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f33lthesun's review
4.0
The story is told via alternating chapters…the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Irex and the inquest into the wreck. The format works well and as the story unfolds, you realise how unreliable individual viewpoints are and that every angle needs to be brought together to get to the truth. However, with some passengers not surviving the voyage, others missing and those who give testimony unclear about some aspects of what actually happened, this proves difficult for the coroner.
Rackman succeeds in immersing us in the world of Victorian sea faring. His descriptions of the ship are precise, enabling the reader to envision being aboard. The claustrophobic sense being on a ship gives you is strong. The chapters on the storm and wreck are vivid, detailed and build the tension superbly, as does his handling of the ever increasing suspense and danger the coroner and his colleagues find themselves in.
The author develops rounded, believable characters. They are human, make mistakes and are often either second guessing themselves or in conflict with themselves about what to do next.
Rennie, the Glasgow journalist, is, to me, a Victorian version of Brookmyre’s Jack Parlabane.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
Rackman succeeds in immersing us in the world of Victorian sea faring. His descriptions of the ship are precise, enabling the reader to envision being aboard. The claustrophobic sense being on a ship gives you is strong. The chapters on the storm and wreck are vivid, detailed and build the tension superbly, as does his handling of the ever increasing suspense and danger the coroner and his colleagues find themselves in.
The author develops rounded, believable characters. They are human, make mistakes and are often either second guessing themselves or in conflict with themselves about what to do next.
Rennie, the Glasgow journalist, is, to me, a Victorian version of Brookmyre’s Jack Parlabane.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
avoraciousreader68's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Book source ~ Tour
In December 1889 the Irex sets sail from Greenock Scotland bound for Rio de Janeiro. Except it never makes it there. It doesn’t even come close. It wrecks off the Isle of Wight after six long weeks of storms and mishaps. But there’s more. Something super creepy, horrifying, and sinister is on board and only the Captain knows about it. After the wreck of the ship and rescue of the survivors, the county coroner, Frederick Blake, is assigned to investigate. However, he’s about to be embroiled in the biggest conspiracy ever and he doesn’t even know it. But he soon will.
Holy shit. Talk about twisting history on its ear. I looked up the Irex. It’s true that it wrecked under mysterious circumstances so it makes a great background for the story that unfolds here. Yikes. I love just about everything about this tall tale. The characters are multi-layered, the story telling smooth, and the plot is great. I am not as taken with the character of Elizabeth Barstow. Her backstory seems extremely far fetched and stretches the realm of believability beyond what seems reasonable. She also seems a bit of a caricature and her actions regarding a certain other character are stupid. Maybe that’s the point. I’m unsure. Anyway, everything about the story (except her stupidity) kept me on the edge of my seat. The events on the ship and the inquiry after are all well-done. I think I like Frederick Blake the best. If you like a mystery wrapped in another mystery followed by a conspiracy then this is the book for you. An excellent read!
booksare42's review
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.5
Today I’m bringing you my review of Irex by Carl Rackman as part of the blog tour hosted by The Write Reads. Thank you to The Write Reads and the author for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Irex is a historical mystery that had me captivated from the very beginning and I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of historical stories full of twists and turns.
Irex takes place over dual timelines. The one timeline takes place on a ship called the Irex and it is told from the perspective of Captain Will Hutton. Captain Hutton seems to be a decent man, with a strong sense of faith, who is in way over his head as a result of the passengers on his ship. The other timeline takes place after the Irex wrecks off of the coast of the Isle of Wight and it is told from the perspective of the county coroner, Frederick Blake, who is tasked with running the inquest in the events that happened. Mr. Blake is also an honest man who runs into difficulties and danger when he starts to get a bit too close to the truth about what happened aboard the ship.
I enjoyed the dual timelines in this book. I enjoyed reading about what happened on the ship with the Capitan and the crew and then seeing what Mr. Blake and his colleagues uncovered through their questioning and investigating. I found myself getting very invested in Mr. Blake’s inquest because I was desperately wanting to know if he would uncover what I just read in the previous chapter.
This book had a lot of characters, and, at times, I had a difficult time keeping track of who was who. Some of the characters in this book were quite sinister and they made this book very exciting because I wanted to know what would happen next. I enjoyed the characters working on the inquest more than I enjoyed the characters on the Irex, and my two favourite characters were Mr. Blake and Mr. Rennie, who was a reporter assisting with the inquest goes.
As far as the story goes, I enjoyed it. I thought the mystery was enjoyable and there were a lot of twists and turn that made it difficult to put the book down. I’m not very familiar with the time period this book takes place in, so there were some things I had to look up because I was curious, but I was still able to enjoy the story without being familiar with the history. I also found it neat that the Irex was a real ship that wrecked near the Isle of Wight.
As far as the writing goes, this book was very easy to get drawn into. The story was easy to read, which made it easy to get hooked on the story.
Irex is a historical mystery that had me captivated from the very beginning and I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of historical stories full of twists and turns.
Irex takes place over dual timelines. The one timeline takes place on a ship called the Irex and it is told from the perspective of Captain Will Hutton. Captain Hutton seems to be a decent man, with a strong sense of faith, who is in way over his head as a result of the passengers on his ship. The other timeline takes place after the Irex wrecks off of the coast of the Isle of Wight and it is told from the perspective of the county coroner, Frederick Blake, who is tasked with running the inquest in the events that happened. Mr. Blake is also an honest man who runs into difficulties and danger when he starts to get a bit too close to the truth about what happened aboard the ship.
