The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson

This is a novel I’d been eagerly anticipating reading and it didn’t disappoint! In fact, I would say that this is Myerson’s best novel so far. It’s a harrowing, but beautifully told, tale of loss, grief and evil.

Mary and her husband Graham buy an old farmhouse in rural Suffolk – it’s a new start, an attempt to save their marriage, after the tragic deaths of their daughters. But making space in their lives for new friends is not easy – even when they are so easy-going and understanding as Eddie and Deborah. And for Mary, there’s a strange undercurrent in their new home, an awareness of something other. Could it be a ghost?

A hundred years ago, the farmhouse was home to Eliza and her large family. One night, during a terrible storm, a stranger arrives seeking help and the family take him in. It’s not long before James has his feet well under the table and his relationship with teenage Eliza evolves into something sinister. Just who is he really, and what does he want?

Sometimes in novels that are split between two different times or narrators, you end up favoring one over the other. But not so in this case – the two stories are woven together so assuredly they are like the two sides of the heart in question, and that it will be stopped is painfully evident as the narrative progresses. What Myerson does is surprise you – this is not just a story about evil acts and the grief they beget, but also about the hope that comes in the wake of the storm. She tells you that it is possible to heal, and that healing might come about in a totally unexpected way. The story is harrowing; she does not flinch from tackling very painful and disturbing subjects, but her prose is so beautiful, so insightful, she carries you along the darkest path always with a glimmer of light.

StoppedHeart

This  is a stunning read. My Mum has just returned my copy and said she couldn’t put it down; we had both been affected by the same particular moments in the narrative, and the story will stay with us both for a very long time.

Jonathan Cape, 2016, ISBN 9780224102490

Rating: *****

Demon Road by Derek Landy

I’ve missed the phenomenon that is Skulduggery Pleasant, so this was a good opportunity to try a Landy novel. This new series is definitely aimed at an older audience, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amber is a teen with a bad relationship with her parents. She works part-time at a diner, but one night on her way home she is attacked by two men. Yet she not only fights them off – she does them serious damage. Confused, she heads home where her parents reveal to her the shocking truth – she’s a demon, like them. And what’s worse, in order for them to consolidate their powers, they are going to kill her and eat her.

So Amber does the only thing she can – she goes on the run and does a deal with the devil.demonroad

Accompanied on the Demon Road by enigmatic Milo, driver of a charger with a mind of its own, and by Glen, a garrulous Irish boy who is marked for death, fulfilling her side of the bargain is not going to be easy. Tracking serial killers and monsters across America, the trio encounter some truly scary and gory situations – the doll’s house with its miniaturised dead bodies, the tree witches and their zest for human skin… Deliciously gruesome and very, very violent. And always the threat of her parents right behind her, and the Devil calling in his debt.

This is a relentless road trip novel, packed with dark humour and copious amounts of viscera. It’s pacy and full of action, and very, very readable. I loved Glen’s character and was intrigued by Milo’s dark past, and Amber was an engaging heroine, trying to hold onto her humanity while her demon side lusts for blood. Great fun, and I shall definitely be reading others in the series!

Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2015, ISBN 978-0008140816