I’ve been reading books by Chantelle Atkins for quite a long while now. I’m a big fan of her style of gritty realism. She’s a wonderful observer of human nature. Her characters are full of emotion, her descriptions are beautiful.
I’d just finished (and loved) Black Hare Valley, a novel she serialised on Substack, when she asked me if I’d like an ARC of her latest novel, which is set in the same world as many of her other books.
I didn’t hesitate, and I’m glad I said yes, because she’s written another gem. It contains some familiar faces, joining them together in a new story, complete in itself but with more than a nod to what’s come before.
Here’s the description,
14 year-old Finn Douglas is missing.
Best friend Elliot is desperate to find him, but why is mutual friend Leah strangely reluctant to help?
Elliot’s pregnant mother fears her agoraphobia has returned, while his almost-brother, Bill, agrees to help look for Finn but risks exposing his secret drug habit in the process.
Meanwhile, ex-con Danny knows his nightclub is being infiltrated by drug dealers who work for a gang from his past. And drug dealer Leon can’t have the fresh start he wants until he has repaid his debt to the same criminal gang.
A collection of characters with dark pasts find themselves linked by a common mystery that they all have a clue to solving – what has happened to Finn Douglas?
The book is available now.
My thoughts. No spoilers.
This is another one of those tautly written, slice-of-life stories that Chantelle Atkins excels at. With a cast of believable characters, all doing what they can to get by. Many of them will be familiar from books like A Song for Bill Robinson, The Mess of Us, At Night We Played in the Road or Elliot Pie’s Guide to Human Nature.
This time, they’re all in the same place.
The setting is realistic to anyone living in today’s Britain, as are the things that the author puts the players through. Families shattered and remade, old alliances and feuds, addiction, violence and criminality. It’s all here and so well done that, through the words, you feel the emotions of the characters and empathy for their choices. They’re all doing their best to survive. There’s an aspiring band, a couple of nightclubs, people with a past, good and bad and those facing up to new challenges.
The story centres around the search for Finn, but that’s overshadowed by the ripples his disappearance causes in all the characters and their lives. As the reasons become clearer, battle lines get drawn and the tension increases dramatically. There are shocks and twists galore; the ending is a spine-chilling masterclass in atmospheric writing.
I’ve said it before with this author’s work. Her stories stay with you. The characters and situations all feel real. Along with all the others set in this universe, they would make a great TV drama, which would need several seasons to get everything in.
These books are far better than a lot of the formulaic, derivative and rehashed stories that seem to be everywhere.
Is this the end of the story? I hope not.
I’d hate to think that this will be the last I’ll read about any of these people.
Highly recommended.
About the Author.
Chantelle Atkins was born and raised in Dorset, England and still resides there now with her husband, four children and multiple pets. She is addicted to reading, writing and music and writes for both the young adult and adult genres. Her fiction is described as gritty, edgy and compelling.
Her debut Young Adult novel The Mess Of Me deals with eating disorders, self-harm, fractured families and first love.
Her second novel, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side follows the musical journey of a young boy attempting to escape his brutal home life and has now been developed into a 5 book series.
She is also the author of This Is Nowhere and award-winning dystopian, The Tree Of Rebels, plus a collection of short stories related to her novels called Bird People and Other Stories.
The award-winning Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature was released in October 2018.
YA novel A Song For Bill Robinson was released in December 2019 and is the first in a trilogy, followed by Emily’s Baby and The Search For Summer in 2021.
In 2022 she released another collection: The Old Friend – A Collection of Tales and Poems and the first in the supernatural YA series, Hangman’s Revenge, which was co-written with Sim Alec Sansford.
Chantelle has had multiple articles about writing published by Author’s Publish magazine and runs her own Community Interest Company – Chasing Driftwood Writing Group.
Links:
Website/blog : https://chantelleatkins.com/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/chantelleatkinswriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chanatkins
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/chantelleatkins/
https://www.instagram.com/chantelleatkinswriter/
Email Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/bVVbGD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantelleatkinswriter/
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chantelle-Atkins/e/B00J7ACVCY/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Books;
The Mess Of Me
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – series
Bird People and Other Stories
This Is Nowhere
The Tree Of Rebels
Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature
A Song For Bill Robinson
Emily’s Baby
The Search For Summer
The Old Friend – A Collection of Tales and Poems
Hangman’s Revenge
Project Pandora
Days End
The Day The Earth Turned – series
At Night we Played in the Road
The Mess of Us.
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