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The Wind between Two Worlds
Young journalist Simon Peckham is seeing the New Year in at a London nightclub when he first notices Soraya, the daughter of an Iraqi refugee. His evening isn’t going to plan, so he steps out to get some air and watches as paramedics attend to an old rough sleeper, Tom, in an alley close by. The next morning at the local hospital, Simon enquires after Tom’s condition and is surprised to meet Soraya, who tells him that 3 men had assaulted both her and Tom, and that a second rough sleeper came to their rescue.
Sifting through Tom’s meagre possessions out the back of the club, Simon stumbles across a notebook, the entries in which are written in a curious code. Will he decipher it? What will it lead to? And why is Soraya keeping the second rough sleeper secret from the police?
Peter Crawley has worked amongst rough sleepers and has interviewed many former servicemen and refugees to lend authenticity to the story. The Wind between Two Worlds is a gripping novel that twists and turns as its characters conceal and reveal in equal measure. Readers who enjoy clever plots, secretive characters and a modern, original storyline will delight in this well-researched, expertly-crafted book.
Sifting through Tom’s meagre possessions out the back of the club, Simon stumbles across a notebook, the entries in which are written in a curious code. Will he decipher it? What will it lead to? And why is Soraya keeping the second rough sleeper secret from the police?
Peter Crawley has worked amongst rough sleepers and has interviewed many former servicemen and refugees to lend authenticity to the story. The Wind between Two Worlds is a gripping novel that twists and turns as its characters conceal and reveal in equal measure. Readers who enjoy clever plots, secretive characters and a modern, original storyline will delight in this well-researched, expertly-crafted book.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 5, 2018
2 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 1, 2018
This book starts off quite slow and if I am honest, it left me feeling that I was listening in to a conversation but not getting all of the details. The characters felt vague and it was not clear where the plot was heading.
Interspersed with the story were sections of 'transcript' between the main character, Simon and another character's father, 'Joseph' these were very interesting and contained very well researched information on the Middle East conflict.
Getting back to the main story about half way through the plot picks up and takes direction. It centres on a 'rough sleepers' or homeless people, with a focus on returned servicemen who fall through the cracks in the mental health and support services of people suffering PTSD.
I don't want to give away the plot but it did develop into an interesting and obviously well researched story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Matador for the opportunity to review this book.
Interspersed with the story were sections of 'transcript' between the main character, Simon and another character's father, 'Joseph' these were very interesting and contained very well researched information on the Middle East conflict.
Getting back to the main story about half way through the plot picks up and takes direction. It centres on a 'rough sleepers' or homeless people, with a focus on returned servicemen who fall through the cracks in the mental health and support services of people suffering PTSD.
I don't want to give away the plot but it did develop into an interesting and obviously well researched story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Matador for the opportunity to review this book.
September 9, 2018
The Wind between Two Worlds is a prequel to Peter Crawley’s excellent previous novels, Mazzeri and Ontreto, that are set on the islands of Corsica and then Lipari. This story, however, is set in London where we meet a new leading character, a young journalist, named Simon Peckham. Simon is dragged into a mystery that starts the subsequent stories.
The plot of The Wind between Two Worlds twists and turns to keep you turning the pages to the very end.
The Wind Between Two Worlds is a story with important themes, such as the consequences on the individual of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and rough sleeping in our capital city. There is also an intriguing religious theme running through the novel.
This brilliantly researched novel is a fascinating observation of our times. I thoroughly recommend The Wind Between Two Worlds and am certainly looking forward to the next chapter of the series.
The plot of The Wind between Two Worlds twists and turns to keep you turning the pages to the very end.
The Wind Between Two Worlds is a story with important themes, such as the consequences on the individual of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and rough sleeping in our capital city. There is also an intriguing religious theme running through the novel.
This brilliantly researched novel is a fascinating observation of our times. I thoroughly recommend The Wind Between Two Worlds and am certainly looking forward to the next chapter of the series.
July 30, 2018
Well written and timely book that is unique in that the topics are not frequently written about. The cover is beautiful and so is the author's writing.
