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The Broken Ones
It's the near future and the world has descended into chaos. On the surface, everything looks the same yet the unthinkable has happened... the dead have risen.
Everyone is haunted by a dead relative, friend, spouse, or stranger, and these spirits are unshakable, silent and watching. No one is safe. Governments the world over fail to deal with the epidemic, they begin to lose control of their economies and their resources. Their people. Crime is rife, and murders commonplace. But who is responsible: the ghosts or the people?
Finding out is where Detective Oscar Mariani comes in, although it s nearly impossible to run a department when you can t even see half the suspects. His strike rate is embarrassingly low.
Then he stumbles into a case that cuts through his apathy and depression, a case that suggests a ritualistic, brutal serial killer attracted to innocent young women at work and one that, unfortunately for Mariani and his less jaded partner, implicates those in high places.
However, if he can solve it, and keep alive himself, he may be able to exorcise his own ghostly shadow, a dead young man who might just have something to say.
Mixing police procedural, suspense and horror, Stephen M. Irwin's new book is a compelling, knuckle-whitening ride.
Everyone is haunted by a dead relative, friend, spouse, or stranger, and these spirits are unshakable, silent and watching. No one is safe. Governments the world over fail to deal with the epidemic, they begin to lose control of their economies and their resources. Their people. Crime is rife, and murders commonplace. But who is responsible: the ghosts or the people?
Finding out is where Detective Oscar Mariani comes in, although it s nearly impossible to run a department when you can t even see half the suspects. His strike rate is embarrassingly low.
Then he stumbles into a case that cuts through his apathy and depression, a case that suggests a ritualistic, brutal serial killer attracted to innocent young women at work and one that, unfortunately for Mariani and his less jaded partner, implicates those in high places.
However, if he can solve it, and keep alive himself, he may be able to exorcise his own ghostly shadow, a dead young man who might just have something to say.
Mixing police procedural, suspense and horror, Stephen M. Irwin's new book is a compelling, knuckle-whitening ride.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2011
52 people are currently reading
1801 people want to read
About the author
Stephen M. Irwin
11 books162 followersStephen has a background in film and documentary production, and continues to develop stories and screenplays for film and television producers. Stephen's short films and short stories have won awards and competitions around the world. He is the author of thrillers The Dead Path and The Broken Ones. He lives in Brisbane with his wife, two young children, and black cat. He regularly checks his driveway to see if anyone nice has left a '65 Fastback Mustang there. No luck so far.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
June 3, 2019
more genre-smooshery!
a supernatural post-apocalyptic detective story with both horror and mythological elements. phew.
also: a lot of graphic and grotesque descriptions, so the squeamish should back slowly away from this review, because this book rolls around, descriptively, in corpse-decomposition, what happens to a body when it falls into a grinding device, and how it feels to go wrist-deep into busy and bitey roaches...
all good things.in books.
it's between three and four stars for me, but i was feeling generous.
so, the earth's polarity has switched, somehow, (which we are told first-page in a pretty clunky expositional "editorial piece"), causing planes to drop out of the sky, crippling telecommunications, ruining the world economy, and also, somehow, giving each and every person on earth their own ghost which follows them every step of their day, watching them live their lives, and driving many people quite mad. usually, the ghost is someone known to the attached party, but our protag, detective mariani, does not know his young boy-ghost, and he does not want to, because at the moment all of this pole-switching and ghost-acquiring happened, when the world was in complete chaos, he had no way of knowing this child was a ghost, and, swerving to avoid him, hit and crippled a young girl. which anyone else would have written off as the unfortunate but understandable side effect of the confusing situation, but over which he feels soul-killing guilt, and he is still paying off the girl's father, even though he is himself in horrible financial shape, and most of his other transactions are on the barter system, like prison.
he is the head of the spookiest of all police departments in australia, which investigates occult crimes, mostly "my ghost made me do it," etc. it has become somewhat of a joke to the rest of the squad, he has gone through many partners, and his guilt and empathy cause him to make decisions that are less-than-great for his career.
that's a lot of plot, but there is a lot going on here.
so imma rush the rest - young girls start showing up dead with occult markings, there is a blind seer, an arcane scholar, a tiny amputee, dead animals, a mysterious wealthy woman, a suspicious caregiver, a skinny chauffeur, a pathological masturbator, a tranny hooker, police corruption, a disgraced doctor, and a giant fucking bird.
seriously - it is a giant stew of a novel, and i hardly did it any justice here, but once all its flavors blend, it is indeed a delicious treat.
come to my blog!
a supernatural post-apocalyptic detective story with both horror and mythological elements. phew.
also: a lot of graphic and grotesque descriptions, so the squeamish should back slowly away from this review, because this book rolls around, descriptively, in corpse-decomposition, what happens to a body when it falls into a grinding device, and how it feels to go wrist-deep into busy and bitey roaches...
all good things.in books.
it's between three and four stars for me, but i was feeling generous.
so, the earth's polarity has switched, somehow, (which we are told first-page in a pretty clunky expositional "editorial piece"), causing planes to drop out of the sky, crippling telecommunications, ruining the world economy, and also, somehow, giving each and every person on earth their own ghost which follows them every step of their day, watching them live their lives, and driving many people quite mad. usually, the ghost is someone known to the attached party, but our protag, detective mariani, does not know his young boy-ghost, and he does not want to, because at the moment all of this pole-switching and ghost-acquiring happened, when the world was in complete chaos, he had no way of knowing this child was a ghost, and, swerving to avoid him, hit and crippled a young girl. which anyone else would have written off as the unfortunate but understandable side effect of the confusing situation, but over which he feels soul-killing guilt, and he is still paying off the girl's father, even though he is himself in horrible financial shape, and most of his other transactions are on the barter system, like prison.
he is the head of the spookiest of all police departments in australia, which investigates occult crimes, mostly "my ghost made me do it," etc. it has become somewhat of a joke to the rest of the squad, he has gone through many partners, and his guilt and empathy cause him to make decisions that are less-than-great for his career.
that's a lot of plot, but there is a lot going on here.
so imma rush the rest - young girls start showing up dead with occult markings, there is a blind seer, an arcane scholar, a tiny amputee, dead animals, a mysterious wealthy woman, a suspicious caregiver, a skinny chauffeur, a pathological masturbator, a tranny hooker, police corruption, a disgraced doctor, and a giant fucking bird.
seriously - it is a giant stew of a novel, and i hardly did it any justice here, but once all its flavors blend, it is indeed a delicious treat.
come to my blog!
November 21, 2021
On "Gray Wednesday" the Earth's poles suddenly reverse, world electronics are thrown into disarray, and ghosts suddenly appear. Every human being gets their own ghost, visible only to themselves, who shadows them 24/7.
The ghosts are so disturbing that some people go insane and ghost-induced murders become pardonable offenses.
Three years later police detective Oscar Mariani starts to investigate the torture/murder of a teenage girl who has a strange 7-pointed star carved into her stomach.
This is an especially distressing case for Oscar because he badly injured a teenage girl when the sudden appearance of his ghost on Gray Wednesday caused him to swerve his car.
Oscar's police colleagues and superiors want him to hand off the case but Oscar refuses. The disappearance of additional girls convinces Oscar that a serial killer is at work, and - despite many barriers thrown in his path - Oscar continues to hunt the murderer.
Oscar's investigation leads him to bizarre and dangerous situations that endanger his and his police partner's lives. It's an engrossing story that contains supernatural creatures, bad cops, beautiful women, disgraced friends and more...all leading to a satisfying conclusion.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
April 26, 2023
Our guests that arrived on September 10 three years ago seem fixed to stay; the psychological impact of their arrival may have to be judged by future generations. In the menatime, our economies run flat and our stomachs get emptier.
The question remains: Where is the silver lining? Where, in short, is the hope?
3.5 Stars
The world is still in turmoil after the events of Gray Wednesday, when on September 10th the earth's poles switched. Aircraft fell from the sky and global telecommunications failed. Unemployment skyrocketed to 21 percent while those lucky to have jobs salaries were cut by 70 percent. The dead returned, in the form of ghosts haunting every person with someone only they could see. Brothers, uncles, sisters, daughters, friends they followed one person's daily life with their dark eyes.
The Broken Ones follows Detective Oscar Mariani a cop in the world where claiming your ghost drove you to kill is a valid defense. His job is to determine the liars, and his department is in danger as he has difficulty closing cases. But when he runs into a case that is in danger of becoming just another statistic, and is being helped there by those higher up, he is in a dangerous race to find the victim's and the killer's identity.
This book was wonderfully creepy, and while the cop that has to right a past wrong is a story element that has been done so many times before, I love the way it is done here.
The story is mixture of dystopian, horror, mystery and mythology all thrown in together and somehow it works. In part due to the well developed protagonist and great writing that created a creepy atmosphere.
Lightning flashed again, and Oscar could see the pits where the boy's eyes should be - like finger holes poked into wet dark sand. Lidless and shifting and worming.
I had been looking for a good ghost story and this one fit the bill. It wasn't quite a sleep-with-the-light-on horror story, and it did have its flaws, but all in all it kept me turning those pages and loving it, and isn't that what this is all about?
Cross posted at Kaora's Corner.
The question remains: Where is the silver lining? Where, in short, is the hope?
3.5 Stars
The world is still in turmoil after the events of Gray Wednesday, when on September 10th the earth's poles switched. Aircraft fell from the sky and global telecommunications failed. Unemployment skyrocketed to 21 percent while those lucky to have jobs salaries were cut by 70 percent. The dead returned, in the form of ghosts haunting every person with someone only they could see. Brothers, uncles, sisters, daughters, friends they followed one person's daily life with their dark eyes.
The Broken Ones follows Detective Oscar Mariani a cop in the world where claiming your ghost drove you to kill is a valid defense. His job is to determine the liars, and his department is in danger as he has difficulty closing cases. But when he runs into a case that is in danger of becoming just another statistic, and is being helped there by those higher up, he is in a dangerous race to find the victim's and the killer's identity.
This book was wonderfully creepy, and while the cop that has to right a past wrong is a story element that has been done so many times before, I love the way it is done here.
The story is mixture of dystopian, horror, mystery and mythology all thrown in together and somehow it works. In part due to the well developed protagonist and great writing that created a creepy atmosphere.
Lightning flashed again, and Oscar could see the pits where the boy's eyes should be - like finger holes poked into wet dark sand. Lidless and shifting and worming.
I had been looking for a good ghost story and this one fit the bill. It wasn't quite a sleep-with-the-light-on horror story, and it did have its flaws, but all in all it kept me turning those pages and loving it, and isn't that what this is all about?
Cross posted at Kaora's Corner.
June 20, 2012
3.5 stars
This one's tough to classify. It mostly feels like a detective novel, but then there's the matter of that pesky cataclysmic event. Three years ago the world turned upside down -- literally. The earth's poles switched places and destruction reigned. Planes and satellites fell out of the sky, cars went smashing about, and the worldwide economy fell in the toilet.
And oh, by the way, everyone now has a private ghost that never leaves them alone. Cocktail party chatter regularly includes the question, "Who is yours?" -- meaning who is your ghost. Some are dead relatives, some are complete strangers, and their constant presence is driving people to madness.
Aussie detective Oscar Mariani is assigned to a unit investigating crimes committed by people whose personal ghosts may have driven them insane. Someone is mutilating and killing young girls in ritualistic fashion. Are they trying to call forth or appease supernatural beings?
Along with the murder mystery, there are semi-dystopian elements here, and just a whiff of horror. I was concerned that it might be too gruesome or violent for me, but it's not any worse than other novels of its kind. There are some grisly bits, but nothing felt calculated to gross people out.
This is a complex novel, and Irwin juggles his plot eggs admirably most of the time. The character of Oscar Mariani is richly developed. His rogue cop status and the past that haunts him give the story more depth than I'd expected.
I did find it hard to keep track of the large cast of minor characters, and found myself flipping back through the pages each time they were mentioned to remember how they fit in. There are also a few holes that interrupted a seamless flow and left me scratching my head. For example, one character is handcuffed with his hands behind his back. Then suddenly he's shooting a gun, with no mention of how he got out of the handcuffs. But these are just quibbles that kept me from rating the book a little higher.
