Glowglass by Kirkland Ciccone

Review by The Mole

Starrsha Glowglass's face is on the front page of every newspaper. She isn't a model, Vlogger, or reality TV show contestant. Starrsha is famous for something darker: she survived a massacre that claimed her Brothers and Sisters. Hers was no ordinary family. They were The Family Glowglass - a religious order set up by an eccentric businessman as a tax dodge. One morning the parishioners sat down to breakfast...Most didn't get back up. Only Starrsha and her mute Brother, Simon, survived. Both now have a chance to lead an ordinary life. For Starrsha that means high school. Can a videotape bring back the dead? What's behind the red door? Why won't Starrsha's best friend reveal her true sexuality? When is a poster on a wall actually a trap? Will My Chemical Romance reform? Why is Father obsessed with vintage technology? Why does Barbie freak out Starrsha? How many rich husbands has Aunt Imelda bumped off? And why is God crank-calling Starrsha? All will be revealed when someone presses PLAY...

Ciccone's books have all been unusual in some way and this is no exception. A single video tape is left and Starrsha keeps adding parts of the story to it until the 3 hour tape is full and we know the complete story from Starrsha's point of view. And it's not what I expected.

We know of the deaths in the cult and we know of the how but "who"? Only Simon and Starrsha survived... coincidence or planning - that's what we need to find out and this tape contains Starrsha's confession. Or does it? This young impressionable childlike girl is too naive for anything so horrendous surely?

I was sceptical of the format at first but found that it worked well. Very well. Having just the one voice throughout taking the story forward and backward before reaching the conclusion felt very genuine - no contrived conversations using second voices that didn't really gel. We do hear from other characters but they are retold by Starrsha in the words she chooses and so we see how the characters come over to her and not to each other.

The reader also gets an insight into cults and modern day slavery - or at least one aspect.

This is, once again, another great story told in the author's distinctive style. It sounds like a YA book but, frankly, apart from the very young, this book will sort all ages and genders and I'd recommend widely.

Publisher - Strident Publishing
Genre - YA/Adult/Thriller