Offset: The Mask of Bimshire

by Delvin Howell, Hans Steinbach (Illustrator)

An underground obeah trade lies within the Caribbean island of Bimshire, where miracles are sold every day. The problem is, each one comes with a burdensome debt. As a child, Kyle Harding thought Bimshire a frightening place. Bus stops glow. Flute music haunts the air. And the shadows themselves stalk him. With his mother dead, and a baby brother--Damien--to raise, Kyle had much to endure growing up. But when a serial killer attacks his home, Kyle is forced down a bloody path where he discovers the history surrounding his family and the massive debts his mother left behind.

Genres: Fantasy

394 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2023

Reviews

[Laila - Stories Steeped in Magic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3
Thank you Beyond Publishing Caribbean for providing an e-copy through NetGalley.

Synopsis: Kyle Harding has noticed something strange on the Caribbean island of Bimshire. An eerie flue melody drifts through his thoughts, and when it does, a wooden doll-like creature stands ominously in the distance, watching him. The bus stops that dot the island are also not what they seem. But Kyle isn’t worried at first. Proficient in the lost art of Sticklicking, he uses a superhardened sugarcane to fight off most adversaries, like, for example, Damien Collins, who out of nowhere attacked Kyle at school. Collins is a Canecutter - a blades man who specializes in using cutglass as weapons - and, after his parents died in a car crash, was mysteriously told to follow “the one who wields sugarcane.” So Kyle’s and Collin’s paths collide, and not a moment too soon, as the doll creature decides to go for the kill. With Collin’s help, Kyle is barely able to defeat the creature, known as a Baku. But why did it attack him in the first place? More mysteries surface and Kyle must confront his suspicious neighbor Ms. Pringle, inhuman specters called Shaggery Bears that are out for blood, a sniper with superhuman precision, and a Gully powered by supernatural forces. But Kyle is not alone, and with Collins and some unexpected help, he must fight for his survival and uncover the dark secrets of Bimshire, including why he has a powerful sugarcane in the first place.

What I Liked: Offset: The Mask of Bimshire is an action-packed fantasy steeped in Caribbean folklore and martial arts. Fight sequences are intense and thrilling to follow, as the battles are written clearly and with good detail on movement, reaction, and effort. The Obeah and Caribbean folklore, an essential part of the story, is woven well into the atmosphere and nicely details the dangers of Bimshire. The dialect of the characters brings personality to the book; Most YA novels tend to avoid dialect, but Offset decided to take a risk and add the Caribbean language to bring its culture into the spotlight, and I respect the authors for it. The glossary at the back of the book is informative and a nice touch as well, for those who are struggling with definitions. Characters are unique, both in personality and power, and Kyle and Collins really bounce off of each other well. The plot is intense and ripe with mystery, drawing readers to want to read more about this eerie island. Characters are mostly African-Caribbean. This is a book that I could recommend to teenage boys who want something different from the usual YA collection, or who like reading action comics/manga and want a similar type of novel.

What I Didn’t Like: The book was hard to read. Not because of the dialect - I thought that really added to the story - but because of scene writing and perspective changes. Except for the fights, the pacing of mundane scenes can be jumpy, moving too quickly to a new location or character without giving the readers to think. The perspective changes are what really make the story hard to follow. The writing will switch between one character’s inner thoughts to another as quickly as the next sentence, and many times the writing doesn’t indicate that we have entered the thoughts of another character. This will happen with dialogue as well. This made reading confusing and time-consuming, as readers will have to parse through who is doing the thinking and talking.

Review Date: September 26, 2023

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️s. I would have never thought to equate bajan folklore with fantasy but this is the second locally authored book I’ve read that has done just that and done it well.

This novel integrated several folklore stories into a modern day Barbados, sorry, Bimshire, via the life of Kyle Harding, one of the main protagonists. With action sequences to rival those seen in movies, Kyle & co fight with theeee most local of weapons (piece of cane, cutlass, bottles, rocks) against what is deemed the supernatural (the Heartman, Baku and even shaggy bears).

The cast of characters was diverse, and I enjoyed reading some of the back stories (Dorian’s is a fav). The novel had several twists and turns, some of which were pieced together before they were revealed, while others had me like “waittttt?!”. I absolutely loved many of the descriptions used throughout the book as they lent excellently to creating the desired atmosphere.

While I enjoyed the book on a whole, there were a few aspects which threw me off, such as the pacing at times and the actions of the characters. There were also occasions where seeming inconsistencies left me scratching my head trying to figure things out. These led to the reduced rating.

If you’re interested in folklore, and/or want to gain a fictionalised but still representative glimpse into life in Barbados, feel free to grab a copy of this book.

P.S. I need to know Bruggadown’s back story!

[Marc Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge comic book fan, and big reader, this book was awesome. I loved having the illustrations between chapters, and the storyline was really good.
There’s a lot of action and the characters are really well fleshed out. Their interactions were lacking a bit but it wasn’t that noticeable for the most part with everything happening.
It’s setup for a sequel and I’ll be checking it out when it comes.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this and give my feedback.

[Steff Mother of Sphynx · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF on page 101. Had great promise in the beginning, I loved the descriptions and vibrant settings, but I had no idea what was going on or even who was talking half the time!

[Donna C.K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I want a sequel

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually read Offset: Volume 1 which is the prequel to The Mask of Bimshire and read it in one sitting! Could not put it down. Love the graphics and how he showed the original sketches after each section.

[Ebony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Offset: The Mask of Bimshire. Generally, I prefer a heroine, but reading about these boys was cool. Essentially, the main character learns about obeah and how prevalent the Dark Arcs are in Barbados the hard way--by stumbling upon it. I kept wishing the characters would talk to each other within the story so they could keep each other safe, and then we as a readers would know what was going on. Everyone had so many secrets which, I suppose, was the metaphorical mask and point of the dark arcs. It’s just there were so many unanswered questions and the book ended rather than concluded. I respect making room for a sequel or a series, but we never figured out the motives of so many of the remaining characters. The lack of resolution bugged me, but that’s not uncommon for an author’s debut novel. I also wished the women characters were a bit more developed, but the story does center around the men. I most enjoyed reading about the parishes, culture, food, people, and music of Barbados. I could totally see this action novel made into the first blockbuster movie set entirely in Barbados.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle is a busy boy he is raising his little brother going to college and just tries to have a little bit of romance on the side. The only problem is things are weird around his town he sees things staring at him about the bus stop people are being killed and he find his self smacked him in the middle of all this trouble. This book was so good I wish I was good at knowing what to say and what not to say but this book is set on the isle of Bimmshire and I love a book with an international flare and although this is a book meant for middle school children I still as a grown woman found it creepy and gave me goosebumps more than once. It is a book that took only one day to read and I absolutely enjoyed it and highly recommend it do not let the age range for this horror story stop you if you love horror you love the book. I want to thank the publisher andt Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm I really liked it although now I feel like this should have been Snipers book. Collins and Kyle just got their asses beat.
Other than that it was very well written. I was interested in it because I'm really interested in mythology.

[O'Livia Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. I received this book via BookSirens as an ARC for my honest opinion and I honestly loved it. I would definitely recommend that you read book.