Alison

by Andrew Humphrey

Chris believed that Alison was the love of his life. He believed that Spike and Emma were his best friends. He trusted them. Turns out we all have our dark side…
Andrew Humphrey has been named "East Anglia's laureate of loss and alienation" and this first novel from the previously successful short-story writer builds on his fascination with dark desires, creating a compelling mystery that holds the reader in its grip as the disparate threads of a man's life unravel amid revelations and recriminations.
The setting is Norwich and East Anglia.

Praise for Alison:

"Absolutely gorgeous, and stunningly good… I wholeheartedly recommend you buy a copy" Christopher Teague

"Absolutely fantastic, top quality" Mat Coward

"A captivating story that won't let you go until you've discovered all there is to know about characters you came quickly to care about. And by then it'll be too late. Very, very good indeed" Neil Williamson

"My book of the year so far… Breathtaking" Mark West

"A heady dose of violence and off the wall sex…an entertaining and insightful study of dark psychology" Peter Tennant

"Psychological, relationship horror, super clean and nicely complex…it really is an all-nighter" Rick Kleffel

"One of the best crime novels I have ever read…bleak, intense, moving, heartbreaking stuff. The prose is lean and terse without losing any depth; the characters are vivid, each one on the verge of breaking. These people are so real they could live around the corner – but you'll be glad that they don't. This is a very fine novel indeed from one of the brightest literary talents the UK has seen in a long time" Gary McMahon

179 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it is only a relatively short book, Andrew Humphrey’s debut novel Alison packs a lot into its 174 pages.

The story centres around the four part friendship of partners Chris and Alison, and their two friends Spike and Emma, and the novel starts, after a brief introduction at Alison’s funeral. Chris is the grieving boyfriend, but Alison’s family have never really taken to him, and the feeling is more than mutual, but after the funeral, and the threats from Alison’s family, Chris tries to rebuild his life, despite the police investigation, and the splintering of his life.

The story is told in a series of fractured flash-backs, moving in and out of the details of Chris and Alison’s life, their careers, and their jobs, but the twist always keep coming. Andrew Humphrey is good at looking at the minute cracks in people’s lives, the blackness that lives on the edges, so there is always an under-current to many of the lines, which leaves a lasting and profound sense of unease. The book is a quick and easy read, though, and will appeal to fans of crime fiction, and character driven studies, it avoids the clichés, pulls no punches, and gives no easy answers, which means that although it published by a small publisher, it deserves a far wider reader base.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply, this is superb book. A quite beautifully bleak tale of doomed friendships and relationships (and secrets that would have been better kept a secret), set around the Norfolk coast (with some places that I’ve visited, which is always a nice surprise), with sparse, almost (at times) hard-boiled dialogue and a clean, frank approach to both violence and sex, “Alison” drags you through to the grim conclusion that you can sort-of see coming but are hoping against. The book is very nicely designed, it’s a real gem all round and I’ll be on the look-out for more work from Mr Humphrey in the future.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastating and exquisite. Not an easy read if you have an abuse history of any kind. But Humphrey's scenes are excellent, and the book is hard to put down. If you like books with tension, atmosphere, and an ache of pain & love between characters, this one wins hands down.