It's my turn on the BlogTour Volta by Nikki Dudley.
About the Author
Nikki Dudley studied for her BA and MA at Roehampton University. Published work includes: the thriller, Ellipsis, (2010); her chapbook, exits/origins (2010) and poetry collection, Hope Alt Delete (2017). One of Nikki’s poems was also featured in The Blackpool Illuminations (2016). Awards: -Novel, Volta, winner of the Virginia Prize for Fiction. Shortlisted in the London Writers’ Competition in 2003 for poetry. Won the Promise Prize for poetry in the London Writers’ Competition 2005. Novel, Ellipsis, shortlisted for the Ideastap Inspires programme in 2014.
Nikki is Managing Editor of streetcake magazine, which she started with Trini Decombe in 2008. streetcake publishes an online issue every 2-3 months and in 2019, launched the streetcake experimental writing prize, supported by the Arts Council England. She also runs Mumwrite.com, a writing community for mothers.
She grew up in inner city London and attended state school in Camden. Nikki has been in love with words since she wrote short stories in her scrapbook at primary school and discovered what a metaphor was.
Follow @nikkidudley20 or @streetcakemag on Twitter, Visit nikkidudleywriter.com
Winner of the Virginia Prize for Fiction
When Briony Campbell confesses to killing her boyfriend, a straightforward crime soon turns into a baffling mystery.
Haunted by demons from his past, lawyer S.J. Robin is assigned to the case. But as confusion – and the body count – rises, he’s forced to question who is guilty and who is innocent. Can he see justice served and hold on to the woman he loves? Watch the booktrailer here
Briony awakens to a certain set of circumstances with only one conclusion - she killed her boyfriend. Did she? No really, did she? The automatic response is doubt, the scales sway in both directions, but is there more to the story than meets the eye?
The story is told through a trifecta of viewpoints: Briony - the alleged killer, Mari - Briony's doctor and SJ, who is Briony's lawyer.
Dudley gives the read a specific style. Short, pacy chapters. Switching from one viewpoint to the other and the reader gets both a barrel of emotions, facts and the occasional twists in an almost Flash Fiction like style. Often the paranoia, lack of trust and general confusion about what's going on, plus the attraction between two of the characters - all the intense emotions add to the feeling of the unstable undercurrent the reader can feel.
Thriller, crime story, romantic entanglement - all of that and more. Each character comes with their own baggage and trauma, which flows into the trifecta and bounces of each other, which leaves the reader often wondering if they are spectators in a large arena.
It's a very screenplay, visual imagery experience - scene, cut, reaction. It will be interesting to see what this author comes up with next.
Buy Volta at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Aurora Metro Books; PublishDrive pub date 4 May 2021. Buy at Amazon com.
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