Blacklands

Having bought Belinda Bauer's latest paperback Snap on impulse and loving it, I immediately ordered her first three novels, Blacklands being the first.Wow! Another 12 year old boy as the central character, Steven, living a somewhat deprived life in a family living under the shadow of his uncle, who was murdered as a boy.It quickly gets very dark as he writes to the notorious child murderer linked to the murder.Very emotionally involving, very tense, and a lovingly bleak portrayal of the moors.Just like in Snap, the use of a 12 year old struggling to get by and make sense of a difficult life drawers you in, (this character reminded me of the boy in A Monster Calls), and it's very effective.As a parent of a 10 (soon to be 11) year old boy myself, the thought processes of the boy ring very true, and perhaps make it all the more harrowing.Very highly recommended.

If you haven't already read Belinda Bauer, you should start now. Everything she writes is excellent, including Blacklands. (If you've already read her, you know.) Imagination, tension, humour and great humanity.

Pretty dark, this. It’s about a serial killer, a child killer like Ian Brady who falls into correspondence with the 12-year old nephew of one of his murdered victims, whose buried body has never been found. Written from the twelve year old nephew’s POV it illuminates extremely well the impact the killing has had on the surviving family through the years: his Gran, Poor Mrs Peters who stands immobile, looking out of the window all day every day for twenty years; his mum, abandoned and struggling to cope with two young boys and her grim, morose mother while trying to hold down two jobs and still be home when they return from school. The twelve-year old himself, teased and bullied in class because of his impoverished, blighted situation, without either a dad or a decent pair of shoes. It’s very much the sort of thing I might have written myself; not a psychological thriller exactly more of a family saga with very dark deeds playing out underneath. It won a CWA Dagger Award so clearly the publisher and author regard it as Crime Fiction but although I liked it I am not sure that say a reader of Jack Reacher or Iain Rankin would find a great deal to interest them. It’s too slow and there is no violence and no sex and no police. All ticks in my boxes but these are usually the essentials of Crime Fiction.What actually sets it apart is the genius of the actual correspondence: what a brilliant literary device it is. This is the reason she won the Dagger Award.

I have now read all of Belinda Bauer’s work and cannot rate it highly enough. My life has been particularly difficult over the last eighteen months and I have found it difficult to concentrate on many books, but these have kept me engaged from beginning to end. Her style is so engaging - dealing with very bleak subjects with always a great, quirky touch of humour. Hope I don’t have to wait too long for another!

Blacklands is a truly chilling and disturbing read. The writer says at the end that it is not based on a true story but the story has similarities to the Moors murders with one family in particular desperate to find the remains of their family member.The main character Steven wants to find the remains of his uncle to give his nan and mum the peace they desperately deserve. The storyline is excellent in terms of showing the long-term impact on a family in such harrowing circumstances.The killer, Avery, is a despicable character and his internal monologue in various chapters of the book is not for the faint hearted.Its not a 'who dunnit' but an eerie game of cat and mouse.Well worth a read but not if you're looking for a comfortable break. This will have you squirming.