The End of Men - Christina Sweeney-Bird

Debut novel from Christina Sweeney-Bird out from Harper Collins in April 2021.

This debut novel by Ms. Sweeney-Bird is due for release in April of 2021, a full year since lockdown took a hold of the UK following the gradual rising and growth of Covid-19 across the globe having started in Wuhan, China in January 2020 moving westward around the globe landing fully in Italy mostly in mainland Europe before hitting our shores in the United Kingdom in late February and early March culminating in the life-changing decision to go into lockdown and all the societal changes that came with it.

Now, S-B (a freelance writer from London who has appeared in the Independent/Huffington Post who started writing her book in March 2018) has done a neat twist on the virus thriller and while the Covid-19 pandemic has had no discrimination against who it kills, S-B takes the premise of a plague that only attacks the male, this means losing half the population in the world - and what are the effects of this upon the world in due course.

Author of The End of Men - Christina Sweeney-Bird

S-B goes to lengths to consider what will happen, 90% of the world's male population vanishes (much like The Leftovers or Thanos' snap) and it is left to the women of the world from not only finding a vaccine to save the planet, but how to shepherd the world back to normality - women have to take up all the labour jobs left by no men (rubbish collection, lorry driving, electricians) as well as taking up high positions in government and legislation.

The breakneck pace of the book (and I devoured this book in 4 days) starts in Glasgow, as a young and fit man comes into Glasgow with supposed flu symptoms - yet no matter how much A&E doctor Amanda Maclean does to stem his temperature, inject him with steroids he dies within a matter of hours. The fear grips the ward and Maclean attempts to reach out to her medical community to raise the alarm of a possible pandemic, she is shunned due to past indiscretions and ignored. Ultimately, S-B makes the case that it would not be avoided and the plague would have happened.

As a piece of science fiction, which as a genre always makes us more aware of our own world than we realise, it shows how the human race must adapt to make the world viable and liveable again; the writer also cleverly shows females of all ages, races and classes to show the extent of the pressure of all that happens - from losing loved ones and the grief that is overcoming to all yet the need to carry on is paramount yet each women gets her moment to shine. 

What is most pleasing about this book is that following some recent reading of books to review which were nothing but underwhelming this was a book that made this reader glad to be reading for pleasure, getting great joy from the experience and as a male reader a unique insight into the female psyche when it comes to fight or flee and strive to survive.

I first wrote this review in January of this year, early into the second lockdown of our nation. The most surprising and pleasant thing of re-reading my review ahead of the release this Thursday 29th April, is that this remains the best book I read during that lockdown period - ironically, looking into the possible threats of a true global killer where nearly half the population is gone. 

This is a book about the endurance of the human spirit and the resilience of the human heart in adapting to a major change in the social structure of our everyday life - it is a book that resonates with this reader still and it surely will be one of the book's of the years. It was a privilege to review this title and to share the word of mouth of this topic work.

The End of Men is published by HarperCollins/Borough Press on Thursday 29th April,

The Guest List - Lucy Foley

Lucy Foley returns with her follow up to THE HUNTING PARTY published by Harper Collins

Lucy Foley returns with her follow up to the stupendous hit THE HUNTING PARTY with another tale of entitled individuals having a great time but with dire consequences. Taking the same premise as many an English crime novelist - well to do people in a location of isolation, brought together for a happy occasion, then the lights go out.

Foley takes a wedding between Jules and Will - the perfect couple - getting married on a reclusive Irish island, hosted by new wedding planner Aoife on her first wedding.  The guests arrive as the weather takes a turn, secrets start to come out and the truth will be sort.

The characters are as expected well written and the shifting point of view narratives from bride to be Jules, to her sister Olivia, to plus one Hannah offers telling insight not only into each character but also the context of the situation they find themselves in.  This hits home especially for Hannah when she is dancing with a Spanish lothario and a secret about Will comes out.

With little nods to class structures of friendships and family life along with how individuals alter there behaviour when in the presence of certain people's company.

However, Foley is keen to stress the context of toxic masculinity embodied in Will how he constructs an image of himself and projects on to people to get his own way, while the women are independent enough to figure things out for themselves yet still bitchy to each other when communication may be key to all problem solving.

Following on from the huge success of The Hunting Party, Foley has found this niche of murder mysteries for the 21st century, reminiscent of Agatha Christie at the height of her powers - plot points entwinned to the novel's neat clean conclusion. This again will sell by the bucket loads, this is one list you definitely want to be a part of.

The Guest List is out from HarperCollins on Thursday 20th February

The Hunting Party

Lucy Foley's debut thriller is set to be one of the great thrilling reads of 2019

British crime novel writing is going through a vanguard or renaissance period currently, be it from the loner detective in Joseph Knox's Manchester set crime novels; to A.A. Dhand's Yorkshire set crime epics; and there is great representation by Fiona Barton from the female writers of these shores.

Set over a New Year's weekend of celebrations, Foley takes her protagonists away from their sheltered happy self-important London existence of wealth and privilege, dropping them into a remote part of the Scottish Highlands where they hope to engage in fun and frivolity over the four day weekend.

From the outset, the nine people she gives to us are of a millennial sort - highly educated having all met at university in Cambridge, in great employment and a better life than Riley.

The hope is that this is one last hurrah for the group before children and other responsibilities stop them in their tracks; and yet a swift blizzard puts pay to that as cabin fever sets in and the abundance of alcohol brings up resentment and old secrets amongst the group.

Atmospherically set amongst the vast landscape of a cold bleak Highland setting, Foley cleverly weaves an ever-changing narrative flash forwarding and backwards amongst many of the characters, this offers us different voices to listen to prompting quite a challenge for the debut author to maintain this flow of narrative.

From prissy Miranda, to quieter Katie, to lodge host Heather and gamekeeper Doug; Foley writes confidently in all these voices garnering quite a range of motives from all.

The anticipation for this novel has been met by the finished article here, and it is great to see a riveting example of crime fiction by a British female in the same vein as American Shari Lapena, Foley will be able to be heralded in the same company as Fiona Barton on the evidence of this first stab at crime novel writing.

The Hunting Party is out now Harper Collins in Hardback, Ebook