Published:
May 24, 2022
Genre: Technothriller
A Remarkable Treasure … A Fluid Sonnet That Takes You by Surprise
I had no idea what to expect from the book entitled THE KILLING OF SIMON WEBB. I’d never heard of it or its author A.J. Blake before. All I did was spot it on a book promo site and download a free copy. But you know that every once in a while, you stumble across something grand … one that releases endorphins and makes you happy that you take chances. And it’s these serendipitous moments when we fall in love with a story … one that captivates us and makes our frontal cortex tingle right down to our toes … that I love. You never know what’s contained in a book’s pages or what will spring from an author’s imagination.
Ostensibly this technothriller is about a man named Simon Webb. He's living out his life as an investment fund manager to a handful of mega-rich Russians, and pared things down to existing, but life rarely stays this simple. It doesn’t for Simon either, and it’s not long before a mysterious woman enters his life and blows him away with her beauty. With his marriage over, he’s ready to begin a new chapter, and so he ardently begins to pursue her, thinking that there’s a romance for the ages hidden away in her alluring body and keen mind. But in this story, nothing is as it seems to be, and the wooing of this woman is like stepping on a land mine … one that soon morphs into a battle of cold war spies, mystical divinations, and a video game that’s gone rogue and targeted him for annihilation.
Once the shift is set in gear, there is no looking back as this story wends its seamless way through a maelstrom of poetic words mixed with apprehension, provocative symbolism, and danger. Subjects switch out in mid-sentence and new ideas exchanged within the womb of the narrative that never ends. This is stream of consciousness writing to the max, and the reader never tires as this lotus flower tossed upon the flooding waters blossoms as it floats out to sea and becomes more entangled with living. And we go along with it, our brains imprinted with fantastical imagery explained in expert verse before presented koans for us to make sense of. The riddles are many … the paradoxes mighty. Does intimacy become any less when it’s paid for? Can you take an action without affecting others? Does anyone have the right to seek a lethal kind of vengeance over a slight? And does love ever triumph over all or does it die like the rest of us?
I really did love the story and the way it’s written so much. There’s something magical here that just sparks wanderlust in book form. I wanted to know everything I could about the characters that never bottomed-out no matter what secrets were revealed. They only became more elusive … and I relied on this author to hunt them down and tell me more.
If you love and appreciate wild, unique, imaginative swaths of dreamlike prose put to paper in telling this very complex story, THE KILLING OF SIMON WEBB is for you. The richness of the descriptions, the interplay of love and the unknown, it really is a sumptuous display that makes your mind cry out for more. I don’t know where A.J. Blake has been hiding, but I remain in gratitude that he chose to write this story and share his immense talent with the world.
I’m giving this totally unexpected gift from the writing gods five stars. I’m also saying a silent prayer that this book is read by those who crave good writing and nothing more.
No comments:
Post a Comment