There is no obvious link between these two books other than I have just finished reading one and earlier today I picked up the second.
Dancing Jax by Robin Jarvis is a very strange tale of evil, in particular an evil book written by a turn of the century occultist. Marketed as a childrens book, it gave me 'the willies' and even now I find some of the story lines are very un-fairytale like. I will disclose that this is the first of a planned trilogy and as I am still to read books two and three, I will keep my brief review to just book one.
A group of miss-fits find an old, creepy house and intend ransacking the contents for some quick cash, but the house has a life of its own and soon the characters are being pulled along and entangled in a very dark and sometimes quite gruesome tale.
I found it an easy read if a little disconcerting. Maybe I was reading too much into a sinister story plot, but I would not recommend this for younger readers or those of a sensitive disposition.
I am still looking forward to seeing how book two develops and will be looking out for a second-hand copy over the next couple of months.
More details can be found here.
The second book - Black Butterfly by Mark Gatiss (he of League of Gentlemen, Sherlock and Dr Who fame) was picked up this morning for just £1.00 in the Cheltenham Spa Poundland store. I am intrigued to see how this bargain buy turns out.
The back cover talks of an elderly secret agent called Lucifer Box, taking on one last assignment - why are pillars of the Establishment dying in bizarrely reckless accidents? Who are the deadly pay-masters of enigmatic assassin Kingdom Kum? And who or what is the mysterious Black Butterfly?
More details can be found here.
I just realised that there is a connection between the two books/stories. They both feature playing cards!
I thought it worth highlighting both books in this quick post and pointing out the availability of the Mark Gatiss book in Poundland.
Tony
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