Synopsis/blurb……
Can we ever escape
the past?
A psychologist is determined to exorcise the demons of her past by working undercover as bait for a serial killer terrorizing Stockholm.
A psychologist is determined to exorcise the demons of her past by working undercover as bait for a serial killer terrorizing Stockholm.
Identity – Part 1 is
a serialised novel which was released by the author on her blog, a chapter a day
over a number of weeks back in the early part of the year. Despite my best
intentions of storing up the posts and reading a week’s worth at a time, I ended
up saving and printing each episode and studiously ignoring them until Claire popped
up a week or so ago and advised Part 2 would be on its way in a month or so.
Well I started in earnest a week or so ago and read the
first 5 chapters from a full set of 50-odd one morning. Took a breather for a
few days then whilst I was waiting in my car for my daughter to get her nails
done the other evening, blasted through
from chapters 6 to 35, until nails were duly completed. When I got home, about
7pm, all Hank Marvin – I rushed my tea, eager to get back into things and finish,
only to realise that my organisational and filing skills have failed massively.
I couldn’t find chapters 36 and 37, so decided to re-visit Claire’s blog to
read online, only she’s taken the bugger down with the exception of the first 4
chapters. Annoyed and irritated beyond belief, I sloped off to bed, before
trying again the following morning. Fortunately the whole shebang has been
added to Amazon UK. So digging deep into my pocket money and duly breaking the
book embargo, I stumped up the £1.02 fee and got the remainder read that
morning.
Identity is
cleverly presented. We have the discovery of a murdered girl. We follow the
investigative team of 3 officers, all of whom seem to be keeping secrets from
each other. The belief is that whilst we are only investigating one murder,
there are other recent disappearances that could be linked. Gradually we are
introduced to a bigger cast of characters, some of whose roles are ambiguous….
are they helping the investigation, or are they suspects and perhaps responsible
for the murder? Duffy releases little nuggets at a time, some of which
enlightened me, some of which muddied the waters and stirred the pot rearranging
my thoughts on how I thought things were playing out.
By the time I reached the end, I was a little more enlightened
and a bit wiser, without there being a resolution to our case. Certain events
and behaviours are still murky and I’m confused over a couple of character motivations,
so a more measured reading may be in order……. or alternately Identity Part 2 proves the clincher.
Claire has an addictive, easy style of writing which I’m
looking forward to reconnecting with. She has previously released another blog-book
called Life is Swede, which I also
purchased and am looking forward to at some point.
Interesting and engaging, as well as confusing and
frustrating, which in turn made it a bit more enjoyable.
4 from 5
Acquired from Amazon UK, sort of.
I've been noticing this one up on your right-hand sidebar, and wondering what it was, so thanks for enlightening me. And also, thanks for a good laugh on a sunny Thursday morning, I so much enjoyed your description of the loss of the key chapters. I can well recognize the infuriated disbelieving feelings rising in you, I think we all have moments like that. And, the review makes it sound like a good book, so maybe I should read that too.
ReplyDeleteMoira, always happy to provide a laugh. My reading juices were flowing and I was getting stuck into it and it was just so annoying not being able to complete it!
DeleteI've just re-read my post and its apparent I rushed it - there's a lot of "or so ago" and "looking forward" which has made me cringe. More haste less speed in future!
I think you might enjoy this one more than the previous TBH.
Col, I think it'd take a great deal of discipline and determination to serialise a book on one's blog, especially writing a chapter a day over weeks. This is a commendable achievement.
ReplyDeletePrashant, it was an interesting read. She posted it this way, but I'm not sure if that was how she penned it. It would be interesting to know.
DeleteI think I read about an author years ago, who used to set himself a target of 500 words a day and he would stop when he hit that mark, irrespective of whether it was in the middle of a sentence or not, or if his creative juices were flowing! Seems strange to me, but I'm not a writer. From memory it might have been Harry Crews, but I could be mis-remembering.
Col, well, we've had serialised short stories, novellas, and full-length novels in vintage magazines but those rolled over a period of time, not every day. Yes, it'd be interesting to learn how Claire Duffy went about her book.
DeleteHopefully she might drop by and let us know, or else I'll seek her out and ask! You would definitely be putting yourself under a lot of pressure to write like this. Looking back, I think she kind of announced in advance the end date, so it must have been pre-written.
DeletePre-written? I never thought of that. I guess it's a writer's prerogative to write in advance and post them to a plan. It's a good idea to ask her.
DeleteI'm kind of toying with devising a Q&A thing for authors who I read and have on my shelf for the blog. (Partly inspired by your good self.) Some of my reading list authors might be interested in answering, though I'm guessing some of them would be too busy to humour me, which wouldn't be a problem TBH.
DeleteI'm here! I was actually here hours ago, but my iPad kept eating my comments!
DeleteI approached it a little like writing a TV series, so I plotted the 'season' in advance (which is how I knew how many episodes there would be!) but then actually wrote a chapter a day. I tried to stay at least a week or so ahead of the publishing schedule, but once or twice caught up with myself and was writing the day of publishing, which was indeed terrifying!
Sorry about the chapters disappearing, Col! I dithered a bit about that, but then decided that it would be like TV, in that you could follow along as it 'broadcast', but if you missed it you would have to get the DVD, as it were ;-) That way (according to my theory, at least!) the focus will always be on the current or upcoming season... maybe I'll change that in the future, who knows!
Thanks so much for the review Col, it is so very much appreciated, and I am thrilled that you enjoyed it!! Season 2 isn't far away... I like to think a few questions are answered!
Claire, thanks for sharing some of the process with us. I didn't know you were flying by the seat of your pants for some of the season! Well done, because I don't think the writing felt forced or rushed.
DeleteNo probs re the missing chapters - I'm more irritated at myself for losing them in the first place!
Roll on Season 2!
Claire, thanks for writing about your writing process for your serialised novel "Identity," Part One. It was interesting to learn that you devised it like a TV series a week in advance and wrote a chapter a day. It looks like a very daunting task.
DeleteCol, I'd enjoy reading your interviews with authors, especially since you read more writers than I do. You'd be surprised how many authors would agree to Q&A with you, and they'd be genuine about it.
DeletePrashant, I'll give it some more thought then - I usually rush headlong at things half-cocked, but will try not to on this occasion, cheers!
DeleteVery glad to hear that you liked this one, Col. And I have to say, I really like the wit you used in this post. :-)
ReplyDeleteMargot thank you. I've amused two people today (plus myself) so a good's day's blogging!
DeleteHey Col,
ReplyDeleteYou finally read it (poking fun). I know I saw it on your sidebar for awhile. Sounds like another terrific read for you. I haven't read serialized novels but I do know that not everybody can do it well. Sounds like Claire hit this one out of the ballpark with her addictive writing style. I'll keep my eye out for it and thank you for reviewing this and bringing it to our attention.
Also, I must agree with Prashant: author interviews would be a nice feature on your excellent blog.
Haha - yes eventually. Stick around long enough and I may even get caught up again with my better half! Bring it on Harlan Coben - do your worst!
DeleteI liked this one a lot and yes I'm looking forward to her next episodes.
Another vote for some author interaction - I just need to dream up some more random questions that may be a bit off the wall, as well as more regular bits and bobs.
Me, too. I wondered what was going on with that book. Now we know. An interesting concept and approach to a novel.
ReplyDeleteTracy, it was there so long, I ought to have been charging Claire rent!
Delete