BOOK REVIEW: Paranoia and the Destiny Programme - Richard Godwin

Paranoia And The Destiny Programme by Richard Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When reality becomes so dark, brittle and confining... so tortured and twisted... and there is no escape... where does one go?

Dale Helix can't wake up. He is caught in a dream ‘cum’ nightmare. A dream that is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. A nightmare that is freeing and soul-twisting from one breath to the next.

Dale Helix is caught in a dream that has given him purpose... a raison d 'etre. A dream... a portent of the hero the world needs.

But is it?

A dream?

Or is it a waking, walking nightmare?

Is Dale so consumed by his own paranoia... brought on by his own failings as both a man and a husband and father... that his mind has constructed its own reality in which he is alternately the 'everyman hero' who will go to any extreme to save society from itself and the 'fallen' for whom no amount of penance can bring redemption?

Dale's world is the penultimate dystopic society, a 'brave new world' shaped by the apathy of generations past and mankind's surrender of will.
Of self.

Right up to the very end, I still could not decide. Was the only thing 'real' the madness of a man who created an world in his own head... a world he could save... or watch slide into oblivion.

Or... has Richard constructed within these pages a dystopic world beyond anything contemplated by Aldous Huxley, George Orwell or P.D. James?

Richard Godwin brings such a reality to life in Paranoia and the Destiny Programme, a perfect blend of horror / erotica / science fiction / psychological dystopia… in other words…

Signature Godwin… unmistakably Richard.

I recommend Paranoia and the Destiny Programme without reservation.

Godwin at his finest!


Thank you,

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
6 July 2015
(writing under a large mushroom somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)


View all my reviews

BOOK REVIEW - RICHARD GODWIN: ONE LOST SUMMER

One Lost Summer by Richard Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Richard Godwin’s One Lost Summer takes a detour from the author’s trademark noir / psychological thriller / horror stylings and answers with a resounding “Yes!” the question “Can Richard write anything other than horror thrillers?”

*

A novel steeped in mystery and suspense, with a subtle yet unmistakable eroticism, One Lost Summer takes the reader deep inside the mind of a damaged man… a tortured soul… where we are witness to the ‘shrouded’ dance of the watcher and the watched.

The story begins one hot summer… the mystery, long before that.  And if there is a moral to this story, it is this…

Some things… once lost… were not meant to be found.

Unfortunately, some people find that out too late.

~~**~~

Identity… it is what makes man… it is what breaks man.  If I had to choose one word to describe the theme of Richard Godwin’s latest novel… a blend of noir mystery and psychological thriller… ‘identity’ would be that word.  Some might disagree with that, but… to paraphrase Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (I think)… “It is what it is.”

At first blush, One Lost Summer would appear to be a simple obsédé noir… a middle-aged voyeur drowning in the pool of his own desire, spending his every waking moment, as well as not-inconsiderable amounts of money, watching his neighbor and cataloging her existence on film.

But… with a master story-teller such as Richard Godwin… well, ‘simple’ just doesn’t apply.  This soon becomes apparent as the layers that make up the mystery of filmmaker Rex Allen’s new life are exposed to the often unforgiving glare of the reader.

One Lost Summer is a slow reveal.  That is not to say the story is slow, on the contrary; the pacing of One Lost Summer is ‘pitch-perfect’, to borrow a phrase from the music world.  Page after page, the suspense builds… occasionally ebbing, so as to allow the reader a respite to consider what has transpired so far.

And to ponder on the two traps of man….

Identity… and memory.  One is lost without the other.  

Memory can be a cruel mistress.   She will taunt and tease… scattering words and broken thoughts, like breadcrumbs, on the floor of one’s conscious.  If there are secrets that she is not ready to give up – and there always are - no amount of begging will help.  Memory will reveal the bits and pieces of one’s past in her own fashion… and in her own time.   And… she always wants something in return.  Always.

