Review for "The Revelation Room" by Mark Tilbury

Review for "the Revelation Room" by Mark Tilbury

The Revelation room is part mystery, part action with a little romance thrown in for good measure. The story centres around a young man named Ben Whittle, mild mannered and soft spoken, who's father is a private detective. Ben is thrust out of his comfortable life in a small sleepy town in England when he receives a phone call from his father, clearly in distress, pleading for help. Now Ben has to rescue his father, while somehow getting over his crippling self doubt, with the help of his best friend and secret crush Maddie. Despite the odds, and a violent cult leader, Ben summons the courage he needs to save his father, and perhaps learn something about himself and his own strength along the way.

Well, what can I say about this book. The content requires some maturity to get through as things get quite dark at times, and it certainly is original from my perspective. We don't see this from the perspective of a talented private eye, but instead from their kid; decidedly NOT talented. So while the story I found compelling and original, the character of Ben Whittle was so annoying and frustrating it almost made me put the book down. He is the very definition of a wet rag; he constantly complains about how much he sucks at everything from cooking to walking, and he is terrified of literally everything. He convinces himself that his dad is already dead and he is just walking straight towards his own doom. I understand that the point of Ben being like this is that once he goes through the trial of saving his father he is supposed to find an inner strength, and transform himself to save the day, and I won't spoil it for you, but suffice it to say I was thoroughly underwhelmed by this character the entire time.

I have to give kudos to Tilbury though, I knew what he was going for and he nailed it. I would almost say it crafted this character too well, because I honestly would have punched him if I was with him. I will say I wish the ending was more satisfying, and that I saw more of a transformation with Ben, and saving that I just wish he got the nerve to tell Maddie the truth about his feelings. In the end however Ben goes back to being Ben, and perhaps that's more impressive than him changing, since he is able to experience the things he experienced and somehow keep himself together.

To learn more about the author Mark Tilbury click here. 

To purchase "The Revelation Room" click here.