Writer by JM Burgoyne

Sound.

Be it the echoing creak of floorboards or even silence, plays an important part in a horror movie. It sets up the stage for you to be scared out of your wits.

It is on paper however that the use of sound (also known as onomatopoeia) can really, really creep you out, as it doesn't just stay with you for a minute or two but can sometimes last you a lifetime. Case in point for me is Edgar Alan Poe's ‘Tell-Tale Heart.’ Even after decades I can still hear the heart beating under the floorboards, never mind that I don't have any floorboards.

In the Writer, JM Burgoyne uses the innocuous sound of an old typewriter to scare the bejesus out of you. And if that doesn't send you running for cover, there is the use of crows throughout the book. They stalk you, stare at you and tap your brain into a stupor.

The brilliance in the book however is the premise it is based on; How far would you go to forget your pain?

Would you trade your soul to the devil and wrench every thought, moment and fabric of existence of the pain out of yourself? And what would the consequences of this purging be?

Luke Kierley goes with his friend to meet the 'Writer', a dusty old typewriter that grants all your wishes. Beware however the fine print. If your wording is not legal proof you might end up getting into more of a pickle.

Luke decides to erase his past but with the obliviation comes realization...

"Sometimes I think the worst thing it did was to take my certainty."

It is all our memories and experiences that make us who we are and shape us into the people we become. When we take away a part of it but are clueless about it, then we may still be fine. However when we know a part is gone but can't remember it, it is then that it gnaws at us.

Luke only remembers that he has asked to forget a woman who gave him pain. There upon starts his unending quest to eliminate the possibility of ever encountering the said person again.

Herein lies his madness.

JM Burgoyne’s use of moving back and forth in time leads to perpetually keeping us; the reader, on a high with constant guesswork on what happens next.

A brilliantly spooky and scary book that inadvertently gives us one of life’s powerful messages

“You ran away from the pain, and that means you haven't grown."

 

So glad I got this ARC it was an exhilarating read. Hope you liked my fair and honest review.

Happy Reading☺