There Are Inkspots On My Page!

You can find this, and other reviews, on my blog. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cannonbridge is really two different stories, all muddled up and co-dependant. First, we have Matthew Cannonbridge, named as “the most influential creative mind of the 19th century” and his encounters with various well known authors of the time. Then, we have Toby Judd, whose life is not going as well as it could be - and that’s before he realises that Matthew Cannonbridge is a hoax.

The book alternates between the two main characters, and I did find that a bit hard to get used to. Some of it has to be chalked up to the ebook I received, but a portion of it is because of the abrupt changes, especially when leaving Cannonbridge himself.

I enjoyed both threads, Cannonbridge is particularly intriguing, and the way the story was drip fed as the book progresses definitely keeps you reading. Toby’s story was a lot more straightforward - more like a standard action/thriller type. That doesn’t make it less interesting, though. There were a few times where I wished that the two stories weren’t intertwined, because there is so much more that I wanted to see happening.

And the ending. Oh my goodness. No spoilers here, but suffice to say I didn’t see it ending the way that it did. That’s partly because I get so caught up in the story that I never see anything coming, but also because it’s on the “well, that’s a thing!” side.

All in all, it was well worth reading. I’m very curious to see Jonathan Barnes’ other work now, to see how it compares.