Fin C. Gray's Blog
February 23, 2020
My Review of The Five by Hallie Rubenhold on Goodreads
Wonderful telling of a long overdue history of the Ripper victims.
Even though I didn't feel in the mood for non-fiction, after I read the first few pages of this I could see that I was going to be gripped by it. So excellently researched and hypothesised where there were no other options, Hallie Rubenhold managed to give us a story that was history and for the most part true. The parts where she filled in the blanks for us were well-argued and logical.
Above all, The Five gives background where there was none and fills in the blanks through testimony and through social commentaries of the time. She successfully blows the myth on these five women being targetted because they were prostitutes and paints portraits of them as real living people who deserve their stories to be known.
Taken simply as a work of fiction, this would have had me turning the pages and desperate for more. The fact that it was based mainly on historical fact made it all the more shocking and gave us a picture of 19th Century London that was grim and distasteful. I'm grateful to have a fully realised telling of the Ripper story where the classic viewpoints are thrown into doubt.
If you think non-fiction is not for you, give this book a try and be prepared to have your prejudices overturned. This is a fine piece of writing.
Even though I didn't feel in the mood for non-fiction, after I read the first few pages of this I could see that I was going to be gripped by it. So excellently researched and hypothesised where there were no other options, Hallie Rubenhold managed to give us a story that was history and for the most part true. The parts where she filled in the blanks for us were well-argued and logical.
Above all, The Five gives background where there was none and fills in the blanks through testimony and through social commentaries of the time. She successfully blows the myth on these five women being targetted because they were prostitutes and paints portraits of them as real living people who deserve their stories to be known.
Taken simply as a work of fiction, this would have had me turning the pages and desperate for more. The fact that it was based mainly on historical fact made it all the more shocking and gave us a picture of 19th Century London that was grim and distasteful. I'm grateful to have a fully realised telling of the Ripper story where the classic viewpoints are thrown into doubt.
If you think non-fiction is not for you, give this book a try and be prepared to have your prejudices overturned. This is a fine piece of writing.
January 29, 2020
My first novel, Duplicity, was released by Olympia Publis...
My first novel, Duplicity, was released by Olympia Publishers in London on November 28th, 2019.
This is a dark crime thriller that deals with radicalisation and its effects on the family as well as being a study on how this can take place. The book was written as the end 'dissertation' of an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. It took me three years to complete the book but this was more to do with the constraints of the course than the physical writing process. I'd fully expect my next novel to take considerably less time but we'll see.
Heres the first blurb intended for the back of the book:
'London. A long hot Friday in August starts in the usual way for Tom McIntyre: drunk, maudlin and full of acrimony. His lifestyle is the envy of many but to achieve it, he has entered into a diabolical deal.
Now he wants his freedom back, but what price must he pay for this?
When his son, Daniel learns of his father’s dark secret, love turns into hatred, and Daniel falls into the waiting arms of evil intent.
By the end of this day, everything will change. For Tom, for Daniel, for the world. All in the name of false freedom. Duplicity shapes their fates.'
The final blurb is a little different but the blurb, like the title and the cover goes through many iterations before you settle on the one you want to publish
If you'd like to find out more about the book, there's plenty of content to be found here: duplicitynovel.com
You can obtain the book here (this link cleverly takes you to your own local Amazon site :-) : getbook.at/DuplicityAmazon
Finally, Duplicity is available on Netgalley now also, for you avid readers and reviewers - you can find it here: http://bit.ly/2RCWVrT
I'll be posting other stuff here soon. Happy Blogging!
This is a dark crime thriller that deals with radicalisation and its effects on the family as well as being a study on how this can take place. The book was written as the end 'dissertation' of an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. It took me three years to complete the book but this was more to do with the constraints of the course than the physical writing process. I'd fully expect my next novel to take considerably less time but we'll see.
Heres the first blurb intended for the back of the book:
'London. A long hot Friday in August starts in the usual way for Tom McIntyre: drunk, maudlin and full of acrimony. His lifestyle is the envy of many but to achieve it, he has entered into a diabolical deal.
Now he wants his freedom back, but what price must he pay for this?
When his son, Daniel learns of his father’s dark secret, love turns into hatred, and Daniel falls into the waiting arms of evil intent.
By the end of this day, everything will change. For Tom, for Daniel, for the world. All in the name of false freedom. Duplicity shapes their fates.'
The final blurb is a little different but the blurb, like the title and the cover goes through many iterations before you settle on the one you want to publish
If you'd like to find out more about the book, there's plenty of content to be found here: duplicitynovel.com
You can obtain the book here (this link cleverly takes you to your own local Amazon site :-) : getbook.at/DuplicityAmazon
Finally, Duplicity is available on Netgalley now also, for you avid readers and reviewers - you can find it here: http://bit.ly/2RCWVrT
I'll be posting other stuff here soon. Happy Blogging!
