Local Legend (3)
It was him; Graham was sure of it. He might not have seen Adi Varney for years, but no one forgets their oldest friend's face.
As a football player and manager, Adi had taken his club from victory to victory before suddenly leaving it all behind. No one understood why.
But now he was back... or was he? If it was Adi, why was he avoiding everyone who knew him?
Convinced something is very wrong, Graham is determined to work out what has happened to his friend. The game he uncovers is deadly - but if he doesn't play, lives will be on the line.
Paul Trembling is a special writer, a writer with a classic style. His words flow smoothly, his sentences move on without an unnecessary phrase. He is so easy to read that this quite long book is finished almost before we realise it. The plot hooks are beautifully placed. Droplets of information are released subtly and it's impossible not to read on, to find out what happened in that last row between Adi and Graham, what happened down by the canal, and what happened in so many other parts of the action which I won't mention for fear of spoiling the story. The plot is original and gripping, twisting and turning from the start. The characters are alive and they develop as more and more about them is revealed – the skin peeling off the onion. Graham is a very loveable person. He hero worships his friend Adi, and even as he starts to learn the truth about him, cares for him up to the end. Adi, the local legend, is shown as not really a hero. A strong man, but one who is revealed piece by piece as someone who cares only for himself. And Sam is not just an innocent youngster, but a man who has lived through serious events and become mature and wise. How can I do justice to this book? Let me simply say that I really enjoyed every page. Paul Trembling is a writer who deserves much wider recognition, and I do hope he gets it. Don't miss Local Legend – you'll be really glad you bought it. G. McCullough