Daniel Kemp

The novel is told as a first-person narrative by Terry Meadows. The reader is privy to Terry’s thoughts..the story unfolds through the effect that the main characters have on his life.

Daniel Kemp sets a quiet steady pace, there’s no rush, as he introduces his main players…Terry, Laura, Francis and Sammi. We are quickly drawn into this tale of distorted sexuality. Just a few paragraphs detail a reason for Francis’ debauched, controlling behaviour. It’s a behaviour that has Sammi and Laura’s seeming acquiescence. And simply the fact that Terry is witness to this sick, claustrophobic family, means that he also is a puppet to Francis’ depravity. It is Francis who drives the narrative.

Do you believe in love at first sight? No? Please suspend your disbelief. I’m talking about the sort of love that Shakespeare crafts for his tragedy Romeo and Juliet, or the poignant lyrics that Stephen Sondheim writes for the equally tragic West Side Story.

For an audience to be drawn into an intense, heated whirl of recognition takes a skilled, sensitive writer…eyes meet across a crowded room..forgive the cliche, but that’s the moment I’m trying to conjure up..and it’s exactly that moment that Daniel Kemp, crafts, so exquisitely, in the meeting of Terry and Laura.

Many Poets, Artists and Novelists believe in love at first sight…they spend their creative lives telling us about it, we feel their heat as they chant their magic.

I love this novel by Daniel Kemp, it is pure pleasure to read. Where Erotica occurs, it’s entirely appropriate..as is violence. You can, if you like, dissect the narrative, but in the process don’t lose sight of a beautifully written, absolutely engaging story. I shall certainly be reading a lot more from Daniel Kemp.