November 18, 2011

review: the shoemaker's son


“The Shoemaker’s Son” – Gayle Ramage

1807. As a young boy, Brogan O'Malley encounters the strange and enigmatic Darcy on the streets of Edinburgh. Ten years pass and Brogan, now a petty thief, meets her once again and is surprised to discover she has not aged one day.

A further ten years later, it's 1827, and Brogan's life has taken a turn for the worse. About to become involved with unscrupulous bodysnatchers, William Burke and William Hare, the reappearance of the ageless Darcy sees Brogan discover a secret that will change his life forever.

Thoughts…

“The Shoemaker’s Son” is the second prequel short for Gayle’s soon to be released debut novel A Head for Assassination. I’ve been wary of reading indie authors in the past (I know, hypocrite), but I’m glad that I set that prejudice aside. It honestly isn’t fair to anyone.

“The Shoemaker’s Son” did not disappoint (though I wanted to keep reading!). Gayle’s writing is fantastic, and the characters are colorful, especially Darcy, who is clearly out of her element in early nineteenth century Edinburgh with her very unladylike behavior and language.

The prequels are meant to provide a little bit of backstory for A Head for Assassination (which is about British time-travelling assassins!), and Gayle does a good job of enticing the reader to want to read more. I definitely want to know what happens next, and I’ll be buying A Head for Assassination when it comes out next year.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Reading level: Young Adult to Adult
Format: ePUB (35 pages)
Publisher: Smashwords (October 11, 2011)

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