Every Step You Take by
Maureen O'Brien
hbk out December 04
Published by Time Warner
at £16.99
One of the author's Detective Inspector John Bright series, though it is a
long way from the usual police procedural novel. In this one, John Bright
is a former school friend of rather weird accountant, George Fletcher, a
large clumsy and generally strange bloke. He has become successful in
his profession, but a dismal failure in his emotional life, having fouled up
an early marriage and now reduced to living alone in London, but
returning home every weekend to his draconian mother and mentally
impaired brother, Kevin.
On one of his visits, he becomes obsessed with a young blonde check-out
girl from a local supermarket and though not actually reduced to stalking
her, discovers that she lives only a few doors from his mother.
The story gets complicated - for me at least - as it transpires that there
are two similar young blondes in the story, one Polly, the other Alison.
Most of the characters in the book are odd, Polly's mother being a
beatnik-type pot smoker living with a mentally disturbed fellow called
Jack.
I have to admit that if I had not been committed to reviewing this book, I
would have given up a third of the way through, as it just didn't grab me,
but this only goes to show that as in many walks of life, one man's meat
is another man's poison. It also shows the fallacies of reviewing and
judging literary awards, as I have no doubt that this author is a talented
writer, but I just don't like what she writes.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Every Step You Take by
Maureen O'Brien
