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    Stone Bruises
    Stone Bruises
    Stone Bruises
    Ebook360 pages6 hours

    Stone Bruises

    By Simon Beckett

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    In this “gripping psychological thriller,” a man on the run finds refuge with a family in rural France—only to realize he’s fallen into a trap (Daily Express).

    Sean is on the run. We don’t know why and we don’t know from whom, but we do know he’s abandoned his battered, blood-stained car in the middle of a sweltering and isolated, part of France. Desperate to avoid the police, Sean takes to the hedgerows and country lanes hoping to find shelter. 

    Nearly unconscious from pain and loss of blood, Sean is taken in by two women, the daughters of the man who runs a local farm with a ramshackle barn, blighted vineyard, and a brooding lake. And that’s when Sean’s problems really start, because this family that has taken him in is anything but normal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateJul 5, 2022
    ISBN9781504076098
    Stone Bruises

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    Reviews for Stone Bruises

    3.5/5

    56 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Auf der Flucht vor sich selbst und seinen Taten landet Sean auf einem abgelegenen französischen Hof. Eigentlich will er nur um ein bisschen Wasser bitten, doch im nahe gelegenen Wald tritt er in ein Fangeisen. Erst Tage später wird er von der ältesten Tochter des Hofes gefunden und gepflegt. Nach einigem Hin und Her darf Sean auf dem Hof bleiben, doch fühlt er sich unwohl in seiner Haut. Der grobschlächtige Vater ist ein jähzorniger und aggressiver Zeitgenosse, der mit allen Mitteln sein Anwesen verteidigt und Fremden gegenüber misstrauisch gesinnt ist.Die jüngere Tochter Gretchen erschließt sich Sean erst recht nicht und aus Angst vor ihrem Vater versucht er jeden Kontakt zu vermeiden. Nur Mathilde, die ältere Schwester, ist der Ruhepol der ganzen Familie.Doch sie scheinen etwas zu verbergen und je länger Sean auf dem Hof bleibt, umso mehr läuft er Gefahr in etwas Schwerwiegendes verwickelt zu werden.Simon Beckett beschreibt in diesem Buch die Geschichte eines jungen Mannes, die für den Leser zu zwei Zeiten gleichzeitig stattfindet. Immer abwechselnd erfahren wir auf der einen Seite die Geschichte rund um den französischen Hof und seinen Bewohnern, auf der anderen Seite befinden wir uns in London, wo aus Seans vorhergehenden Leben berichtet wird und erzählt wird, weshalb er überhaupt auf der Flucht ist. Denn das etwas nicht stimmt, stellt der Leser gleich zu Beginn der Erzählung fest und der Hof ist nicht der einzige, der ein Geheimnis birgt.Im Großen und Ganzen ist die Geschichte sehr simpel und vorhersehbar gestrickt. Schon bald entwickelt man ein Gefühl dafür, dass etwas nicht stimmt und was vor allem nicht ganz richtig läuft. Man stellt Vermutungen an, die zum Ende des Buches bestätigt werden. Der Autor schafft es nicht, hier zu überraschen oder neue Wege zu gehen.Die Ich-Perspektive des Buches macht es zudem schwierig, einen Einstieg in die Geschichte zu finden. Erst mit der Zeit nähert man sich dem Charakter. Mit seinem Schreibstil reißt der Autor einiges heraus, denn er schafft es trotz allem, den Leser bei der Stange zu halten. Er bringt mich dazu, die Geschichte doch irgendwie zu mögen, auch wenn sie inhaltlich nichts Neues oder Aufregendes zu bieten hat. Mögliche Eskalationssituationen, die sich durch die teils sehr aggressiven Charaktere ergeben könnten, werden nicht genutzt und oft verlaufen sich die Konflikte doch im Sande beziehungsweise enden nicht in den ihnen gegebenen Möglichkeiten. So bleibt die Erzählung eher seicht und bietet keine Überraschungen.
    • 2/5
      nowhere near as good as Beckett's other books. Would not classify this as a thriller. Too descriptive in places, tedious at times. Could have been shortened to half the size. Nearly gave up on it twice, after reading to the end, I wish I had.
    • 4/5
      This marked a departure from Beckett's previous novels which have featured forensic expert David Hunter. This novel opens with the narrator fleeing from something in a car which has almost run out of fuel. We only gradually learn where he is, and what he is running from. He abandons his car and starts to walk, struggling against the heat of the relentless midday sun. He finds a farmhouse where he manages to beg some refreshing water, but as he is leaving the farm estate he steps in a man trap.Unable to extricate himself he gradually passes out. When he comes round he finds himself in a bed in a converted barn back at the farm. As he gradually recovers his strength he offers recollections of his previous life in London, slowly moving towards the reason for his frenzied escape.Beckett manages the tension very effectively, keeping the reader engaged. I think I preferred the earlier books about Hunter, but this was still enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Sean is on the run. We don't know why and we don't know from whom, but we do know he's abandoned his battered, blood-stained car in the middle of an isolated, lonely part of rural France at the height of a sweltering summer. Desperate to avoid the police, he takes to the parched fields and country lanes only to be caught in the vicious jaws of a trap. Near unconscious from pain and loss of blood, he is freed and taken in by two women - daughters of the owner of a rundown local farm with its ramshackle barn, blighted vineyard and the brooding lake. And it's then that Sean's problems really start...
      Simon Beckett’s Stone Bruises is a fascinating tale of how the human psyche deals with loss, injury and pain. Battered and bruised Sean stumbles across an isolated farm in rural France where he becomes trapped by his injuries, his nightmares and the family who own the farm and lands.
      The author paints a vivid picture, not only of the landscape, but of the characters. I was fascinated by the nonchalant cruelty in Sean’s past and his present, inflicted on him and on the girl he loved.
      Here is a journey of love and loss, of cruelty and kindness that keeps the reader engrossed for hours.
    • 4/5
      Stone Bruises an Interesting ReadStone Bruises by Simon Beckett is described as a thriller while being a well written and enjoyable read it is more Miss Marple than out and out thriller. This a not so much whodunit but what did they all do and what are they hiding. Saying that it was a very pleasurable read even when I read it on a football coach to that there London town. Sean is on the run and escaping London when he has to dump his stolen car in France and carry on foot. He discovers a kilo of cocaine in the car and takes it with him. Sean is trying to avoid being seen by too many cars and especially the police when he sees one approach he jumps a fence and lands himself in a whole world of trouble when his leg ends up in a metal man trap. He passes out trying to get his foot free and when he comes round he is in a barn loft naked and his foot now has stitches. He has no idea what he is doing there or how he got there.This is where he meets Mathilda and her sister Gretchen who take care of him while trying to keep him away from their father. Araund the father is not a pleasant man, he is a pig farmer with plenty of secrets to hide and this Sean at first has an awareness of something being wrong on the farm but not know what. While there he finds that the family are not popular in the local town and from comments made not even the girls are respected. Throughout the book we get Sean’s full back story and his growing suspicions of what has gone on that is being hidden on the farm. Like Agatha Christie we do not get the full reveal until the closing chapters and things start to make sense and we find the hidden depths and find out why at the end Sean takes on a three legged spaniel called Lulu.This was a pleasurable read and worth the time taken more old fashioned whodunit than modern thriller that is a great read.

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    Stone Bruises - Simon Beckett

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