A Hollow Sky
(An Alex Ripley Mystery #2)
by M. Sean Coleman
Amazon UK / US / AU / CA
Red Dog Press
A SUSPENSEFUL, ATMOSPHERIC THRILLER.
Jane Hewitt had been miraculously healed—cured of a terminal cancer that had been eating away at her body for months. After one meeting with an incredible young woman, Jane rose from her wheelchair and walked out, believing that her lifetime of devoted faith had been rewarded.
The next day, Jane died in her husband’s arms, devastated that her God had deserted her. Her husband, Ian, blames her hastened death on the faith healer she visited. But that faith healer is a teenage girl called Megan, who has been in a coma for five years and has no say over how her gift is used.
When Ian is arrested after being accused of breaking into Megan’s house and trying to tamper with her life support, he turns to the only person he knows can help clear his name, and stop this family deceiving any other victims—Dr. Alex Ripley, the so-called Miracle Detective.
Fascinated by Megan’s case, and needing a distraction, Ripley finds herself on Holy Island, off the coast of North Wales, caught up in an investigation that will prove more sinister and dangerous than she could have imagined. Ian is not the first person to complain about Megan and her supporters, but he seems to be the only one left alive. For now.
A Hollow Sky is the second Alex Ripley Mystery
My Rating:
My Review:
Sean Coleman has conjured an original and brilliantly connived plot to immerse his favorite busybody. If I were one of Mr. Coleman’s friends I would be rather cautious about tipping his ire, he seems quite crafty in causing annoyances to miraculously disappear. While the mystery was slower to develop and not as eerie as his recent stunning release of The Cuckoo Wood, the sly and twisty storylines of A Hollow Sky were tautly written with canny misdirections and clever sleight of hand that kept me guessing to the final chapter.
I couldn’t bring myself to trust or admire any of these shifty yet vividly detailed characters; not the self-serving tight-knit villagers, the deluded and greedy mother, or least of all the slick religious charlatans who were exploiting a sick child as well as the gullible people they were fleecing who were desperate enough to expect a death-defying cure from a comatose child. I was repulsed by the spectacle and despised them all while my fervent curiosity remained fully engaged to the extremely precarious climax, which had me full of body tension and holding my breath.
I must not forget to mention that the devilish Mr. Coleman began and ended this tale with Dr. Ripley’s own personal drama with disconcerting yet exciting news which was then quickly placed in a holding pattern while waiting for more information, only to be dangled again at the very end to taunt and tantalize me while I wait for the heinously cunning Mr. Coleman to pound out the next caper. Curses! I want to give him a good pinch for teasing me so but must confess that I’m on the hook… this guy knows his stuff!
I was able to harvest one new addition for my Brit vocabulary list with chock-a-block, which apparently has several meanings such as overly full or overflowing as well as disgruntled or fed-up.
Author Bio
Born in the UK and raised in South Africa, M. Sean Coleman developed a love for reading and writing novels in his early teens, thanks to two incredibly passionate English teachers who infected him with their love of words and stories. Over the intervening years, he has written film and television drama, cross-platform series, an interactive children’s storybook, and a graphic novel series.
He finally found his niche as a thriller writer when he was asked to write a novel as part of the cross-platform project, Netwars. His first book, The Code, was published six months later, with the sequel, Down Time, hot on its heels. There was no going back.
He is obsessed with crime, mystery and thriller stories, especially those with a fresh or surprising angle. He writes novels from his home in The Cotswolds, where he lives with his husband and their three red dogs.
Social Media Links –
www.facebook.com/mseancoleman.author
Giveaway
Win paperback copies of The Cuckoo Wood and A Hollow Sky, a cool tote bag with book quote from the publisher, a branded bookmark and some chocolates (Open INT)
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.
I want it! Competition entered. I didn’t realise that there was more than one Holy Island in the UK. Consider this Brit, educated.
Great review. I like the sounds of this.
I think people want so badly to believe that they can be cured they’ll believe anything. I can see why the husband was so mad. Though this book would be hard to read, I would read it because of its controversial nature.
How do you do it? How do you make me add so many books to my TBR. I love this sound of this, you have done yet another amazing review.
Aw, thanx Cia!
Great review and giveaway.
This doesn’t sound like my kind of book at all, yet I’m kind of hooked!
This isn’t the usual kind of book I would read but I am always hooked by your reviews. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome and witty review as per your usual.