The Betrayal of Thomas True by AJ West

320 pages; Published by Orenda Books on 4th July, 2024; Dimensions: 13.4 x 2.9 x 20.1 cm

Outstanding, captivating and very moving.

This is most definitely one of the best books I have read, not just this year but in general.

I will start with the sensory part of when I first open the book (a proof copy sent to my husband), I admit I was a little daunted as it appeared to be small typeface filling the page. However, AJ's writing style and use of language was so captivating by the end of the first page I was in and hooked.

AJ has an incredible way of setting the scene and bringing a character to life. I love how this book has everything in it for me - historical, set in London, crime, complex characters and relationships and, of course, there is betrayal and fantastic twists and turns. I love that I didn’t work out who the ‘rat’ was, a truly fantastic ending.

I wanted to support AJ on his tour. I went to his first two stops on consecutive nights and I just had to give AJ a handmade wax mouse candle as a little gift as I loved all the well researched details in the book and wish to show my appreciation.

The following evening was a little impromptu visit after seeing AJ tweet that he was nervous not many people would come to his talks. I assured him very much people would come and this time I brought tea and chocolate.

AJ is funding his tour himself and loving meeting his readers, booksellers and bloggers as well as new people. Please check out the dates and locations, you are guaranteed a great night out.

I had the pleasure of listening to AJ reading extracts twice, so far, which was incredible as it is a very moving part the book which doesn’t give away any spoilers and in fact is a section I myself read out loud to a few people. AJ’s reading, including different voices for the characters, were just amazing.

I had to get my hands on hard back with stunning peacock sprayed edges. This is one of the prettiest sprayed edges for a book so for me that’s another sensory bonus, plus the wonderful foil in the cover also makes this a very special book.

If the physical book did not have the sprayed edges or its wonderful cover, it would still be one of the best books overall, really the physical beauty in this book is the cherry on top.

Another plus for myself is the physical size of this hardback, it is a small hard back not much bigger then a paperback and certainly feels and looks thinner than I standard paperback which I love.

The small text and more or less filling the page and going to the edge of the page I think is actually very clever as this is in keeping with books written in the 18th century so actually it adds to the whole story. AJ understands this can be a little daunting but reassures the reader with short chapters. This certainly works incredibly well for myself.

I believe The Betrayal of Thomas would make a wonderful book club read and I hope my book club will put it on their reading list for 2025. I cannot shout enough about how good this is so you must get along to AJ‘s event and if you’re lucky, AJ will have his stamp kit , let me end this review with an #alwaystogether.