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Nigel's Reviews > True Crime Story
True Crime Story
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First comments - I finished this yesterday and at this point in time I have no idea what my rating is going to be. Slightly contradictory however it was a good story which I didn't particularly like from an author I do like...
In full
Billed as "blending fact and fiction" this is the story of Zoe Nolan who goes missing from her student flat in Manchester in December 2011. This appears to be a journalistic investigation of an unsolved missing person or crime. There are email interactions between the woman who is researching this and Joseph Knox. They contain narrative from interviews with various people involved at the time. It is increasingly obvious that quite a bit was not discovered about Zoe when she first went missing.
In a sense I thought this was quite a good story looking at it as a whole. There are numerous twists and turns in the narrative as aspects of Zoe and her friends' lives are gradually revealed. I confess that I thought I knew the answer to this but I was wrong! From that view point I think this is a good story.
However I cannot honestly say that I got as much pleasure as I was hoping for reading this. I came to this as a fan of Joe Knox's Aidan Waits stories. However here the narrative style of hopping between contributors was not one I really liked. I also felt that the first third at least was fairly slow. Certainly the pace and tension improved significantly from around halfway through.
The other aspect that I found puzzling and a little disappointing was the characters. It didn't take me long to realise that I didn't really like any of them very much although Zoe's twin sister might be an exception to that. I felt no engagement with them or really the story for quite some time. Given that Aidan Waits is one of my favourite characters of recent years and his stories for me were very well written I found this odd.
I must stress this is not a bad read. Far more it is a case of the fact it wasn't the great read I was expecting. I can see that plenty of people love this so possibly it's just me. Personally I would advise people new to Joe Knox's work to start with the Aidan Waits stories. 3.5/5
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
In full
Billed as "blending fact and fiction" this is the story of Zoe Nolan who goes missing from her student flat in Manchester in December 2011. This appears to be a journalistic investigation of an unsolved missing person or crime. There are email interactions between the woman who is researching this and Joseph Knox. They contain narrative from interviews with various people involved at the time. It is increasingly obvious that quite a bit was not discovered about Zoe when she first went missing.
In a sense I thought this was quite a good story looking at it as a whole. There are numerous twists and turns in the narrative as aspects of Zoe and her friends' lives are gradually revealed. I confess that I thought I knew the answer to this but I was wrong! From that view point I think this is a good story.
However I cannot honestly say that I got as much pleasure as I was hoping for reading this. I came to this as a fan of Joe Knox's Aidan Waits stories. However here the narrative style of hopping between contributors was not one I really liked. I also felt that the first third at least was fairly slow. Certainly the pace and tension improved significantly from around halfway through.
The other aspect that I found puzzling and a little disappointing was the characters. It didn't take me long to realise that I didn't really like any of them very much although Zoe's twin sister might be an exception to that. I felt no engagement with them or really the story for quite some time. Given that Aidan Waits is one of my favourite characters of recent years and his stories for me were very well written I found this odd.
I must stress this is not a bad read. Far more it is a case of the fact it wasn't the great read I was expecting. I can see that plenty of people love this so possibly it's just me. Personally I would advise people new to Joe Knox's work to start with the Aidan Waits stories. 3.5/5
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
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Lorraine
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Feb 03, 2021 11:06AM
I really enjoyed Joseph Knox's first book, Sirens, but I was disappointed by his second - and from your early review it sounds as though he's a bit hit and miss
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I have to say do read the 3rd Aidan Waits - I loved that one. However - for me - this is not at all like the Waits ones. Sirens was very good!
Beata wrote: "Good review, Nigel :))"Thanks Beata - appreciated
Ive done 2/3 of Aidan Waits series & hope to get to the third this year, have read other reviews of this book which certainly reflect your observations & I think is one I'll likely swerve. Guess the author jus fancied a change
Andy wrote: "Ive done 2/3 of Aidan Waits series & hope to get to the third this year, have read other reviews of this book which certainly reflect your observations & I think is one I'll likely swerve. Guess th..."I loved the 3rd Aidan Waits one - it really got to me. I can't really recommend this one in anything like the same way though. Comment appreciated :)
