A very interesting plot but I didn't enjoy the writing style of the author. It's too much prose for my liking

This book was a little bit different than what I normally read and it took me longer to get into it than I thought it would. Despite that, I did still enjoy the novel!

Philip Wilding is a new author for me but he has a way of drawing you in. The characters were easy to invest in.
The writing was great, very dark and whimsical but a litle too wordy for me.

It wasn't my kind of story, but it could be yours!

Thank you to NetGalley, Philip Wilding and Unbound for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, and kind of knew I would because it's right up my alley. I loved the bad ass female detective and the creepiness of this book, whenever religion and murder intersect my interests are piqued!

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

The Death & Life of Red Henley
by Philip Wilding
Unbound

Unbond

Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 17 Jan 2019

I am reviewing s copy of The Death & Life of Red Henley through Unbound and Netgalley:

In The Death and Life of Red Henley we meet detective Lou’s Green as well as strangely gifted socialite Robert Walker Who stalks Manhattan’s upper reaches, and we meet the Reverend James Butley who keeps locked up in his basement in SoHo where he calls on God to wash away the world’s sins. We meet Red Henley a presence who is never rarely seen but he’s never out of sight.

Red’s Murder sets Detective Louis Green on a path to self discovery and perhaps on a path to redemption as well.

As 1980 unfolds Green discovers a direct line back from Modern day New York to a religious commune back in the Tennessee countryside decades earlier and the story of two boys that had been housed there and
they would experience a horrible tragedy that would become the spark that sets fire and backstreets of Manhattan some twenty years later. As Green follows the killers trail Green finds a city filled murderous deeds, and corrupting influence and the twisted ideas of love and faith can bring.

One question remains though what has drawn Bulley, Red and walker together?

As the clouds gather over the city men are found in trees as if they were broken
Kites, one man was pushed from the roof of his building while another was gagged and his teeth broken by a pool ball that had been shoved down his throat. In this bloody landscape Green is not only trying to understand the battle between good and evil not only in the landscape for which he lives but the battle of good and evil within himself.

I give The Death and Life of Red Henley four out of five stars!

Happy Reading

Philip Wilding is a new author for me he has a way of drawing you inside and keeps you interested enough to explore the book all the way to the end.
I'm not sure how to describe this book its unlike anything else I have ever read even though it has a detective, extremely violent and gory murders, a girl, a preacher and a wealthy villain.
A bit repetitive in parts and long drawn out but worth a read.

I tried, really, I did. I just could not finish this book. I skimmed most of it, but could not connect at all. I have to say, this is one of the few books in my life that I just could not get through. I believe there is no bad book, just not everyone likes the same things. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read it. I hope others will understand that they may love it, It wasn't my kind of story, but it could be yours!

The Death and Life of Red Henley is a unique story. It reads like a Tolstoy novel, slowly with odd wording that most people don't care to understand. It's obviously written for literature circles and critics of the like. Because of this, I skimmed through this one. It's not my type of book. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m, what the? Why? I just don’t know why I didn’t quit this book, other than because I’m not a quitter of books—no matter how awful. There are themes explored in the book that will allow it to hold up in a book club or classroom setting where the happenings, meanings and themes can be further expounded upon. However as a 550+ page book read on my own I was left bored and miserable by the end of all of the redundant phrasing used throughout and the clearly British, maybe Australian vocabulary and spellings for a book that is set in Manhattan and mostly in 1980. There was a steady storyline for most of the book, although extremely dry and boring, I was willing to putter along with it, but then it took a turn far off course and then tried to change over to some mystical realm within reality, but even that attempt to change direction was half-hearted and poorly executed. Again, maybe in a group setting with banter, debate and discussions on what’s beneath the surface of the stuffy words of this book, but the only thing I’m pleased by is that it was quick to get through and that it finally over! This is just a book that seems to be weird, but not in any way that can be classified to a specific genre. More than anything it just seems sloppy, poorly put together and without the grace and fine tuning of a good editor or maybe even a whole team of editors! It was bad. Really bad.

Wow. Really good book. It's twists and turns will keep you glued to this book until the end so absolutely pick up this winner. Happy reading!

When I think about this book I just can't help but think it could have done with some editing. It was overly verbose and meandering. It didn't take long to read, but mostly because I didn't care just a quarter of the way through it. I tried appreciating the writing, immersing myself in the story, connecting with the characters, and even just caring about them. I couldn't do any of it.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a quick, albeit wordy, read. And to be honest, most of the time I felt like I was stumbling along, confused as to where I was going next. The writing was great, very dark and whimsical, though maybe a little too literary for my liking. I feel like this is one of those books that I am too inept to read. There is a higher level of intelligence by the author that grazes the surface of what I can grasp. That alone is my burden to bare. This is a deep thinking, dark, poetic type of book, and I feel like it will be a hit with a small group of people who will profess its greatness in a literary setting. I hope the author does well and that this book has a solid standing when it is published, because it was a really solid piece, just not for me.

The Death & Life Of Red Henley by Philip Wilding
Thank you, NetGalley for the advance copy for an honest review.
It was pretty good all in all. Sometimes far too wordy. Detective Louis Green was a person to be reckoned with.
It is a good verse evil, macabre and sometimes far-fetched. It held my interest to the end.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.