Review: Changeling

Changeling by Matt Wesolowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

‘Changeling’ by Matt Wesolowski follows the same format as the previous two novels in the series, six episodes of a podcast tell the story of a unsolved crime. Each episode of the podcast largely takes the form of an interview with someone connected with the crime, telling the tale “from six different perspectives, seeing the events that unfolded through six pairs of eyes.” As before, the episodes are interspersed with ancillary recordings which add to the background though not forming part of the podcast as it would be released. And, as before, the book really works better in audio form, especially given the talents of the voice actors.

The current case concerns the disappearance of a 7-year old boy in 1988 from his father’s car as the father attempted to restart the broken down vehicle. Was the boy snatched in the brief moment in which the man says he was out of his sight; did wander off into the remote forest beside which they were parked? What is the explanation for the knocking sounds that appear in many of the participants’ stories? And is Scott King, the presenter of the Six Stories podcast, really in a fit state to tell the story dispassionately given the events of, and the backlash to, ‘Hydra’, the previous Six Stories series?

This time around it is Scott King’s own audio notes that form the bridging material between the podcast episodes and it is clear that he is not a well man. The difference in tone between these different elements, the anxious disturbed individual of the private recordings and the more assured, professional delivery of the podcast, is a credit to both the author and the voice actor. The story is harrowing and unsettling with elements almost touching on horror and, as with the preceding novels, it is absorbing and entertaining. The ending is shocking and, while I would love to see what Matt Wesolowski can do in a different form, I hope we find out what happens next in the Six Stories reality.

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#Blogtour - Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And, like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

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 ‘Wanderers’ is a big apocalyptic novel which has already been, rightly, compared to Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’. The influences are obviously there, and Wendig mentions King on several occasions throughout the narrative (including the delicious idea of a ‘Gunslinger’ concept album). There are parallels to the likes of Robert McCammon’s ‘Swan Song’, Emily St John Mandel’s ‘Station Eleven’ and Michael Crichton’s ‘Andromeda Strain’, and, for that matter, ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Contagion’. But, in ‘Wanderers’, Chuck Wendig absorbs ingredients from all of these influences and returns a story that is the equal of any of them.

 The story of the sleepwalkers is set in a world only slightly removed from our own. The spread of the disease is only too real, the development of AI perhaps a few years from reality. And, unfortunately, the reaction of the American people to the situation could be ripped from the pages of today’s newspapers. Accompanying the narrative are extracts from social media account, podcasts, political speeches, and TV news. Commentators debate the cause of the sleepwalkers - Islamist terrorists, government conspiracies, crisis actors, fake news, China, aliens, comets - while people react with fear and violence. Right wing, white supremacist militias are incited to action by fascist, MAGA politicians. This is ‘The Stand’ brought right up to date with a verisimilitude that is often uncomfortable - concerns about intensive farming, big pharma, fundamentalist preaching...

 The 800 pages fly by, helped by characters, good and bad, who are complex and well drawn, and by dialogue which is natural and realistic. I am sure I will return to the book again and again - it really is that good. To be clear, ‘Wanderers’ is an ASTOUNDINGLY GOOD NOVEL. I have to confess, I had never read Chuck Wendig prior to this novel, and I thank Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers and Remy Njambi of Rebellion Publishing for the opportunity to take part in the Blogtour and for introducing me to an author whom I will be recommending to anyone who will listen.

Follow Chuck Wendig at his website terribleminds.com and on Twitter @chuckwendig

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Review: The Chain

The Chain by Adrian McKinty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Adrian McKinty is a really talented writer, a master of intelligent plots and dialogue that is both snappy and realistic, who can keep the reader on the edge of their seat even as they marvel at his seemingly effortless, poetic prose. His Michael Forsythe trilogy and Sean Duffy series have been critically acclaimed. Several of his novels have been shortlisted for major awards, ‘Rain Dogs’ (2016) winning an Edgar. That McKinty is not better known is surprising; that he had to take work as an Uber driver to make ends meet is astounding. ‘The Chain’ will change all that.
When Rachel Klein answers her phone to Unknown Caller, she becomes part of The Chain. The caller tells her that her daughter, Kylie, has been kidnapped and, to secure her release, Rachel must pay a ransom, abduct a hostage of her own, and successfully convince her victim’s loved ones to become kidnappers themselves. If she fails, her daughter dies. If she goes to the authorities, her daughter dies. Over the next few days Rachel’s life will be turned upside down. Her love for her daughter, her fear for Kylie’s life, will cause her to commit acts she thought unimaginable, to become a criminal, a kidnapper.
With ‘The Chain’ Adrian McKinty has written a novel that is deliberately commercial, intended to appeal to a wide audience, particularly an American audience. And that is understandable; he deserves a wider readership and the success that brings. That he has been able to do so without dumbing down - retaining his love of language, discussing Existentialism, writing beautiful, flowing, prose - is astonishing. There is a passage at the start of Chapter 40 which perfectly illustrates McKinty’s talent. It reads like a poem, yet propels the plot forward, creates unbearable tension and is the equal of anything you will read in any ‘literary’ novel this year.

Sunday, 11:59 p.m.
She merges with the traffic.
The highway hums. The highway sings. The highway luminesces.
It is an adder moving south.
Diesel and gasoline.
Water and light.
Sodium filament and neon.
Interstate 95 at midnight. America's spinal cord, splicing lifelines and destinies and unrelated narratives.
The highway drifts. The highway dreams. The highway examines itself.
All those threads of fate weaving together on this cold midnight.
Towns and exits gliding south, shutting down other possibilities, other paths. Peabody. Newton. Norwood.
The Google map making its own zodiac.
Pawtucket.
Providence.
The Brown University exit. Lovecraft country. An old coach road to East Providence. Big houses. Even bigger houses.
Maple Avenue. Bluff Street. Narragansett Avenue.
“Here,” Mike says.
"Is this it?"
"Yeah.”

‘The Chain’ has been championed by Don Winslow, Ian Rankin, Stephen King and many others. It should be a huge bestseller, to have a blockbuster movie adaptation. But more, it should be the conduit through which McKinty’s previous works are introduced to a wider readership. Adrian McKinty, Sean Duffy and Michael Forsythe deserve nothing less.

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