He does have a style similar to Cormac McCarthy, with the short sentences and bleak descriptions, which only adds to B's sense of desperation and panic as his world and mind begin to deteriorate. Having said that, if you are after something to make you think, make you work for understanding, and pick it apart for representation of the world's political situations and potential to deteiorate, then this is definitely for you. This is not your heart-warming, feel good search for truth that will reveal answers and wrap everything up with a nice little bow. He is watched, observed, and overseen every minute of the day. No matter where he goes, B is somehow always held and controlled by unseen forces - meeting resistance everywhere he goes. Set against a totalitarian government, the protagonist, B, searches for truth in the face of lies and manipulation. I receive an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.īabak Lakghomi has portrayed a very bleak world, with echoes of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, George Orwell's 1984, and elements of the latter half of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. Thank you to Dundurn Press and to NetGalley for this ARC. The surrealism/magical realism is exceedingly well-done, adding to the dream-like feel, along with ghosts, spirit possession, drug-like visions and hallucinations, and exorcism, all beautifully executed. A little like when you read *Flowers for Algernon*, the writing style changes as B’s experiences change. I very nearly put the book down when I started reading because the writing felt quite amateurish I am very glad I didn’t. In the end, it doesn’t matter things resolve themselves into something understandable, and B is my hero. Never really knowing if what is happening to B is real or part of a mental breakdown is a excellent plot device. Some of this is because of how relatable I found it: forced disappearances, enforced silence, and living under state rules that change unpredictably is quite familiar to me. I put the book down an hour ago, and am feeling quite haunted by B’s experiences. Events escalate on the rig, and we are thrust, with B and the characters around him, into a surreal nightmare. Back at home, things are also growing increasingly strange.
As soon as he arrives, B realises he is not welcome: the staff are hostile, and no one will speak to him.
We don’t get a lot of detail about the country he lives in, but we start to suspect that something may not quite be right with the company that runs the oil rig. This is the story of B, a writer who, at the beginning of the book, is driving south on commission to report on possible labour strikes on an oil rig. Wow-this book crept up on me! It drew me in, and did not let go until it was done.
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