“How much would you pay to survive?”
- Book: The Guest House
- Location: Ardnamurchan, West of Scotland
- Author: David Mark
This is only the second David Mark book I have read, both of which have undergone re-publishing after title changes and both reportedly the first in their respective new series, although as yet there are no signs of #2 on the horizon, which is a shame because they were both so darned good!
I am totally in tune with David’s brutal style of writing and the lugubrious characters he creates, who are just begging to be hated by everyone. The thriller junkie half of me is convinced that “Nicholas Roe” would work really well as an adaptation for a television series, whilst my nicer, kinder side thinks that his style of action might just be a little too dark and complicated to squeeze into an hour long programming schedule.
So, typically I try to assign four distinct segments to my ideal thriller reading experience: a storyline which hits the ground running and grabs my attention; a plot which moves along a fair pace without too many ‘flat’ spots; an ending that neatly ties up all the loose ends; oh! and I don’t really like my main protagonist to have got themselves killed off! – This one ticks just about all those boxes, although I was a nervous wreck by the time I closed the final page, as how close you can come to getting yourself killed and still live to tell the tale, is a very moot point.
The chapters were relatively short, succinct and well signposted, although there was quite a bit of backwards and forwards in time zones, so I did need to be on my toes with keeping track of who was who, as names were not always used and even if they had been, I could never have been sure if it was a genuine name or an alias. However once the twisted plot began to unravel somewhat, all became much more clear and easy to piece together, although those red herrings and twists just kept coming. So if I was confused, just spare a thought for poor Ronnie, probably the only person who was actually the ‘real deal’, unless you count three young children and the village gossip, who definitely got more than she bargained for!
Some lovely descriptive narrative definitely set a truly visual sense of time and place, with real locations that I could check out on the map, adding an authenticity to the entire storyline. A Scottish coastal area, which despite is alluring tranquillity and rugged beauty for much of the time, can turn in the blink of an eye, into the wild, stormy maelstrom which dominates the period of this story, making the place as ruthless and unforgiving as the characters who are temporarily calling it their own. Boats navigating its churning waters with their illicit cargo and human sacrifice. Guest lodges which are isolated places offering solitude and anonymity for those who want to stay below the radar. A castle undergoing ‘renovation’ although despite speculation, nobody quite knows into what and it’s probably just as well they don’t!
A gripping and disturbing, covert police and NCA operation, meant that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, was in very short supply for most of the time. Officers were so deeply undercover as to be almost unrecognisable to their own mothers and I had a list of characters to whom I had assigned ‘guilty’ or ‘innocent’ labels, just to try and get things straight in my own mind – You have no idea how many times those labels got swapped around, with the innocent becoming guilty, the guilty becoming innocent and just about every permutation in between. I’m certainly pleased this wasn’t a game of ‘Cluedo’, because I would have been out after the first round of guessing!
This compelling, powerful and truly multi-layered story, is well structured, highly textured, extremely intense and with no holds barred in the violence game, although it is completely in sync with the ruthless nature of the perpetrators and in no way gratuitous. You don’t take risks in such a high stakes endeavour, which has extensive and fatal penalties should you get caught by the authorities, or fail your masters, without being prepared to defend yourself to the hilt at the first signs of trouble.
David has created a well drawn and developed, dour, duplicitous and highly manipulative cast of characters you can’t help but dislike, even though they might try to wheedle their way under your skin and appeal to your better nature. It’s as though they suck all the air out of a room when they are near, leaving you feeling claustrophobic and gasping for breath. Even Ronni and Callum’s three young children know that something isn’t right with the new family scenario they have been presented with, so there are no joyous moments to break the tension and definitely no reasons to invest in, relate to, or empathise with any of them. I know that this is the beginning of a new series for Nicholas Roe, so he is meant to be the star of the show, although whether he will live to solve another case is anyone’s guess. I’m sure that it’s only the sticky nicotine tar from his chain smoking which is holding body and soul together like a glue! However for me, Ronni was the stand-out character and it may be that we have not seen the last of her, such a good impression did she make on Roe’s superior officer. She was feeling quite vulnerable and displayed a very complex jigsaw of human emotions, although she was just about the only person who started out totally innocent of any crime. Once she had worked out that Roe and Bishop, the new man in her life were not quite who they purported to be, she finds herself getting drawn into their web of lies and deceit. However when plans go wrong and Ronni finds herself at the mercy of a very unsavoury gang, who treat torture like a favourite pastime, she fights like a lioness, against all the odds, in an effort to get back to her children and protect them from harm.
I’m not sure if there is just a glimmer of hope that Ronni and Callum might in some way be reunited, as although he was duped and coerced by the police, he was very far from being an innocent party to events. It still remains to see if his shattered body and mind will heal and recover and whether Ronni can ever forgive him for bringing trouble to their family door. Perhaps she will discover a new personal strength to take her on her journey alone with her children. I can’t wait to find out if Ronni’s ‘Guest House’ takes on a whole new meaning in the future!!