Review by Bigwig1973 -- Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)

[Bigwig1973]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)" by Barry Litherland.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Waves Break (On Unknown Shores) is a fast-paced mystery with remarkable takeaway value and a variety of characters. There are a host of usual suspects, nervously behaving in their expected manner, awaiting the discovery of the crime. It is an almost comedic, Quixotic whodunit, reminiscent of a Greek or Roman chorus. Or, if you prefer Dostoevsky's analogy, "moths dancing about the flame."

Phil, Tina, Stevie, and Wayne have been friends since grade school. Stevie comes from a prominent and well-liked family that has lived in the quiet seaside town of Sefton for several generations. Phil's father is a successful and respected attorney. Tina's father worked hard and now owns a lucrative construction company. Wayne's family...well, no one really knows much about what Wayne's family does for a living.

What everyone in town does seem to know about Wayne's family is that over the years, Wayne's older brother Tyrone has established quite a reputation for himself. He exhibits brutal behavior, not only towards animals, but also towards his little brother Wayne and towards several of Wayne's classmates. Tyrone seem short tempered and sadistic - the stereotypically cruel town bully who likely spends much of his time in detention or on probation.

Years later, Phil is a journalist for a small local newspaper. Wayne is accused of burglary, so in an attempt to clear Wayne's name, Phil puts what he scornfully refers to as his unambitious journalistic skills to use. What Phil does end up uncovering is potentially a decades-old case, possibly involving many of the local townspeople. The attempted unraveling of this town scandal appears to result in a flurry of repercussions including burglaries, assault, threats, blackmail, murder, arson, and kidnapping.

One thing I did not like about the book was the excessive use of profanity which may limit the potential audience. I did like the muddled stock characters and archaic scenarios. The reader is drawn into the story with the introduction of Wayne because he seems a potentially dangerous instigator. Wayne quickly transforms into a proletarian "noble savage", who along with Phil, seems engaged in the idealistic and chivalric pursuit of vying for the lady's favor - the lady being their friend Tina. There is the potential prose fabliau in the mocking of Tina's father, Thomas Oldfield. It has the feel of commedia dell'arte as the stock characters fall into place, waiting for Tina to pick a suitor so she can then have an accomplice to aid her in outwitting her wealthy father. Then, Detective Investigator Slattery, by virtue of the law, functions as a deus ex machina who is cleverly employed to temporarily explain away the unanswered question of who started the investigation. The exposure of the mystery causes the revelation of other mysteries, most of which are only solvable by implication. The mysteries stay with the reader due to numerous allusions and minimal resolution, the latter being enhanced by the humbug qualities of the stock characters, imbuing the possible solutions with their ambiguity.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries. Chess player, logicians, gamblers, and behavior analysts would find the mystery intriguing. The novel would also appeal to those readers who appreciate takeaway value. It would also be of interest to readers who are familiar with literary techniques and allusions. I would not recommend this book to people who are upset by profanity or graphic scenes.

The book is informally written, and although it has grammatical and punctuation errors, I believe that the errors are indicative of the dialect. The version I read had a vast number of spacing errors. I feel that Barry Litherland's novel, Waves Break (On Unknown Shores), deserves four stars, but due to errors, I can only give this novel 3 out of 4 stars. The mystery is fantastic with both ethical and social takeaway value. The range of characters is broad enough to intrigue most readers, the characters are well described and distinct, and the dialogue is effective and fitting. It is an easy and enjoyable novel to read and contains enough action to keep the attention of the reader. I imagine that many readers would finish this novel in one sitting.

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Waves Break (on Unknown Shores)
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[Raluca_Mihaila]

I loved reading your expressive and thorough review! The book is fantastic, indeed.

[Sou Hi]

Thanks for your informative review. It's nice to have such good friends who would believe in your innocence and try to help you with what they have.

[Bigwig1973]

I loved reading your expressive and thorough review! The book is fantastic, indeed.

Thank you! I appreciate your compliments! I'm curious to know if the author intended there to be so many archaic literary allusions - it's one thing to read a book on literary criticism and then write a story to incorporate them into the plot, and a completely different thing to just make it up!

[Bigwig1973]

Thanks for your informative review. It's nice to have such good friends who would believe in your innocence and try to help you with what they have.

Thank you! Initially, Phil has issues with Wayne, and as Phil gets older, he still has issues with Wayne's behaviors, but I think they both develop a better understanding of the whole thing. I liked this book and will probably read his other books. Thank you again!

[Holly Fleming]

I always appreciate an engaging mystery; I think I'll add Waves Break to my reading list. Hopefully, the errors aren't so prevalent that they take away from the story. Thank you for a wonderfully insightful review.

[Bigwig1973]

I always appreciate an engaging mystery; I think I'll add Waves Break to my reading list. Hopefully, the errors aren't so prevalent that they take away from the story. Thank you for a wonderfully insightful review.

Thank you for commenting! As to the errors, sometimes I think it depends on which version you get. Even so, I don't think the errors were so bad that it ruined the story. The mystery aspect is rather unique because the book doesn't start with a crime (that the reader knows of!), but there is enough going on so that when one of the mysteries is revealed, you aren't bothered by the mystery not starting until a bit later. Also, the book, at least to me, has an anachronistic feel to it - I'm not sure where or why I sensed that, but it just seemed to be the case. It's modern, but it has an old-fashioned feel to it. If you do read it, I hope you like it!

[Holly Fleming]

I always appreciate an engaging mystery; I think I'll add Waves Break to my reading list. Hopefully, the errors aren't so prevalent that they take away from the story. Thank you for a wonderfully insightful review.

Thank you for commenting! As to the errors, sometimes I think it depends on which version you get. Even so, I don't think the errors were so bad that it ruined the story. The mystery aspect is rather unique because the book doesn't start with a crime (that the reader knows of!), but there is enough going on so that when one of the mysteries is revealed, you aren't bothered by the mystery not starting until a bit later. Also, the book, at least to me, has an anachronistic feel to it - I'm not sure where or why I sensed that, but it just seemed to be the case. It's modern, but it has an old-fashioned feel to it. If you do read it, I hope you like it!

Thank you for this additional information! I don't mind a bit of a build-up before a mystery aspect is revealed. I'm now very eager to read this book!