The Servants

Michael Marshall Smith’s 2008 release The Servants seems almost like a return to his routes. Taking a break from writing under Michael Marshall, he invokes his original writing style with a story focusing on 11 year old Mark, who has just moved from London to a wintry Brighton with his ill mother and new stepfather, who he barely knows.

M. M. Smith creates a ghost like environment for our characters, with strange occurrences that go largely unexplained and are left mostly up to the readers own imagination and interpretation, which is something I love about Michael's books The Straw Men trilogy and Bad Things.

I’ve read a number of reviews of the book and I was saddened that quite a few people seem to have been left disappointed. Personally I enjoyed it, it’s a nice size, at 233 pages, making it possible to read fairly quickly.

There are a relatively small number of characters, which I think adds to the feeling of isolation and loneliness that Mark spends most of the book feeling. I really liked that about it, I felt that it kind of enabled you to experience mark’s worldview more intimately.

The sense of solitude seems to create this unique new world, that although set in Brighton, feels like an entirely different place altogether and I think that helped me get immersed even more so into the book, which is exactly what I look for in a novel.

I bought the burgundy coloured paperback which I think is perfectly designed to fit in with the imagery portrayed inside this book, from the gold decorated borders, right down to the choice of fonts, I’m a big type nerd. It might sound odd talking about the design of the book, but I just feel that it captures the overall imagery of the novel so well and deserves a mention.

Final Words

I find it difficult to properly describe how this book made me feel while reading it, but I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it to anyone who is at all interested by what I’ve had to say about it.

As always I’m interested in others opinions and discussion so please, let me know what you think and if you can recommend anything similar, I’d be glad to hear it.

If you want to find out more about The Servants you can head on over to Amazon for reviews or to purchase your own copy.

Phil.

Spares

Spares is a brilliant example of British sci-fi. I enjoyed it so much more during my second read and I will most definitely be revisiting it for a third time in the future. Michael Marshall Smith also writes under the name Michael Marshall, where he focuses on crime/thriller novels. I wrote about his Straw Men Trilogy recently.

Spares is the second novel from author Michael Marshall Smith, it focuses on Jack Randall, a burnt out, ex cop who has spent the last five years on a spares farm. Here he looks after spares, clones of the wealthy to be used as spare parts should any accidents happen, or transplants be required.

Michael creates an incredibly detailed and unique world, a common trait in his other sci-fi novels Only Forward and One of Us, which I plan on writing about later. He has a knack for taking his narrative in such unexpected and surprising directions that I can only describe it as genius and truly original.

Spares can be very funny in parts too, which I absolutely love. I later learnt that Michael used to be a comedy writer for the BBC and it really shows here, there were moments where I truly laughed. However, the book manages to go from humorous to sinister in the flick of a switch in parts, which really help in creating a strong contrast and drives home the seriousness of the current situation.

Final Words

I truly enjoy Michael's sci-fi novels. No other books have captured my imagination in the same way since and the imagery it created in my head still sticks with me to this day.

Thoughts and opinions on this book are more than welcome and if you can recommend any similar sci-fi novels on par with this then please do!

If you would like to find out more about Spares, or purchase your own copy, you can head on over to Amazon.

Phil.

The Straw Men Trilogy

Michael Marshall is one of my all time favourite authors. I discovered him purely by accident about six years ago, whilst looking for a book to read while my Xbox was getting repaired. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise and made me the bookworm I am today.

If you like dark, gritty thrillers as well as conspiracy theories and you haven’t read these, then you’re in luck.

The Books

The Straw Men Trilogy is comprised of three books… funnily enough, by UK author Michael Marshall. Book number one is The Straw Men (also known as The Upright Man), book number two is The Lonely Dead and book number three is Blood of Angels.

All three books are incredibly gripping novels, I’ve read them twice each, and I’m considering revisiting them again for a third time. They are seriously that good.

The Straw Men

The first book introduces us to multiple story lines that eventually interconnect. I love how Michael seamlessly hops from one to another throughout the chapters and brilliantly brings them together.

One of these story lines introduces us to 14 year old Sarah Becker, who has been abducted from downtown L.A. The circumstances of her disappearance match that of former detective John Zandt’s daughter, who was one of the victims in a strikingly similar crime two years ago.

Another Story line introduces us to Ward Hopkins, who’s parents have just been killed in a car accident, but he soon discovers a strange letter that tells him otherwise.

Ward soon learns that much of the past he thought to be true is a lie, and his search to discover the truth soon leads him to the Straw Men, a sinister organisation with horrifying plans.

you can find out more about The Straw Men on Amazon.

The Lonely Dead

The second book in the series has one of my favourite prologues ever, Yakima. This is my favourite book out of the three, it has lot of sentimental value too, since it was largely influential in sparking my passion for reading.

The book continues to develop the characters we came to know through the first book and follows the same great writing style.

We are introduced to Tom, a man heading into the mountain forests of Washington State, he doesn’t plan on coming back. However, he finds something in the forest that sparks a chain of events that quickly spiral out of control.

Back in Los Angeles, a woman’s body is discovered in a motel. The killer has left his mark and it soon becomes clear that he will kill again if not stopped.

Meanwhile, Ward Hopkins is continuing to track down the men who destroyed everything he once held dear, the Straw Men.

You can find out more about The Lonely Dead on Amazon.

Blood of Angels

The final book in the series sees notorious serial killer The Upright Man escape from a super-max prison, no one understands how it happened, but Ward suspects the Straw Men are responsible and that they’re planning something big.

What follows is a chaotic and frantic series of events that result in a spectacular act of carnage.

Admittedly, Blood of Angels is my least favourite by far, but it is still well worth a read and much better than many other novels I’ve read, it’s just that it has a lot to live up to from the previous two books.

You can find out more about Blood of Angels on Amazon.

Final words

I unwittingly read the second book first, since I saw no indication that it was part of a series, which was unfortunate but didn’t necessarily spoil my experience

What I love so much about these books is the incredibly engaging writing style that Michael employs. His novels have a dark “realism” to them, for lack of a better description and I absolutely love the rich, unique descriptions and dialogues throughout the books. I said at the start that they are incredibly gripping novels, so much so that I’ve actually struggled to find a book as good as these.

If you’ve read the books then let me know what you think and if you know of any similar recommendations then please, please! let me know.

Phil.