Touch by Claire North

Synopsis: Kepler had never meant to die this way — viciously beaten to death by a stinking vagrant in a dark back alley. But when reaching out to the murderer for salvation in those last dying moments, a sudden switch takes place.

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It took me ages to realise but Claire North is Kate Griffin is Catherine Webb.  I’ve been a fan of her writing for a long time – just about since she was first published at the age of 14.  I actually had this book as a gift from someone who had no clue of either her real name or my appreciation for her work.  I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.  I assumed (correctly as it turned out) that the name-change signified a change in material.  I had also been a little put off in general by the first Horatio Lyle book, published under the name Catherine Webb, which I didn’t manage to finish.  I had some time free though so decided to go ahead.

Now not only is this a change in material it’s a bit of a change in style.  The structure is a lot more mellow and flowing despite the (deliberately) jumbled settings and slow approach to the storyline.  Catherine says the name change was to signify her moving into “serious literature”, and I can see what she means.  It is a book that’s more mainstream, more fiction than fantasy.

I have to say though I don’t know if it’d be something I’d go out of my way to read if I didn’t know who she was.  The premise is interesting but it’s not as tightly wound as I thought it would be.  There’s a lot of highlighting the experience, rather than solidifying the story, and while the tangents do generally lead somewhere I feel that the book could have been better served by the author picking story over exposition.  If I had to pick something similar then I’d have to say that Time Traveller’s Wife springs to mind; paranormal premise with a literary bent that doesn’t focus enough on story.  They’re both good books that I enjoyed but I can see how I could have enjoyed them more.

It’s easy to criticise I suppose.  My supposedly British spellcheck agrees.

It’s a good book that I enjoyed but I wouldn’t rush fantasy and sci-fi fans out to read it.

Maybe.