I enjoyed the dual timelines in this book. I enjoyed reading about what happened on the ship with the Capitan and the crew and then seeing what Mr. Blake and his colleagues uncovered through their questioning and investigating. I found myself getting very invested in Mr. Blake’s inquest because I was desperately wanting to know if he would uncover what I just read in the previous chapter.
This book had a lot of characters, and, at times, I had a difficult time keeping track of who was who. Some of the characters in this book were quite sinister and they made this book very exciting because I wanted to know what would happen next. I enjoyed the characters working on the inquest more than I enjoyed the characters on the Irex, and my two favourite characters were Mr. Blake and Mr. Rennie, who was a reporter assisting with the inquest goes.
As far as the story goes, I enjoyed it. I thought the mystery was enjoyable and there were a lot of twists and turn that made it difficult to put the book down. I’m not very familiar with the time period this book takes place in, so there were some things I had to look up because I was curious, but I was still able to enjoy the story without being familiar with the history. I also found it neat that the Irex was a real ship that wrecked near the Isle of Wight.
As far as the writing goes, this book was very easy to get drawn into. The story was easy to read, which made it easy to get hooked on the story.
maeclair's review
5.0
An excellent story that alternates between two timelines with differing sets of characters, Irex is extremely well-written nautical adventure, historical tale and mystery novel rolled into one.
William Hutton, Captain of the sailing ship Irex, takes three passengers onboard during the ship’s maiden voyage. The seas are treacherous, but greater treachery evolves when Hutton learns an astounding secret related to one of the passengers.
From the start, the reader is aware the voyage does not end well for the Irex. In the “present” timeline of February 1890, county corner Blake investigates the sinking of the ship, something most members of the surviving crew attribute to Hutton’s preoccupation with the female passenger, Mrs. Barstow. But the deeper Blake digs, the more he begins to question the facts.
In the “past” timeline, the reader is treated to the unfolding of events that lead to the Irex’s fate. Although a little slow at the start, this book is a wonderfully executed tale with beautiful writing and well developed characters. A page-turner, it is not a book to gobble quickly, but one to savor. I’m sure the amount of research the author conducted was staggering, evidenced by the many details that bring each scene vividly to life. I would love to see Irex made into a movie. In the meantime, I will content myself with the having thoroughly enjoyed a remarkable and highly inventive tale.
William Hutton, Captain of the sailing ship Irex, takes three passengers onboard during the ship’s maiden voyage. The seas are treacherous, but greater treachery evolves when Hutton learns an astounding secret related to one of the passengers.
From the start, the reader is aware the voyage does not end well for the Irex. In the “present” timeline of February 1890, county corner Blake investigates the sinking of the ship, something most members of the surviving crew attribute to Hutton’s preoccupation with the female passenger, Mrs. Barstow. But the deeper Blake digs, the more he begins to question the facts.
In the “past” timeline, the reader is treated to the unfolding of events that lead to the Irex’s fate. Although a little slow at the start, this book is a wonderfully executed tale with beautiful writing and well developed characters. A page-turner, it is not a book to gobble quickly, but one to savor. I’m sure the amount of research the author conducted was staggering, evidenced by the many details that bring each scene vividly to life. I would love to see Irex made into a movie. In the meantime, I will content myself with the having thoroughly enjoyed a remarkable and highly inventive tale.
robosquid's review
5.0
It's rare for me to give 5 stars, especially for a genre that I wouldn't normally touch, but this book is so atmospheric, so gripping, so intriguing, so entertaining that I could not award less.
The story is set in two slightly different times - Dec 1889, the ill-fated steel-hulled sailing ship Irex leaves Greenock, Scotland on her maiden voyage to South America (although she turned back to England after suffering several massive storms before wrecking off the Isle of Wight) alternates with the story of the county coroner sent to enquire and investigate into the circumstances of the shipwreck during Jan/Feb 1890. I found the two stories equally engrossing, and both were peppered with characters I cared about, or in several cases feared. The book was a bit of a slow burner until a big 'reveal' at about 34% which was quite jaw-dropping and gave name to the danger the crew was in, besides that posed by the ever-present fierce storms. The atmosphere and descriptions of life on board are so realistic that the author must have done a great deal of research into late 1800s seafaring (an era of sailing ships competing with new-fangled steam ships!)
My favourite quote, said of telegrams: "Was there anywhere a man could be free from the insistent stalking of modern communication?"
In summary, this is a truly excellent book which was difficult to put down and I'll no doubt remember it for some time.
The story is set in two slightly different times - Dec 1889, the ill-fated steel-hulled sailing ship Irex leaves Greenock, Scotland on her maiden voyage to South America (although she turned back to England after suffering several massive storms before wrecking off the Isle of Wight) alternates with the story of the county coroner sent to enquire and investigate into the circumstances of the shipwreck during Jan/Feb 1890. I found the two stories equally engrossing, and both were peppered with characters I cared about, or in several cases feared. The book was a bit of a slow burner until a big 'reveal' at about 34% which was quite jaw-dropping and gave name to the danger the crew was in, besides that posed by the ever-present fierce storms. The atmosphere and descriptions of life on board are so realistic that the author must have done a great deal of research into late 1800s seafaring (an era of sailing ships competing with new-fangled steam ships!)
My favourite quote, said of telegrams: "Was there anywhere a man could be free from the insistent stalking of modern communication?"
In summary, this is a truly excellent book which was difficult to put down and I'll no doubt remember it for some time.
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