Recommended for fans of detective novels with a touch of the supernatural and a mild dystopian flavor.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
This one's tough to classify. It mostly feels like a detective novel, but then there's the matter of that pesky cataclysmic event. Three years ago the world turned upside down -- literally. The earth's poles switched places and destruction reigned. Planes and satellites fell out of the sky, cars went smashing about, and the worldwide economy fell in the toilet.
And oh, by the way, everyone now has a private ghost that never leaves them alone. Cocktail party chatter regularly includes the question, "Who is yours?" -- meaning who is your ghost. Some are dead relatives, some are complete strangers, and their constant presence is driving people to madness.
Aussie detective Oscar Mariani is assigned to a unit investigating crimes committed by people whose personal ghosts may have driven them insane. Someone is mutilating and killing young girls in ritualistic fashion. Are they trying to call forth or appease supernatural beings?
Along with the murder mystery, there are semi-dystopian elements here, and just a whiff of horror. I was concerned that it might be too gruesome or violent for me, but it's not any worse than other novels of its kind. There are some grisly bits, but nothing felt calculated to gross people out.
This is a complex novel, and Irwin juggles his plot eggs admirably most of the time. The character of Oscar Mariani is richly developed. His rogue cop status and the past that haunts him give the story more depth than I'd expected.
I did find it hard to keep track of the large cast of minor characters, and found myself flipping back through the pages each time they were mentioned to remember how they fit in. There are also a few holes that interrupted a seamless flow and left me scratching my head. For example, one character is handcuffed with his hands behind his back. Then suddenly he's shooting a gun, with no mention of how he got out of the handcuffs. But these are just quibbles that kept me from rating the book a little higher.
Recommended for fans of detective novels with a touch of the supernatural and a mild dystopian flavor.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
November 29, 2020
If you're looking for a post-apocalyptical, paranormal, grotesquely descriptive, "twisted" in more than one use of the word detective story - then this is the book for you!
Having recently enjoyed The Dead Path for the second time, I decided to give Stephen Irwin's second novel a try. While quite different in tone, there is one immediate similarity: Ghosts. Like The Dead Path, The Broken Ones has a lot going on, including a connection to the occult!
Readers will have to decide for themselves if there is too much going on here, too many characters to keep track of - I surely decided so. Accolades for unique originality are rightly bestowed on Stephen M. Irwin, but I much preferred The Dead Path.
Favorite Passages:
On that Wednesday - commonly known as Gray Wednesday in the West, Black Wednesday in Russia, and the innocuous Day of Change in the People's Republic of China - few of us could have predicted how different our world would be today, three years on. None of us could have been expected to; no single event has so definitively tied psychological harm to economic depression and technological failure. The hallmarks of disaster, though, were instantly apparent: at just after 10:00 GMT,
______
Our guests that arrived on September 10 three years ago seem fixed to stay; the psychological impact of their arrival may have to be judged by future generations. In the meantime, our economies run flat and our stomachs get emptier. The question remains: Where is the silver lining? Where, in short, is the hope?
______
The fridge was the yellow of an old tooth.
______
One stubbled cheek gaped open in a strange new mouth, a slit rimmed with blood. His neck, hands, arms and buttocks had all been stabbed. Some of the wounds still leaked.
______
"The dead bastard has stolen my life."
______
"You say a ghost made you kill your husband."
______
"If you were attacking the ghost of your uncle, Mrs. Tambassis, why didn't you stop when you realized it was your husband? Why did you continue to stab him more than thirty times?"
______
I have opened the curtain of bone.
______
"The star of seven points is also called the Faery Star, or Elven Star. Some pagans believe it shows the four cardinal directions - north, south, east, west - as well as above, below, and inside . . . within. Some Wiccans believes it helps open the way to the realm of Faerie."
_____
The belief that spirits govern all aspects of earth and life. They live in stones, trees, animals, and they can be called upon to render assistance, to give comfort, confer favors -- "
"To intervene," Oscar said.
"Exactly. If they are called correctly and given appropriate offerings. The veve - they are like doors, or keys, or . . . hmm." She searched for the word. She looked outside to Lovering, but he was snoring lightly, the teacup on his belly. "The towers with the lights?"
"Lighthouses?" Oscar said.
She nodded. "Yes. Lighthouses to attract the Loa, the spirits. Like nasty moths."
______
Winter sunlight was a bright shout, spearing down between lush green leaves and bouncing countless diamonds off frosted car windscreens.
______
Sandro claimed he didn't bring his work home, but he did: not in words but in artic silences where he'd stop mid-sentence to stare for long minutes at something deep in his own mind, and in his sudden bursts of white-hot anger at a drawer that wouldn't close properly or a pen that had run out of ink. Oscar would look at his mother, who would smile softly, shake her head, and remind him that Papa would be fine in a minute or two. But that night, two decades ago, the dread quiet had been so profound, and his father's sleepless pacing through the hall so untouchable, that Oscar thought the house would be frozen by sadness forever.
_____
Everly House and its rambling grounds were starkly incongruous with the plain, tall brick faces of warehouse buildings that boxed them in, making Oscar feel as if he were miniature and walking at the bottom of a box in a diorama creation of a secret garden that had somehow been corrupted by being left too long in shadow.
. . .
Thin light washed in through a stained-glass window depicting native lizards climbing a fire-wheel tree. Oscar rang the bell and listened to the chime echo down the halls.
_____
. . . the stadium was a dangerous place to solicit: a thorny blueberry patch within a minefield.
_____
"All billowy curtains and shit, whoosh-whoosh. Pushed through. Smelled of incense and that mystic shit." There's a card table with silky shit on top, a mirror made of some shiny metal shit, maybe brass, and then more of those fucking curtains. 'Hello?' I say, and the whirring stops. The curtain opens, and there's this nice-looking bitch with her arms covered in - " She hunted for the word.
"Shit?" Oscar offered.
"Clay. Potters clay. And an oven."
"A stove?"
"No, a clay oven."
"A kiln."
"Yeah. An oven for clay," the girl said, as if he was a cretin, and pointed him down a side street. "She made little clay things: animals, moons, stars, shit. And she had a nice little kitchen, little bed, radio. Nice."
______
Stars were diamonds, the moon a fingernail. The air was ice-cold. "How do we kill a rabbit?"
The sun had not yet risen, and the sky in the east was a smudge of light no particular color. His new daddy was in a good mood. Oscar followed the man as he walked over tufts of grass the tinkled and snapped under their gum boots. Oscar could not remember ever having been so cold. Frost covered the paddocks, and loops of frozen dew hung from fence wires like dark-gray pearls. The air was so still that the man's voice, only a whisper, was almost shockingly loud. Oscar's six-year-old heart pounded, because he carried a gun.
______
A skull lay beside him, staring.
Oscar yelled. He flailed and tried to roll away, and struck his nose against the cold metal of the exhaust pipe and rolled back.
It was not a skull but a face. A face with no eyes. Behind each lid was black, depthless well that fell into nothing.
_______
"A demon, I think. An owl. Wings. But it's a she."
Gelareh's eyebrows rose a little.
"Breasts?" she asked. "Sex organs?"
"Both. Quite exposed. And a seven-pointed star on her back."
_______
Oscar moved through the crowd like a ghost.
. . . .
In the center of the room hung a chandelier as large and brilliant as a firework frozen in ice.
_______
"This was only the second house in the country to have a telephone."
"Very sensible to wait till there was someone else to call."
_______
"They want to cut me open," he said. Every word was an effort. He drew an unsteady finger down his sternum. "Fft. Like a corpse."
_______
. . . molestation of the girl included carving what the prosecution described as "occult markings" into her breasts, buttocks, and inner thighs.
_______
Burned brothel. Burned butchery. Burned prison laundry. Coincidences?
_______
The ghostly impressions of words intersected and blurred; only three were legible: "charcoal" and "cinnamon incense."
_______
Symbols. Rituals. Murder.
Burn, burn, burn.
_______
_______
Every square inch of the ceiling was covered with papers. Hundreds of sheets were pinned by thumbtacks to the ceiling, and they jittered and flapped in the wind. And every page was filled, either with words or with drawings or symbols. Some were English, some Latin, some French; hundreds more were covered with the rune-like cuneiform Oscar had seen on the idol, and on Penny Roth. Pictographs and hieroglyphs: Egyptian, Chinese, Mesoamerican. And symbols: veves, crosses, swastikas, ankhs, eyes of Horus, signs of the zodiac, and stars. Dozens and dozens of seven-pointed stars.
_______
______
"She tried to have me killed."
"I find that hard to believe." Karl smiled. "Given how you're alive."
______
The ballroom felt as large as a canyon. The very air seemed to promise a long, terrifying fall, as if it yawned not only up to high ceilings but down into fatal, endless depths. The feeling of emptiness was so palpable that it took all his will to keep moving forward; every step threatened a cliff edge. Where a few nights ago the room had sparkled with constellations of candles, no there was just one light; a greenish glow, tiny at the end of the darkness.
My dream, Oscar thought. I am shuffling in my dream.
His heart began to rock behind his ribs. The light was the same, unearthly green glow at the end of the tunnel, the glow that would become a tapestry larger than a sail, clattering with bones and skulls. And behind it waited something ready and hungry.
He didn't want to go up there.
She'll be waiting. Behind the curtain of bone.
_______
His vision was cloaked in black, and the three bodies around Megan seemed to be at the end of a tunnel. Fifteen feet but it looked fifty. They were tiny figures, little puppets on a diorama.
_______
A flicker, but it might have been lightning, A sister flash, from Moechtar, as small as a firefly in a distant willow grove. People were moving, and then they were gone.
All was green. Soft as moss. Dark. A curtain. Something tinkled, like bones on a butcher's block.
Tick-tap-tick.
Or dice in a wooden bowl.
Or . . .
_______
The woman was returning through the dark hallway - a black form in a gray, nestlike tunnel. It was perhaps a trick of the half-light, but the tunnel itself looked wider, higher, darker. The birds looked as large as mastiffs, and the cats as long as crocodiles . . . and the woman herself was tall, so much taller, filling the hallway. Her feet did not pad but clacked on the flagstones, and from her back spread not shadows but dark and powerful wings. But it was her face that trapped Oscar's eyes. It was beautiful still, but beautiful in the way an eagle in flight is beautiful. Inhuman. Her eyes were wide and large and the color of liquid copper. Her nose was long, hard, curved over her mouth. It dripped.
_______
But in the late light her face and skin and dress were red. Red, the color of fresh, thick blood.
_______
She smiled and drew aside the curtain of wood and tiny beads. As she held the strands aside, he saw that the beads were not pottery at all. They were tiny, carefully painted knuckle bones.
Then the screaming started.
_______
". . . that fucking butcher bitch."
_______
The corpse had been flayed: her face and breast and the skin of her arms and legs had been ripped from her body. The gouges in the bones of her skull and anterior rib cage were, in places, a quarter inch deep. Her eyes had been plucked out, and her soft organs torn and savaged. Many chunks, Foley said, were just plain missing. He'd looked at Oscar, wanting more, but Oscar had said nothing.
Having recently enjoyed The Dead Path for the second time, I decided to give Stephen Irwin's second novel a try. While quite different in tone, there is one immediate similarity: Ghosts. Like The Dead Path, The Broken Ones has a lot going on, including a connection to the occult!
Readers will have to decide for themselves if there is too much going on here, too many characters to keep track of - I surely decided so. Accolades for unique originality are rightly bestowed on Stephen M. Irwin, but I much preferred The Dead Path.
Favorite Passages:
On that Wednesday - commonly known as Gray Wednesday in the West, Black Wednesday in Russia, and the innocuous Day of Change in the People's Republic of China - few of us could have predicted how different our world would be today, three years on. None of us could have been expected to; no single event has so definitively tied psychological harm to economic depression and technological failure. The hallmarks of disaster, though, were instantly apparent: at just after 10:00 GMT,
______
Our guests that arrived on September 10 three years ago seem fixed to stay; the psychological impact of their arrival may have to be judged by future generations. In the meantime, our economies run flat and our stomachs get emptier. The question remains: Where is the silver lining? Where, in short, is the hope?
