LADDER
MEDIA
LADDER
MEDIA
A young couple celebrate their relationship over a meal in a city centre restaurant. He is the son of a successful Asian Moslem businessman. She is a bright English girl, involved with the media.
They speed off into the city underpass.
Their car smashes lethally into the concrete wall.
Who was responsible? A jilted lover? A racist?
This is Birmingham, September 1999.
David Jeffery is a solicitor who knows both families. Dismissing the obvious suspect, he searches for the truth.
David takes us with him for 10 days. He is an interesting companion, open about his thoughts and feelings, but not insisting on our immediate attention. He covers Christianity, Islam, and American coffee shops in England, the point of sermons, the ethics of air fresheners, and much more.
David is a practising Christian. He finds himself planning a dramatic funeral. His faith and sexual fidelity come under pressure as never before.
David keeps investigating until the truth comes out.
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A whodunit, a Christian story, and a book about racism? A British Crash really is all three, and more. As a whodunit, it is easy going, with surprises and sub plots to keep the pages turning. As a story about Christians, the characters are believable and the relationships intriguing. The narrator’s faith is real and realistic. As a book about racism, it shows how engrained and hidden prejudice is. Some of the White British nastiness I didn’t want to read, while some of the most engaging characters are Asian British.
A British Crash has yet more. You’ll find insights into Islam, the New Age, handling lust and grief, Britain as a Christian nation, and living in Birmingham. Reading this book is a rich and entertaining experience.’
Review in 'Sorted' Magazine
'The writing is professional and what the book has to say is really interesting.'
Fay Weldon
Author of many novels. including The Life and Loves of a She Devil.
'Why do we read books for a second, a third, or more times? Because they offer the nutrients we need.
So if I need refreshment in the sense of living in a loving world, I might turn to Anne MacCaffery and her Dragon books, or to Ursula Le Guinn’s Tales of Earthsea, especially the latest stories which seem to add extra depth and wrap things into the future.
If I need to regain my sense of the reality of a loving God, William Young’s The Shack does it again and again.
But if I need to revive my positive vision of multicultural city life, where God is gently and normally at work in ordinary people, I re-open A British Crash. It shows life as I know it to be, deep down, among the ordinariness and tragedy. It does not prescribe, but provides a mirror in which I perceive afresh.'
Philip Tyers
‘An easy read, very well written. I couldn't put it down as I was eager to find out what happened.
Some of the issues raised did make me think how I would have dealt with the situations that arose. I felt the book was 'real' and very much in line with 21st century living. I look forward to the next one.’
Eileen Reynolds from Tipton.
Roger Harper takes his time and does it right. This layered and detailed murder mystery explores social tensions and habits in the UK. Faiths in England become characters in themselves. This is a highly entertaining page-turner.
Dr Redleaf
Amazon US 5 stars
‘I've not read a novel quite like this.
It is unusual in that some of the characters are Christian and we get to see how this impacts their every day life - so we hear about their spirituality & prayers in tragic circumstances and how a married man handles lust. Impressively this is done without being sensational (ie. lots of dramatic miracles or coincidences) or twee (sentimental messages).
The context of this happening is a page-turning mystery with a twist I didn't see coming. Another dimension is the Christian/Muslim tensions explored.
Definitely worth a read - will make you think and keep you gripped till the end.’
D. Hughes
Amazon UK 4 Stars
‘This book gives a really intriguing insight into the mind of an evangelical Christian today. The author draws some engaging characters, both Muslim and Christian, and the main character grapples with his faith as he investigates a mysterious car crash. The action-packed plot unfolds day by day and is a thought-provoking read.’
Anne
Amazon UK 4 Stars
‘The author has written a well-paced "whodunnit", (in this case - caused a car crash that foments anti-Muslim attitudes) set in the very unusual milieu of a modern evangelical Christian congregation. The Christians are almost as much a misunderstood group as the British Muslim society who are a vital part of the story. The author uses his "hero" (a rather muddled middle-aged solicitor) to confound our views of "normal" in the modern West-Midlands. At bottom it seems that the Evangelical Christians and the Muslims have more in common with each other than either group does with the society around them. It's a lively read, and the twist at the end is both believable and unexpected.’
Martin Johnson
Amazon UK 4 stars
An intriguing rather than captivating read.
Transferring what seems like Diana and Dodi's tragic relationship to ordinary Birmingham residents (Christian and Muslim), we are put within the mystery of their car crash by the central character, a rather bumbling 46 year old solicitor.
Intriguing in that it explores what some Christians and atheists think of some Muslims, and how some Christians think and engage with God (the vicar is particularly well drawn), New Age, and life in general (with all its temptations).
But not captivating. It could have easily been 50 or so pages less, some of the conversations are mundane (partly perhaps to signify the normalness of the characters), the chapters were too long for me, and the lack of cliff hangers meant I read a couple of other books in the time I also read this!
That said, it is a different enough story to be worthy of attention.
Freedomrulesok
Amazon UK 3 Stars