This is a very disconcerting piece of writing. The reader seems somewhat out of phase and, as the pieces of information begin to present themselves, the reader finds themselves looking for a context in which the story is set. I could not stop reading, trying to work out if the events were real or imagined and if I was gathering the meaning set down by the author.
Mr Jones is a character you do not find a place for in the story until the very end. As the events are revealed to him by several characters, obviously being interviewed, an intricate mind-game unfolds which includes legal proceedings, country gossip and the disappearance of young people involved in extra-terrestrial occurrences.
Government conspiracy is an underpinning theme, as is the search for the true meaning of love. There are men in black suits, cyphered notebooks and artworks that seem to affect those who look at them. The scene is in an out of the way piece of English countryside that is populated with locals and holiday makers. The characters all seem to come from dysfunctional families and have formed unusual bonds of friendship and love which pull the story together. Questions of sanity, murder, alien visitation, resurrection and unnatural animation into functioning beings are also intricate to the story’s making.
This is an intriguing book, presented as a diary complete with elastic page marker. It is one for anyone looking for something different from the normal sci-fi thriller. It was not until I had finished the book and had taken a day or two to think about it that I decided that I had enjoyed the journey, but I did.
Reviewed by Leanne Caune
Rating out of 10: 8
Distributed by: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: October 2017
RRP: $19.99
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