Jill-Elizabeth Facebook Group
Jill-Elizabeth LinkedIn
About the Book
Growing up in a beautiful house in the English countryside, Katie Shaw lived a charmed life. At the cusp of graduation, she had big dreams, a devoted boyfriend, and a little brother she protected fiercely. Until the day a violent stranger changed the fate of her family forever.
Years later, still unable to live down the guilt surrounding what happened to her brother, Chris, and now with a child of her own to protect, Katie struggles to separate the real threats from the imagined. Then she gets the phone call: Chris has gone missing and needs his big sister once more.
Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page is facing a particularly gruesome crime. A distinguished professor of fate and free will has been brutally murdered just hours after firing his staff. All the leads point back to two old cases: the gruesome attack on teenager Christopher Shaw, and the despicable crimes of a notorious serial killer who, legend had it, could see the future.
My Review
This was a strange read that seemed to meander all over the place and I had no idea how all the pieces were going to come together until the very end. But I enjoy the way North writes and tells a story, so I figured if I hung in there it would be a ride worth taking – and I was correct in that assumption.
This one is a little more something than his other books – cerebral comes to mind but it’s not a literary fiction read at all, it’s more that the underlying threads of determinism and philosophical theory elevate the thinking behind the story than it is that they turn the tale itself into a more intellectual one. If that makes any sense. And if not, well, you’ll have to just give it a go for yourself because there really is no good way to explain it. I’ve tried rewriting this section of the review several times and never come up with anything better.
It’s not going to be for everyone. It’s not even going to be for everyone who likes North’s books. But I found that not trying to overthink it and not trying to figure it out let me enjoy the ride and the way he uses language. This let me appreciate the character interactions and unfolding relationships in a way that meant that I enjoyed the journey as well as the destination.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Leave a Reply