Due for publication in early September 2016, this is the first offering by Kevin Brooks since he won the Carnegie Medal in 2014 with the highly topical The Bunker Diary.
Brooks has always been one of those writers that I’ve admired for tackling that which is not obvious. He finds the unusual in every one of his characters, and sometimes it is more successful than others. In this instance, though there are things I would have liked to have further detail about I have to say that I was absorbed throughout the time I was reading this.
From the opening pages we are told that Elliot is scared of everything. There is no obvious explanation for this, and nobody seems able to help him. He survives because of his daily dose of medication – but even that experience creates fear. I think there is a part of Elliot that many people will identify with, though his anxiety is extreme and he appears to be resigned to allowing others to manage his environment as best they can.
While Elliot’s experiences would be interesting, they wouldn’t keep us engaged for the whole novel. So we find Elliot in the awful position on Christmas Eve of only having two pills left and, with an awful snow storm on the way, plans are made for his mother to collect his prescription.
It may seem a farcical situation, but Elliot’s mother gets caught up in events that nobody could predict. When she does not return at the expected time, Elliot is forced into the truly terrifying situation of having to step outside his own home and go to find her.
Telling you what happens to Elliot from this point on would be unfair. Suffice to say, Brooks describes the terror Elliot feels with sensitivity. It was thoroughly absorbing to read. I’d have liked a little more detail in places, but I could not wait to finish it once it became clear how the various characters were linked.
A huge thank you to Egmont publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.