______
The fridge was the yellow of an old tooth.
______
One stubbled cheek gaped open in a strange new mouth, a slit rimmed with blood. His neck, hands, arms and buttocks had all been stabbed. Some of the wounds still leaked.
______
"The dead bastard has stolen my life."
______
"You say a ghost made you kill your husband."
______
"If you were attacking the ghost of your uncle, Mrs. Tambassis, why didn't you stop when you realized it was your husband? Why did you continue to stab him more than thirty times?"
______
I have opened the curtain of bone.
______
"The star of seven points is also called the Faery Star, or Elven Star. Some pagans believe it shows the four cardinal directions - north, south, east, west - as well as above, below, and inside . . . within. Some Wiccans believes it helps open the way to the realm of Faerie."
_____
The belief that spirits govern all aspects of earth and life. They live in stones, trees, animals, and they can be called upon to render assistance, to give comfort, confer favors -- "
"To intervene," Oscar said.
"Exactly. If they are called correctly and given appropriate offerings. The veve - they are like doors, or keys, or . . . hmm." She searched for the word. She looked outside to Lovering, but he was snoring lightly, the teacup on his belly. "The towers with the lights?"
"Lighthouses?" Oscar said.
She nodded. "Yes. Lighthouses to attract the Loa, the spirits. Like nasty moths."
______
Winter sunlight was a bright shout, spearing down between lush green leaves and bouncing countless diamonds off frosted car windscreens.
______
Sandro claimed he didn't bring his work home, but he did: not in words but in artic silences where he'd stop mid-sentence to stare for long minutes at something deep in his own mind, and in his sudden bursts of white-hot anger at a drawer that wouldn't close properly or a pen that had run out of ink. Oscar would look at his mother, who would smile softly, shake her head, and remind him that Papa would be fine in a minute or two. But that night, two decades ago, the dread quiet had been so profound, and his father's sleepless pacing through the hall so untouchable, that Oscar thought the house would be frozen by sadness forever.
_____
Everly House and its rambling grounds were starkly incongruous with the plain, tall brick faces of warehouse buildings that boxed them in, making Oscar feel as if he were miniature and walking at the bottom of a box in a diorama creation of a secret garden that had somehow been corrupted by being left too long in shadow.
. . .
Thin light washed in through a stained-glass window depicting native lizards climbing a fire-wheel tree. Oscar rang the bell and listened to the chime echo down the halls.
_____
. . . the stadium was a dangerous place to solicit: a thorny blueberry patch within a minefield.
_____
"All billowy curtains and shit, whoosh-whoosh. Pushed through. Smelled of incense and that mystic shit." There's a card table with silky shit on top, a mirror made of some shiny metal shit, maybe brass, and then more of those fucking curtains. 'Hello?' I say, and the whirring stops. The curtain opens, and there's this nice-looking bitch with her arms covered in - " She hunted for the word.
"Shit?" Oscar offered.
"Clay. Potters clay. And an oven."
"A stove?"
"No, a clay oven."
"A kiln."
"Yeah. An oven for clay," the girl said, as if he was a cretin, and pointed him down a side street. "She made little clay things: animals, moons, stars, shit. And she had a nice little kitchen, little bed, radio. Nice."
______
Stars were diamonds, the moon a fingernail. The air was ice-cold. "How do we kill a rabbit?"
The sun had not yet risen, and the sky in the east was a smudge of light no particular color. His new daddy was in a good mood. Oscar followed the man as he walked over tufts of grass the tinkled and snapped under their gum boots. Oscar could not remember ever having been so cold. Frost covered the paddocks, and loops of frozen dew hung from fence wires like dark-gray pearls. The air was so still that the man's voice, only a whisper, was almost shockingly loud. Oscar's six-year-old heart pounded, because he carried a gun.
______
A skull lay beside him, staring.
Oscar yelled. He flailed and tried to roll away, and struck his nose against the cold metal of the exhaust pipe and rolled back.
It was not a skull but a face. A face with no eyes. Behind each lid was black, depthless well that fell into nothing.
_______
"A demon, I think. An owl. Wings. But it's a she."
Gelareh's eyebrows rose a little.
"Breasts?" she asked. "Sex organs?"
"Both. Quite exposed. And a seven-pointed star on her back."
_______
Oscar moved through the crowd like a ghost.
. . . .
In the center of the room hung a chandelier as large and brilliant as a firework frozen in ice.
_______
"This was only the second house in the country to have a telephone."
"Very sensible to wait till there was someone else to call."
_______
"They want to cut me open," he said. Every word was an effort. He drew an unsteady finger down his sternum. "Fft. Like a corpse."
_______
. . . molestation of the girl included carving what the prosecution described as "occult markings" into her breasts, buttocks, and inner thighs.
_______
Burned brothel. Burned butchery. Burned prison laundry. Coincidences?
_______
The ghostly impressions of words intersected and blurred; only three were legible: "charcoal" and "cinnamon incense."
_______
Symbols. Rituals. Murder.
Burn, burn, burn.
_______
_______
Every square inch of the ceiling was covered with papers. Hundreds of sheets were pinned by thumbtacks to the ceiling, and they jittered and flapped in the wind. And every page was filled, either with words or with drawings or symbols. Some were English, some Latin, some French; hundreds more were covered with the rune-like cuneiform Oscar had seen on the idol, and on Penny Roth. Pictographs and hieroglyphs: Egyptian, Chinese, Mesoamerican. And symbols: veves, crosses, swastikas, ankhs, eyes of Horus, signs of the zodiac, and stars. Dozens and dozens of seven-pointed stars.
_______
______
"She tried to have me killed."
"I find that hard to believe." Karl smiled. "Given how you're alive."
______
The ballroom felt as large as a canyon. The very air seemed to promise a long, terrifying fall, as if it yawned not only up to high ceilings but down into fatal, endless depths. The feeling of emptiness was so palpable that it took all his will to keep moving forward; every step threatened a cliff edge. Where a few nights ago the room had sparkled with constellations of candles, no there was just one light; a greenish glow, tiny at the end of the darkness.
My dream, Oscar thought. I am shuffling in my dream.
His heart began to rock behind his ribs. The light was the same, unearthly green glow at the end of the tunnel, the glow that would become a tapestry larger than a sail, clattering with bones and skulls. And behind it waited something ready and hungry.
He didn't want to go up there.
She'll be waiting. Behind the curtain of bone.
_______
His vision was cloaked in black, and the three bodies around Megan seemed to be at the end of a tunnel. Fifteen feet but it looked fifty. They were tiny figures, little puppets on a diorama.
_______
A flicker, but it might have been lightning, A sister flash, from Moechtar, as small as a firefly in a distant willow grove. People were moving, and then they were gone.
All was green. Soft as moss. Dark. A curtain. Something tinkled, like bones on a butcher's block.
Tick-tap-tick.
Or dice in a wooden bowl.
Or . . .
_______
The woman was returning through the dark hallway - a black form in a gray, nestlike tunnel. It was perhaps a trick of the half-light, but the tunnel itself looked wider, higher, darker. The birds looked as large as mastiffs, and the cats as long as crocodiles . . . and the woman herself was tall, so much taller, filling the hallway. Her feet did not pad but clacked on the flagstones, and from her back spread not shadows but dark and powerful wings. But it was her face that trapped Oscar's eyes. It was beautiful still, but beautiful in the way an eagle in flight is beautiful. Inhuman. Her eyes were wide and large and the color of liquid copper. Her nose was long, hard, curved over her mouth. It dripped.
_______
But in the late light her face and skin and dress were red. Red, the color of fresh, thick blood.
_______
She smiled and drew aside the curtain of wood and tiny beads. As she held the strands aside, he saw that the beads were not pottery at all. They were tiny, carefully painted knuckle bones.
Then the screaming started.
_______
". . . that fucking butcher bitch."
_______
The corpse had been flayed: her face and breast and the skin of her arms and legs had been ripped from her body. The gouges in the bones of her skull and anterior rib cage were, in places, a quarter inch deep. Her eyes had been plucked out, and her soft organs torn and savaged. Many chunks, Foley said, were just plain missing. He'd looked at Oscar, wanting more, but Oscar had said nothing.
April 6, 2013
The Broken Ones
review
Book Info: Genre: Paranormal Horror/Thriller Suspense Noir Reading Level: Adult book available 8/7/12
Disclosure: I received a free paperback ARC from Doubleday in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: Award-winning author Stephen M. Irwin returns with a thrilling, supernatural crime novel built around an intriguing question: What happens when every single person is haunted by a ghost only they can see?
Without warning, a boy in the middle of a city intersection sends Detective Oscar Mariani's car careening into a busy sidewalk. The scene is bedlam as every person becomes visited by something no one else can see. We are all haunted. Usually, the apparition is someone known: a lost relative, a lover, an enemy. But not always. For Oscar Mariani, the only secret that matters is the unknown ghost who now shares his every waking moment . . . and why.
The worldwide aftershock of what becomes known as "Gray Wednesday" is immediate and catastrophic, leaving governments barely functioning and economies devastated . . . but some things don't change. When Detective Mariani discovers the grisly remains of an anonymous murder victim in the city sewage system, his investigation will pit him against a corrupt police department and a murky cabal conspiring for power in the new world order.
My Thoughts: I was absolutely thrilled when Doubleday contacted me about receiving an ARC of Stephen Irwin’s latest book! I loved his first book, The Dead Path , and have been excitedly awaiting another book by this wonderfully talented author.
A phrase haunts Mariani: I have parted the curtain of bone. He keeps hearing it in his head at odd times and in strange circumstances. Intricate is, I believe, a good word to use to describe the plot in this book – intricate, and twisting, and full of danger. The premise of this book is just fascinating – it is the 2nd book I’ve read within the past year that deals with the repercussions of a sudden flip in the magnetic poles (the other being Resonance by A.J. Scudiere, review linked here), but the results of this one (other than the usual results of technological disarray and climatological changes) are particularly odd, with the appearance of a personal ghost for each person. The ghost is unable to speak (although some try), and they are always there, and this has led to an increase in mental-health issues. As a result, the Nine Ten department is formed in the police departments; they are responsible for evaluating cases where the suspect claims they did what they did due to their ghost.
There are a lot of arcane symbols described in this book, such as the fairy star
and the veve symbol used to call Baron Samedi in voudon.
I would have really liked to have seen illustrations, honestly; while I was obviously able to find images, they aren’t exactly the same as those described, and there is more to the image than I was able to find. Ereshkigal and Lilith are both mentioned; I was absolutely delighted that the author gave an accurate representation of Ereshkigal’s true nature toward the end of the book. It is so rare that authors go beyond the “approved” ideas of these Goddesses and find their true meaning.
While this book probably won’t be for everyone, I absolutely loved it. It fulfilled every expectation I had for Irwin’s follow-up to his first terrific novel, and I can’t recommend his books enough. If this sounds like the sort of book you like, do not hesitate to pick it up when it comes available.
Book Info: Genre: Paranormal Horror/Thriller Suspense Noir Reading Level: Adult book available 8/7/12
Disclosure: I received a free paperback ARC from Doubleday in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: Award-winning author Stephen M. Irwin returns with a thrilling, supernatural crime novel built around an intriguing question: What happens when every single person is haunted by a ghost only they can see?
Without warning, a boy in the middle of a city intersection sends Detective Oscar Mariani's car careening into a busy sidewalk. The scene is bedlam as every person becomes visited by something no one else can see. We are all haunted. Usually, the apparition is someone known: a lost relative, a lover, an enemy. But not always. For Oscar Mariani, the only secret that matters is the unknown ghost who now shares his every waking moment . . . and why.
The worldwide aftershock of what becomes known as "Gray Wednesday" is immediate and catastrophic, leaving governments barely functioning and economies devastated . . . but some things don't change. When Detective Mariani discovers the grisly remains of an anonymous murder victim in the city sewage system, his investigation will pit him against a corrupt police department and a murky cabal conspiring for power in the new world order.
My Thoughts: I was absolutely thrilled when Doubleday contacted me about receiving an ARC of Stephen Irwin’s latest book! I loved his first book, The Dead Path , and have been excitedly awaiting another book by this wonderfully talented author.
