The Blurb:
A powerful and emotional read. The Journey is THE must-read thriller of 2019.
The gripping story of a young boy and his family, driven from their home by war and indiscriminate violence. Like millions of others, they attempt the treacherous journey across their war-torn continent, trying to reach the safety of Europe.
The truth is, Europe doesn’t want them and thousands die every month at the hands of thieves and profiteering men to whom life is cheap.
The story is fast-paced, at times funny, at times heart-breaking but it will pull you along at 100 miles an hour. It will make you think and it will make you question your perceptions.
Most of all it will make you ask if your family was in peril, what would you do?
The Journey was published by The Thriller Factory on 24th February 2018 and you can but it from Amazon UK and Amazon US.
My Review:
Oh. My. Goodness. This is one hell of a book. It opened my eyes to so much. It's powerful, brutal and heart breaking.
Like many of you, I'm sure, I remember hearing the news reports of Boko Haram kidnapping African women. I remember being horrified, but to my shame I soon forgot about them. And, like you, I've watched the awful pictures of refugees trying to cross the sea to Europe, often with tragic results. And I've wondered how bad must it be in their home countries to make them even consider such a dangerous journey. This book is fiction, but it's clearly been well researched, and if the truth is even half as bad as described in this story, then I better understand the dilemma these people face.
The Journey tells the story of 10 year old Beb, his parents and three sisters who live in the Nigerian village of Monguno. They are a close, happy family, relatively affluent compared to some others in the village.
Boko Haram fighters are sweeping from town to town, village to village, forcing men to join them or die, kidnapping children to train them as soldiers and taking women as sex slaves. Anyone of no use to them they kill. They loot houses and businesses, take what they want and burn the rest.
One day, they arrive in Monguno, and it's terrible. But Beb's father, Kalu, has planned for this. He's hidden money, food, fuel and a truck and is determined to save his family and get them away from danger. All the way to Europe.
We see the first part of the story mainly through young Beb's eyes as he sees things no child should ever see. Later in the journey we see Kalu's view, as he makes the toughest decisions he's ever had to make. And ones that go completely against his beliefs as a doctor.
The blurb says the story is 'at times funny.' Please don't be misled, this is in no way a fun read. But there are some light hearted moments when Kalu is trying to raise the spirits of his terrified family, often aided by Beb, who is an astonishingly mature young man.
Parts of this story are brutal, with clear descriptions of the violence carried out by the Boko Haram fighters. Some of the later parts of the journey, when they face the terrifying sea crossing are really quite harrowing.
It's difficult to say I enjoyed this book because of it's content, but it made a huge impression on me. I was holding my breath turning every page, whilst my heart broke a little more each time. It mended a bit occasionally, only to break again. I had tears in my eyes when I reached the end.
A very powerful, thought provoking book that will stay with me for a long time.
The Author:
Conrad Jones is a 52-year-old author, who lives in Holyhead, Anglesey.
'I started a career as a trainee manger with McDonalds Restaurants in 1989. I worked in management at McDonalds Restaurants Ltd from 1989-2002, working my way up to Business Consultant (area manager) working in the corporate and franchised departments.
'In March 1993 I was managing the restaurant in Warrington`s Bridge St when two Irish Republican Army bombs exploded directly outside the store, resulting in the death of two young boys and many casualties. Along with hundreds of other people there that day I was deeply affected by the attack, which led to a long-term interest in the motivation and mind set of criminal gangs. I began to read anything crime related that I could get my hands on.
'I link this experience with the desire to write books on the subject, which came much later due to an unusual set of circumstances. Because of that experience my early novels follow the adventures of an elite counter terrorist unit, The Terrorist Task Force, and their leader, John Tankersley, or `Tank`and they are the Soft Target Series, which have been described by a reviewer as ‘Reacher on steroids’.
'I had no intentions of writing until 2007, when I set off on an 11-week tour of the USA. The day before I boarded the plane, Madeleine McCann disappeared and all through the holiday I followed the American news reports which had little or no information about her. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the terrible kidnap would inspire my book, The Child Taker, years later. During that trip, I received news that my house had been burgled and my work van and equipment were stolen. That summer was the year when York and Tewksbury were flooded by a deluge and insurance companies were swamped with claims. They informed me that they couldn’t do anything for weeks and that returning home would be a wasted journey. Rendered unemployed on a beach in Clearwater, Florida, I decided to begin my first book, Soft Target. I have never stopped writing since. I have recently completed my 20th novel, The Journey, something that never would have happened but for that burglary and my experiences in Warrington.
'As far as my favourite series ever, it has to be James Herbert’s, The Rats trilogy. The first book did for me what school books couldn’t. It fascinated me, triggered my imagination and gave me the hunger to want to read more. I waited years for the second book, The Lair, and Domain, the third book to come out and they were amazing. Domain is one of the best books I have ever read. In later years, Lee Child, especially the early books, has kept me hypnotised on my sunbed on holiday as has Michael Connelly and his Harry Bosch Series.'
Author Social Media Links:
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