On a snowbound Cader Idris, death comes stalking.
Cobb retreated to Cader Idris for a solitary life of peace and quiet, and to escape his dangerous past. Though that illusion starts to crumble after he and Branwen Jones, the local vet, find a mysterious RTA victim and shelter him in Cobb’s home.
When elements of London’s criminal underbelly reach Wales, and their presence throws the close-knit community into stark relief, the chance to settle old scores could prove too tempting.
With no choice but to try and hide the RTA victim from people who want to kill him, Cobb’s not sure he’s ready to rejoin the world he’s running from, when that means putting another woman in the firing line. Meanwhile, Branwen’s not sure she can face the revelation of her darkest secret.
But as they face the final showdown, a race over the snowed-in mountain, will anyone survive unscathed?
Review
Having read the authors books in the past I was delighted to be asked to read and review this book on the one year anniversary of its publication.
GB Williams is an author that fills her books with the grim reality of lives that are touched by violence and criminal activity. Taking her readers into worlds far removed from the quiet safety of their ordinary lives and it makes for a thrilling, shocking and exciting thriller.
It should be said from the start that The Chair by GB Williams features a lot of violence. Importantly the violence fits the story and gives it an edge that resonates strongly with the actions of London’s criminal underbelly and the stark contrast it creates within the quiet wildness of a remote Welsh community. Anything else could never hope to reflect the impact created by the arrival of outsiders, whose only aim is to protect their paymasters. It gives the story a strong sense of danger, human trespasser against not just the villagers, but the quiet brooding menace of Cader Idris, the seat of giant warrior poet of Welsh legend. It works well, because it pits both assailants and ‘hero’s’ against not just each other, but the brooding danger and violence of the welsh chair itself.
The characters work well against the escalating brutality within the story, especially the mountain, which sits like a brooding personality front and centre of all the events that take place. In Welsh legend Cader Idris was the hunting ground of Gwyn ap Nudd and his Cŵn Annwn. It was said if you heard the howling of these hounds, death was foretold and as you read, you can feel the author create that sense of doom by using the mountain and the weather, to heard you the reader, Branwen Jones and Cobb towards what could be the fight of their lives. Both Branwen and Cobb are strong, yet flawed characters, who balance out the corruption of the criminals they are up against. They have secrets, pasts that haunt them, yet their bravery and determination to protect and save others, gives the novel that very important elements a reader needs. Hero’s to rally to. They both made me want to read on, to find out who survived the not just the violence of the villain’s, but the far more imposing danger of Cader Idris.
If you are looking for a exciting thriller than The Chair by GB Williams would make an excellent choice.
You can purchase this novel from Amazon.
About the author
I like to walk on the darker side, thankfully there are people and publishers willing to walk there with me.
Once upon a time I was going to walk around Europe. Then I met a guy. I kept the guy, kissed the travel goodbye.
Now I live and work and write in old South Wales, and frequently get mistaken for Clair from New Zealand – no idea why the Clair, but I grew up in Kent, and New Zealand is sort of halfway between Kent and South Wales – if you go the long way around.
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