A phrase haunts Mariani: I have parted the curtain of bone. He keeps hearing it in his head at odd times and in strange circumstances. Intricate is, I believe, a good word to use to describe the plot in this book – intricate, and twisting, and full of danger. The premise of this book is just fascinating – it is the 2nd book I’ve read within the past year that deals with the repercussions of a sudden flip in the magnetic poles (the other being Resonance by A.J. Scudiere, review linked here), but the results of this one (other than the usual results of technological disarray and climatological changes) are particularly odd, with the appearance of a personal ghost for each person. The ghost is unable to speak (although some try), and they are always there, and this has led to an increase in mental-health issues. As a result, the Nine Ten department is formed in the police departments; they are responsible for evaluating cases where the suspect claims they did what they did due to their ghost.
There are a lot of arcane symbols described in this book, such as the fairy star
and the veve symbol used to call Baron Samedi in voudon. 
I would have really liked to have seen illustrations, honestly; while I was obviously able to find images, they aren’t exactly the same as those described, and there is more to the image than I was able to find. Ereshkigal and Lilith are both mentioned; I was absolutely delighted that the author gave an accurate representation of Ereshkigal’s true nature toward the end of the book. It is so rare that authors go beyond the “approved” ideas of these Goddesses and find their true meaning.While this book probably won’t be for everyone, I absolutely loved it. It fulfilled every expectation I had for Irwin’s follow-up to his first terrific novel, and I can’t recommend his books enough. If this sounds like the sort of book you like, do not hesitate to pick it up when it comes available.
August 31, 2012
Ok, this isn't meat and potatoes, it's buttered movie popcorn. But, boy is it good.
I'm attuned to genre expectations, but for the last ten years books really are taking genre style as a recommendation, not a command. This easily fits into three genres and I really liked it. However, because it is a Horror, some Paranormal Romance readers will be too sickened, and because it is Paranormal, some Detective/Thriller readers will be disgusted. It has ghosts, disemboweled victims and the usual disillusioned, beat-up rebellious police detective.
The ghosts were the best part for me. I wish, though, that the author revealed more about them. I am really hoping he turns this into a series.
The Earth has switched polarity with no warning. There are massive disruptions and death and destruction as a result, but wait! There's more! At the same time, suddenly everyone endures (or not) the shock of seeing a person they knew who died appearing in front of them. There are car accidents, planes falling out of the sky, power generator explosions, fires, heart attacks. The survivors discover that each living person has a permanent ghost attached to them and no one can see the other person's ghost, only their own personal one. As these ghosts tend to be mothers, spouses, children, murder victims, friends, enemies, even babies - the psychological pain is considerable and many commit suicide.
The book starts three years later in Australia, although that is not really obvious. The setting fits New York City, too. The world is now a dystopia, a sad, crumbling 'ghost' of itself. People struggle to keep jobs that pay half of what they used to, or sell what they can scrounge or make. But basically, it's still the same world, but more broken down. Oscar Mariani is barely hanging on to his job since he keeps advising his department that murderers are not at fault because of madness brought on by seeing their ghost. It's his job to determine who went mad and who actually killed with intent, and he is clearing people he knows are guilty. It's obvious Oscar is feeling very depressed, and is a little mad himself. However, his ghost is a boy he does not recognize or understand why he's attached himself. But Oscar cannot bear his ghost because when he suddenly popped into sight in front of Oscar, he crashed the car he was driving and maimed a girl. Because of Oscar's poor performance, the squad room is avoiding him, since everyone feels he will be demoted or fired soon. His 6th partner is thinking of asking for transfer. His father, an ex-cop, barely talks to him and is failing in health. Then, a young girl is found in a horrific condition, but enough remains of her to see ancient Mesopotamian/Egyptian/Persian symbols carved on her few remaining bits, and Oscar knows this is big.
I had some problems with the paranormal parts, since Oscar seemed very slow to jump to obvious conclusions and responses, and suspension of some critical thinking will increase the enjoyment. I thought this was a 4 star, really, but the ghost thing was very interesting, so I bumped up my rating. I will be adding this author's books to my 'Watch for new releases' list. Also, I think it is a Detective genre the most.
I'm attuned to genre expectations, but for the last ten years books really are taking genre style as a recommendation, not a command. This easily fits into three genres and I really liked it. However, because it is a Horror, some Paranormal Romance readers will be too sickened, and because it is Paranormal, some Detective/Thriller readers will be disgusted. It has ghosts, disemboweled victims and the usual disillusioned, beat-up rebellious police detective.
The ghosts were the best part for me. I wish, though, that the author revealed more about them. I am really hoping he turns this into a series.
The Earth has switched polarity with no warning. There are massive disruptions and death and destruction as a result, but wait! There's more! At the same time, suddenly everyone endures (or not) the shock of seeing a person they knew who died appearing in front of them. There are car accidents, planes falling out of the sky, power generator explosions, fires, heart attacks. The survivors discover that each living person has a permanent ghost attached to them and no one can see the other person's ghost, only their own personal one. As these ghosts tend to be mothers, spouses, children, murder victims, friends, enemies, even babies - the psychological pain is considerable and many commit suicide.
The book starts three years later in Australia, although that is not really obvious. The setting fits New York City, too. The world is now a dystopia, a sad, crumbling 'ghost' of itself. People struggle to keep jobs that pay half of what they used to, or sell what they can scrounge or make. But basically, it's still the same world, but more broken down. Oscar Mariani is barely hanging on to his job since he keeps advising his department that murderers are not at fault because of madness brought on by seeing their ghost. It's his job to determine who went mad and who actually killed with intent, and he is clearing people he knows are guilty. It's obvious Oscar is feeling very depressed, and is a little mad himself. However, his ghost is a boy he does not recognize or understand why he's attached himself. But Oscar cannot bear his ghost because when he suddenly popped into sight in front of Oscar, he crashed the car he was driving and maimed a girl. Because of Oscar's poor performance, the squad room is avoiding him, since everyone feels he will be demoted or fired soon. His 6th partner is thinking of asking for transfer. His father, an ex-cop, barely talks to him and is failing in health. Then, a young girl is found in a horrific condition, but enough remains of her to see ancient Mesopotamian/Egyptian/Persian symbols carved on her few remaining bits, and Oscar knows this is big.
I had some problems with the paranormal parts, since Oscar seemed very slow to jump to obvious conclusions and responses, and suspension of some critical thinking will increase the enjoyment. I thought this was a 4 star, really, but the ghost thing was very interesting, so I bumped up my rating. I will be adding this author's books to my 'Watch for new releases' list. Also, I think it is a Detective genre the most.
October 3, 2013
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
3.5 Stars
Detective Oscar Mariani is dealing with a personal ghost. In fact, everyone in the world is. You see, several years ago the world flipped on its axis bringing back the dead in a ratio of one per every live person. With a dead friend or relative as their new shadow, some people find themselves going off their rocker and committing murder. That’s where Oscar comes in. As the head of a nearly defunct department, it’s his job to say whether the ghost REALLY made you do it, or if you’re just using that excuse to avoid jail time. Now Mariani finds himself dealing with an even more bizarre situation. A young woman’s body has turned up with ritualistic carvings on her corpse and more young girls are missing. It’s up to Oscar to solve the crime – and maybe figure out who his own personal ghost is in the process.
Any T.V. watchers reading this? Remember “Friends”? Remember when Rachel made the trifle???? “It’s a trifle. It’s got all of these layers. First, there’s a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then a layer of custard (which I made from scratch), then raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sautéed with peas and onions, then a little more custard, then bananas and I just put some whipped cream on top!” “The Broken Ones” kept bringing the image of that horrific trifle to the surface of my brain the entire time I read it. Overworked detective? Good. Potential serial killer? Goooood. Maybe a satanic ritual killer even? Goodgoodgoodgoodgood. Don’t know who is bad and who is good and what is up and what is down on the rollercoaster of reading? GOOOOOOOOOD. Dystopian society? Huh???? Ghost story? Wha?????
“The Broken Ones” was a good book. The mystery kept me guessing, Oscar was a pretty fabulous main character, I read it in just a few hours so the pages were apparently turning. It just had one too many layers – like poor Rachel’s trifle/shepherd’s pie combo.
3.5 Stars
Detective Oscar Mariani is dealing with a personal ghost. In fact, everyone in the world is. You see, several years ago the world flipped on its axis bringing back the dead in a ratio of one per every live person. With a dead friend or relative as their new shadow, some people find themselves going off their rocker and committing murder. That’s where Oscar comes in. As the head of a nearly defunct department, it’s his job to say whether the ghost REALLY made you do it, or if you’re just using that excuse to avoid jail time. Now Mariani finds himself dealing with an even more bizarre situation. A young woman’s body has turned up with ritualistic carvings on her corpse and more young girls are missing. It’s up to Oscar to solve the crime – and maybe figure out who his own personal ghost is in the process.
Any T.V. watchers reading this? Remember “Friends”? Remember when Rachel made the trifle???? “It’s a trifle. It’s got all of these layers. First, there’s a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then a layer of custard (which I made from scratch), then raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sautéed with peas and onions, then a little more custard, then bananas and I just put some whipped cream on top!” “The Broken Ones” kept bringing the image of that horrific trifle to the surface of my brain the entire time I read it. Overworked detective? Good. Potential serial killer? Goooood. Maybe a satanic ritual killer even? Goodgoodgoodgoodgood. Don’t know who is bad and who is good and what is up and what is down on the rollercoaster of reading? GOOOOOOOOOD. Dystopian society? Huh???? Ghost story? Wha?????
“The Broken Ones” was a good book. The mystery kept me guessing, Oscar was a pretty fabulous main character, I read it in just a few hours so the pages were apparently turning. It just had one too many layers – like poor Rachel’s trifle/shepherd’s pie combo.
May 26, 2012
“The Broken Ones” is an extraordinarily complex second novel, well worthy of the author whose debut novel was “The Dead Path.” Set up on an unfailing premise-“Gray Wednesday,” September 10, the day every single living human on the globe was blessed-or cursed-with her or his own specifically individual ghost-the novel delves into the ramifications for economics, government, politics, and society, as well as for individuals, who must come at this each in their own way, and either make peace with the apparitions, or fail to do so. Multi-layered, with a complex set of characters, both primary and secondary, this novel is outstandingly interwoven.
Detective Constable Oscar Mariani and his partner, Detective Constable Neve de Rossa, are the only members of the Nine-Ten Unit, formed three years earlier to sign off on the authenticity of confessions of “the ghost made me do it,” or something similar-cases in which the perpetrator genuinely believed he or she was killing off their personal apparition. The “Barely” Unit, as it is widely and scathingly known, is barely existing, constantly ground under the pressures of attrition, budget downsizing, and Homicide Inspector Haig, a man who is more like the giant spider at the center of a web of bribery, extortion, power, and death, than he is like a Homicide detective. Oscar stumbles on a case of a tortured young girl, carved with arcane symbols, and refuses to relinquish it to Homicide, despite enormous pressure and the requested transfer of Neve. So much more is behind the scenes of this murder, though, and soon Oscar finds himself stalked by the Supernatural.
I highly recommend this novel, which will linger long in the reader’s mind and inhabit reader’s dreams.
January 16, 2013
This book got off to a stiff, slightly clunky start, and for a few pages I was on the fence about finishing it. I'm glad I made the right call, because all of a sudden, after the slowness that may have been required to set the scene -- a world in which every person is haunted by one ghost only they can see, and that has suffered a near-collapse of civilization as a result -- it became a good old-fashioned fast-paced mystery with creepy occult overtones. Not only did I decide I liked the main character, I enjoyed several other characters as well, even when they did little more than help explain and establish the principal character. Nicely done. Not your average ghost story, nor your average detective novel or police procedural.
May 30, 2013
4.45/5
WOW!!!!!!!
This book, was absolutely amazing. It had Hints of Dystopia/Mystery/Paranormal/Horror....oh my.... as Karen put it, 'Genre-Smoshery'. this 'genre-smoshery' is what I feel will make good books, amazing books. Easy to read, yet impossible to put down. I want to read more by this author..
