It's time for the letter B ... His Bloody Project by Gordon Macrae Burnett. Set up as if it is a true crime, this is the story of a triple murder in a remote community in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th Century. This is a harsh story - it's a tough life as a crofter and there aren't many bright spots to your day. Without much love in the home following his mother's death, kept low by a harsh landlord and victimised by the village constable, Roderick Macrae is just trying to survive. But after one final incident, the misery and despair of his situation overwhelm him and he takes the law into his own hands and murders the constable, and his two children. He doesn't run, but admits to the crime. Yet somehow, as we hear his confession and hear, via witness statements, about Roderick's life, the reader cannot help but be sympathetic towards him. It almost felt like his actions were just a desperate attempt to escape from a life he believed held no other future than the continuing misfortune he had already suffered. This was an interesting concept, but the subject matter did not make for an easy read. Not one for the faint hearted.
My STAR rating: THREE
Length: 288 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.98.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.
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