DNF at halfway unfortunately.

The Sunshine Man is a mystery, suspenseful thriller set in the 1950’s-1990’s in rural Devon and London.

Went into this novel really keen as I was super interested by the plot, I always love a mystery thriller and finally a book set in Devon! Sadly the multiple POV and time travelling just upset the flow of the book and made it really difficult to form any deep emotion. The book felt flat and one dimensional, a lot of the sections read very rushed. I was looking forward to seeing where it was going but I just got bored :(

Also the -ing in place of f-ing or any real swearing was very weird!

For eighteen long, painful years Bridget, “Birdie”, has been planning and plotting. Now the fateful day has arrived and she knows exactly what she has to do.

When James “Jimmy” Maguire emerges from the gates of Wandsworth prison, Birdie is in place. What she hasn’t accounted for is the young woman who is there to meet Jimmy. Who is she and will she scupper Birdie’s plans?

The very first sentence of this book is a total attention grabber, and after waiting so long since The Lamplighters I was thrilled to be offered this arc.

An offering from a talented and insightful author is always welcome, and as expected the writing is well done and the plot did carry well, if a little flat at times.

It was definitely a book of two halves for me. I loved the Birdie chapters and was fully enthralled with her life and that of her loved ones. And the Floyd part of the story was well executed. Where I struggled was the Jimmy chapters, I really couldn’t get into them at all. The problem for me was the censored expletives. The dialogue and narrative completely lost its flow and was a chore to read as there was so much censorship. I actually found the lines more offensive than the swearing!

A good idea would be to offer the book without the redactions for those who prefer it. I’m sure that the book would benefit from letting the reader make up their own minds if they would be offended or not.

2.5*

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan.

3* The Sunshine Man - Emma Stonex

Birdie has been waiting and planning for a long time. When she gets the call that Jimmy, her sister’s murderer is to be released from prison, she packs her gun, leaves her husband and children and sets off to right the heartbreak that Jimmy caused. Told over here and then timelines from both Birdie and Jimmy, this story unravels and takes you where you don’t expect.

Having loved The Lamplighters, I was really excited to get a copy of The Sunshine Man. The story is intriguing from the off, although slows and is a little ploddy in parts. The language sings off the page but it felt unbalanced - I much preferred Birdie’s perspective to that of Jimmy - mainly because he was a difficult character to get under the skin of, despite his significance to the book. Overall a good read from a talented author. I look forward to her next novel.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

I was excited to see that Emma Stonex had come out with a new novel. I really enjoyed the Lamplighters so this was a real treat for me.
Although this was an unsettling, deeply chilling read, it’s also emotional. Not only did the opening draw me in, but also the intricate and beautiful narrative throughout.

Birdie, filled with rage and revenge, is determined to make James Maguire pay for what he did. Even though he pleads his innocence, the man who murdered her younger sister deserves nothing better than death and she has a plan. Birdie has researched him thoroughly during his time in prison and when he comes out, she’s determined to be there.

We learn Birdie’s past and present, and how powerless she felt, wanting to see Providence as a baby again and not telling her poorly Gamma the truth. She is the type of character to root for and type you love from the beginning. It was her point of view I wanted to return to throughout the book.

Jimmy’s storyline was slightly less appealing. I didn’t care for him as much at the start, although that changed as I began to understand his struggles and the path he knew he shouldn't have taken. His letters sounded authentic, misspellings and all, and at the end, I felt I was there with him and Providence in that field, helpless as it all played out. Yellow, now the colour of violence and death, where the community mascot, a long-standing effigy for Yellowfields Seed Oil near Newton Prior, is a constant reminder.

It’s a book about revenge and restoration, about the devastation of damaged childhoods, and how abandonment can derail innocent minds. Beautifully written in Stonex’s signature style, it’s a book to savour. Highly recommended.

Huge thanks to Picador, Netgalley and the author, for the privilege of reading an advance copy.

1989
Birdie hears the news she has been waiting so many years for. Jimmy Maguire is being released from prison - but he murdered her sister.
She leaves her family that morning with a gun and a plan.
But there are two sides to every story and secrets and lies are there to be revealed.