WOW!!!!!!!
This book, was absolutely amazing. It had Hints of Dystopia/Mystery/Paranormal/Horror....oh my.... as Karen put it, 'Genre-Smoshery'. this 'genre-smoshery' is what I feel will make good books, amazing books. Easy to read, yet impossible to put down. I want to read more by this author..
September 7, 2012
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/09/...
Oscar Mariani is an investigator with the “Barelies”. Let me explain: the Nine-Ten Investigation Unit was created 3 years ago (after Gray Wendesday), and it sounded enough like “nineteen” that it became the Barely Legals, shortened to the “Barelies”. Oscar continually has to endure the indignity of being part of an investigation unit that isn’t taken seriously, and also the ghost of a little boy that’s been haunting him since Gray Wednesday. Gray Wednesday left the world in shambles and in its wake, also left everyone with a ghost of their own.
Oscar and his partner Neve find the body of a young girl in the sewer system, laid open by an enormous industrial auger. The mutilation wasn’t enough to cover a symbol carved into the girl’s stomach. This case should have been passed to the Homicide unit, but Mariani decides to investigate it himself. Neve isn’t so enthusiastic, and isn’t afraid to show it. She soon puts in for a transfer, but it’s clear that she’s conflicted. As Oscar follows the clues, he begins to uncover something that can only be described as pure evil. At continuous risk of losing his job, the case will take him first to a home for disabled children, the Heights, a sparkling walled enclave where the elite dwell, and finally into an occult underground that will take him nearly beyond his emotional and physical endurance.
To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. Oscar Mariani is my favorite kind of protagonist: wounded, deeply moral, and determined to see things put right. When Gray Wednesday hit, his ghost appeared in front of him while driving on a busy street, and in trying to avoid what he thought was a real person in front of him, he swerved to avoid him, and struck a young girl. The pain that he carries with him because of this, and its aftermath, is palpable on nearly every page. The author set his story against a future Australia that is broken, dark, and bereft of hope, to nearly all except for the very wealthy. Power is spotty, government support is very limited, and struggling to get by is an understatement.
“The roads were empty of traffic, but not empty of cars: both sides were lined with vehicles, some of the festooned with faded bouquets of parking tickets. Most had smashed windows, a few were no more than burned shells, all of them had been stripped of wheels, seats, mirrors-anything that could be removed in hasted and peddled. Sump boxes were cracked open and their oil drained for use in lamps. Driving was a luxury few outside of the Heights could afford. Half the cars in the city-half the cars around the world, Oscar supposed-had been dented or crashed on Gray Wednesday. His own car had gained a dent on the front. Oscar drew down another shutter on that memory.”
Amidst the ruin, Oscar is a beacon, whether he wants to be or not. His quest (and it is a quest) to see things right is fraught with danger and figuring out who can be trusted is no small task. A complicated relationship with his adoptive, ex-cop father is a fulcrum on which he swings, and we’re given small glimpses into that relationship throughout the story. The Broken Ones is not for the faint of heart, however. There’s nothing gratuitous here, but the author absolutely does not pull punches, and there were a few times that I had to look away and catch my breath. The language he uses is just beautiful, even when describing the most gruesome scenes:
“This curtain was woven with the bones and skulls of ten thousand people. Femurs and rib bones were the weft, and humeri and ulnae the warp. Skulls were ivory sequins. This awful drapery was the source of the sick, eldritch light-and behind it was a yawning darkness more terrible than the narrow, blind confusion he’d left behind. He knew he had to go. Then the curtain rippled. The bilious light shimmered, and he heard an unmusical tinkle, the discord of a thousand untuned pianos as bone ticked against bone. Something was on the other side. Something huge. It was coming.”
There is one particular scene in The Broken Ones that absolutely terrified me. I’m talking about “watching-the-scariest-movie” muscle clenching horror. I held my breath for two whole pages. It’s been a long time since a book has had that effect on me, and frankly, it was awesome. To pigeonhole The Broken Ones into one genre would be very inaccurate. It’s a combination of supernatural thriller, police procedural, horror, and dystopian…and it works. Oh boy, does it work! Stephen M. Irwin puts his characters through the emotional and physical ringers, and doesn’t spare his reader either. I felt wrung out when I finished this novel, but in the best way, the way you feel like when you’ve finished a wonderful book, and discovered a new to you author that has just blown you away. I can’t help but hope there will be more of Oscar Mariani in future books, but if not, that’ s ok too, because The Broken Ones is a gem and stands perfectly on its own. Very, very highly recommended.
Oscar Mariani is an investigator with the “Barelies”. Let me explain: the Nine-Ten Investigation Unit was created 3 years ago (after Gray Wendesday), and it sounded enough like “nineteen” that it became the Barely Legals, shortened to the “Barelies”. Oscar continually has to endure the indignity of being part of an investigation unit that isn’t taken seriously, and also the ghost of a little boy that’s been haunting him since Gray Wednesday. Gray Wednesday left the world in shambles and in its wake, also left everyone with a ghost of their own.
Oscar and his partner Neve find the body of a young girl in the sewer system, laid open by an enormous industrial auger. The mutilation wasn’t enough to cover a symbol carved into the girl’s stomach. This case should have been passed to the Homicide unit, but Mariani decides to investigate it himself. Neve isn’t so enthusiastic, and isn’t afraid to show it. She soon puts in for a transfer, but it’s clear that she’s conflicted. As Oscar follows the clues, he begins to uncover something that can only be described as pure evil. At continuous risk of losing his job, the case will take him first to a home for disabled children, the Heights, a sparkling walled enclave where the elite dwell, and finally into an occult underground that will take him nearly beyond his emotional and physical endurance.
To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. Oscar Mariani is my favorite kind of protagonist: wounded, deeply moral, and determined to see things put right. When Gray Wednesday hit, his ghost appeared in front of him while driving on a busy street, and in trying to avoid what he thought was a real person in front of him, he swerved to avoid him, and struck a young girl. The pain that he carries with him because of this, and its aftermath, is palpable on nearly every page. The author set his story against a future Australia that is broken, dark, and bereft of hope, to nearly all except for the very wealthy. Power is spotty, government support is very limited, and struggling to get by is an understatement.
“The roads were empty of traffic, but not empty of cars: both sides were lined with vehicles, some of the festooned with faded bouquets of parking tickets. Most had smashed windows, a few were no more than burned shells, all of them had been stripped of wheels, seats, mirrors-anything that could be removed in hasted and peddled. Sump boxes were cracked open and their oil drained for use in lamps. Driving was a luxury few outside of the Heights could afford. Half the cars in the city-half the cars around the world, Oscar supposed-had been dented or crashed on Gray Wednesday. His own car had gained a dent on the front. Oscar drew down another shutter on that memory.”
Amidst the ruin, Oscar is a beacon, whether he wants to be or not. His quest (and it is a quest) to see things right is fraught with danger and figuring out who can be trusted is no small task. A complicated relationship with his adoptive, ex-cop father is a fulcrum on which he swings, and we’re given small glimpses into that relationship throughout the story. The Broken Ones is not for the faint of heart, however. There’s nothing gratuitous here, but the author absolutely does not pull punches, and there were a few times that I had to look away and catch my breath. The language he uses is just beautiful, even when describing the most gruesome scenes:
“This curtain was woven with the bones and skulls of ten thousand people. Femurs and rib bones were the weft, and humeri and ulnae the warp. Skulls were ivory sequins. This awful drapery was the source of the sick, eldritch light-and behind it was a yawning darkness more terrible than the narrow, blind confusion he’d left behind. He knew he had to go. Then the curtain rippled. The bilious light shimmered, and he heard an unmusical tinkle, the discord of a thousand untuned pianos as bone ticked against bone. Something was on the other side. Something huge. It was coming.”
There is one particular scene in The Broken Ones that absolutely terrified me. I’m talking about “watching-the-scariest-movie” muscle clenching horror. I held my breath for two whole pages. It’s been a long time since a book has had that effect on me, and frankly, it was awesome. To pigeonhole The Broken Ones into one genre would be very inaccurate. It’s a combination of supernatural thriller, police procedural, horror, and dystopian…and it works. Oh boy, does it work! Stephen M. Irwin puts his characters through the emotional and physical ringers, and doesn’t spare his reader either. I felt wrung out when I finished this novel, but in the best way, the way you feel like when you’ve finished a wonderful book, and discovered a new to you author that has just blown you away. I can’t help but hope there will be more of Oscar Mariani in future books, but if not, that’ s ok too, because The Broken Ones is a gem and stands perfectly on its own. Very, very highly recommended.
February 9, 2019
This is a very good novel, and the audiobook is wonderful. Not to be placed in any one genre, this novel includes quite a few of them, and to great effect. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and this review covers how I feel much better:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Grant Cartwright is the narrator, and he’s very good also.
4 stars, and recommended to anyone who doesn’t mind some gore.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Grant Cartwright is the narrator, and he’s very good also.
4 stars, and recommended to anyone who doesn’t mind some gore.
September 14, 2011
I have to admit, I enjoy a good ghost story (actually, I've even got an upcoming series featuring ghosts) so I was looking forward to getting stuck into this book...
When Grey Wednesday happened, the world changed forever. All of a sudden, every person in the world was haunted by a ghost from their past. Some, by ghosts they didn't even know. That's the case for detective, Oscar Mariani. He doesn't know the boy haunting him, but the appearance of this ghost changed the course of his life.
Now, three years later, the world is a horrible, bleak place. Oscar works for a unit--dubbed, the Barelies--specialising in crimes committed in regards to these ghosts, but it's under threat of being closed.
The night he becomes involved with investigating the death of a teenage girl with some sort of carvings on her flesh, Oscar gets caught up in an investigation that no one wants him to follow... because it leads to death, ritualistic magic, and the horrid misuse of young girls who can't protect themselves.
The Broken Ones is a dark and gritty thriller that doesn't shy away from the horrid side of the world, and even delves into some pretty heavy paranormal and mythical situations. I loved the fact that no matter how much he searches and tries to figure out what's going on, Oscar gets himself deeper into trouble. No matter how hard he tries, both his professional and personal life suffer to the point of breaking. Still, he's got the guts and determination to continue. He's one of the most flawed characters I've ever read, but I still enjoyed following him into the pits of hell.
This is a unique, fast-paced book with an awesome concept, that kept me guessing until the big mystery is revealed. And I wasn't disappointed. Stephen M. Irwin's written another intriguing book!
When Grey Wednesday happened, the world changed forever. All of a sudden, every person in the world was haunted by a ghost from their past. Some, by ghosts they didn't even know. That's the case for detective, Oscar Mariani. He doesn't know the boy haunting him, but the appearance of this ghost changed the course of his life.
Now, three years later, the world is a horrible, bleak place. Oscar works for a unit--dubbed, the Barelies--specialising in crimes committed in regards to these ghosts, but it's under threat of being closed.
The night he becomes involved with investigating the death of a teenage girl with some sort of carvings on her flesh, Oscar gets caught up in an investigation that no one wants him to follow... because it leads to death, ritualistic magic, and the horrid misuse of young girls who can't protect themselves.
The Broken Ones is a dark and gritty thriller that doesn't shy away from the horrid side of the world, and even delves into some pretty heavy paranormal and mythical situations. I loved the fact that no matter how much he searches and tries to figure out what's going on, Oscar gets himself deeper into trouble. No matter how hard he tries, both his professional and personal life suffer to the point of breaking. Still, he's got the guts and determination to continue. He's one of the most flawed characters I've ever read, but I still enjoyed following him into the pits of hell.
This is a unique, fast-paced book with an awesome concept, that kept me guessing until the big mystery is revealed. And I wasn't disappointed. Stephen M. Irwin's written another intriguing book!
July 5, 2012
Sometime in the near future (next Thursday, maybe) comes a day known as Gray Wednesday. The Earth’s poles switch, and every human being discovers they have a constant companion—a ghost that only they can see--usually someone they once knew; a relative, lover, or an enemy. Three years later, the world is in chaos, with massive unemployment, rampant crime, failing governments, unpredictable weather, shortages of just about everything…and the rich have shut themselves away behind high walls guarded by private armies. (Take away the ghostly element and the book really could be describing next Thursday, which is creepy and unsettling all the way through.) Against this unrelentingly bleak backdrop we meet Oscar Mariani, a detective assigned to a division that investigates crimes with occult motives (ghostly companions are a handy alibi for all kinds of nastiness), who is about to encounter the most dangerous case of his life.
