The Gift Maker by Mark Mayes

When The Gift Maker landed on my doormat I have to say it really intrigued me, I was so taken by the cover and press release that it haunted me, it sat on my desk and I would just look at it as if it was actually calling me to it. Announcing Mark Mayes as a new and rare writing talent. This really is a spellbinding and magical book.

The one thing I will say is that it defies any genre as I cannot place into any perhaps a foot in a number but not one that is specific as this is not like any other book, it is something unique and so beautifully written a fantasy that can be real and unreal in one sentence.

One night a student alone in his lodgings receives what can only be described as a strange looking package that he was not expecting but Thomas Rudder does not open it, it soon becomes clear that he is not the only one who has received a surprise gift out of the blue. We learn that a friend Liselotte Hauptmann has also received a gift, unlike Thomas Liselotte opens hers and so the scene is set. She set off on an adventure that is more of a quest as it is one that is not free from hazards. For Thomas he is worried about his gift and has not opened his, but he soon set off after Liselotte to the town of Grenze. There is a third student that comes into the storyline and Johan he is aware of the gifts to his two friends, but who has sent them and why? All we know is that their lives are never going to be the same again from this moment. We then find that a theatre producer is behind the gifts but why has he sent them on a journey that places perils in front of each of the three students.

A journey made by three students that turns into something unlike anything you will have read in a long time. A journey of self-discovery that the reader will also become part of these very journeys. What happens next is down to you. Now you have to go on your own journey to your local bookshop and order a copy of The Gift Maker and prepare for what is at times scary and extraordinary adventure to a town that you would not never want to visit let alone the journey. This is a story that will make you think about your life and life in general, I found it incredibly philosophical at times difficult and worrying. But I for one delighted that this book landed on my doormat. A book that asks so many questions not in general but to each and every individual reader some questions may hang around for quite some time. Then they will come back to you. This is not a book to take lightly but at the same time it is just brilliant and a read you will not forget. Every book has an ending, just wait until you read the ending to The Gift Maker.

Thank you to Matthew Smith at Urbane Publications for the advanced review copy.

The Gift Maker was Published by Urbane Publications on 23 February 2017. is available from Amazon and available to order through Waterstones and your local bookshops.