Here’s something I didn’t expect to be typing about in 2017 – a new David Gemmell novel! The background is that the manuscript was found in David’s papers by his widow, Stella Gemmell. It is a book that I believe was written early in his writing career but never published, until now. David died eleven years ago, in 2006.
Before readers get too excited, though, it must be said that this is not the usual fare from Mr. Gemmell. Set in the 1980’s, it is a crime novel, where our protagonist, journalist Jeremy (Jem) Miller, spends his time in a grimy London, surrounded by a grim world of poverty and racial tension.
Whilst working for a local newspaper (no online Internet here!), Jem seems to be pretty miserable, getting on badly with his co-workers and spending his work time on what he sees as the minor stuff – heart-warming tales of people who have overcome challenges, and so on. Jem feels stuck writing these basic human interest stories whilst there are much bigger items he could be writing about. There’s a serial killer on the loose, killing women. He, or she, mutilates the bodies horribly but leaves little other evidence behind and the police are appropriately perplexed.
He finds himself involved in the serial killer case by accident when one of his usual interviews reveals something more. When Jem interviews Ethel Hurst, an elderly lady with a psychic gift, Jem finds that he may have a connection to the multiple killer after all. Ethel believes that she may be able to offer help to the investigation. And when the killer reads about it in the newspaper, Jem finds that both Ethel and himself are at risk…
As a crime novel, Rhyming Rings fits the usual profile. The text is precise and direct, almost to the point of bluntness. There’s not a lot of flab here, to the extent that it is a rather short novel, filled out a little with an introduction by Conn Iggulden and an afterword by someone who knew David (and one of the creators of the David Gemmell Legend Award), Stan Nicholls.
With that in mind then, don’t go expecting Druss and his ilk here. Instead this is a more contemporary perspective of London, albeit a dated London of the 1980’s /90’s, dealing with issues of racism, sexism and homophobia. The book is clearly based on David’s own life as a journalist (write about what you know!) when he worked in South London before moving to Hastings.
It’s rather like watching an old TV police programme, something like Life on Mars, quite watchable (or in this case readable) but rather out of step with what we would see today. (Mentions of old cars like the Ford Mondeo and a lack of the Internet and mobile phones are a definite giveaway, for example.) There has been no attempt to modernise the story, which I think is a good idea, but it does make the novel feel a little out of sync with modern police procedurals.
But here’s the bottom line. Ignoring that it is dated (for acceptable reasons), and that it’s written by David Gemmell, does it work as a crime novel? Of that, I’m not so sure. It is quite violent, yet not as violent as some contemporary reads. There is an undertone of violence and menace that works today perhaps as much as it did in the 1980’s, but to me in the end as a crime novel it seems rather unsophisticated for contemporary tastes. I pretty much got who was the killer straight away once his/her name was given.
On the positive side, the point that it is a crime novel means that, in most cases, you can pretty much recognise what characters we’ve got – the kindly elderly character with a certain steel to their mettle, the well-meaning yet stressed police officers doing a difficult job in difficult circumstances – besides Jem, there’s not a lot of time spent developing detailed character outlines. Usually their actions and motivations are clear and what happens to them and because of them not too unrealistic.
Weirdly it is aspects of the lead character I’m unhappy with, which is a surprise considering that characterisation is something usually seen as a Gemmell strength. However, Jem is a character who at times I found to be actually quite unpleasant, although I accept that this may be deliberate. Strangely, by comparison, some of the characters around Jem, such as Ethel, her loyal neighbour Mr Sutcliffe, the policemen on the case and Jem’s workmates I liked as characters much more.
My concern was that, worryingly, I rather got the impression that many of the rants Jem spouts and the attitude he presents were lectures to the reader, rather than something to propel the character or the plot. They gave the impression that this was less of a character trait and more of a chance to allow the author to express beliefs that were unnecessary. Surprisingly, such asides felt rather clumsy or worse, didactic diatribes rather than something of benefit to the book. It felt forced or, at best, inappropriate.
That is a big issue. It must be said however that such lapses are not entirely throughout. Jem redeems himself to become a better person and set things right at the end of the book. This tempered my reaction a little, though it could be said that such actions are nothing new – it was often the essence of a Gemmell fantasy novel, for example.
This does sound rather negative. However, it must be said that despite my issues I kept reading. At the core of Rhyming Rings there is a readable, if short, novel, By the end the strength of the prose is such that, even with my other reservations, you want to know how the plot ends, although I personally found the end rather troubling.
I applaud the attempt to try something new, though, even if it isn’t entirely successful for me. Unusually for David’s work, there’s a supernatural aspect to Rhyming Rings which may mean that the novel will appeal to readers of that sub-genre. (See also lovers of TV series such as Afterlife, The Dead Zone, and The Ghost Whisperer.) Again, though, don’t go expecting full-on horror stories, though – it’s not what David was about.
In summary, Rhyming Rings is an interesting but not totally successful attempt to try something different from a talented author. Despite my own issues, based on this, it is quite possible to see that, given time, David could have ended up with an author’s alternative career. (It has happened to others – see also Christopher Fowler and Stephen King, for example.) But Rhyming Rings isn’t quite there, for me at least. Worth a look, but not for everyone.
Rhyming Rings by David Gemmell
Published by Gollancz, May 2017
9781473219922
256 pages
Review by Mark Yon