The author weaves together several genres—thriller, horror, mystery, detective story and post-apocalyptic dystopia with the greatest of ease, and his incredibly vivid descriptive style put me right in the middle of the action—for heaven’s sake, I could smell the world he’s created here (especially when I didn’t want to.) Uncomfortable and unsettling with some really dark and disturbing images, but so well-crafted it’s worth the ride (and is probably going to trouble me for quite a while.) I only wish it didn’t seem so…possible. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t start hoarding olive oil, soap and tea bags just in case…
A big thank you to the people at Doubleday for the chance to read this AR copy.
The author weaves together several genres—thriller, horror, mystery, detective story and post-apocalyptic dystopia with the greatest of ease, and his incredibly vivid descriptive style put me right in the middle of the action—for heaven’s sake, I could smell the world he’s created here (especially when I didn’t want to.) Uncomfortable and unsettling with some really dark and disturbing images, but so well-crafted it’s worth the ride (and is probably going to trouble me for quite a while.) I only wish it didn’t seem so…possible. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t start hoarding olive oil, soap and tea bags just in case…
A big thank you to the people at Doubleday for the chance to read this AR copy.
February 3, 2012
I was a lucky winner with Goodreads for this book and what a good win it was! A few chores around the house did not get done through wanting to read Just this next Chapter. This is the second book by Australian writer Stephen Irwin and he certainly knows how to do cliffhanger chapters and slowly wind a number of characters into a story without confusion and plausible links to them. When I first started to read this book I thought it was a bit OTT with the constant descriptions ... like a ... for a while and I was thinking I hope this is not like it throughout the book. It wasnt, so clearly he was trying to get you interested at the start! Intriguing story of a Grey Wednesday when everybody gets a ghost to accompany them and not always the one you want! They can be lost friends, enemies or whoever that is relative to you in life. But this is not a ghost story! It is an intrigue of murders that have a link to the ghosts. Mr Irwin leads you carefully into the web of characters and how he feels himself and lifelong guilt from a car accident involving a child. However it is through this child that he finds links to the horrendous ritual murders that are taking place. There is a hint of black magic styles and also a very nasty reincarnation that has manifested itself to seek its victims. I think this book could make a very scary film if it was produced well.
Thank you Mr Irwin for my prize. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and will search out your other book now!
Thank you Mr Irwin for my prize. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and will search out your other book now!
July 18, 2014
When I found out that Stephen Irwin had a new book coming out this summer I got really excited. When I found out it was about a dystopian future I became less excited. However, his book, The Dead Path, was so good, and reminded me that horror novels can be really great reads, that I was completely willing to give The Broken Ones a shot.
I was not disappointed.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “Grey Wednesday? Dystopian future? Personal ghosts? C’mon, this sounds too busy.” I know, that’s what I thought. The thing is, this is a really solid detective novel. The ghosty Grey Wednesday event and the social collapse that comes after it is really peripheral to the mystery. They’re not used as crutches, and in fact, I sometimes forgot about the ghosts. The ghosts weren’t really the horror part of the novel. The horror part came in when Oscar tries t0 solve a mystery that deals with the occult.
The characters, mostly Oscar, are really developed. It is not a long book, but Oscar gets revealed in layers throughout the whole story, and not in an annoying way where sometimes you feel banged on the head with details. This is done seamlessly, you don’t even notice.
This book was so good, it was well written, was a great length, the mystery was solid, it had good characters, and had the perfect amount of the supernatural. If you like horror and whodunits, you need to put this book in your face.
I was not disappointed.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “Grey Wednesday? Dystopian future? Personal ghosts? C’mon, this sounds too busy.” I know, that’s what I thought. The thing is, this is a really solid detective novel. The ghosty Grey Wednesday event and the social collapse that comes after it is really peripheral to the mystery. They’re not used as crutches, and in fact, I sometimes forgot about the ghosts. The ghosts weren’t really the horror part of the novel. The horror part came in when Oscar tries t0 solve a mystery that deals with the occult.
The characters, mostly Oscar, are really developed. It is not a long book, but Oscar gets revealed in layers throughout the whole story, and not in an annoying way where sometimes you feel banged on the head with details. This is done seamlessly, you don’t even notice.
This book was so good, it was well written, was a great length, the mystery was solid, it had good characters, and had the perfect amount of the supernatural. If you like horror and whodunits, you need to put this book in your face.
September 11, 2011
I picked this book up in Sydney international airport last week and then couldn't put it down! A fantastic read that is hard to place in one particular genre. Whilst I won't spoil the storyline for anyone, The Broken Ones combines an age-old dectective story, with a good splash of speculative fiction and just a touch of horror (though not too much for those of us who tend to swerve the full-on horror genre). It's an innovative approach that really works. The storyline is original and stays with you well after you have finished reading. I had previously read Irwin's first novel "The Dead Path" and really enjoyed it, so was a little anxious as to whether his second book would be as good. It is! Interestingly, the publisher (Hachette Australia) obviously also think it is a pretty good read as they have endorsed The Broken Ones with a publisher's promise ie love the book or your money back OR love the book and tell us about it and we'll give you another book to read. (Just follow the link to the promise via the sticker on the front of the book). I am pretty certain that most everyone will be getting an additional book to read out of this offer - this book is a ripper!
ps When searching for Irwin's other works I happened upon a book trailer for The Broken Ones on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Y7od... - It's worth a look!
ps When searching for Irwin's other works I happened upon a book trailer for The Broken Ones on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Y7od... - It's worth a look!
June 29, 2014
WHY did i not mark this as read? I finished this book a good while ago.. hrm.. anyways.. IT IS AWESOME!!!
Detective novel meets Post Apocalyptic meets a wee bit of Dystopia!
And God was it done GOOOOOOD My only Regret was it wasn't a trilogy!!
This book may take the honor of being the first book I re-read!
Detective novel meets Post Apocalyptic meets a wee bit of Dystopia!
And God was it done GOOOOOOD My only Regret was it wasn't a trilogy!!
This book may take the honor of being the first book I re-read!
November 2, 2011
I loved this. I don't like horror as a main course but love it as a spice to a story and what I loved about this book was the imaginative quality, the slightly speculative fiction feel with elements of horror, combined with beautiful writing. Really enjoyable.
March 25, 2013
It is difficult to write a mash-up between dark fantasy and a police procedural. There must always be a temptation to bring in a deus-ex-machina to solve difficult plot points, as well as to keep the mystery fair, so that a reader can make a good, educated guess as to how the mystery will be resolved. Irwin accomplishes the blending of the genres to excellent effect in The Broken Ones by Stephen M. Irwin.
Irwin tells us in the first three pages of the book that Gray Wednesday was three years ago, on September 10 (the year is unstated). That was the day the earth’s magnetic poles switched, causing every plane then in the air to plummet to the earth when their navigation systems failed. All post-Cold War satellites similarly failed and fell, making global telecommunications cease functioning. The world plunged into an economic depression, with unemployment as high as 30% in some countries — at least those where data is obtainable; Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and a number of other countries have closed their borders completely. Energy is in short supply and manufacturing has taken a downturn. Food is difficult to come by, setting off a spike in inflation. Weather patterns have changed dramatically, with average temperatures increasing by seven degrees Fahrenheit. Governments are still in place, but they’re struggling.
But the worst change to come with the shifting of the poles was the ghosts. Every person has a ghost, and only that person can see his or her own ghost. Some of the ghosts are familiar faces to the person they haunt; some are strangers. But that ghost is there all the time, watching, not through normal eyes, but spirals that constantly turn, like whirlpools.
Oscar Mariani is a police officer in this unhappy world, and is perhaps even unhappier than the average citizen. He is divorced, but still loves the ex-wife who has since remarried and had a child. He has a dead end job in a squad called the Barelies, so called because the real name of their unit, the Nine-Ten Investigation Unit, sounds enough like “19” that they remind coarse-minded cops of women who are barely old enough to consent to sex (that is, they’re “barely legal”). The unit is named for the September 10 addition of ghosts to the world, which have caused their own sort of insanity. The ghosts drive some people to try to murder them, and often someone else gets in the way. The police hate this unit, which they see as relieving guilty people of proper punishment. And sometimes it is, in fact, an excuse, as in the crime Oscar is called to investigate in the first chapter of the book.
Oscar has wound up in this dead-end because in his previous position with the Ethical Standards Division he went after a corrupt but powerful fellow officer, Inspector Haig, and failed to bring him down. His position is worse, and Haig is even more powerful, than would have been the case had Oscar never made the attempt. And now it appears that the Nine-Ten Investigation Unit is about to be eliminated, having dwindled over time to Oscar and one other officer, Neve de Rossa.
But they catch one last case. A woman’s body — at least what remains of it — has been discovered at a public works plant, caught in a huge industrial auger. Her face has been torn off by the machinery, as have several of her limbs, and it does not seem like it will be possible to identify her. On her stomach has been carved a complex symbol, or series of symbols, in a seven-pointed star. Oscar believes this symbol is a sufficient connection to the occult to require his unit to keep the case, to the chagrin of Neve, the anger of Haig and the resigned go-ahead from their boss, Moechtar.
Things start to go awry in the investigation almost immediately. First, the body is shipped off for cremation before an autopsy can be performed. Oscar, suspecting deliberate sabotage, gets to the body at the last moment before it can be consigned to the fire, and takes it to a butcher shop, where a rather shady friend does an autopsy. He also closely photographs the symbol carved into the woman’s flesh, and undertakes to find out what it can mean.
The novel takes off like a rocket from there, but I’ll leave the many plot turns for you to discover. The plot is complicated and convoluted, but it never seems to be so for the mere purpose of complication; to the contrary, each twist arises organically from the investigation. When coincidence raises its head, as it seems to do in most mysteries, it does not seem artificial, but again, proceeds naturally from what has gone before. Irwin has much firmer control of his much more complicated plot in this, his sophomore effort after The Dead Path. Oscar is an excellent character, a man of his new world, a man of what seems to be extreme integrity in a world that no longer seems to consider that a positive trait. The atmospherics of the novel are intense and well-drawn, with the grayness of that Gray Monday pervading Oscar’s world in every way. But best of all, this is both a full-fledged mystery and a complete horror novel. Irwin plays fair with his readers within the confines of the universe he has created, down to the last detail.
Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi....
Irwin tells us in the first three pages of the book that Gray Wednesday was three years ago, on September 10 (the year is unstated). That was the day the earth’s magnetic poles switched, causing every plane then in the air to plummet to the earth when their navigation systems failed. All post-Cold War satellites similarly failed and fell, making global telecommunications cease functioning. The world plunged into an economic depression, with unemployment as high as 30% in some countries — at least those where data is obtainable; Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and a number of other countries have closed their borders completely. Energy is in short supply and manufacturing has taken a downturn. Food is difficult to come by, setting off a spike in inflation. Weather patterns have changed dramatically, with average temperatures increasing by seven degrees Fahrenheit. Governments are still in place, but they’re struggling.
But the worst change to come with the shifting of the poles was the ghosts. Every person has a ghost, and only that person can see his or her own ghost. Some of the ghosts are familiar faces to the person they haunt; some are strangers. But that ghost is there all the time, watching, not through normal eyes, but spirals that constantly turn, like whirlpools.
Oscar Mariani is a police officer in this unhappy world, and is perhaps even unhappier than the average citizen. He is divorced, but still loves the ex-wife who has since remarried and had a child. He has a dead end job in a squad called the Barelies, so called because the real name of their unit, the Nine-Ten Investigation Unit, sounds enough like “19” that they remind coarse-minded cops of women who are barely old enough to consent to sex (that is, they’re “barely legal”). The unit is named for the September 10 addition of ghosts to the world, which have caused their own sort of insanity. The ghosts drive some people to try to murder them, and often someone else gets in the way. The police hate this unit, which they see as relieving guilty people of proper punishment. And sometimes it is, in fact, an excuse, as in the crime Oscar is called to investigate in the first chapter of the book.
