“Call me Ishmael. Ishmael Jones.” Ishmael Jones is an alien whose starship crashed in a small English country town in 1963. For nine previous books, Simon R. Green has sent Jones to chase monsters and mysteries as Jones’ own past slowly revealed itself to him. He’s spent fifty years not aging, and found a woman to love, his partner, Penny Belcourt. Now, in Buried Memories, Ishmael and Penny go searching for a second alien and the answers to Ishmael’s past.
Ishmael suspects if he finds the starship that buried itself after transforming him into human form, he might find answers. Or, perhaps the second alien who crashed with him will have answers. A research packet sends the pair to Norton Hedley, a town with an extensive weird background. Built in the sixth century,, the town has had a great many unexplained disappearances. An author named Vincent Smith who has written a number of books about the weird events in Norton Hedley might have answers, or he might be Jones’ fellow alien. But, when Ishmael and Penny arrive at the train station in Norton Hedley, they find an agent from Black Heir in town. Ishmael never trusted Black Heir, even when he worked for them. Now, that agent, Lucy, informs the partners that eighty-seven-year-old Vincent Smith died just the day before they arrived in town.
Ishmael and Penny find a town that makes them uneasy. Everything in the town feels unreal and staged, and there are few people on the street. The owner of the inn explains it’s no longer tourist season, so everyone works out of town. But, the atmosphere is strange. And, when they go to the mortuary to see Vincent Smith, his body is missing and there’s another dead body there.
From a woods that reminds Penny of the woods in the older, darker fairy tales, to a house that disappears and reappears elsewhere, to more murders and a suspicious police detective, Ishmael and Penny have a weird case on their hands. But, really, it’s no stranger that other unusual cases the couple have handled.
This time, though, even Ishmael doesn’t know what he’ll face as he searches for answers about his past and his original home. Ishmael and Penny, as always, face the darkness with their own brand of dark humor. Simon R. Green forces Ishmael to confront his Buried Memories in a book that asks a tough question for the alien investigator. Where is home, and what does home mean?
I’ve read all ten books in this intriguing, speculative fiction series. Now, I am speculating. Will Green continue the series, or has Ishmael Jones’ adventures ended now that his secrets are no longer Buried Memories?
Simon R. Green’s website is http://www.simonrgreen.co.uk
Buried Memories by Simon R. Green. Severn House, 2021. ISBN 9780727890320 (hardcover), 186p.
FTC Full Disclosure – Library book
At some point, I completely burnt out on Simon Green. Every so often somebody gives me one of his books, and it’s a struggle to finish.
I’m actually reading another one, Glen, the new Jekyll & Hyde, Inc. I did skip one of his series that seemed a little much for me. I liked this series, though.
You are much better than me at keeping up with Green’s large output of books and series. I really should at least try the first one of these. I was a big fan of his Nightside series and read some of the Drood/Secret Histories books, as well as his first short story collection.
Some interest me, and some don’t, Jeff. I read most of the Nightside books. I read all of this series. And, I’ve started his new one, Jekyll & Hyde, Inc. But, I couldn’t get into The Best Thing You Can Steal.
Welcome back! You make the whole daily posting look easy, but we know it isn’t.
Thank you, MM! You’re right. Not easy, but always worth it!
I have not read any of the Ishmael books but I may give this one a try thanks to your very intriguing review. 😊
Kind of violent and creepy, Kaye. Fair warning.