The Passing Tribute by Simon Marshall

1.5 Stars

I was intrigued by the concept expounded in the blurb for this book.  Two brothers separated by the war but coming together after in ways they don't understand or even acknowledge.  Sounded good.  Unfortunately, if it wasn't for the blurb I would never have put together that Richard and Edward were related, to me they were just two men following orders in the aftermath of the First World War, the fact that they were both following orders relating to the Emperor of Austria and orchestrated by the same man, Colonel Linton, appeared to be the only connection.

Commencing before Armistice Day we first meet Edward who is on the Front Lines in a snow tortured world.  We watch him bring his men through the final days and then get seconded to a relief mission in Austria.  This leads him to meeting with a sparky nurse, Millie, who he co-opts to join the relief mission and you feel there may be a little hope for light relief from Millie for both the reader and for Edward.  When we finally meet Richard we learn that his father (and consequently Edward's father) has died believing both his sons to be dead.  That and Richard has been offered a position as Secretary in The Ministry of X.  The former fact leads him to meeting Helene, a Belgian refugee, who is set to have a shattering impact on his life.  The latter brings him in to the auspices of Colonel Linton and his plans for the Emperor of Austria, plans that also involve the Relief Mission.

Unfortunately, the story itself is obliterated by the language used in the telling.  I have a pretty good vocabulary but such archaic words are utlised that it is an absolute must to have a dictionary to hand when reading; even then it may take two or three read throughs a sentence before you can parse a meaning to it that makes any sort of sense.  The sentence structure is also confusing in places and the whole telling is needlessly verbose in places.  This means that I was simply unable to sink in to the story, to get a true feel for the time and the place of Richard and Edward or even to really understand what was going on for large chunks of the book.  All I did was read in an increasingly frustrated manner.  It is particularly annoying because the structure of an intriguing story underlies the whole, unfortunately the academic tone of the book left this reader feeling somewhat patronised and disappointed that the investment of my time in this book smacked more of purgatory than anything else.

When you do finally reach the end, the climactic scenes with Friedrich and Edward should have left you breathless.  Unfortunately, I could not summon up any enthusiasm for the circumstances they find themselves in - probably because there is no real foreshadowing of this denouement, just the odd vague reference to a cowled figure watching and waiting.  Indeed, there is no real end to the book - we leave Edward in a predicament involving a gun and a greatcoat, the Emperor is still in Austria and Richard may be about to take a huge leap of faith.  Nothing is wrapped up, all is left open ended and the book just stops.

I read for entertainment, this does not mean that I only read "fluff" (okay, I do read a LOT of fluff).  What it does mean is that I know good story-telling when I come across it and this book reads more like a Victorian broadsheet newspaper than a novel.  I'm not even sure the linguistics are contemporaneous to the late 1910s, they feel so much more archaic than even that and this book is all about the author smothering us in obscure words and turns of phrase.  Not entertaining and marginally educational in that it will temporarily expand your vocabulary.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.