AMAZON ***** REVIEWS

  This is a compelling read that I found completely absorbing from the first word to the last. We're immediately introduced to the protagonist Dan and I found the prologue to be so full of information and hints at information that I carried on turning the pages in order to get some answers. The characters are constructed to the point where I found myself wondering whether I would fit in with the group! There is warmth and humour alongside what for many is a difficult subject matter. There are several different strands - from light-hearted and comic through to sinister - that interlink as worlds collide also presenting some real surprises. The reader is given plenty of information but never to the point where it overwhelms. I loved the way so many different elements were interlinked and there were some real laugh-out-loud moments. I didn't anticipate any of the outcomes at all - and was actually some way off! - and I would recommend this book whole-heartedly.

*****
 Perfect summer reading. This book starts as a gentle read but soon weaves into a more complicated yarn of intrigue around the main character Dan and a darker side of life hiding in plain sight. I warmed to all the main characters as they faced their journeys through cancer treatment. The book is carefully thought provoking around the topic of dealing with cancer without overwhelming the story. I enjoyed the climax of the story as Dan gets way out of his depth. 

*****
With a subject matter that does not immediately suggest humour, Frank Malley has found a wonderfully comedic thread in this book. Full of warmth and charm, When The Mist Clears offers an insight into serious illness that is as engaging as it is profound. To focus on the humorous element here would be to undermine other elements of the book - notably the darker areas that are (thankfully) never hidden or dismissed - but there is so much to admire here. As someone who has recently had a way-too-close encounter with chemo/radiotherapy in their life, this was also a truly touching read. I highly recommend it to all. 

*****
Fortitude in adversity is the definitive 2020 zeitgeist and it's the crux of this entertaining novel. Four disparate cancer patients, each determined not to be defined by their affliction, are thrust together as they are ferried to and from hospital for their treatment. Their stories are explored through their relationship with their volunteer NHS driver - a man with problems of his own - as the narrative morphs into a well-constructed, suspenseful thriller. It's emotive but never morbid, humorous but not mawkish, and it's gripping and well researched. You'll also find out more than you ever thought you'd needed to know about emus.

*****
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and its easy flowing writing style. Centred around the main character Dan, a hospital driver for cancer patients, you are taken through his charges on a journey of emotions: strength, resilience, vulnerability, love and triumph. All the characters are genuine and authentic and the cancer topic obviously well observed and researched. A heartwarming storyline full of humour, emotion, friendship, crime and drama. I didn't want it to finish but loved the ending.


*****


Describing it as a story of four characters and their driver on their regular journeys for cancer treatment is not going to sell many books. However, you are swiftly drawn into them as people; become rapt in their disparate back-stories; get locked in for the duration; and in the end you're rooting for all of them and left with tears running down your face. It seemed discordant to weave in a national news story about a crime boss and drugs running but that just keeps the story whipping along. At first, you think it doesn't work - by the tense closing chapters, it just fits. Malley's first novel is an easy-to-read, hopeful, dramatic and joyous tale that's tailor-made for Sunday night TV. It combines the downright mundanity of life and the slings and arrows of a soap, with the fun and drama of a thriller. I was told the book would appeal to women, but if that's so, my feminine side was enraptured by it.


*****

An absolute delight of a book that took me under its spell from very early on until its moving conclusion. Most people have been touched by cancer one way or another. It’s a subject that needs careful handling, but Frank Malley uses it to great effect as his colourful characters are intertwined in a story of love, friendship and kindred spirit. A gripping run-in with a hardened criminal and his surly henchmen left me page-turning into the wee small hours one night - a great bit of escapism in these troubled times. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.