Fourth blog tour post of the day is my review of ‘East of England’ by Eamonn Griffin. Many thanks (for the third time today) to Anne Cater for the blog tour invite, and thank you to the publisher for the ARC. Here is my review:
Dan Matlock is out of jail. He’s got a choice. Stay or leave. Go back to where it all went wrong, or just get out of the county. Disappear. Start again as someone else. But it’s not as simple as that.
There’s the matter of the man he killed. It wasn’t murder, but even so. You tell that to the family. Especially when that family is the Mintons, who own half of what’s profitable and two-thirds of what’s crooked between the Wolds and the coast. Who could have got to Matlock as easy as you like in prison, but who haven’t touched him. Not yet.
Like Matlock found out in prison, there’s no getting away from yourself. So what’s the point in not facing up to other people?
It’s time to go home…
What does TWG think?
‘East of England’ is the type of book which is brilliant at making readers react both positively and negatively to the characters. I have no idea why, when people say that they dislike a main character, it puts them off a book. Heck, I adore disliking characters because sometimes you don’t want to sit there and like a man who you wouldn’t want to come across down a dark alley! Yes, I guess I’m talking about Dan Matlock, the hard-nosed, tough character who likes to get his own way….and not nicely.
The grit in this book is insatiable! Eamonn Griffin has created a character which most readers will end up loving to hate, but secretly loving. A bit like marmite. The violence is dark yet thrilling at the same time, and the level of suspense is through the roof.
Even though I was left with a few unanswered questions, in the grand scheme of things it didn’t bother me too much because I was so caught up in the twisted plot which Eamonn Griffin crafted excellently.
I will admit that certain events made me wince at times, but I thought the brutality of the characters actions worked well with the overall darkness of the novel.
All in all, an impressive, rollercoaster ride of a read which left me breathless. Highly recommend.
I don’t need to like a character to enjoy following their story either, good review.
LikeLike
Thanks so much for supporting the Blog Tour Kaisha x
LikeLike
East of England’s sequel – Canine Jubilee – is now crowdfunding via Unbound Publishing. Details are here: https://unbound.com/books/canine-jubilee/
LikeLike