I read Distress Signals in a couple of days and absolutely loved it, so jumped The Liar’s Girl right to the front of my Kindle queue, and I’m so glad I did.
The style is the same as Distress Signals, and that’s not a bad thing at all. The narrative jumps between the present and the past, with different viewpoints from key characters – the main protagonist, Alison; her incarcerated boyfriend from a decade ago, Will; and a mysterious and highly dangerous third character.
The focus of the story is on Alison and her journey to uncover the mysteries and secrets from her past that she either thought had already been answered or didn’t want answers to at all. Having kept her past secret and hidden from her friends in Holland for ten years, she returns to Ireland on the request of her ex boyfriend, who is locked up after confessing to a string of murders that happened when the pair were at College. He says he has something to tell someone – and that someone is her.
Much like Distress Signals, it’s hard to explain too much of the goings on without giving key plot details away or spoiling some surprises. It’s a twisty thriller, but in the style of the author the somewhat dark and horrific content isn’t dwelled upon in a macabre way but the focus remains more on the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the characters involved even more so than the actions they undertake. The frustration and desperation of Adam in Distress Signals is replaced by fear, regret and doubt in Alison, with these notions expertly represented on the page.
The build up to crimes is described in a disturbing way that can get underneath your skin, but not the actions themselves – if you’re looking for graphic descriptions of brutal attacks like a Richard Montanari novel, you won’t find it here. What you will find is like a pre-watershed Luther in the build up to crimes only with the act itself and even in depth descriptions of the physical aftermath, cut out. And that is not in any way detrimental to the plot or the quality. Equally, nor will you find complex police procedural explanations, or in depth medical descriptions.
And what stands out most is prose that beautifully and insightfully describes what the characters are going through. I find it impossible that some people claim to have not found characters engaging – there are moments of pure heartbreak and shattering discoveries, beautifully described and hauntingly explained. The author has a keen eye for this, and an incredible natural ability to explain her characters’ thoughts and feelings – even to the extent of explaining how they themselves don’t know how to explain them. It’s an uncanny and wonderful skill, beautifully crafted details dripping off the pages, just like Distress Signals and the protagonist Adam.
What you also find with Howard’s works is that they stay with you for some time afterwards. Though ends may be tied up at the finish of the novel, they aren’t in a neat little bow – there’s elements of the story that will linger, making you think long after finishing. I certainly didn’t want either novel to end, and would desperately like follow ups to both
The style is the same as Distress Signals, and that’s not a bad thing at all. The narrative jumps between the present and the past, with different viewpoints from key characters – the main protagonist, Alison; her incarcerated boyfriend from a decade ago, Will; and a mysterious and highly dangerous third character.
The focus of the story is on Alison and her journey to uncover the mysteries and secrets from her past that she either thought had already been answered or didn’t want answers to at all. Having kept her past secret and hidden from her friends in Holland for ten years, she returns to Ireland on the request of her ex boyfriend, who is locked up after confessing to a string of murders that happened when the pair were at College. He says he has something to tell someone – and that someone is her.
Much like Distress Signals, it’s hard to explain too much of the goings on without giving key plot details away or spoiling some surprises. It’s a twisty thriller, but in the style of the author the somewhat dark and horrific content isn’t dwelled upon in a macabre way but the focus remains more on the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the characters involved even more so than the actions they undertake. The frustration and desperation of Adam in Distress Signals is replaced by fear, regret and doubt in Alison, with these notions expertly represented on the page.
The build up to crimes is described in a disturbing way that can get underneath your skin, but not the actions themselves – if you’re looking for graphic descriptions of brutal attacks like a Richard Montanari novel, you won’t find it here. What you will find is like a pre-watershed Luther in the build up to crimes only with the act itself and even in depth descriptions of the physical aftermath, cut out. And that is not in any way detrimental to the plot or the quality. Equally, nor will you find complex police procedural explanations, or in depth medical descriptions.
And what stands out most is prose that beautifully and insightfully describes what the characters are going through. I find it impossible that some people claim to have not found characters engaging – there are moments of pure heartbreak and shattering discoveries, beautifully described and hauntingly explained. The author has a keen eye for this, and an incredible natural ability to explain her characters’ thoughts and feelings – even to the extent of explaining how they themselves don’t know how to explain them. It’s an uncanny and wonderful skill, beautifully crafted details dripping off the pages, just like Distress Signals and the protagonist Adam.
What you also find with Howard’s works is that they stay with you for some time afterwards. Though ends may be tied up at the finish of the novel, they aren’t in a neat little bow – there’s elements of the story that will linger, making you think long after finishing. I certainly didn’t want either novel to end, and would desperately like follow ups to both