 When I first heard that Kit Power had a new book coming out (coming on Halloween 2020, published by Horrific Tales Publishing), I jumped at the chance to review it, and I mean JUMPED. I didn’t even wait for Jim to offer it out for review because I was so worried that someone would answer before me and get the honour. Instead, I cheekily yelled “dibs!” on it and then went off with my review copy, smiling a childish smile. Usually, reading a book for review scares me. As a rule, I do not put out negative reviews of books released by self-published authors or smaller presses. Just because I hate something, it doesn’t mean I want to tear a hard-working writer down and potentially put other people off buying their work. To each their own. Being asked to review something by a writer I know fills me with dread because on one hand, yes I’d love to offer their book some positive publicity, but on the other hand, oh my god, what if I hate it? And it has happened. A couple of years ago, I had three in a row like that and then I had to answer awkward questions about why I hadn’t put the review out yet. It put me off writing book reviews for a long while. I hate almost everything these days. Honestly, I don’t know what my problem is. I only tell you this to offer a clue about the quality of Kit Power’s writing and story-telling. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Kit in person, but we often cross paths on the Interwebs and I have got to talk to him a bit (Robocop!), and I’d like to think we’re friends. The fact that I go into review copies with fear and awkwardness and have a new rule to not risk reading books by people I know, just in case, should say a lot about me practically begging Jim to let me take on A Song For The End. That’s how confident I was that I would love it. So, did I? Bill and his band write and record a new song, the greatest song they have ever written. It seems that everyone who hears it agrees, and before they know it, the song is going viral. And the consequences are dire. I’ll stop there because I really don’t want to ruin a single thing about the book, but the concept is such a great launching point that I was hooked straight away. As we go through the story, Bill’s problems just get worse and worse, the plot thickens in an unexpected way, and as things build, the tension is so satisfying. I love feeling like that when I’m reading a book, and this one was definitely a “just one more chapter before I go to sleep” kind of story. In fact, I fell asleep with my computer on my lap reading this, not once but twice. And not in a “it put me to sleep” sort of way, in a “my eyes were closing hours ago but I can’t stop reading” sort of way. The concept is intriguing and reminded me a bit of Joe Hill’s Horns, though it’s really not similar for the most part, except for in its theme. The pacing is excellent – I’d find that an hour of reading just flashed by. The writing itself is wonderful; intelligent but accessible and unpretentious. I found myself cringing for the protagonist and empathising for him, but I also felt that way about the antagonist. I thought he was both right and wrong, and I found myself unable to decide how I wanted the story to go. It was so much fun. Kit’s characters are always brilliant. I recently told someone that I’d put Kit’s characters in league with Stephen King’s for how real they feel to read, and I meant it. He has many strengths as a writer but I think he particularly excels in character and dialogue, making great use of the principle of “show, don’t tell” to work in little details that flesh the characters out. I don’t think I’ve ever read what’s known as an info dump in one of Kit’s stories. He knows how to seamlessly work in relationship dynamics, history, and all manner of other things that help you to see the characters as real people. This works even more to his advantage when he writes in the first person, as this story is written. Thematically, I find that this story gets heavier the more I think about it. It’s about the truth, and the consequences of it. I guess it’s widely accepted that lying is generally seen as a bad thing, but A Song For The End sort of flings the doors wide open on that notion and goes, “well actually, is it?’ After all, everything is about context, and lies are not always wrong or harmful, and definitely have their place. The story deals with the complexities of dishonesty, reasoning, and control. Furthermore, the ending is almost Orwellian because of the consequences of what is happening in the narrative. I realise this is all a bit cryptic but I can’t elaborate without spoiling things. This isn’t a horror story in the sense that it will spook you, but it will fill you with dread if you put yourself in the shoes of any one of the characters. It’s excellent, a definite 5 out of 5 for me, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Do yourself a favour and pre-order it as soon as you can! In fact, go back through Kit’s other works if you’ve not had the pleasure already (and for the love of all that is good, be sure to get your hands on Breaking Point while you’re at it – it’s disgustingly good!). For the life of me, I can’t understand why Kit Power is not yet topping every best-seller list because he deserves to be. Oh, and I can’t leave without mentioning the cover, which is not only badass but much more in tune with the plot than you first realise. I loved this book, can you tell? Bye. A review by K. M. Edwards  ‘Becoming an overnight sensation was supposed to be a good thing. Not for Bill Cutter, supply teacher and weekend rock star. His band, The Fallen, have just released their latest tune on social media, and it’s blowing up. So is the body count. Now, Bill faces a frantic race against time to stop the spread of the song, before the horrific effects can no longer be contained. Terrifying, bitterly funny, and tragic, A Song For The End is a breakneck, bloodsoaked tale of truth, lies, consequences… and Rock N Roll.   Comments are closed.
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