The Appeal by Janice Hallett

Author: Janice Hallett

Title: The Appeal

Publisher: Viper

Published: 2021

Pages: 464

Genre: Thriller 

 

     In a town full of secrets... Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And everyone's a suspect. Can you uncover the truth? Dear Reader - enclosed are all the documents you need to solve a case. It starts with the arrival of two mysterious newcomers to the small town of Lockwood and ends with a tragic death. Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What's more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed. Throughout the Fairway Players' staging of All My Sons and the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick's life-saving medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. Yet we believe they gave themselves away. In writing. The evidence is all here, between the lines, waiting to be discovered

     There are some books that are very hard to escape as is the case with The Appeal. I have seen it from book stores to blog sites. Everyone raving about just how great a read it is. But as we all know sometimes just because everyone else loves it doesn't mean you are going to. So it always makes me a little nervous to pick up such a book. I sometimes question if I just didn't get the point of the book, that the very essence of it has slipped by me and I'm left feeling at fault. But then I have to remind myself that not all books are going to work for everyone and there is always plenty more out there, However, as a lover of all things criminal and mysterious could I really turn down the chance to read something that was supposed to be marvelous and like nothing else. Well no of course not, some times you just have to bite the bullet and hope that you come to agree with all the glowing reviews such as this book is getting. 

      So starting off this book was very different from many others I have had the pleasure of reading. Rather than being told from a fix or duel narrative here, we get thrust into snippets of the lives of all concerned. What we are given is akin to the investigation's paperwork. Each piece could bring us closer to the truth or lead us up the proverbial garden path. To me, it was a very ingenious way to tell a story but also one that could have gone very wrong as well. In part, I think this is down to the fact that what we get is a flow of what people have said. No evidence files or autopsy reports are to be had. So we are very much left at the mercy of how truthful people can really be. This you might say is not too far from pretty much every other mystery thriller out there. And that may be true. But here that is all you get. It is like listing into people's private conversions from the room next door.  And whilst it was a style I did come to enjoy I feel for others it could in fact be very off-putting. For some, the world-building is what can make or break a novel for them. They want to be pulled into, seeing the building and streets, and smell the flowers. for them, it is a key part of their enjoyment. 

     I must say that I am a great one for trying to beat the detective to the conclusion. It for me is some of the great enjoyment of reading such books. But when it comes to The Appeal the author has chosen to actively encourage such behoivur. She wants us to try and piece together the story and work out just who is guilty of the crimes. And that being one of the other great joys to this book that we are present with an array of such offenses. Can they all be the work of one grand mastermind or are we in fact looking for multiple offenders with little connection between them. I can truly see why this book is an amateur detective's dream. I feel she knew exactly the sort of people she wanted to write this book for and in my opinion, she has more than achieved that. 

     Now to this book is complex would I feel be an understatement.  Due to all the people involved here, I can only imagine the author must have had countless notes to keep track of where each of her heroes have been going. I know in my own reading of this book I had a great deal of mental notes to try and pin things down. At times, it feels like you are wandering through a grand hedge maze Each twisted and turn needs to be kept track of so as to best to find your way out or in this case who is the murder. But for me, this is the reason I choose to pick up such books. I want to be challenged and pushed to have to get my brain working at its best. If I want blood splashed pages and crazed serial killers there are other authors I can go to but here Hallet has shown that if I want a challenge she is an author I can turn to.   

     This is one of those books that could so easily have been written off as a gimmick to sell books. But I feel that would in fact is doing a great diss services to the author. She has clearly taken a great deal of time to make sure that not only do all the pieces fit into this grand puzzle, but also that she has provided an interesting story. It is all well and good hooking people in but at the end of the day you need your readers to stay till the end. And beyond that to tell the friends to pick up a copy as well. All of this is no mean feat to try and achieve in a book that is not so conventional. For me, it is one that she has bent to her will and made work. Now, this is by no means a book for grazing at your leisure, you have to have your wits about you. But I feel if you are looking for something to tax your mind and keep those little grey cells working to the max then The Appel is most assuredly for you.