Quicksand of Memory: The twisty, chilling psychological thriller that everyone's talking about…

If there is one thing guaranteed when reading a book by Michael J Malone it is that the writing style, the complexity and lyrical nature of the narrative will elicit from readers a multitude of emotions. Be it anger or sadness, hope or despair, you will find the beautifully evocative language captures them all, and the reaction felt mirrors what you see and read on the page. That is the case with Quicksand of Memory, a story of loss and of family, of friendships, new and old, and a complex tale of regret and hatred that leads to a truly destructive desire for revenge. It is a multi-faceted, character driven drama that whilst told largely in the present day, draws heavily on the mistakes of the past in informing the fragile security that our characters have developed.This is, by and large, the story of Luke and Jenna. Luke is recently bereaved, raising his former partner's son as his own as he tries to get his fledgling counselling business of the ground. Jenna is, at least temporarily his patient, coping with her own loss and sense of regret. When the two meet you can feel the chemistry, the pull between them, but it take a few more contrived, non-therapeutic encounters for their lives to really start to gel.Both were characters I felt drawn to from the start. With Luke it is due to his overwhelming empathy and the real sense of emotion that we experience in learning about his loss and his own personal demons. A troubled childhood, mistakes made that are set to change the course of his whole future but from which he needs to find redemption. But for all his mistakes, there is a tenderness to Luke which makes him impossible not to like, in spite of the shocking revelations that are made about him over the course of the novel. Jenna is also buried under the weight of grief and struggling with her mothers declining health, but facing up to some choices in her past that leave her with an aching feeling of regret that gave an initially flaky feeling individual a real depth of character I wasn't expecting. I love how the author always manages to make their feelings, the often all consuming nature of it, live on the page. It's an almost immersive experience as I found myself also bearing the burden of this grief as the literary voyeur, and totally invested in their journey to their own version of absolution.There is another side to this story, one that takes us beyond the everyday exploration of his fledgling relationship, and one which adds a real sense of foreboding and tension to the story. There is someone who is less than enthusiastic about Luke and Jenna's new friendship, someone with their own selfish reasons for wanting it to fail. But again, there is a real complexity to this element of this story and the person involved is not an antagonist that I could simply hate or wish to see fail. Life is never that simple, never so black and white, and Michael J Malone has woven in so many shades of grey, such inner turmoil for this character, that it is hard to ignore that pull of empathy toward them or dismiss them as merely a bad person. Their background is troubled, their home life neglectful and abusive, and even now they are like a puppet whose strings are being pulled by someone with their own agenda. It inspires more consideration of that nature verses nurture debate, whether their final actions mean more than their original intent.This is a very complicated story, an almost perfect storm of circumstances which lead us to a dramatic and potentially deadly conclusion. Toxic friendships, peer pressure, and misguided hero worship all colour and taint the present day. A host of what ifs and if onlys driving a quest for vengeance that can only really ever end one way. Presenting the fragile nature of the human mind, the corrosive nature of a secrets kept, and the way in which our actions can be exploited when factored into an overwhelming need for acceptance and to belong, this is another emotionally charged story that fans of the author are sure to love.

This darkly compelling revenge thriller is a powerful examination of one man’s struggle to leave his past behind and an equally vehement obsessive who is just as intent on destroying his new life. Shocking, disturbing and incredibly affecting, it’s an involving and fast-moving story of a group of people scarred by their pasts in different ways. The story brilliantly illustrates how a damaged mind, that has spent years nurturing a dark obsession, can wreak havoc and compound the trauma and misery of the past.For therapist Luke, guilt is something that is ever-present and although he has done the time for the mistakes he made in his late teens, it still weighs heavily on his conscience. Having rebuilt his life following his release from prison and met and married single mother Lisa, her death has left him as sole carer to Nathan, and he is working hard to establish a new business and make a stable home for the boy he considers a son. When Jenna books a therapy session with Luke after her latest relationship has ended in disaster and she is struggling to care for her ailing elderly mother, she has more than a few regrets to talk over, specifically the tragic death of her first proper boyfriend. When a spark between Luke and Jenna draws them closer together neither of them know that they share a connection in common in Danny Morrison. But someone with a vested interested is watching them both and determined that the happiness and brighter future they are both so desperately hoping for won’t be so forthcoming. Danny’s lonely brother, Jamie, fifteen years Danny’s junior also seeks Luke out to talk about the brother he never really knew and the pair establish an awkward friendship of sorts. Soon after meeting Jenna, life begins to conspire against Luke with a string of things going awry and his personal life, business and finances all take a hit and it becomes clear from the narrative that someone is intent on making sure he never stops paying for his past.Quicksand of Memory is a book that I read with my heart in my mouth and every single fibre of my being invested. The characterisation of the four central players (Luke, Jenna, Jamie and Amanda) is brilliantly done with all shaped by their pasts and the fact that Malone gets into their heads, and conveys their often conflicting emotions with such skill, make it a profoundly emotive read. All four knew different versions of Danny despite all being in his life at the same time, with age, rosy retrospection and love all playing a part in their memories of the man. The narrative moves briskly between all four of the central characters with short chapters that keep the action unfolding and make the book hard to put down. It’s feels wrong to describe the occasions when the screw is tightened on Luke as twists, but they do represent turning points which raise the stakes and heighten tension, and not a single one felt contrived or thrown in for sake of it. A thought-provoking and emotionally involving read with strong characterisation.

I was taken in by Quicksand Of Memory almost immediately. The chapters are short and the writing is compelling from the prologue so I really wanted to know what would become of the characters that Malone has created. Luke and Jenna are the central characters, but they are all brilliantly three dimensional with several layers and it was fascinating to look into their pasts and see why they behaved in they did. Their pasts also made them unpredictable and I loved reading as this unravelled.The plot of Quicksand Of Memory takes some time to become established but once it does, there is a complex chain of relationships and events that become more tense and twisted as we reach the conclusion. The tension is high and I really wanted to see how everything would play out as my sense of unease grew.Despite the fast pace, Quicksand Of Memory is not an easy read as it deals with some emotional themes, such as grief, illness, child abuse and drug use. However, I love the way that Malone approaches these issues in a sensitive way through some beautiful writing and allows the reader to think about the subjects in a way they may not have done previously.

It took me until a third of the way through this book to become involved, but from there I was totally hooked with the characters and the story. Not as easy to read as other Michael J Malone stories but worth the perseverance as this is a beautifully crafted story with a brilliant ending