Catherine Fearns

An absolutely captivating historical fiction that will transport you back in time and capture you from the start. The witch-hunts were a terrifying time in history, and Fearns does an excellent job of bringing the time period, the fear, the suspicion, and the characters to life. It was interesting to see it all from the perspective of one of the witch-hunters, and you might find his views a bit frustrating at times (I know I did). It can also be a bit disturbing at times, but I think it was intentional, and really drives home the horrors of this time in history even though this is a work of fiction. Highly recommend for all horror lovers!… (más)

I read 'Reprobation' for my Murder Most Foul Halloween Bingo Square and had a great time with it. It's the first book of a trilogy and I'll be back for the rest.

I was initially drawn to 'Reprobation' by the spooky cover and the fact that it was set in Liverpool. It turned out the nun in the book is nothing like the scary image on the cover and the book is set mostly in Formby, a posh coastal town outside of Liverpool, home to the wide beach and strange sculptures that you see in the banner above. But I wasn't disappointed. The nun was much more interesting than the haven't-I-seen-this-movie? drawing suggested and Formby made the perfect setting for the plot.

There were lots of things to like about this book, starting with the opening sentence:

"Across grey waters, where the river Mersey meets the Irish Sea, wind turbines puncture the dawn horizon like spinning crucifixes."

I loved the way genetics and Calvinism were explained with enough rigour to be engaging without sliding into force-fed knowledge-nugget territory. The links between the two, which I had sometimes wondered about given the deterministic nature of both, were brilliantly made and took me to unexpected places.

I know the area the book is set in very well and the depiction of the places and the people feels spot in. It's full of the kind of observation you make about a place that's your home, not a place you've come to as an outsider or looked up on Google.

The characters are memorable and engaging. I did wonder whether they'd be a little over the top. I mean we have a Calvinist nun who is also a university lecturer in the theology of eschatology, a so-new-no-one's-taken-the-plastic-off police detective coming home to Liverpool after a bad time with the Met and running his first murder case with a crew where some of them knew him when he was wet behind the ears and the lead singer of a Norwegian Metal band who writes lyrics that quote scripture and music that nods to Bach behind the metal beat. Yet Catherine Fearns managed to make all of them human and credible so that they stopped seeing larger-than-life and became people I was invested in.

The plot was also full of surprises. I was fairly sure I knew where it was going and who the bad guy was and I was wrong on both counts, more than once, which is part of the fun. The pacing worked well, starting from flashes of gory slaughter and academic reflections on death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind through to a tense will-they-get-there-in-time-and-will-the-people-I-care-about-survive? ending.

The dialogue was well done. I could hear all the different accents in my head, not just because of the slang used but because of nuances of class, education and nationality embedded in the words and because the main characters had very clear voices.

The only thing that marred my enjoyment was a few places where the text made my Inner Pedant raised his head. For example:

"Even though everyone already knew, the image raised audible gasps."

At which my Inner Pedant said: 'If it's not audible, it's not a gasp.'

Or

"...turning to his incident board while Colette raised an imperceptible eyebrow at him."

Which prompted my Inner Pedant to growl out 'If it's imperceptible, how do we know it happened? Is this the sound of one hand clapping as a tree falls unobserved in a forest?'

My Inner Pedant is not a nice man and I hate it when books I'm enjoying wake him up.

I recommend 'Reprobation' if you're in the mood for something bold and different that's neither boring nor pretentious.










Catherine Fearns is an English writer journalist and musician from Liverpool.

Her three crime fiction novels Reprobation, Consuming Fire and Sound are all Amazon bestsellers Reprobation won a Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal and a PageTurner eBook Award.







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This was definitely the most complex of the three novels in the series. While continuing from where Consuming Fire left off, this book also included a new investigation and the trials from the first book. It did feel pretty busy at times, but it didn't feel overwhelming to me.

Mikko comes back to help Helen and Darren investigate the most recent deaths happening in Liverpool. This time, we also get to see more of the band, which I really liked. It actually felt like more characters from previous books were focused on even the slightest bit more. I think this really helped to connect to more of them. New characters, such as The Messiah, are also introduced.

The identify of one person was revealed in the previous book, but for a large chunk of this one, I thought I'd misunderstood the scene. It wasn't until the very end that I realized exactly what was happening with them. Even without this, there were several twists in the book that were shocking.

Probably one of my favorite parts of the entire book were the connections and references to the religious aspects and Elizabeth, Shepard's baby. I thought this was a really cool detail, and I'm glad I noticed it.

Some of the characters introduced were rarely, if ever, mentioned again, which was a little confusing. Otherwise, I really liked this installment. Honestly, it was probably my favorite of the three books. The epilogue did hurt a bit, but I also support it. If Catherine writes another book in this series, I'll definitely be grabbing it when it releases, along with any other book she releases most likely.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Catherine Fearns and Rachel's Random Resources. This did not influence my opinion in any way.… (más)

If you read my review on the first book of this series, you'll know that I had to start this book immediately after finishing Reprobation. It was a little harder to get into this one because of the alternated chapters, but once I got into a rhythm, I couldn't put it down.

I was expecting to see more of Mikko in this one, but I did appreciate the focus on Helen's recovery from the events of the first book. I loved that we got more insight into Darren's personal life and developing friendship with Helen as well. I think it might have been interesting to follow Mikko and the band as well, showing how they coped with everything afterwards, but I still really liked the way the book was set up.

The concept of this book felt a lot more sinister to me than the first novel. I think the air of mystery around the fires was a bit terrifying, and it kept me on edge through the end of the book. When the source was finally revealed, I was genuinely shocked and confused. Fearns did a great job of leading the reader, at least me, through the book with a specific theory in mind.

In addition to being unexpected, the ending was very emotional. It's been a while since a book has left me simultaneously sad and angry, but Consuming Fire managed to make it happen.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Catherine Fearns and Rachel's Random Resources. This did not influence my opinion in any way.… (más)