January 25, 2019
Very enjoyable story by a 'new-to-me' author. Simon, a trainee journalist, whilst at a London night club, discovers a murdered homeless person and decides to investigate further, hoping to write a story good enough for his editor to publish. As the story develops it appears that within the homeless community nearby there is a guardian angel protecting a young Iraqi girl and Simon is in a race to find who this is.
October 5, 2018
Full review: http://swiftcoffee.blog/2018/07/25/th...
I requested this book from NetGalley because it seemed like an interesting topic to read about. Not many books are dealing with these problems, these people. I'm a little uncertain about it, though. After I read it through, I'd say I liked it very much, and I did, but that's mostly only because of the second half, or rather the last third of the novel. I had to get through at least half of the book so that I could be at least a little invested. I can't really put my finger on why exactly, but I felt a little detached while reading.
As I think about it, it may be the 'journalist after a story' thing that made me feel a little distant in the beginning. It sounds like a good concept, and all in all, seeing the whole arc, I'd say it worked well, but it made it hard for me to connect with the story and characters at first. It's mostly talking about things, and not actually seeing how things were done. I expected this book to actually be about those things promised, to see and feel what it's all like, but all I could see was a young journalist trying to gather a story. It's okay, but I felt like I would've been more interested in actually secondhand-experiencing stuff, and not reading about how a guy hears about the actual story. It also results in going through happenings a couple times too much, thus making me feel like I'm in and out of interest for most of the novel.
The second half saved this book for me, though. The story got faster paced, and I started to connect with the characters. Simon seemed like a nice guy after all, even though at first I sometimes couldn't help feeling like he really was in it only for the story (in spite of himself thinking otherwise). This changed by the end, and I happened to like him. I enjoyed his interactions with Soraya, as well as the policeman Carver. The only character I had a problem with was Candy. I don't mean that I didn't like her, I mean that I felt like...well, like she wasn't a real character, a real person at all. She was so obviously there for only technical purposes. As soon as Simon (and the story) didn't need her, she just disappeared. I found that weird. Otherwise, I thought the characters were good and believable.
After finishing this novel, and seeing it as a whole (I had to go back and reread the first chapter to remember how it all started, though), I think this was a fairly good book. I enjoyed (especially the second half), and I'm glad I read it. In most books that at least mention these topics, these are showed only peripherally, and I loved that this one dared to make it the main theme.
If you like a good mystery and have a little patience, this is a book for you!
I requested this book from NetGalley because it seemed like an interesting topic to read about. Not many books are dealing with these problems, these people. I'm a little uncertain about it, though. After I read it through, I'd say I liked it very much, and I did, but that's mostly only because of the second half, or rather the last third of the novel. I had to get through at least half of the book so that I could be at least a little invested. I can't really put my finger on why exactly, but I felt a little detached while reading.
As I think about it, it may be the 'journalist after a story' thing that made me feel a little distant in the beginning. It sounds like a good concept, and all in all, seeing the whole arc, I'd say it worked well, but it made it hard for me to connect with the story and characters at first. It's mostly talking about things, and not actually seeing how things were done. I expected this book to actually be about those things promised, to see and feel what it's all like, but all I could see was a young journalist trying to gather a story. It's okay, but I felt like I would've been more interested in actually secondhand-experiencing stuff, and not reading about how a guy hears about the actual story. It also results in going through happenings a couple times too much, thus making me feel like I'm in and out of interest for most of the novel.
The second half saved this book for me, though. The story got faster paced, and I started to connect with the characters. Simon seemed like a nice guy after all, even though at first I sometimes couldn't help feeling like he really was in it only for the story (in spite of himself thinking otherwise). This changed by the end, and I happened to like him. I enjoyed his interactions with Soraya, as well as the policeman Carver. The only character I had a problem with was Candy. I don't mean that I didn't like her, I mean that I felt like...well, like she wasn't a real character, a real person at all. She was so obviously there for only technical purposes. As soon as Simon (and the story) didn't need her, she just disappeared. I found that weird. Otherwise, I thought the characters were good and believable.
After finishing this novel, and seeing it as a whole (I had to go back and reread the first chapter to remember how it all started, though), I think this was a fairly good book. I enjoyed (especially the second half), and I'm glad I read it. In most books that at least mention these topics, these are showed only peripherally, and I loved that this one dared to make it the main theme.
If you like a good mystery and have a little patience, this is a book for you!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews