Review of the Day: The Sunshine Man by Emma Stonex

The publisher calls Emma Stonex’s novel The Sunshine Man “a tense, spellbinding page-turner.” It does start with a good first sentence.

The week I shot a man clean through the head began like any other.

Unfortunately, I found it difficult to care about the plot or the characters. Among other issues, Stonex waits until the third chapter to actually start the story. And, even then, I did not find it engaging.

As far as the language, I did not find any obvious clunkers like paint the town red or shooting fish in a barrel. However, the avoidance of cliche is not the same as great prose. The prose is solid enough, but I did not notice any sentences worth memorizing. Here is an example:

I had never shot a gun before. Fired a gun, whatever it is you say. I didn’t like violence, for obvious reasons. I couldn’t watch horror films or TV hospital shows and the sight of blood made me faint. I wasn’t an executioner, I was a mother. The gun would be quick.

At least in my opinion, there are better thrillers available at your local public library than The Sunshine Man.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

epub. 320 pgs. 28 October 2025. Publishing 11 November 2025.