In the Wake of Death by Billy McLaughlin

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

(29 Jun. 2016)

The Blurb . . .

Sometimes waking up is only the beginning…

He was left for dead on the side of the road. Now Marc Adams is awake and he can barely remember anything about his life before. All he knows is that his meddling sister has returned to his life, whilst his partner Joel is gone.

Marc is convinced that something has happened to Joel. Why won’t anybody believe him?

As he is pulled further into the pit of his subconscious, Marc begins to remember exactly what happened on the night of his accident.

Soon, he’ll be wishing he hadn’t woken up at all.

My thoughts . . .

When Marc finally wakes up from his coma, he is convinced that his boyfriend Joel must also have been in the accident, but no one knows who Joel is. Margo, Marc's older sister is back in his life and is adamant that Joel doesn't exist, as are his doctors who insist that no one other than Margo has been to visit him. With his short term memory affected, Marc has to deal with this information everyday as he has no capacity to retain new information or form new memories.

Nathan Sykes is looking for his ex-boyfriend Dean who appears to have dropped of the face of the planet, with almost £30k of Nathan's money - which Nathan wants back.

As Marc's memory starts to return and Nathan closes the net on Dean, the pace seems to pick up quite nicely.

This is cleverly written, with nice, clean plot lines, and easy to relate to characters. The background detailing and the descriptive narrative doesn't get boring but gives enough information to allow you a really good sense of the history of these people. I really enjoyed the relationship between Margo and Marc, having fallen out at some point in the past, Margo immediately rushed to Marc's side, showing that there are situations in life where the past is not always relevant and love prevails. There is nothing majorly complicated to try and follow however this book does have a fantastically unexpected twist that left me breathless!

I would like to see what else the author has in store for us in the future as these characters showed lots of promise.

Thank you to the author and Shell Barker for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

About the Author . . .

After releasing his debut novelette "Invisible" in March 2016, Billy McLaughlin set upon writing his first full length novel. "Lost Girl" was released on 20th May 2016 and has already charted inside the Top 500 Crime Kindle Charts. The story focuses on a young woman who escapes an unhappy married life only to find herself caught up in a double murder and at the mercy of a vicious stalker. Writer Dixie Howell wrote in its first review "The author writes in a lyrical way and the flow makes the novel pleasing. The characters and story line are entertaining and hold your interest".

Before he was even finished with the characters introduced in the first three books, Billy had already found a place for some of them in a world that exists outwith the confines of a singular story.

Keep your eyes peeled for future releases and news which can also be located via twitter (@bilbob20) and his Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/BillyMcLaughlinBooks/