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‘A powerfully written novel; often stark and unsettling. Highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf

Firstly, I must say, I do enjoy a good dystopian novel so I settled down with Azaleas Don’t Bloom Here (excellent title by the way) with high expectations of death, destruction and general mayhem.
The opening chapter basically sets the scene: Old Chicago, The Dead District in 2065, a district of decay and hopelessness for anybody living there. The author has a magical pen when describing the setting, for example, the skyscrapers along Michigan Avenue became tombstones. The only problem is, it is a bit of an info. dump. I’d much prefer to be fed ‘broken street lamps’ and ‘broken shards of glass’ whilst the characters interacted; it’d make for a more absorbing read. However, it is well written and the author successfully shows the reader a horrific, if not slightly stereotypical, dystopian world.
In Chapter Two, things pick up a bit. We meet Eugene, the hero of the story, for the first time, and we get a glimpse of the Fortress where all the affluent hang out. On a side note, there is a strong political element to this novel; in many ways it is a commentary on the present world. For example, the Fortress; is it not, simply, a metaphor for a gated housing estate? Keep Out! Trespassers Will Be Shot!
Anyway, at the Chapter Three mark, the pace of the story picks up. There is an element of mystery to the story which kept me happily absorbed until 3 o’clock in the morning. Not surprisingly, for a book of this nature, there is plenty of murder, blood and gore but, thankfully, not too much. The author works hard to offer the reader not only the mayhem of his dystopian world but also a clever plot and strong characters.
If there is anything that needs working on it is the speech between the characters. Often, it felt a little ‘immature’ and rushed. For example, in Chapter 2, Eugene is pulled over by Dennis, by a member of the dreaded Lightning Squad. It turns out that Dennis and Eugene are old school pals but, oddly, they only chat for a few seconds; and what they say is simply what they need to say to further the plot. No ‘How’s life?’, ‘What y’ been up to?’ or ‘The last time I saw you, you were drunk on vodka.’
Well, I finished the novel three nights later and I did very much enjoy it. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested and the characters (good and evil) were interesting and well developed. The ending was also excellent and, closing my computer, I knew I’d be happy to open another of this author’s books.
I always like to end with a ‘what struck me the most’ comment. Well, ‘what struck me the most’ about this novel was the knowledge of the author. He knows this genre very, VERY well and this shows in the depth of the futuristic world he created. It is a very scary world but, still, it’s fun getting lost in it. Enjoy!