Simon Farrant

I was drawn to this book by the intriguing synopsis of life after death and the absolutely stunning cover. The waterfall is completely mesmerising and fits nicely with the story as water is a key feature on Limbo Island.

Too Early for Death is the story of Damien Lennon who goes missing on a visit to a museum with his wife, Nancy, and 12 year old son, Marcus. Unable to resist the temptation of a forbidden door, he finds himself on a mysterious island and his family are left behind to file a missing person report. Nancy can't understand why Damien would leave them and she is unable to fully grieve his loss without a body to bury. Nancy is drawn to Damien's friend, Niall, who might physically slip into Damien's place in the house but doesn't replace Damien in Nancy's heart.

The story flips back and forth between Damien's new life (or should that be death?) on the island and Nancy's struggle to live without Damien. Time certainly passed more slowly on Limbo Island as Damien finds his way around with the help of a German man named Hector. Damien and Hector have a hint of rebellion about them as they explore places outside their village and come across portals showing what is happening in the world they left behind.

Being set on a strange island, Too Early for Death does have a hint of the TV show 'Lost' about it, but don't worry it's much better than Lost. Both Damien's and Nancy's stories held my interest and I really felt for Nancy who was never able to get over the loss of Damien, who was clearly the love of her life. I really felt that Niall took advantage of Nancy's distress to get his feet under Damien's table and it was almost like he didn't necessarily want Nancy in particular, he just wanted what Damien had.

An imaginative and thought-provoking story, Too Early for Death is not only a good story in its own right, it's an intriguing start to the Limbo Island trilogy. It does feel very much that we've only just scratched the surface of Simon Farrant's Limbo island and I'm intrigued to see where his imagination will take us next.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (mehr)