And this is the ‘crux’ of Rex’s problem.  Memory, or more accurately, the absence of a good portion of his, is what drives Rex… what moves him to uproot from his home outside greater London to the suburbs of Surrey, where hopefully a change of scenery and distance from the noise and static of his former life will bring some peace and where Rex can begin to rebuild what was lost.  If only he had more than a few broken shards from which to start.  

*

Rex Allen has an obsession.  He sees beauty in the ordinary and ordinary in beauty, and seemingly, has an almost singular compulsion with dominating the spirit of those who cross the path of his obsession.

It starts with a single image… flashing in the recesses of his mind like a relentless strobe… teasing something deeper, something still chained… unable to rise to the surface of Rex’s consciousness, where it can be named and placed in this new life of his… put into perspective.

And from that image, a word… “Coral…”

And from that one word, in what is… for lack of a better word… a Dr. Frankenstein-esque quest, Rex attempts to bring to life something more than just a memory.  And in doing so, he discovers – or, rediscovers – the ‘flexibility’ of his own moral code.  Ironically, he fails to see, or refuses to see, his own reflection in the morality of this new ‘world’ he has found himself in and which he soon grows contemptuous of.

When at last he can begin to enjoy – although, I’m not sure that ‘enjoy’ was ever a part of Rex’s emotional make-up… ‘possess’ might be a better word – the fruits of his labors, something changes.  The stage of Rex’s little deux jeux de caractères is suddenly crowded with the arrival of ‘truth’… stage right.

But, as I mentioned earlier… one should be careful of what they wish for.  La vérité n'est pas toujours mis un libre.

*

From page one, the narrative of Richard’s latest novel has a mesmeric hold on the reader, pulling them along… with questions rising as images flash past… and just when the reader thinks they have a firm grasp on the reality of the story, there is that Godwin “turn” that makes the reader sit up and go “Oh!”

At times, the tension is almost palpable… like the taste of silver amalgam… and brings an expectation not unlike that conjured in watching the recalcitrant fuse of a firework moving inexorably toward its explosive conclusion.

And at other times, there is an almost dreamlike quality to parts of the narrative that is like - to borrow Richard’s words – “… a key turning in a lock.  Over and over and over…”  And with each page turn… a flash of memory… not unlike that of light glinting off the polished surface of a key turning in a lock, as another bit of the mystery is revealed.

*

Seductive and suspenseful, One Lost Summer is a dark, richly woven mystery… a riveting tale of deception of self and a frightening look inside the human mind and the lengths and depths one will stir to possess another.  Richard Godwin writes, with disturbing clarity, the psychosis of a man possessed by beauty, to the exclusion of all else.

One Lost Summer is a `must-read'... it "hits all the marks" of a classic and timeless mystery and is well worth a few sleepless nights.

Thank you,



Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
(Writing under a large mushroom, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)
5 August 2013


View all my reviews

RICHARD GODWIN – ONE LOST SUMMER – BBC RADIO INTERVIEW

Richard Godwin's latest thriller, One Lost Summer, is out June 14, 2013. Here is a little teaser...

"Rex Allen loves star quality in women. He moves into a new house in a heat wave with few possessions apart from two photographs of his dead daughter. His next door neighbour, beautiful Evangeline Glass invites him to one of her many summer parties, where he meets her friends and possessive husband Harry. Rex feels he knows Evangeline intimately. He starts to spy on her and becomes convinced she is someone other than who she pretends to be. When he discovers she has a lover, he blackmails her into playing a game of identity that ends in disaster."

Richard recently interviewed with Nick Wallis of BBC Radio... here is the link to his interview... http://www.richardgodwin.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/01-GODWIN-BOOK-BBC-SURREY.mp3

Click here for the Advance Information Sheet for One Lost Summer.

You can pre-order the book - US and UK -on Richard's media page.

I am honoured to help my friend and mentor promote his latest novel.

