From Emma Stonex, the bestselling author of The Lamplighters, comes The Sunshine Man, a tangled mystery about a terrible crime and a revenge plotted over decades.
In January 1989, Birdie wakes to the news she’s been waiting eighteen years to hear. Jimmy Maguire, the man who killed her sister, has been freed from jail. Birdie leaves for London with a gun and a to find him and make him pay. But there’s another side to the story, and she’s about to enter a world of family lies, worn-out loyalties and long-buried betrayals.
Did Jimmy kill Birdie’s sister, or is he the only one she can really trust? And when the truth is finally revealed, will she choose forgiveness – or retribution?
A heart-stopping new novel of murky shared pasts and a fury-fueled present, The Sunshine Man is a thrilling cat and mouse chase set against the salt-drenched backdrop of England’s south coast, from bestselling author Emma Stonex.
💛💛💛.5
Hi and welcome to my review of The Sunshine Man!
I couldn’t wait to get my mitts on The Sunshine Man, because I adored The Lamplighters and I’d been waiting for another book by Emma Stonex for a long, long time. Before diving in, I did realise The Sunshine Man would be a completely different book contentwise, but I did hope to experience that same kind of bookish magic. Alas, I’m afraid I did not.
The Sunshine Man tells the story of Birdie, both past and present. In the present, her sister’s killer has been released from prison, finally, and she is ready. She’s been ready for years. She has a plan, sort of, she has a gun, she will make him pay. The chapters set in the past show Birdie’s childhood. We learn how she rolls and just how much she loves her baby sister. I loved Birdie, revenge plans and all, and I really enjoyed these storylines.
What, unfortunately, worked a lot less for me, was Jimmy’s storyline. His chapters include loads, and I do mean LOADS, of F-bombs, noted as “— – ing”. That got real old real quick. I don’t mind swearing, not in real life, not in books. I’ve read reviews in which reviewers comment on all the swear words used and I’m like “Seriously? Swearing? I didn’t even notice.” The use of “— – ing” just made me notice them more and even though my brain knew perfectly well how to read them, it snagged on the dashes like a millisecond every time, which was really tiring and tiresome. I honestly would have minded less if the word had just been spelled normally. (I’m avoiding it here myself so Amazon won’t refuse to post my review 😅)
Jimmy’s storyline also includes a few letters with poor spelling and poor grammar, and more F-words. And I do get it, I understand why the author / editor / publisher opted for this. And many readers will not mind it at all, they’ll love it, they might applaud the authenticity. But for me, personally, it grated. The form detracted from the content, distracting me in such a way that I wasn’t fully able to take in what I was reading because I only noticed the form it came in, and I started speed-reading to escape it and get back to Birdie. I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed The Sunshine Man more had I listened to it instead.
Overall, for me, The Sunshine Man was a mixed bag. I found the nostalgia of Birdie’s past and the urgency of her present riveting, but it took me a long while to get a feel for Jimmy and to start caring about him. As the story progresses, the use of “— – ing” becomes more sporadic, that definitely helped, but sadly, I never became fully invested in his side of things. A reveal towards the end makes me regret that even more.
Don’t get me wrong, The Sunshine Man is a great book, it’s an intricately woven story with an unsettling undercurrent throughout, and I’m sure I would have loved it if I’d been able to look past those issues I had with it. I would recommend it, but beware, if you think you might have the same issues I had, you might want to check out the audiobook.
The Sunshine Man is out in hardcover, digital formats and audio on 1 May, with the paperback to follow in November.
Massive thanks to Picador and NetGalley for the DRC. All opinions are my own.
Fab review! The premise definitely intrigues me, but I do think that I would have similar issues as well. xx
Honestly, I think you would 😬
I saw that Eva didn’t like it either, so I’m just going to leave this one be. 😉
Ha! Spot on review! I couldn’t get over the __ __ instead of spelling out the word. It jarred every time and really made an unpleasant reading experience. Either use the real word or just omit it entirely but this just was odd – and how on earth will the audio book do it??
I found it very readable but at the same time a bit cliched and unbelievable. The characters just didn’t ring true to me.
Thank you! Maybe the audio book has beeps instead? That would drive me crazy, though 😅