Friday 5 July 2013

Book Impressions - The Swimmer by David Haynes

Up until now I've only read the author's Victorian era horrors, which I have loved. This is my first of his earlier work and I'm happy to say that it is also a great read!   The story starts with a writer, living in a remote cliff top cottage witnessing a mysterious swimmer who is later found drown and smashed up. It then continues into an investigation of the swimmer's death and the events in the local mine decades before.

It's a well written thriller that is paced well. The revelations along the way are interspersed with the development of the relationship between the two lead characters. The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene.

It does have a couple of flaws, the first is that the style of switching between characters is a bit abrupt, leading to some confusion when reading. The other is that it's a local mystery, I felt that this could have been worked a little more as I didn't get a good read on the community, only a few personalities within it.

They are minor issues and they didn't spoil my reading of this excellent thriller, the writing is engaging and the story interesting. All in all a good read.

This is the author's first book and I'm pleased to say he has started well and developed fantastically, an author well worth following.


2nd Edition.

The book was edited in March 2013.

A battered and lifeless body is dragged from the stormy Atlantic Ocean onto an isolated cove in West Cornwall. Only one man has a clue about his identity and he’s trying his hardest to turn away from the human race.

October 1919 - Thirty one men lose their lives in a horrific accident in an exposed Cornish tin mine.

How are the two incidents linked?

Local journalist May Jones and writer, turned hermit Joseph George form an unlikely partnership and attempt to find out

Set in a wild, coastal landscape famed for murderous smugglers and ghostly tin mines. The story weaves through the backdrop of far West Cornwall, a land drenched in the blood of forgotten men.

Buy The Swimmer now from Amazon (I do recommend it)

Other books by David Haynes:

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