Melodie Muses On A Very Old Bull & Other Animals

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Abstract

hen his friend Lydia describes a Playstation game to him. The game uses dogs to track bears, but even then, Doug doesn’t actually play it.</p><h2 id="4310">What is it with Doug Carmichael and animals?</h2><p id="eb8d">Here’s what I asked Mark P Henderson:</p><blockquote id="7da2"><p>Is it deliberate that the fleeting glimpses of animals signal trouble ahead for Doug?</p></blockquote><p id="b4d3">Here’s Mark’s answer:</p><blockquote id="c86c"><p>Yes, it is deliberate. The animal that “appears” most often is a rat. This is usually associated with a stab of pain over Doug’s right eye; one indication that Doug has a mental health problem, since in most instances there’s actually no rat — he’s imagined it.</p></blockquote><p id="9942">Wow, yes, I’d forgotten the rats in amongst everything else in this book. I hadn’t even really registered that they were mostly non-existent rats. That’s the way this book unravels as you travel through it. You can see solid ground or quicksand beneath your feet and you begin to share in Doug’s world where it becomes harder and harder to tell one from the other.</p><p id="1f44">Prepare to read this one from the edge of your seat!</p><h1 id="dff9">Melodie Trudeaux Is All About The Animals</h1><p id="ea2a">That’s why Melodie has homed in on the animal angles of every one of the books she muses on. Melodie Trudeaux is the alter-ego of crime writer, Penny Grubb.</p><div id="a74d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-alter-ego-is-a-childrens-writer-1188c6eb9dec"> <div> <div> <h2>My Alter Ego Is A Children’s Writer</h2> <div><h3>She stopped my criminal career in its tracks — but only temporarily</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*NQbWkHROdHFlsSz7nbuckg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="2c3a">Melodie’s latest, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Same-Colour-Melodie-Trudeaux-ebook/dp/B09NZJ311F">Horse of the Same Colour</a

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…</p><div id="b015" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/horse-of-the-same-colour-7645dde8dc3b"> <div> <div> <h2>A pre-teen fantasy by Melodie Trudeaux</h2> <div><h3>undefined</h3></div> <div><p>undefined</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*BZzGxoskB-rqqsYrJUOXRg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="9bd2">… is a MABLE 2022 spotlight book along with <a href="https://getbook.at/PerilausII"><i>Perilaus II</i></a><i>.</i> Please come and join Melodie and all the other authors <a href="https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/">at Fantastic Books Publishing’s</a></p><div id="fe3a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-might-be-in-love-with-mable-55cbc196abfb"> <div> <div> <h2>MASSIVE AUTUMN BOOK LAUNCH EVENT</h2> <div><h3>SEPT 17th to OCT 30th 2022. Good Books, Board Games, Lotsa fun…</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*sOdNiKDPZvBGUqaJ57X1zw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="c484" type="7">It’s free and it’s fun!</p><h2 id="7409">Explore more musings and some pondering here:</h2><div id="917d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://pennygrubb.medium.com/list/6c79b9d64ef2"> <div> <div> <h2>Ponderings and Musings from Penny & Melodie</h2> <div><h3>Exploring odd angles of books with their authors</h3></div> <div><p>pennygrubb.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*40a7fd98d243338a2a013354c08eb8cbf21f629d.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Melodie Muses On A Very Old Bull & Other Animals

Perilaus II by Mark P Henderson is a psychological crime drama that will whisk you along into what one reviewer called a psychiatrist’s nightmare. It’s an adult novel and very cleverly constructed as it takes you along with the protagonist, Doug Carmichael, on a nightmare journey where nothing can be quite what it seems to be — or can it?

The Perilaus of the title refers to a bronze bull created by legendary Greek bronze worker Perilaus whose boss Phalaris commissioned it as an instrument of torture. The legend is gruesome.

Book cover reproduced with permission from Fantastic Books Publishing

A stalking cat precedes the arrival of the black cab

Although there are few animals in Perilaus II, the ones that appear seem to signpost trouble. The bronze bull itself hangs over the story ominously throughout.

Near the start of the book, a stalking cat precedes the arrival of the black cab that takes Doug where he really shouldn’t go. It should be an unremarkable incident, but it’s as though the sinister music starts to play in the background.

Another character, Beth, has a cat called Harmony. It avoids Doug but seems to have no reason to. In fact, the nearest Doug comes to direct animal action is when his friend Lydia describes a Playstation game to him. The game uses dogs to track bears, but even then, Doug doesn’t actually play it.

What is it with Doug Carmichael and animals?

Here’s what I asked Mark P Henderson:

Is it deliberate that the fleeting glimpses of animals signal trouble ahead for Doug?

Here’s Mark’s answer:

Yes, it is deliberate. The animal that “appears” most often is a rat. This is usually associated with a stab of pain over Doug’s right eye; one indication that Doug has a mental health problem, since in most instances there’s actually no rat — he’s imagined it.

Wow, yes, I’d forgotten the rats in amongst everything else in this book. I hadn’t even really registered that they were mostly non-existent rats. That’s the way this book unravels as you travel through it. You can see solid ground or quicksand beneath your feet and you begin to share in Doug’s world where it becomes harder and harder to tell one from the other.

Prepare to read this one from the edge of your seat!