journey of friendship with factory worker, Wayne Keech, a lower station character who's accustomed to adversity and misfortunes. The unlikely pair's friendship only comes about through a mutual childhood friend, Stevie, who tragically passes away when the trio were still kids. Now, as adults, a witness to a burglary alleges seeing Wayne leaving the scene. Wayne has no alibi, and therefore, becomes the central person of interest to law enforcement as well as other dangerous parties. Monsters and allies alike rear from the past to complicate the situation, including Wayne's deranged psycho brother, Tyrone. Philip's mission becomes getting to the truth, to not only defend Wayne but his own life as well, and things only get worse. Succeeding events spiral into a deep web of atrocious crimes of murder, kidnapping, and violence.
This first-person narration is a dual timeline novel that alternates between past and present, real-time events, aimed at explaining current predicaments. It touches on various societal themes such as corruption, criminal psychology, social and psychological impacts of child neglect, and, more prominently, personal relationships, particularly unlikely childhood friendships that morph into close adulthood relationships.
The novel is well written, with enough grip factor to have you hooked. I particularly enjoyed the timeline interweaving, which I feel was executed superbly, and it provided a somewhat sentimental value to some aspects of the story. It had me examining my own personal, odd friendships and how they've evolved over time. The cast was well-drawn, and the dynamics of Philp and Wayne's friendship was pleasant to follow. I connected more with Philip's character, his wit and use of dark humor as a coping mechanism in dangerous situations was relatable and humorous. Wayne's character development was also beautifully executed. He starts off as an apparent underdog, or maybe even the villain, depending on who you ask, whose eventual back story will have you, somewhat blindly, rooting for him. The antagonists were as despicable and as scary as they come, which helped paint the picture of danger that you'd demand in this type of genre.
Overall, I enjoyed this read. However, I felt that some parts were a bit rushed; therefore, I couldn't quite picture what was actually happening. For instance, the second last chapter, where it all comes to a head, I didn't feel fulfilled by how it all went down, and it was a bit of a cliché for someone like me who consumes a considerable amount of the crime/mystery
narrative.
The book contains a cocktail of obscene language, right from the first paragraph to the last page. However, I feel that it suits the characters, the situations, and the story. It’s not recommended to young readers or readers who are squeamish about filthy language or violence. I would recommend this book to adults looking for a short yet engaging crime novel. It would be especially interesting for people who haven't overdosed on crime narratives, as there'd be more of a shock factor to it.
I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. It would have gotten the perfect score of 4 out of 4 stars if it was more descriptive, where it counts, and while the majority of the text is professionally edited, I picked up on more than 10 instances of grammar issues, missing or misspelled words, and punctuation issues, such as missing commas and incomplete quotation marks.
******
Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Waves Break (on Unknown Shores) by Barry Litherland follows the life of Philip Tyler, a local journalist in a small town in the UK. Philip narrates his journey of friendship with factory worker, Wayne Keech, a lower station character who's accustomed to adversity and misfortunes. The unlikely pair's friendship only comes about through a mutual childhood friend, Stevie, who tragically passes away when the trio were still kids. Now, as adults, a witness to a burglary alleges seeing Wayne leaving the scene. Wayne has no alibi, and therefore, becomes the central person of interest to law enforcement as well as other dangerous parties. Monsters and allies alike rear from the past to complicate the situation, including Wayne's deranged psycho brother, Tyrone. Philip's mission becomes getting to the truth, to not only defend Wayne but his own life as well, and things only get worse. Succeeding events spiral into a deep web of atrocious crimes of murder, kidnapping, and violence.
This first-person narration is a dual timeline novel that alternates between past and present, real-time events, aimed at explaining current predicaments. It touches on various societal themes such as corruption, criminal psychology, social and psychological impacts of child neglect, and, more prominently, personal relationships, particularly unlikely childhood friendships that morph into close adulthood relationships.
The novel is well written, with enough grip factor to have you hooked. I particularly enjoyed the timeline interweaving, which I feel was executed superbly, and it provided a somewhat sentimental value to some aspects of the story. It had me examining my own personal, odd friendships and how they've evolved over time. The cast was well-drawn, and the dynamics of Philp and Wayne's friendship was pleasant to follow. I connected more with Philip's character, his wit and use of dark humor as a coping mechanism in dangerous situations was relatable and humorous. Wayne's character development was also beautifully executed. He starts off as an apparent underdog, or maybe even the villain, depending on who you ask, whose eventual back story will have you, somewhat blindly, rooting for him. The antagonists were as despicable and as scary as they come, which helped paint the picture of danger that you'd demand in this type of genre.
Overall, I enjoyed this read. However, I felt that some parts were a bit rushed; therefore, I couldn't quite picture what was actually happening. For instance, the second last chapter, where it all comes to a head, I didn't feel fulfilled by how it all went down, and it was a bit of a cliché for someone like me who consumes a considerable amount of the crime/mystery
narrative.
The book contains a cocktail of obscene language, right from the first paragraph to the last page. However, I feel that it suits the characters, the situations, and the story. It’s not recommended to young readers or readers who are squeamish about filthy language or violence. I would recommend this book to adults looking for a short yet engaging crime novel. It would be especially interesting for people who haven't overdosed on crime narratives, as there'd be more of a shock factor to it.
I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. It would have gotten the perfect score of 4 out of 4 stars if it was more descriptive, where it counts, and while the majority of the text is professionally edited, I picked up on more than 10 instances of grammar issues, missing or misspelled words, and punctuation issues, such as missing commas and incomplete quotation marks.
******
Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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The main protagonist, Phil, makes up for any shortcomings that the book has. I definitely recommend you give it a try. It's also a light read, which you can pick up anytime in between other reads and not feel "lost." As I stated, my main issue is that I consume too many crime-based narratives that I expect all of them to have a dramatic twist. So I'd say give it a go