Watch out folks, it's another book where the hero is a sociopathic loner, an amoral freak, a potential serial killer, and - yes, worst of all - a BLOGGER!
Joanne Harris is an author I have a lot of time for. Not only did she write one of my favourite thrillers of recent years, Gentlemen & Players, but she's also from my hometown of Huddersfield. Local girl done good!
blueeyedboy tells the story of a young man who grows up suffering from the condition synaesthesia. To him, words have distinct, often overpowering, colours and scents. He hears and sees the world unlike anyone else. His brothers are jealous, his mother is a bitter, blackmailing harridan, and the little blind girl next story steals all his thunder. And when he grows up... it's murder.
To say any more would be to spoil the fun. This is a story told by two increasingly unreliable narrators that blurs the line between truth, fiction, fantasy and downright lies in mindboggling fashion. The only problem I had with it was the marketing... I hate it when books promote themselves by pointing out there's "a huge plot twist at the end" (as this does on the back cover). I prefer to find out for myself and enjoy the surprise, rather than spending all my time trying to work out the twist. (It's OK though... I didn't.)