An unsettling and discomfiting read, but one which draws you in. The opening certainly shocked me, and had me wanting to know more about why this seemingly everyday woman was going to shoot someone.
Our main character, Birdie, is determined to find James Maguire when he is released from prison. She has been receiving updates about him during his time inside, and all we know is that he was imprisoned for the murder of Birdie’s younger sister. We can only assume that she is determined to make him pay for what he did.
Though we follow Birdie as she tails James and his daughter across country, our focus shifts to their shared past. We learn of Maguire’s deeply troubled home life and we learn how he and Providence became friends. We also learn of the dreadful wrong done to Birdie, and James’s role in how events panned out.
Stonex does a great job of making us care about someone who has committed a dreadful crime. Her portrayal of James strongly suggests there were extenuating circumstances that impacted his behaviour. This doesn’t excuse what he did, but it forces us to question some of the events leading up to Providence’s death.
No easy answers here, but an intriguing read. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this.

The tag line for this book caught my attention, and I was excited to read it.

The story seemed to flip flop from Birdie in real time, Birdie's childhood, James in real time, James' childhood (often same tale repeated from different perspective) and James' time in prison.
Usually I'm a fine of multiple perspectives and dual(+) timelines, but this wasn't executed well.

The story was a bit flat, and the ending honestly just felt like I'd wasted five days reading this. I was actually really cross when I finished it.

What was done very well was the "Floyd" part of the story.

Also, not sure if this is a NetGalley thing or this author thing but ----ing instead of swearing was very annoying!

Published to goodreads and fable

The Birdie sections of this book were excellent and I really enjoyed reading them. Sadly I feel like the Jimmy diary entries let it down somewhat, and really pulled me out of the story unfortunately.

After reading and loving The Lamplighters I was really looking forward to this book by Emma Stonex. But I just couldn't settle into it. I didn't like the characters and the plot just seemed flat to me.

A stunning and evocative exploration of how neglect and abuse can lead to horrifying consequences for all involved.

This was beautifully written with evocative settings due to the accomplished prose.

James and Birdie are such tortured souls and their journeys were both heartbreaking and soulful.

An immersive reading experience and one that broke my heart.

Up on Goodreads now, live on the blog on 28 April:

I couldn’t wait to get my mitts on The Sunshine Man, because I adored The Lamplighters and I’d been waiting for another book by Emma Stonex for a long, long time. Before diving in, I did realise The Sunshine Man would be a completely different book contentwise, but I did hope to experience that same kind of bookish magic. Alas, I’m afraid I did not.

The Sunshine Man tells the story of Birdie, both past and present. In the present, her sister’s killer has been released from prison, finally, and she is ready. She’s been ready for years. She has a plan, sort of, she has a gun, she will make him pay. The chapters set in the past show Birdie’s childhood. We learn how she rolls and just how much she loves her baby sister. I loved Birdie, revenge plans and all, and I really enjoyed these storylines.

What, unfortunately, worked a lot less for me, was Jimmy’s storyline. His chapters include loads, and I do mean LOADS, of F-bombs, noted as “— – ing”. That got real old real quick. I don’t mind swearing, not in real life, not in books. I’ve read reviews in which reviewers comment on all the swear words used and I’m like “Seriously? Swearing? I didn’t even notice.” The use of “— – ing” just made me notice them more and even though my brain knew perfectly well how to read them, it snagged on the dashes like a millisecond every time, which was really tiring and tiresome. I honestly would have minded less if the word had just been spelled normally. (I’m avoiding it here myself so Amazon won’t refuse to post my review 😅)

Jimmy’s storyline also includes a few letters with poor spelling and poor grammar, and more F-words. And I do get it, I understand why the author / editor / publisher opted for this. And many readers will not mind it at all, they’ll love it, they might applaud the authenticity. But for me, personally, it grated. The form detracted from the content, distracting me in such a way that I wasn’t fully able to take in what I was reading because I only noticed the form it came in, and I started speed-reading to escape it and get back to Birdie. I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed The Sunshine Man more had I listened to it instead.

Overall, for me, The Sunshine Man was a mixed bag. I found the nostalgia of Birdie’s past and the urgency of her present riveting, but it took me a long while to get a feel for Jimmy and to start caring about him. As the story progresses, the use of “— – ing” becomes more sporadic, that definitely helped, but sadly, I never became fully invested in his side of things. A reveal towards the end makes me regret that even more.

