Kiss Her Goodbye reader reports

"The grittiness in this novel gives it a realistic edge that I feel readers of crime fiction would be enticed by. Its subject content is not the easiest to write about but the author does well in portraying the harshness of life following the various misjudgments made by its characters...

The writing in this novel has a polished comfortable feel to it. There are wonderful descriptive touches such as the geometrical scaffolding in p187. The separations between the scenes work well while still allowing the story to flow smoothly. In some places the story follows as the reader would expect it to, however it still retains its element of surprise and grips the reader's attention throughout....

It contains various humorous moments (p175 onwards) and accomplished wording, for example p249, 'Cars slalomed down Easter Road, weaving between lay-bys and traffic islands. Buses stuttered along, threading through gaps in the oncoming traffic towards the next stop or pedestrian crossing.'...

It has a great story that builds up to a robbery carried out by a man, Robin, his best friend Eddie who betrayed him and his wife the co-conspirator in the betrayal, Carol. While following their exploits, we meet Pearce, a much more endearing character who, due to a misjudgment, is forced to be a debt collector...

The story is well structured with an effective heightening of tension as the post office robbery takes place. The wording is very emotive at times, for example, rather than beautiful grey eyes, Robin sees Carol's eyes as 'dirty grey', aligning his description with how he feels about her character (p606)...

It has a likeable, well paced writing style, good characterisation and interplay between its characters, and the many expletives in the dialogue add to its realistic-ness rather than putting the reader off. With a good story, and skilled writing, this is a novel worthy of a medal. Publishers to approach should include Coronet, Orion and TimeWarner...

This is a novel that will interest readers of both sexes. It is easy to follow, has excellent characterisation and is written in an appealing way that will do much to help it with any future success in the fiction market."

"Plot: Very strong. This novel develops and contains unexpected twists and turns. A growing sense of suspense is achieved by the expectation of the central climax in which all the various sub-plots will combine and all will be resolved, possibly in some sort of violent climax. The ambiguity of motivation is unveiled slowly and effectively. There is a violent and surprising climax and the outcome is left unclear which opens the possibility for a sequel in which we learn more of the characters remaining and a similar sequel can attract potential publishers with a remote possibility of televised serialisation...

Characters: Excellent. Each character has a distinctive personality, which is a sign of good writing. The author allows the angst, which Pearce, in particular, feels to display the moral background against which the plot takes place. Characters grow and develop with the plot and in the case of Don not always in a pleasant way. The female characters are as well written as the male and this shows good maturity...

One of the most well crafted manuscripts I have read to date. The author has established a first class thriller with a multitude of elements that would make this attractive to both the reader and publisher...

Good characterization, excellent plot development and a realistic portrayal of Edinburgh’s underworld. Unlike the works of Irvine Welsh the author avoids using an extreme and controversial writing style. A very impressive book that is as good as, if not better than many contemporary published books that sit on the shelves of bookshops throughout the U.K. This author has done for modern day Edinburgh what Jake Arnott did for 60’s gangland London by presenting a grim underbelly in which a myriad of the desperate and downtrodden struggle against violence and poverty...

‘Kiss Her Goodbye’ is a work that captures the zeitgeist of current literary trends and should be eagerly snapped up by publishers on the lookout for new talent. ‘Kiss Her Goodbye’ adds a new dimension to ‘Crime Writing’ by combining the thriller suspense novel with the PI and urban crime novel. This could be an over-ambitious leap into confusion and farce; instead it is a work of soaring originality and intelligence."

EXTRACTS from two independent reader reports on Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie (courtesy of Golgonooza).