The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the blog tour for new crime novel 'Parallel Lines' by Steven Savile. With thanks to Philippa Ward at Titan Books for involving me in the tour and for an early copy of the book.
Published by : Titan Books
14 March 2017
Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher
The Blurb
How far would you go to provide for your child?
Adam Shaw is dying, and knows he’ll leave his disabled son with nothing. His solution? Rob a bank. It’s no surprise that things go wrong. What is surprising is that when another customer is accidentally shot, no one in the bank is in a hurry to hand Adam over to the police. There’s the manager who’s desperate to avoid an audit, the security guard with a serious grudge against the dead man, and the woman who knows exactly how bad the victim really was...
Eight people, twelve hours, one chance to cover up a murder. But it’s not just the police they have to fool. When many lives intersect, the results can be explosive.
The Very Pink Notebook Review
As soon as I read the first paragraph from the blurb of this book, I knew I had to read it. I have a disabled son myself and as any parent, not just those with children with special needs knows, thinking about their future should anything happen to you is one of the most important, but scary, things you have to do as a mother / father. It is also one of the most common things that is avoided until something shakes you up to take a stand.
But what if that shake up call comes sooner than you expected and gives you little time to get their future covered? What if, like the majority of the population you do not have a lifetime of funds to leave, especially when your child has disabilities? A child who will never be able to earn their own living and the cost of having them cared for never reduces. Your options aren't vast.
This is the crux of the book. A desperate dying man, driven to desperate measures. Now, I was expecting this book to be a mixture of both the heist and of protagonist Adam's life, with son Jake. I was wrong and somewhat surprised, but not disappointed. Apart from a few scenes at the beginning, which are essential, the novel doesn't leave the boundaries of the bank robbery. And it works brilliantly.
The author keeps the reader in close so the intensity of the situation is never lost. Every character involved in the robbery has their own agenda and Savile has cleverly written on so many levels it manages to capture beautifully the dark side of human nature; when an opportunity for revenge for a life long grudge materialises will you take it? Can money really buy silence? If one descents from the pack should they be sacrificed? It sets your mind thinking about a whole host of moral dilemma's.
Although this is a highly intense novel it does have some bits of dark humour which I enjoyed. This is managed because it is written from the viewpoint of all eight people in the bank. Each has their own little mini-story which lays the foundation for how the plot weaves together. Savile has injected just the right about of personality into each so that one is not stronger or weaker than the other, they are just all very different. By using this style the pace is kept moving along quickly and the variety compels you to keep turning and turning those pages, meaning you can not put the darn book down!
This is one of those novels screaming out to be transferred to screen, the writing is excellent, the characters are dynamic, the plot strong and it just leaves you asking yourself what you would do if you found yourself in the same situation (and I don't just mean in the situation of the protagonist either...)
I really can not recommend this book highly enough - but be warned, read it on a day you can just sit and read because you will not want to put it down.
Parallel Lines by Steven Savile gets a Very Pink Notebook rating of :
