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annecater · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:09 pm Post subject: Staff Required by Kevin Jones

A very unusual novel which would be very hard to categorise - but hey, who needs labels? Just enjoy it for what it is.

The three lead characters are three very different men - very different in that one of them is from another planet altogether, another one lives on Earth but in his own little world and the last is a teenager.

Their stories interwine and link so very well. All three of them face many hard challenges during their lives - challenges which form not just their characters, but the actual world that they live in.

The novel incorporates a bit of science fiction and fantasy with some good old-fashioned Northern English wit and wisdom. Anyone who enjoyed novels like The Lovely Bones will enjoy this very unique story.

A short, but page-turning first novel.

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Currently reading: The Tent The Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy and Granny The Pag by Nina Bawden

1001 Challenge Books read in 2009 - 3
1001 Challenge Books read in 2008 - 8
1001 Challenge Books read in 2007 - 13

joneskev · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:36 am Post subject: Staff Required review

Thanks for your review Anne. It is encouraging to know that you found my first novel "enthralling" and that you enjoyed it. Response has been very good so far but I'm still struggling with ideas as to how I can spread the word! Any ideas or useful contacts would be very welcome.

thanks again for your support and comments.

Kevin
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Riversider

blueflower · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject:

A very different novel to anything I have read before. . It is a book of three parts, each part about a different person but all three parts are connected. The first part is mainly about a lovely character called Fairy Jim who goes to the Thursday Club and meets one of the volunteers who is trying to write a book and is able to help the author out when he is struggling with the story line. Ravello arrived on earth from Zagore.10,000 years ago but has a connection with the other two characters. The third part is about Josh, a young boy in a modern trouble family.

Part one and three are the best bits of the book. Jim and his fellow club members are really well portrayed and you may just want to volunteer at a similar club after reading this! The second part deals with an afterlife existence. This was the least favourite part and I didn’t really like this version of what ' life’ after death is like. The third part is probably the best and deals with some of the difficult problems that families can face today and how quickly a happy successful family can fracture. The book has its funny moments but also deals with some difficult issues and some tragic and sad incidents. I haven’t yet decided if it has a happy ending or not.

I must confess I would properly not have read this book if it hadn’t had some publicity at work. (I work for a charity that is closely involved in the club where Kevin Jones is a volunteer). I don’t really like reading sc fi , and I don’t read a lot of books set in the present time as I prefer history- but usually history that happened in the last millennium.

But it pays to experiment with reading and I really enjoyed this book and have kept thinking about some of it since I finished it.

joneskev · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:03 pm Post subject: Staff required critique

Thanks for this Gwen- just the sort of review / response I am looking for. I know the novel won't suit everyone but hopefully its "difference" and some of the ideas expressed will give rise to some thoughtfulness within the reader. I'm not surprised that you liked part two the least but everyone has their own personal thoughts on the afterlife and who knows what's in store - if anything! The energy transfer involved in "talking to waves" also needs a huge capacity for imagination and non sci-fi readers do struggle with this. The best thing as far as I'm concerned is that you "enjoyed it" and this is my main motivator and what I set out to do in writing the novel. Thanks very much for your support.

I've just read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "The Road Home" which were brilliant. I'm now reading "What I talk about when I talk about running" by Haruki Murakami which is very disappointing, especially after "Kafka on the Shore" which I thought was outstanding and VERY different. A very happy new year to you.
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Riversider

blueflower · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject:

My reasons for not really liking the second part of the book are because despite having been brought up in a strict Methodist home, I don't think I really believe that we exist beyond the grave. I know I lot of people get comfort from thinking that their loved ones are close by, but I find the thought that my dead relatives etc are watching me and could be in the same room as me very unnerving!

Karen · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:13 am Post subject:

Staff Required is not the sort of book I would normally read, but since I like to try something different once in a while I was fairly keen to read it once it was suggested.

I don't consider myself particularly spiritual nor religious and this story does have a very spiritual theme. I often read stories which encompass elements I do not have either knowledge of or belief in and so I did not find the spiritual nature of the story a problem. I found the story engaging and quite surprisingly found that it has stayed with me for quite a while after finishing it.

The story is written as though the narrator is having a conversation with the reader, with much of his story telling second and sometimes even third hand. I do not really care for this format, but because I did enjoy the story being told, that was not too much of an issue here.

mummymelly · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:34 pm Post subject:

Sounds interesting
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Karen · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:40 am Post subject:

mummymelly · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:28 pm Post subject:

mummymelly · Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject:

Karen has kindly passed this book onto me and I plan on reading it in the next few weeks. If there are any other members that would like to read it after me, please do give me a PM and I'll happily send it on as soon as I've read it. If no one wants it, I shall probably pass it round on the RISI Mobile Library x

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