Oscar has wound up in this dead-end because in his previous position with the Ethical Standards Division he went after a corrupt but powerful fellow officer, Inspector Haig, and failed to bring him down. His position is worse, and Haig is even more powerful, than would have been the case had Oscar never made the attempt. And now it appears that the Nine-Ten Investigation Unit is about to be eliminated, having dwindled over time to Oscar and one other officer, Neve de Rossa.
But they catch one last case. A woman’s body — at least what remains of it — has been discovered at a public works plant, caught in a huge industrial auger. Her face has been torn off by the machinery, as have several of her limbs, and it does not seem like it will be possible to identify her. On her stomach has been carved a complex symbol, or series of symbols, in a seven-pointed star. Oscar believes this symbol is a sufficient connection to the occult to require his unit to keep the case, to the chagrin of Neve, the anger of Haig and the resigned go-ahead from their boss, Moechtar.
Things start to go awry in the investigation almost immediately. First, the body is shipped off for cremation before an autopsy can be performed. Oscar, suspecting deliberate sabotage, gets to the body at the last moment before it can be consigned to the fire, and takes it to a butcher shop, where a rather shady friend does an autopsy. He also closely photographs the symbol carved into the woman’s flesh, and undertakes to find out what it can mean.
The novel takes off like a rocket from there, but I’ll leave the many plot turns for you to discover. The plot is complicated and convoluted, but it never seems to be so for the mere purpose of complication; to the contrary, each twist arises organically from the investigation. When coincidence raises its head, as it seems to do in most mysteries, it does not seem artificial, but again, proceeds naturally from what has gone before. Irwin has much firmer control of his much more complicated plot in this, his sophomore effort after The Dead Path. Oscar is an excellent character, a man of his new world, a man of what seems to be extreme integrity in a world that no longer seems to consider that a positive trait. The atmospherics of the novel are intense and well-drawn, with the grayness of that Gray Monday pervading Oscar’s world in every way. But best of all, this is both a full-fledged mystery and a complete horror novel. Irwin plays fair with his readers within the confines of the universe he has created, down to the last detail.
Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi....
November 3, 2014
Oscar Mariani is a Barely. His division, the Nine-Ten -- nicknamed "the Barelies" -- was created in the aftermath of Gray Wednesday. On that day, without explanation, everyone became haunted by a ghost only they could see. The stress of the occurrence led to an increase in crimes that could only be blamed on the mental anguish of having your own personal ghost. Any case thought to be linked to the ghosts falls under Nine-Ten purview. Three years later, the excuse is wearing thin and Mariani's division is on its last leg. But when Mariani's brought in on a case involving a mutilated corpse marked with occult-like symbols, he's adamant that it not be turned over to homicide. After all, the markings alone make it his responsibility. And when the body is accidentally sent to be destroyed before the investigation has gotten off the ground, Mariani becomes dead set on solving it no matter what.
As with THE DEAD PATH, Irwin again proved that he is a master storyteller! THE BROKEN ONES is, at heart, a detective story but the blending of mystery and paranormal is excellent. Not only that, but this future world plagued by ghosts, a failing economy, and a struggling government felt completely real and wholly believable.
The plotting alone is spot on. I was left guessing until the end, carried along in Mariani's investigation every step of the way and unable to unravel the mystery myself. And while it's not necessary to be left guessing in a mystery, it's always fun when an author is able to keep things hidden from the reader until they're revealed to the character.
THE BROKEN ONES is a must read for horror fans, mystery fans, and readers looking for an excellent dark thriller. This book and it's predecessor are so great, I wish I could read them both again for the very first time!
As with THE DEAD PATH, Irwin again proved that he is a master storyteller! THE BROKEN ONES is, at heart, a detective story but the blending of mystery and paranormal is excellent. Not only that, but this future world plagued by ghosts, a failing economy, and a struggling government felt completely real and wholly believable.
The plotting alone is spot on. I was left guessing until the end, carried along in Mariani's investigation every step of the way and unable to unravel the mystery myself. And while it's not necessary to be left guessing in a mystery, it's always fun when an author is able to keep things hidden from the reader until they're revealed to the character.
THE BROKEN ONES is a must read for horror fans, mystery fans, and readers looking for an excellent dark thriller. This book and it's predecessor are so great, I wish I could read them both again for the very first time!
Read
March 19, 2013THE BROKEN ONES
By Stephen M. Irwin
Police detective Oscar Mariani is a broken man working the streets of a broken city. In the three years since a global catastrophe caused a massive worldwide economic depression, he has seen crime in his Australian home city soar as a quarter of the population finds itself out of work and struggling to survive in a ruined world. And, if he’s reading the portents at work correctly, his own job is next on the budget chopping block. Still, he is determined to find out who carved cabalistic inscriptions into a young woman’s belly, and then tossed her into the sewage treatment facility.
Everyone carries a ghost with them in this bleak, near future, literally. Every person alive has a companion who is not, one that only they can see. For most people, it is the ghost of someone once close to them, but for Oscar, it’s the spectral form of a young man, a stranger with dead eyes who simply watches whatever Oscar is doing.
Corruption rules in this sad new world as Oscar is forever being reminded. Joe, his former partner, saw the light and is doing well for himself. Neve, Oscar’s new partner wants only to survive the next round of layoffs and if that means turning a blind eye to the murder of an innocent girl, then so be it. Oscar finds his circle of friends and acquaintances on whom he can place his trust growing smaller and smaller as he peels back layer after layer of corruption.
In “The Broken Ones,” Stephen Irwin marries a gritty police procedural with a supernatural subplot, infusing a tough detective story with a restrained dose of the Other World, and in doing so, he has created a work that takes us beyond our rational worries and concerns and tap into those dark fears that are best left unspoken.
Reviewed by Andrew MacRae author of “Murder Misdirected” for Suspense Magazine
By Stephen M. Irwin
Police detective Oscar Mariani is a broken man working the streets of a broken city. In the three years since a global catastrophe caused a massive worldwide economic depression, he has seen crime in his Australian home city soar as a quarter of the population finds itself out of work and struggling to survive in a ruined world. And, if he’s reading the portents at work correctly, his own job is next on the budget chopping block. Still, he is determined to find out who carved cabalistic inscriptions into a young woman’s belly, and then tossed her into the sewage treatment facility.
Everyone carries a ghost with them in this bleak, near future, literally. Every person alive has a companion who is not, one that only they can see. For most people, it is the ghost of someone once close to them, but for Oscar, it’s the spectral form of a young man, a stranger with dead eyes who simply watches whatever Oscar is doing.
Corruption rules in this sad new world as Oscar is forever being reminded. Joe, his former partner, saw the light and is doing well for himself. Neve, Oscar’s new partner wants only to survive the next round of layoffs and if that means turning a blind eye to the murder of an innocent girl, then so be it. Oscar finds his circle of friends and acquaintances on whom he can place his trust growing smaller and smaller as he peels back layer after layer of corruption.
In “The Broken Ones,” Stephen Irwin marries a gritty police procedural with a supernatural subplot, infusing a tough detective story with a restrained dose of the Other World, and in doing so, he has created a work that takes us beyond our rational worries and concerns and tap into those dark fears that are best left unspoken.
Reviewed by Andrew MacRae author of “Murder Misdirected” for Suspense Magazine
September 4, 2013
Oh my! This book was AMAZING. On the front cover of this particular edition is a quote from author Lincoln Child stating, "A truly unique and harrowing vision- Irwin's ability to blend genres is as remarkable as his imagination." With that statement staring at me before I even opened the book, author Stephen M. Irwin had a bit to live up to. Part cop thriller, part dystopian future, part ghost story/horror, the story from start to finish is fantastic. It begins 3 years after a phenomenon caused major catastrophic changes to the planet, including the emergence of ghosts, one attached every living person. No one can see anyone else's ghost and the ghosts do not go away, which leads to many people committing violent acts either against themselves or other people. This caused the creation of a sort of "insanity" plea whereas the perpetrator could claim their ghost drove them to it. Our main character is the lead of a special police task force that weeds out the true cases from those just wishing for a get-out-of-jail-free card.
I am not doing justice to the story in this review, however I was hooked into the plot and attached to the characters all the way through. Although many writers try and add something in their books "for everyone," few master fully integrating several genres into one novel. Depending on what the reader chooses to focus on, The Broken Ones can be taken as any of the genres I mentioned above. The police procedures and detail to crime work certainly classifies this as cop thriller. The fact that the society is not ideal and it takes place in some unknown future time, yes, it is dystopian. And then there are the ghosts and other supernatural angles, which of course makes it a horror story. Irwin writes each aspect so well, the reader is fully drawn into all parts of the story. A wonderful book.
I am not doing justice to the story in this review, however I was hooked into the plot and attached to the characters all the way through. Although many writers try and add something in their books "for everyone," few master fully integrating several genres into one novel. Depending on what the reader chooses to focus on, The Broken Ones can be taken as any of the genres I mentioned above. The police procedures and detail to crime work certainly classifies this as cop thriller. The fact that the society is not ideal and it takes place in some unknown future time, yes, it is dystopian. And then there are the ghosts and other supernatural angles, which of course makes it a horror story. Irwin writes each aspect so well, the reader is fully drawn into all parts of the story. A wonderful book.
October 26, 2012
I didn't expect to really like this book, but I did. (As evidenced by those four stars which translate to "really liked.")
The writing and language is surprisingly good, I feel, for a book in the horror section of the library. But maybe that's just me being judgy.
It's a detective story in a semi-post-apocalyptic Australia. By which I mean that most everyone is still there, they're just all having a really bad time. Three years before the book begins there's an event called 'Gray Wednesday.' On that day the Earth's magnetic poles switched, which threw travel and communication into complete disarray, crippling economies worldwide and bringing much of society to a halt. Also...everyone got a ghost. The ghosts can only be seen by the person being "haunted" but everyone has one. The ghosts don't talk, they just follow people around and stare. Which is demoralizing and creepy.
So there's all that...and then there are all the murders! (I never said it was a happy book, just good and well-written.) Detective Oscar Mariani is despised by much of the department, but he knows that there's corruption going on and he means to stop it. He also refuses to stop looking into some mysterious deaths of mutilated girls. Even as the world falls apart around him, and much of the debris hits him on the way down, he still plugs along.
It's a bizarre and depressing soup of apocalypse fiction, supernatural fiction, detective fiction, and horror fiction. And I mean that in a good way.
The writing and language is surprisingly good, I feel, for a book in the horror section of the library. But maybe that's just me being judgy.
It's a detective story in a semi-post-apocalyptic Australia. By which I mean that most everyone is still there, they're just all having a really bad time. Three years before the book begins there's an event called 'Gray Wednesday.' On that day the Earth's magnetic poles switched, which threw travel and communication into complete disarray, crippling economies worldwide and bringing much of society to a halt. Also...everyone got a ghost. The ghosts can only be seen by the person being "haunted" but everyone has one. The ghosts don't talk, they just follow people around and stare. Which is demoralizing and creepy.
So there's all that...and then there are all the murders! (I never said it was a happy book, just good and well-written.) Detective Oscar Mariani is despised by much of the department, but he knows that there's corruption going on and he means to stop it. He also refuses to stop looking into some mysterious deaths of mutilated girls. Even as the world falls apart around him, and much of the debris hits him on the way down, he still plugs along.
It's a bizarre and depressing soup of apocalypse fiction, supernatural fiction, detective fiction, and horror fiction. And I mean that in a good way.
January 27, 2013
This book has all of the typical angles, but in a unique combination. "Gray Wednesday" leaves the world catastrophic but it's only 2024. There is a serial killer in the mix, with a great detective murder mystery. But there are ghosts...since that devastating event, each person has their own ghost that no one else can see, that's with them 24/7. They have only eye sockets, and they can't speak but they are there with you when you sleep, eat, sex, work..so naturally the world becomes a more violent place. You follow Detective Mariani through this murder mystery and it's eery, exciting, and sad. This book is very graphic and at times I had to put it down to take a deep breath. But I have a deep appreciation for Irwin's story telling and I will try his other book.
