Darkly Wood II: The woman who never wore shoes by Max Power

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have reviewed quite a few titles of this talented Irish writer. This is the second book to his Darkly Wood series. So when there was a free promotion I had no issue with snapping it up. It did not disappoint. 5 stars.Click on the picture to take you to Amazon.

Book one had a young girl Daisy May and a sweet love story at its heart. Book 2 has the same girl at its centre but she’s now a grandmother. She’s not a happy woman; shaped and scarred by her experience in Darkly Wood. Her obsession with finding out the truth about Darkly Wood has led her to be estranged from her daughter and granddaughter Holly. When Holly goes missing, Daisy knows that she is not finished with Darkly Wood, and Darkly Wood has not finished with her.

It’s been a while since I’ve read Darkly Wood (book1) but it must have made an impact as I had no problems remembering what happened. By the end of book 2 I realised this one would stay with me a while too. I’m sure a few gruesome and unpleasant characters will be featuring in my nightmares; I expect a visit from mr Wormhold any night now. Not something I look forwards to as he was a truly terrifying character. Darkly Wood is a dark Gothic horror with a fair amount of blood and gore. As in book 1 the main narrative alternates with other tales from the wood. This works well as it helps fill in the background of some of the other recurring characters, building to a climax where it all makes sense. The ending shows that there is more trouble to come and I know Max Power is putting the finishing touches to Darkly Wood 3. Recommended.

Larry Flynn by Max Power

I'm steadily reading my way through this great Irish writer. (A few of his books were free for a couple of days, so I downloaded them.) I reviewed Bad Blood a few weeks ago. This is also a thriller, but I didn't enjoy this quite as much. Four stars as it still had a good story line and some great action.
click on the picture to take you to Amazon.

Larry Flynn is an initially slow moving thriller until events eventually come to a dramatic head. Larry is a difficult character to like. He has wasted his life by being stuck in the past. Consumed by the tragic loss of his brother and the woman he loved; he has become a bitter old man hell bend on revenge before it is too late. The juggernaut of events he unwittingly kicks off had me totally engrossed. I do understand the writer and reader wanting to tie up loose ends, but I was a little disappointed with the epilogue as I didn’t quite feel the choices Laura made, I think it would have been better without and took a bit away from all the action and mayhem of the last part of the book. All in all a good read that had me turning the pages to find out what was eating Larry.

Bad Blood by Max Power

You might be familiar with this writer. This is the third book I have read and reviewed by Max Power. It is my favorite so far. Expect to see a few more as this writer had a free promotion on all of his work, so I'll get round to the other 2 that are sitting on my kindle. (I'm such a sucker for freebies!)
A well deserved 5 star. Click on the photo to take you to Amazon.

This is my third book by Max Power and my favourite so far. Even though the two previous books; Little Big Boy and Darkly Wood, were very different to this thriller set in the USA, I recognise the writer’s distinct style. Mr Power uses a clever ploy to keep the reader interested. At the end of the chapter we are often left with a tantalising clue or cliff-hanger. As long as the action and the revelations keep coming this works well. Bad Blood had me engrossed from start to finish as the plot took me in several unexpected directions. I loved the part where the action was taken to Dublin, as here we got to see the lighter and more humorous side of the writer this is also the moment when things start to fall into place. I enjoyed the banter at the car hire desk. This is not a comedy however and there are some very dark and gruesome moments in this thriller, but it is the characters and strong story that makes this such a riveting read. Recommended.

Little Big Boy by Max Power

What links my last and current weeks review together is the fact that they are both about a family from Dublin, but there all similarities end. Well, they were both five star reads, but that's it! If reviewed a book by this author before (Darkly Wood) and I think he is one of the great indie authors out there.

Little Big Boy by Max Power on Amazon.com

Little Big Boy is a bitter sweet, but mostly painful portrait of a young boy growing up in 1970’s Dublin. Childhood should be a happy and carefree time, but for many of us it is anything but and it helps us to empathise with the main character. For this seven year old boy things are especially hard as his father is a violent alcoholic. His Mother tries to keep him safe, but she has three other kids to care for too. School isn’t a safe haven either as our Little Big boy has to negotiate the perils of the playground and the sadistic Christian Brother teachers.

I’ve read Darkly Wood by the same writer and I think here, he has again masterfully created a sense of dread that builds throughout by cleverly hinting at events to come. (In Darkly Wood it was by tales from the past, but it sets a tone that makes the reader suck in his breath and move to the edge of their seats. You want to know what will happen, but you know it won’t be good. What stops this book from being sentimental is the little touches of humour and warm nostalgia. I think Max Powers has succeeded in bringing 1970’s Dublin to life for me. Max Power has a very distinct and readable style, I’d recommend it.

Darkly Wood by Max Power

As the Anthology is coming out on Kindle Tomorrow I thought I celebrate by posting a review of one of it's contributors; Max Power. You can already order your paperback copy. Here is the link to Max Powers book and it's 5 star review:

Darkly Wood by Max Power

Near the village of Cranby, you can find an imposing forest named Darkly Wood. Local stories retold from generation to generation speak of terrible things that have happened in this place, long before it was even known as Darkly Wood. The book starts with the story of Lord Terrence Darkly, who’s noble family the wood is named after and the tragic fate of his fiancee.

The book is a cleverly crafted patchwork of folkloric horror stories, a romance and a supernatural thriller. Weaving cameos of characters that were affected by Darkly wood, with the contemporary tale of Daisy and Benjamin and their budding teenage love story.

I must admit that I wasn’t immediately gripped by the start of the book, which just hinted at something evil in the woods, but then I was gripped by the story of Daisy, the young girl that moves to Cranby with her recently divorced mother. Soon she experiences a few spooky events and also finds a book in her new house named ‘Tales of Darkly Wood by J.S. Toner’. She also meets a boy named Benjamin who she feels very attracted to.

What is unusual about this book is the way it is narrated. We have three points of view from the writer, the initial scene setting that tells us about the wood and the village. Then the story of Daisy and Benjamin and their fateful entry into Darkly wood, which is interspersed with extracts from the Tales of Darkly Wood. Even though I found the interruptions to Daisy’s nail-biting story at times frustrating as I wanted to know what happened next, the individual tales are all strong. I think my favourite was the one about the man that fooled a whole village into thinking that he was a smoker. Max Power does know how to spin a good yarn.

I felt for the characters of Daisy and Benjamin; just as they are discovering their young love, they are put through the most testing of ordeals. Daisy grows from a normal impulsive teenager into a young woman that can muster up incredible courage. Her bravery comes from the love she is feeling for Benjamin.

I was in two minds at first about this book, but as I continued reading through the cracking second part and awesome finish, I made up mind and decided that Darkly Wood deserves 5 stars.