Review: Liquid Glass by Zathyn Priest

I’ve not read a book by this author before, although I have heard lots of good things about his other books. When I saw Liquid Glass at TQ I was intrigued by the blurb and decided that the ghost story element sounded interesting. In the end I was pleased to have read the book which contained a wildly romantic plot tempered with unsettling horror and paranormal ideas.

The story follows three sets of characters which interlink with one another in two different periods of history. There is a pair of previously married parapsychologists – Trudy and Malcolm – who have worked for many years to set up a reputable paranormal institute. Malcolm is obsessed with a Victorian house situated on the edge of Hamstead Heath, Lilyport House, which is said to be haunted by the soul of Victorian poet Eldon Davenport who committed suicide after being found in bed with a stable boy. Then there is Cameron MacKensie, a reclusive painter who buys Lilyport. On his first night in the house he sets of a chain of events which resurrects Eldon from the dead. In a panic Cameron calls Trudy who through her psychic powers determines that Cameron and Eldon are soul-mates and that Eldon’s life-force is bound to Cameron. Finally the story takes us back to the mid-1800s and the events leading up to Eldon’s suicide and beyond.

As you can tell from the above this book was quite dense in terms of story and characters. Although the sections set in the modern day follow only the four characters of Malcolm, Trudy, Cameron and Eldon, and one secondary character, the section in the 1800s follows several other characters including Eldon’s parents, his friend, Genevieve, the stable-boy, Albert, Albert’s aunt, Eldon’s nurse as well as a few incidental servants. Add this to a rather complex plot involving ghosts, past lives and fated love, and at times I felt a little overwhelmed. Having said that, whilst I struggled a little, especially towards the end, with the complexity of the plot and who was a reincarnation of who, as well as trying to get my head around how characters in the past can influence what happens in the future, I could still see that this was actually a very unusual story and carefully thought out in terms of how it worked logistically. So despite my confusion at times I was impressed overall with the plotting.

There were parts that I liked a great deal about the book. One of which was the character of Eldon who added some much needed lightness to the story on occasion. He’s an impulsive man who throws himself wholeheartedly into everything and has a sense of joy about life and especially his love for Cameron. I’m not usually a fan of ‘fated love’ stories but Eldon’s nature made it easy for me to believe that he would fall in love so quickly with a man he has only met in his dreams and that his strong personality would pull Cameron to that love. I also liked Trudy and her motherly influence on Eldon and Cameron. Another part I felt worked well was in the sections set in the past with its theme of sober behaviour, duty and societal standing which didn’t sit well with the flamboyant and emotive Eldon, leading to clashes with his father which made a nice contrast to the weirder goings on in the modern day plot.

The parts that didn’t work so well was in some of the more complex reincarnation theories. Much of this is theorised by Trudy who, as a psychic, can read the past through a building and access past lives. To be honest some of this stretched my incredulity a bit – possibly because I’m rather a sceptic about such things – and I also found it convenient that Trudy had all these ‘insights’ into what was happening. However, all the different strands of the plot were tied up satisfactorily and I finished the book happy that the past, present and future had now all been accounted for. There were also some parts of the book that were genuinely creepy and some graphic horror moments so those with a weak stomach for such things may wish to skip those bits.

Overall though, despite some reservations about the ‘past lives’ aspect of the book. I would recommend, Liquid Glass with a grade of 'Very Good'. It certainly kept me turning the pages with its faced paced, emotion laden plot and set of interesting characters. If you like horror or ghost stories then I think you’ll enjoy this book. I did.