Don’t get me wrong, The Sunshine Man is a great book, it’s an intricately woven story with an unsettling undercurrent throughout, and I’m sure I would have loved it if I’d been able to look past those issues I had with it. I would recommend it, but beware, if you think you might have the same issues I had, you might want to check out the audiobook.

The Sunshine Man is out in hardcover, digital formats and audio on 1 May, with the paperback to follow in November.

Massive thanks to Picador and NetGalley for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

Page turning tense thriller. Floyd really plays a part in this story, but to what depths will he sink and the hold he has over James?

James, is he a victim of circumstance with his family being dysfunctional or was he mentally unstable from birth. Revenge is a meal that can destroy all in its path.

A book that must be read.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book.

An interesting case study of revenge and retribution, Providence and her murder lie at the heart of this novel, ever present. Even though the formatting of this eARC wasn’t the best it proves a great deal that I was still immersed in the story from start to finish. Another success from Stonex.

As soon as I saw Emma Stonex had a new release I was desperate to read it and it was even better than I had hoped . The opening line is shocking and grabs you straight away. What unfolds is a sad tale of broken childhoods, neglectful parents, friends doing the best they can, and Gamma who is just a wonderful redemptive character. The names of the girls, Birdie and Providence, give us a kind of clue to their characters and impact. I read this in one day, I couldn't put it down, and I felt a terrible loss at the end. (That the book had ended- not a spoiler)

Birdie hears the news that Jimmy Maguire has been released from prison. The man that killed her sister. She leaves her family behind and sets off, with a gun, to find him
Told from different viewpoints as Birdie follows Jimmy and we discover, through flashbacks, what happened in the past.
I found this hard to read, particularly the diary entries when Jimmy was in prison, and discovered that I didn't really like any of the characters enough to care what happened.

An addictive read - tough to read due to the content at times but so well written. A cracking pace in places and a few unexpected twists in the story. Don’t start it just before bedtime!,

I enjoyed Stonex’ previous book the lamplighters immensely, and was looking forward to reading this. I’m afraid for me there’s an element of difficult second novel about the sunshine man - much like the first novel we have repeated use of different perspectives and use of reports from counselling sessions etc, which build an overall picture, but it’s less than the sum of its parts. I didn’t feel invested in either the “present day” revenge timeline, or the backtracking through past events, regardless of which perspective we were seeing events in. I’m not sure if the early foreshadowing of a psychological twist was meant to be so heavy handed but it felt very drawn out by the time it’s made explicit - I was rather glad when we got to the point so to speak.
Stonex does write effectively and the different times and places are well drawn, but for me it’s didn’t gel as much as I wanted it to

The Sunshine Man by Emma Stonex is a literary take on the revenge thriller and one that did not entirely work for me as much as I hoped but was still a thought provoking and tension filled read.
January 1989 and Birdie learns that the moment she has been waiting for has finally arrived, Jimmy Maguire, the man who murdered her sister has been released from prison. Time to put her plan into action. She heads to London with a gun and on a mission, to kill Jimmy before he can hurt anyone else. But there is another side to the story, one that Birdie knows nothing about and one that could change everything. Is this really a book about retribution or one about forgiveness.
I was drawn in by the premise of this book, and it started strongly as we get to know Bridie and her story, both past and present but where it fell apart a little for me was when we switched to Jimmy's perspective, these sections were more difficult to read and while that did align with the dissonance the character was experiencing it meant I just kept wanting to go back to Birdie's perspective. The dual timelines worked well and really did help to keep me guessing about what had actually happened as well as making me have some empathy for Jimmy's character, but it was not enough to make me love the book. The book however did give me plenty of food for thought about justice, grief and the fallibility of memory and I could appreciate the author's skill and ambition.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I unfortunately had a really hard time connecting to the characters in this book especially reading from our second characters POV, very difficult to get through. My first from this author and it may just not be a good fit. I did appreciate the detail regarding a lot of the justice system and the back stories were intriguing at times but it never fully captured my attention and was hard to finish.

This is a clever crime/psychological thriller that will have you very quickly turning the pages to find out just what is going on.
With lots of twists and turns Emma really gets the reader invested in the emotions and reasonings (or not) behind each action. While I clicked pretty early what was happening, the ending was still satisfying and well done.