Review: The Downfall of Raymond Rainbow by Michael J Milford

Synopsis: Raymond Rainbow was where he wanted to be in life. But fate took a hand, and one night he was dealt with a very bad hand indeed. That was the beginning of this man's downfall. Just one mistake, a wrong decision, a wrong turning, set his whole life plummeting downwards, spiralling out of control towards total disaster. Soon he was fighting to regain the life he once knew. But when faced with such a descent sometimes the only solution is to resort to some dirty tricks. With the help of the criminal fraternity Rainbow tries to climb back to the top, a place he used to know well.

Follow this man while he tries to eradicate himself from the mess he is in. Or is there even a way out? Is there, in reality, a pot of gold at the end of any rainbow?

Raymond Rainbow has it all - idyllic childhood, perfect job with a nice promotion in the offing, the perfect fiance to whom he is about to propose; he's a good looking man and knows it. Yet, with one wrong turn, "things can change in a split second" and it all goes to hell in a handbag.

We are literally witness to this one man's fall from grace, as he struggles to keep his life and career intact, whilst avoiding the consequences of his mistake - which he compounds, time and again - Raymond's carefully constructed house of cards has come crashing down around him - will he man up and own his mistake or will he continue ".. going downhill as fast as a train whose brakes have failed .." What tactics will he resort to to lift himself out of this ever deepening hole has has dug for himself.

Oh how I loved this story .... great noir style fiction. You cannot but empathise with Raymond and his predicament, you want him to come out on top, you are almost shouting at him to stop and think before acting, you find yourself physically shaking the book as if to shake some sense into him.

And then the ending .... craftily written as we are led down the proverbial rabbit hole, coming out on the other side to ..... well, read on ... there will be no spoiler alerts here.