Published by Fentum Press,
5 July 2018.
ISBN: 978-1-909572-08-9
5 July 2018.
ISBN: 978-1-909572-08-9
The beautifully
written and classically simple prose so disarmingly presented in Amnesia Nights provides a perfect foil
for the highly complicated, convoluted and anything but straightforward
workings of John Wright’s troubled mind.
John comes
from a poor background: his father vanished when was small and he spent much of
his childhood worrying that his alcoholic mother would burn their home
down. Small wonder he has a nervous disposition, no friends, and
occasionally experiences paranormal phenomena. He was however bright
enough to persuade a generous benefactor to award him an all-expenses paid
scholarship to Harvard.
Whilst at
Harvard John falls in love with the beautiful Iris Kateran whose father, Karl
Kateran, is one of the richest men in the US. Iris returns John’s love. Before
long they are living together, and John is enjoying the lifestyle and trappings
of the rich and privileged. At Iris’s suggestion John starts calling himself
Jack. Around this time Jack makes his one and only friend, Frank Lee, an
economics student at Harvard.
Karl
Kateran lives in LA, and after John, Iris, and Frank Lee graduate the three of
them move to Los Angeles where they set up a small investment company that is
bankrolled by Karl. The billionaire dotes on his daughter, controls her as much
as possible, and dislikes Jack, whom he considers isn’t good enough for his
daughter. For his part John/Jack hates Karl.
Things soon
begin to go downhill. Jack fears that Iris is sleeping with Frank Lee,
whilst Frank makes a complete hash of their company’s finances. In a fit
of rage Jack goes round to Frank’s house where he injures Frank and believes
that he kills Iris. But does he? This is the problem that Jack spends the
second half of this book trying to persuade his mind to answer. It is not
as simple as it might be because Iris, whether alive or dead, has vanished into
thin air.
A couple of
years and several more inexplicable events later, Jack still has only a very
hazy memory about what happened on the day he believes he might have killed
Iris. Just to confuse the issue there are lots of other things that he
remembers perfectly well. Then one day Iris appears in front of Jack at the
local library. She is brain damaged but still loves him.
It is
difficult, bordering on impossible, for Jack, to know how much – if any - of
what he remembers, and experiences actually happens. Will there be some
form of contentment ahead for John and Iris, or are most of his troubled
memories merely a figment of his wayward imagination?
In Amnesia Nights Quinton Skinner portrays
the anguish of love, the loneliness and self-doubts suffered by the young with
astonishing clarity and truthfulness of tone. Anyone who loves psychological
suspense will enjoy this little jewel of a book.
------
Reviewer:
Angela Crowther.
Quinton Skinner is
the author of the novels Amnesia Nights,
14 Degrees Below Zero, and Odd One
Out. He is also the author of the nonfiction books Do I Look Like a Daddy To You and VH1 Behind the Music: Casualties of Rock. He has also worked as a
magazine editor and communications consultant. He currently lives in
Minneapolis.
Angela Crowther is a
retired scientist. She has published many scientific papers but, as yet,
no crime fiction. In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing
group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the
operas of Verdi and Wagner.
No comments:
Post a Comment