A Life Eternal

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Richard is not only an amazing author, he’s also an all-round great guy with a fascinating story to tell. So, without further ado… While the subject matter was sometimes confronting, I found Shadow of the Knife an enjoyable and engrossing read. I'd recommend it to any reader who enjoys gritty historical crime fiction - this is no cosy and refined parlour mystery - and/or has an interest in the early history of modern crime investigation.

The primary theme of "A Life Eternal' is as much a philosophical reflection on humanity and the sometimes sordid, sometimes mundane details of living, loving, and dying as it is a rote recital of events and people from a seemingly disengaged and disinterested main character. So I'm a huge horror fan. It's my go-to genre. I love the adrenaline, I love the seemingly neverending fought against Evil and how all these characters overcome their plight. It seems the more intense the horror, the greater the cottage too overcome... But like with all good things you need a break. I wanted something to warm my heart, bring treats to my eyes, and yet keep my attention and interest. This book did just that. But he’s a good character to watch the world through the eyes of. And the characters he meets along the way… well they all change him in their own unique way. I began to think about what the reality of being immortal would be-what it would really be like to live forever-and I decided that it would be awful. How could you fall in love if you knew that, one day, that person would disappear from your life while you remained young and vital? What would that do to your humanity? I also did not really like the idea of someone living for hundreds and hundreds of years-I thought that this would drive anyone who suffered it mad. And so the main idea of A Life Eternal was born. I would tell the simple story of an ordinary man with an extra-ordinary life, based in the 20th Century; a time, perhaps, of the biggest changes of the human race. It remains the fastest story I’ve written; it seemed to pour from me and I completed the first draft in about three months. I’ve never known that before, and I hope it bodes well for the book. Your previous novels were a mix of music and horror – so A Life Eternal is a bit of a change of scene from that! How did you come up with the inspiration for the story? Okay, that’s not entirely true. There are probably readers out there who’ll enjoy this book, but they certainly aren’t reading the same things I am.The quest to find out how this eternal life came about ran along side chapters of his life, the sort we all have, the places we live ad the relationships we’re in, yet we know, with some certainty that it’s going to end at some point. Life is simply a clutter of lines, moving in every direction.” (p99) and it’s was. How differently would we live life if we knew we couldn’t die? I absolutely adored this story. Everything about it. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sad, the heartbreaking, and the redemption. What follows is a cursed journey through a century of incredible change, seen through the eyes of a man immune to death, while he searches endlessly for the answers to what makes him so unique. All in all, a victory for the author. His characterisation of the two protagonists is sublime, and we see their weaknesses as well as their obvious strenghts (especially Boswell's love of booze which is used at times for a bit of comic relief from all the mystery and horror.

A riveting and heart-breaking tale, simply and elegantly written in the first person, which puts a new spin on the classic themes of the immortality tale.What if you knew you could never die? How different would your life be? How different would you be? When Sergeant Rob Deakin is mortally wounded during the First World War, he is destined to become just another nameless casualty of a terrible conflict. Overall though, I actually enjoyed the process; just having a pub