September 26, 2011
Another great suspense novel from Stephen M Irwin. It's a little bit crime, a little bit horror, a little bit paranormal and a lot hard to put down. Set in a post-apocalyptic Brisbane - where it rains and rains and rains - Detective Mariani is on the trail of a serial killer with a penchant for Ancient Persian magic. I loved the way the city was depicted - the gloom of it all. And the glimpses of monsters added to the suspense. Quite different from his first novel, but well worth the read.
November 10, 2011
Loved this book. Full review coming soon!
July 12, 2021
Oscar is my hero!!!
May 27, 2013
One of the very first lessons we learn as a child is “cause and effect.” We cry, food appears. We touch a hot stove, we burn our hand. Everything, regardless of how small or insignificant, causes an action or a reaction. These actions propel our lives.
“The plague-ridden and religiously extreme Middle Ages birthed the Renaissance, the opening of the world by sail, and the Enlighment’s bright lights of science. Last century’s appalling World Wars, with the unprecedented casualties, spurred discoveries that have yielded extraordinary peacetime benefits: penicillin, rockets, and jet travel.” (pg. 1)
Last December, the Sandy Hook tragedy spawned months of trial and tribulation concerning gun control and mental illness.
Action, reaction, cause and effect.
But what if the event had no clear end game. The “effect” sat on a loop, repeating its devastation over and over. The world literally turned on its heals, and everything you knew: religion, allegiance, sanity were tested daily. No reward in sight, only repercussions felt continuously in every corner of the globe. Would you be able to see light at the end of the tunnel? Would you remain hopeful in a hopeless time?
What if your past came back to life at the same time? An adulterous husband, an overbearing mother. A child who’s life was cut short due to negligence. Stuck to you like glue. Haunting your every waking moment. Taunting you to the point of suicide. What would you do then?
A shattered world. A lackluster future, and a ghost.
Not the most promising of scenario from where I’m sitting, but one that was explored in Stephen M. Irwin’s novel “The Broken Ones.”
"It’s the near future and the world has descended into chaos. On the surface, everything looks the same yet the unthinkable has happened… the dead have risen.
Everyone is haunted by a dead relative, friend, spouse, or stranger, and these spirits are unshakable, silent and watching. No one is safe. Governments the world over fail to deal with the epidemic, they begin to lose control of their economies and their resources. Their people. Crime is rife, and murders commonplace. But who is responsible: the ghosts or the people?
Finding out is where Detective Oscar Mariani comes in, although it s nearly impossible to run a department when you can t even see half the suspects. His strike rate is embarrassingly low.
Then he stumbles into a case that cuts through his apathy and depression, a case that suggests a ritualistic, brutal serial killer attracted to innocent young women at work and one that, unfortunately for Mariani and his less jaded partner, implicates those in high places.
However, if he can solve it, and keep alive himself, he may be able to exorcise his own ghostly shadow, a dead young man who might just have something to say."
This novel is very dark, which means writing a review for it can go one of two ways. You can attempt to quell its dramatics with light-hearted comparisons (“This novel is like reading James Patterson on Opium with a side of WTF there’s a ghost.”) or you can cut the jugular open and watch your lame attempt to be equally as serious bleed across the page in agonizing defeat. (“The heart-wrenching annihilation I felt radiating from the main character left me breathless. I applaud Irwin’s ability to capture pain and loss in its most basic form.”) Obviously…I’m going with the lighter side. (Cause I’m fresh out of band-aides.)
Full disclosure?
I love incredibly messed up lead characters. The more beat down, angry, rude or overall douchy the better. Why? Because it allows room for growth. Until “The Broken Ones” I was convinced that Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher’s totally gobsmacked lead in “The Dresden Files“) was easily the most tragic character I had ever read. He defined the phrase: walking disaster. But he did so very entertainingly.
Detective Oscar Mariani now holds that title.
Let me set the stage for you: Divorced (but still in love with his ex.) Trying desperately to hold on to a dying job (even if he is the only person left in the department.) And beat to hell (literally) on every other page, are just three things that send Oscar blazing through Irwin’s story like a horse with it’s tail on fire. Hell bent on trying to establish civility where civility no longer exists makes Oscar an easy target, and because of this, Irwin is able to exploit and criticize his protagonist in spectacular form. For example:
“His hand found a hole in the object, and he slipped his fingers inside. The cockroach in his armpit began to nibble. He yanked upward. The object exploded up through the crust of ash, bringing with it a contrail of cockroaches that scratched at the air and took lazy flight. Oscar dumped the object on the ground and shook his arm like a dog gripping a snake – tiny black sparks flew off in all directions. Then he drove his fist into his armpit and felt a wet pop against the skin of his inner arm. The roach there scritch-scratched twice, then stopped moving. He squeezed his forearm all the way from the elbow to the wrist and felt cockroaches squash and explode on his skin. Stomach heaving he plucked open his sleeve and shook his arm wildly. A dozen dead and dying insects tumbled out.”
Breaking his character down (by way of death, dismemberment and personal tragedy) allowed him (Irwin) to build him back up, making the end of the book refreshing in the aftermath of so much misfortune.
But enough about poor pathetic Oscar, let’s talk about the plot for a second, cause that is where I had a few problems.
#1. Though I appreciated the appearance of the ghost and all they had to offer to the story (lots of pointing and head nodding) their origins were never really discussed. Yes, I understand that the world fell into chaos and the name of the game became “expect the unexpected” but saying “everyone has a ghost” and explaining where exactly they matriculated from are two entirely different things. I need facts people! Ok, fake facts, but FACTS!
#2. While the cop drama aspects of the story were fast paced, totally compelling, and kinda icky in places, the paranormal aspects (not the ghost) fell a little short. If there is an evil half lion half owl flying around throwing cars like Coke cans, I expect there to be a few chapters talking about cranky bird-cats momma. This was (after-all) one of the biggest plot points of the story. It established a precedence for certain characters and their behavior. Wrapping it up with a nice white bow would have boded well for….well, for many reasons.
And #3. (Which is where I think I’ll stop so I don’t sound like I completely hate this novel.) I wasn’t kidding about the opium. While it was exciting, entertaining, and original, it was also waaaay out in left field. If you like traditional crime dramas (or traditional paranormal dramas for that matter) Irwin is probably NOT the writer for you. His stories (which include The Dead Path) are something of an enigma and require a particularly crazy breed of person to enjoy them.
Overall…it’s exactly what I expected when first agreeing to read this book. A complex take on a traditional fight for power. Not for everyone, but perfect for some.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: If you have hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up.
“The plague-ridden and religiously extreme Middle Ages birthed the Renaissance, the opening of the world by sail, and the Enlighment’s bright lights of science. Last century’s appalling World Wars, with the unprecedented casualties, spurred discoveries that have yielded extraordinary peacetime benefits: penicillin, rockets, and jet travel.” (pg. 1)
Last December, the Sandy Hook tragedy spawned months of trial and tribulation concerning gun control and mental illness.
Action, reaction, cause and effect.
But what if the event had no clear end game. The “effect” sat on a loop, repeating its devastation over and over. The world literally turned on its heals, and everything you knew: religion, allegiance, sanity were tested daily. No reward in sight, only repercussions felt continuously in every corner of the globe. Would you be able to see light at the end of the tunnel? Would you remain hopeful in a hopeless time?
What if your past came back to life at the same time? An adulterous husband, an overbearing mother. A child who’s life was cut short due to negligence. Stuck to you like glue. Haunting your every waking moment. Taunting you to the point of suicide. What would you do then?
A shattered world. A lackluster future, and a ghost.
Not the most promising of scenario from where I’m sitting, but one that was explored in Stephen M. Irwin’s novel “The Broken Ones.”
"It’s the near future and the world has descended into chaos. On the surface, everything looks the same yet the unthinkable has happened… the dead have risen.
Everyone is haunted by a dead relative, friend, spouse, or stranger, and these spirits are unshakable, silent and watching. No one is safe. Governments the world over fail to deal with the epidemic, they begin to lose control of their economies and their resources. Their people. Crime is rife, and murders commonplace. But who is responsible: the ghosts or the people?
Finding out is where Detective Oscar Mariani comes in, although it s nearly impossible to run a department when you can t even see half the suspects. His strike rate is embarrassingly low.
Then he stumbles into a case that cuts through his apathy and depression, a case that suggests a ritualistic, brutal serial killer attracted to innocent young women at work and one that, unfortunately for Mariani and his less jaded partner, implicates those in high places.
However, if he can solve it, and keep alive himself, he may be able to exorcise his own ghostly shadow, a dead young man who might just have something to say."
This novel is very dark, which means writing a review for it can go one of two ways. You can attempt to quell its dramatics with light-hearted comparisons (“This novel is like reading James Patterson on Opium with a side of WTF there’s a ghost.”) or you can cut the jugular open and watch your lame attempt to be equally as serious bleed across the page in agonizing defeat. (“The heart-wrenching annihilation I felt radiating from the main character left me breathless. I applaud Irwin’s ability to capture pain and loss in its most basic form.”) Obviously…I’m going with the lighter side. (Cause I’m fresh out of band-aides.)
Full disclosure?
I love incredibly messed up lead characters. The more beat down, angry, rude or overall douchy the better. Why? Because it allows room for growth. Until “The Broken Ones” I was convinced that Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher’s totally gobsmacked lead in “The Dresden Files“) was easily the most tragic character I had ever read. He defined the phrase: walking disaster. But he did so very entertainingly.
Detective Oscar Mariani now holds that title.
Let me set the stage for you: Divorced (but still in love with his ex.) Trying desperately to hold on to a dying job (even if he is the only person left in the department.) And beat to hell (literally) on every other page, are just three things that send Oscar blazing through Irwin’s story like a horse with it’s tail on fire. Hell bent on trying to establish civility where civility no longer exists makes Oscar an easy target, and because of this, Irwin is able to exploit and criticize his protagonist in spectacular form. For example:
“His hand found a hole in the object, and he slipped his fingers inside. The cockroach in his armpit began to nibble. He yanked upward. The object exploded up through the crust of ash, bringing with it a contrail of cockroaches that scratched at the air and took lazy flight. Oscar dumped the object on the ground and shook his arm like a dog gripping a snake – tiny black sparks flew off in all directions. Then he drove his fist into his armpit and felt a wet pop against the skin of his inner arm. The roach there scritch-scratched twice, then stopped moving. He squeezed his forearm all the way from the elbow to the wrist and felt cockroaches squash and explode on his skin. Stomach heaving he plucked open his sleeve and shook his arm wildly. A dozen dead and dying insects tumbled out.”
Breaking his character down (by way of death, dismemberment and personal tragedy) allowed him (Irwin) to build him back up, making the end of the book refreshing in the aftermath of so much misfortune.
But enough about poor pathetic Oscar, let’s talk about the plot for a second, cause that is where I had a few problems.
#1. Though I appreciated the appearance of the ghost and all they had to offer to the story (lots of pointing and head nodding) their origins were never really discussed. Yes, I understand that the world fell into chaos and the name of the game became “expect the unexpected” but saying “everyone has a ghost” and explaining where exactly they matriculated from are two entirely different things. I need facts people! Ok, fake facts, but FACTS!
#2. While the cop drama aspects of the story were fast paced, totally compelling, and kinda icky in places, the paranormal aspects (not the ghost) fell a little short. If there is an evil half lion half owl flying around throwing cars like Coke cans, I expect there to be a few chapters talking about cranky bird-cats momma. This was (after-all) one of the biggest plot points of the story. It established a precedence for certain characters and their behavior. Wrapping it up with a nice white bow would have boded well for….well, for many reasons.
And #3. (Which is where I think I’ll stop so I don’t sound like I completely hate this novel.) I wasn’t kidding about the opium. While it was exciting, entertaining, and original, it was also waaaay out in left field. If you like traditional crime dramas (or traditional paranormal dramas for that matter) Irwin is probably NOT the writer for you. His stories (which include The Dead Path) are something of an enigma and require a particularly crazy breed of person to enjoy them.
Overall…it’s exactly what I expected when first agreeing to read this book. A complex take on a traditional fight for power. Not for everyone, but perfect for some.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: If you have hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up.
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