This story is just as much fun as I thought it would be.
And thinking is key here: Turton’s plot ultimately depends on the interactions of multiple characters and subtle manipulations that will transform the island and islanders in ways they cannot anticipate; only in the final pages will the full drama be understood.
What’s it about?
First, there was the fog. Killing everything in its path, it pushed the remnants of humanity to huddle on a single island, where 122 villagers live in harmony under the control of three respected scientists.
Then one of the scientists is found dead and the AI that controls the security system around the island reveals that, if the murder isn’t solved within 107 hours, the fog will roll over the island and claim the last humans.
‘It’s like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle by throwing the pieces at the floor.’
Solving this should be simple, but the security system has also wiped everyone’s memories, so even the murderer doesn’t know who they are…
Can the investigators solve the murder and save the humans?
What’s it like?
Inventive. Fast-paced. Absorbing.
The mass of villagers are perhaps disturbingly meek and mild, but then again, after the horrors of the apocalypse, they’ve been bred to be. Whereas, our heroine, Emory, has always been inquisitive to a degree that alienates her from her peers and hurts her father, Seth, who lives to serve the Elders and cannot fathom his daughter’s indecorous desire to question the gospel of their existence – until he is forced to realise that all is not as it seems on the island.
‘Survival in the morning; service in the afternoon; and celebration in the evening is their routine. It’s a knot so familiar that none of them notice how tightly it binds them, and how impossible it is for them to undo it.’
I love an unreliable narrator, and here Turton’s choice of narrative voice is particularly clever; omniscient but controlling, Abi shares only exactly what she wants the villagers to know, leading gradually towards a conclusion that is simultaneously wonderful and disturbing, which should leave you pondering long after you close the final pages.
Final thoughts
As ever, Turton has invented a complex world that requires attention to detail and a narrative that constantly upends our established understandings. Personally, I love his style, but I know that some readers find this approach leaves them yearning for a more straightforward crime –> solution model. If you loved Turton’s debut novel, ‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle‘, then you’ll love this too, but if that left you frustrated, then you’ll likely not love this.
‘Sometimes the only way to win a game is to let the pieces think they’re the ones playing it.’
I very rarely buy hardback books, but I have hardback copies of all Turton’s books because I simply cannot wait to find out how his concepts play out.
Highly recommended.
