The research, as well as the obvious personal knowledge of this dark and mysterious world, is laid bare by the author, whose understanding of this world has already been shown in his previous books 'Spy Game', 'Spy Dragon' and 'Spy Trap.' However, I found the depth 'Emperor' went into was breath-taking. I enjoyed the personal dramas of Qin, his family problems, and his constant need to keep on top of the generals and admirals of the Chinese armed forces, as well as the fast-paced excapades and investigations by Ava, the American analyst trying to use the leaks from a Chinese spy to save the world from possible armegeddon. If there's one thing this story has, it's atmosphere. Coming from the other end of the country I have no idea what the south west is like (apart from a few holidays in the general area), but Kruse has created a sense of time and place brilliantly. The positives for this story are in its secondary character development and in the direct foreshadowing offered as occasional bridges between scenes, characters, and time periods. I also found the historical period details and descriptive recounting of certain scenes and locations where the story takes place, very satisfying. The sense of place is consistently strong, and that always earns points. It moves fast, skipping through years and focusing on the big events in our history, namely the World Wars. We see the USA and most of Europe at various times and it is a nice little introduction for readers who might want to delve further into our world history.

The writing style is solid and again, very much like reading a first person interview. It reminded me of "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice, in its style, but Rob’s unburdening of self is less story and more ‘police report”...”I did this, and then I did that, and then I went here…”. An If there's one thing this story has, it's atmosphere. Coming from the other end of the country I have no idea what the south west is like (apart from a few holidays in the general area), but Kruse has created a sense of time and place brilliantly. The writing style is solid and again, very much like reading a first person interview. It reminded me of "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice, in its style, but Rob’s unburdening of self is less story and more ‘police report”...”I did this, and then I did that, and then I went here...”. This is one of the few books I’ve ever read that I want others to read, so I can discuss it with them. It would be an excellent book for any book club! The highs of love and the depths of despair are all explored and in the end, it was life affirming. What you’d give to help others. The main character didn’t choose greatness with his life, his ordinariness made it so much more relatable.

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A Life Eternal is a poignant exploration that really gets you thinking about whether immortality would be a blessing or a curse. I found the process exciting, but difficult. It’s hard to kill your darlings, as they say, and some of the things Burning Chair wanted me to change, hurt. But the finished product shows that they were right. I think the hardest thing was changing the title. The title is always the first thing I come up with, and it tends to tell the story that I’m writing, so to change that was difficult… but again, I think it was for the best. The new title better describes the essence of the story than the original did. All in all, a victory for the author. His characterisation of the two protagonists is sublime, and we see their weaknesses as well as their obvious strenghts (especially Boswell's love of booze which is used at times for a bit of comic relief from all the mystery and horror.

Overall though, I actually enjoyed the process; just having a pubA riveting and heart-breaking tale, simply and elegantly written in the first person, which puts a new spin on the classic themes of the immortality tale. Life is simply a clutter of lines, moving in every direction.” (p99) and it’s was. How differently would we live life if we knew we couldn’t die? Actually, the first chapter is quite good, and there were several beautiful sentences I highlighted, which perhaps raised my expectations too high.

While the subject matter was sometimes confronting, I found Shadow of the Knife an enjoyable and engrossing read. I'd recommend it to any reader who enjoys gritty historical crime fiction - this is no cosy and refined parlour mystery - and/or has an interest in the early history of modern crime investigation. I began to think about what the reality of being immortal would be-what it would really be like to live forever-and I decided that it would be awful. How could you fall in love if you knew that, one day, that person would disappear from your life while you remained young and vital? What would that do to your humanity? I also did not really like the idea of someone living for hundreds and hundreds of years-I thought that this would drive anyone who suffered it mad. And so the main idea of A Life Eternal was born. I would tell the simple story of an ordinary man with an extra-ordinary life, based in the 20th Century; a time, perhaps, of the biggest changes of the human race. It remains the fastest story I’ve written; it seemed to pour from me and I completed the first draft in about three months. I’ve never known that before, and I hope it bodes well for the book. Your previous novels were a mix of music and horror – so A Life Eternal is a bit of a change of scene from that! How did you come up with the inspiration for the story? Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-life-eternal-richard-ayre/1137644772?ean=9781912946099 This was a great book about war, love, death, betrayal, pain, laughter, and life. All of which very importantly shower us the dualistic nature of the human condition. I laughed, I was angry, I loved, I despaired, and I cried true tears of joy and acceptance. Well done, sir! I'm looking forward too reading more of your work!

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However, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger will change the course of Rob’s life forever… Not only has he been healed, but he cannot die, and he will never age. I absolutely adored this story. Everything about it. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sad, the heartbreaking, and the redemption. A brilliant, humane, thrilling story spanning decades of significant events in world history. It explores a subject that human beings have been pondering since the beginning of time. Eternal life on this earth. Eternal youth. Wouldn’t that be wonderful! Living forever in a body that never ages yet having the wisdom of an ancient soul. Only after many years did he come to realize the truth. The truth about himself and his unique condition. He finally found the medic. The medic had become an old man. He was dying. How had that happened?