Thank you.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

27 May 2013

Writing under a large mushroom, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest

BOOK REVIEW - RICHARD GODWIN: APOSTLE RISING

Apostle Rising by Richard Godwin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Noir/Horror has a new ‘master’… his name is Richard Godwin.



Having been introduced to Richard’s dark telling of the depravity the human soul is capable of in his Pony Equus stories in Pulp Metal Magazine, I thought I was prepared for Apostle Rising… oh, foolish girl!

The third night in, reading Apostle Rising, I awoke in that sinister, slivery hour between midnight and pre-dawn… from a horrible nightmare… heart pounding in my chest, body drenched in sweat and a scream threatening to spill over my lips… an itching between my shoulder blades and the image of a dark, silvery blade dripping with blood locked in my brain.  Oh… my… god!

Yes… Apostle Rising is THAT good!

Apostle Rising is a police procedural/psychological thriller of the first order… dark, twisted and suspenseful. Richard gives nothing away in his narrative… no red herrings… no leading one down the garden path.  From the very first page, one knows this is not going to be a pretty ride.   Richard’s writing has a dark, sinister feel that, for fans of crime/horror, is irresistible to put down and impossible to ignore.   His rich, dark, imaginative prose draws one in much like one of those water vortices in the northern Atlantic… undeniably powerful and compelling.

Ahh… but we were talking about a novel, not water phenomena, weren’t we?

More than a quarter century previous, Detective Chief Inspector Frank Castle of the Metropolitan police was unable to mark ‘closed’ to the Woodlands Killer case; a case which almost destroyed Castle’s career and left him with deep psychological scars.

The ghosts of those long unsolved murders from decades past still haunt Frank, and now with what appears to be a copycat killer on the loose, DCI Castle, along with his new partner, DI Jacki Stone, is once again drawn into a madman’s dark desires and lusts.

I am trying to be careful here, and not reveal too much, so… this might be a good place to add a SPOILER ALERT!  Proceed at your own risk… you have been warned!

As the body count mounts, Castle and Stone become enmeshed in a nightmare that may very well end both their careers, as well as Jacki’s marriage.   At times, Frank seems either unaware or unable (or, unwilling?) to escape the monster’s(s) influence, so blind has he become in his singular quest to bring a killer to justice and redeem himself.

Castle’s ‘custom’ with the ‘ladies of the night’ reveals not only the frailty of his psyche, but also his determination to see justice… at whatever cost!

Will Frank become the monster he seeks to destroy?  That is a question the reader is forced to ask themselves, as we watch helplessly, the dark metamorphosis of a once proud and honourable man.  DCI Castle seems only too willing to cross the line between good and evil in a desperate attempt to stop a madman.

One wants (perhaps, though… this is only me)… feels the need to… to put the book down occasionally… if only to give their mind a brief respite from the tension… the dark horror… the mesmerizing litany of the mysterious Order’s perverted agenda… the stark look into the mind of a killer(s) so lost in his (?) own twisted, evil psychosis that one feels a shiver of fear run down their spine, and wonders… not for the first time, perhaps… if they remembered to set the dead-bolt.

The dark-haired girl tried to run… escape… but the air surrounding her was thick… it had a weight that pulled her down…

Oops!  Sorry… little flashback to that nightmare I had earlier (shudder).

Too often in reviews, comparisons between authors come out sounding trite or forced… I tend to stay away from them myself, unless…

Apostle Rising is how [Stephen] King would write if he did noir… the relentless, escalating horror of Richard’s deftly written prose leaves one on the edge… breathless… having serious second thoughts perhaps, about taking that evening walk unaccompanied.

Engrossing, beautifully written horror… with the technical detail of a first class police procedural, Apostle Rising is a ‘must-read’ for any fan of crime fiction or horror.

A final thought on Richard Godwin’s debut novel -

I have read countless books, seen countless movies… the ‘monsters’ in those pale in comparison to the walking evil in Apostle Rising.

Thank you,


Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Portland, Oregon
26 December 2011


View all my reviews