URBAN FANTASY THRILLER REVIEW: The Watchers - Jon Steele

Release Date: 09/06/11

SYNOPSIS:

Lausanne, Switzerland. In the cathedral tower lives a strange boy with a limp who talks to the bells. In a luxury penthouse lives a high-class prostitute who's in mortal danger. And in a low-rent hotel lives a private investigator who has no idea how he got there. Jay Harper finds himself in Switzerland on the trail of a missing Olympic athlete. A hard drinker, he can barely remember how he got home last night, let alone why he accepted this job. When he meets the stunning but aloof Katherine in a hotel bar, he quickly realises that he's not the only one in town who's for hire. She's a high-class hooker who can't believe her luck. Which is about to change. For the worse. In the meantime, Marc Rochat spends his time in the belfry talking to the statues, his cat and the occasional ghost. His job is to watch over Lausanne at night and to wait for the angel his mother told him he'd one day have to save. When he sees Katherine, he thinks his moment has come. Which indeed it has. But not in a good way...


REVIEW:

Some books are really difficult to review, not that it’s a bad thing but purely its so hard to be able to say things without giving away any of the plot devices utilised by the author. This is one of those books. Whilst it is quite a lengthy title, its one that takes its own time to set off and carefully plods along to allow the reader to get to know the three main protagonists (from whom each chapter originates in one form or another) before throwing you in at the deep end with the metaphysical as well as paranormal side of the tale.

It is cleverly written, the characters can take a while to get used to but the do have hooks but perhaps best of all it’s the authors careful setting of the scenes that will ultimately win the reader over. All in this is going to be a hard title for the majority of people to pick up and read and whilst some may well try the skim and skip routine you really need all your attention as when the nuances hit you’ll find you’ll have missed quite a bit. It is a challenge but for me the rewards at the titles end justify the struggle.