Whitesands by Johann Thorsson

I'm stepping slightly outside my comfort zone for today's blog tour stop. It's my turn to review supernatural thriller Whitesands by Icelandic author Johan Thorsson. Thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy.

The Blurb

The breakout supernatural thriller from Icelandic writer Johan Thorsson.

Detective John Dark’s daughter has been missing for two years. In his frantic and unfruitful search for her two years ago, John Dark overreached and was reprimanded and demoted.

Now suddenly back into the homicide department, Dark is put on a chilling case – a man who killed his wife in their locked house and then dressed the body up to resemble a deer, but claims to remember none of it. A few days later an impossibly similar case crops up connecting the suspects to a prep school and a thirty year old missing persons’ case.

Just as he is getting back into his old groove, a new lead in his daughter’s disappearance pops up and threatens to derail his career again.

Time is running out and John Dark needs to solve the case before more people are killed, and while there is still hope to find his daughter.

In the style of True Detective and Silence of the Lambs, Whitesands is a thrilling supernatural crime novel.

'Tense, breakneck storytelling. Whitesands is a dash of Thomas Harris swirled with supernatural elements that leave you speeding through the pages.' - Kristi DeMeester, author of Such A Pretty Smile and Beneath

'Johann Thorsson's fast-moving debut Whitesands, packs enough incident for a novel twice its size, until it's impossible to turn the pages fast enough.' - John Langan, author of Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

'... certainly one of the best thrillers I have read this year.' - Khasif Hussain, The Best Thriller Books

My Review 

As mentioned before on this blog I am a bit of a wuss. Pathetically easily scared of pretty much anything that might be described as horror or similar, although I can read crime thrillers with horrific content without losing too much sleep, what's that about? I took a chance on Whitesands because it looked to be more a crime thriller with a supernatural leaning than an outright horror story. I went in with my fingers crossed I'd made the right call... 

For some reason, I expected this book to be set in Iceland. If course, there's absolutely no reason that this should be the case but it was still a surprise to find it set in the US. I also found no mention of a translator so assume the author wrote it in English which is no mean feat! Congratulations to him, a fabulous achievement. 

John Dark is grieving, and has been for two years, since his daughter disappeared. It's damaged his relationship with his wife and son and his career. He and his partner Monique, who stood by him all along, were demoted. And then suddenly find themselves once again investigating a homicide, initially reported as a domestic disturbance. From there, things get increasingly sinister, weird and disorienting and John needs to work out just what he's willing to believe...

One thing I wasn't prepared for was how emotional this book was going to be. My heart ached for schizophrenic Daniel, a lost soul with the ability to help grieving souls. John himself, the helplessness that he feels at being unable to find his daughter, Monique and her difficulties and the huge pain of the main plot - there is a lot packed into these pages. 

I enjoyed the writing and just wanted to share one line that really stuck out for me, an interesting observation from an outsider:

'....John left him there, to a fate that he was sure awaited so many Americans in retirement; a slow marinating in pills and TV hate as their organs died one by one, waiting to due as the price of insulin went up and the amount of government assistance went down.'

The storyline is quite graphic, a strong stomach is needed in places. And, as promised, there is a supernatural element. I wasn't sure how it would be handled or how I would handle it but, actually when it came, it felt very natural for the story. I really can't say much about it at all without giving away spoilers so I'm just going to say I enjoyed it. The ending was bittersweet but I believe this is the first in a series so it will be interesting to see where things go in the future. 

Whitesands is an effective supernatural thriller which successfully mixes two timelines and various points of view. It touches on racism, abuse, love, revenge, redemption, grief and the afterlife. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more by Johann Thorsson. 

The Author

 

Johann Thorsson is a writer of fiction with a supernatural slant, mainly short stories, mainly in English.

He was born in 1978 in a small town in Iceland (dark and cold, close to the sea). When he was nine he moved to Israel, and later to Croatia. He now resides in the Reykjavik area with his beautiful wife and two little kids.

His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Every Day Fiction, eFiction Magazine, eFiction Horror and Fireside Fiction.

Most recently, a story of his was selected for in the forthcoming anthology Apex Book of World SF 4 and Garden of Fiends

His favorite books are 1984, Flowers for Algernon, I am Legend, The Things They Carried and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphic novels. Oh, and Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient. Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone. Romeo and Juliet. (This could go on for a while).

You can find him at https://jthorsson.com

Fall by West Camel

Today is my stop on the blog tour for the fantastic Fall by West Camel. And it really does unfold like a spell, I completely agree with Carol Lovekin there. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

Twins Aaron and Clive have been estranged for forty years. Aaron still lives in the empty, crumbling tower block on the riverside in Deptford where they grew up. Clive is a successful property developer, determined to turn the tower into luxury flats. But Aaron is blocking the plan and their petty squabble becomes something much greater when two ghosts from the past – twins Annette and Christine – appear in the tower. At once, the desolate estate becomes a stage on which the events of one scorching summer are relived – a summer that changed their lives forever. Evocative, thought-provoking and exquisitely written, Fall is an unforgettable story of friendship and family – of perception, fear and prejudice, the events that punctuate our journeys into adulthood, and the indelible scars they leave…

 

My Review

This is my first West Camel novel although his debut, Attend, is in my TBR pile. It's also a break from my usual fodder of crime fiction and a very refreshing one at that. 

Aaron and Clive Goldsworthy are twins. They're in their 60s and haven't spoken for 40 years. Clive's company wants to develop the high rise block they grew up in and where Aaron still lives. Alone. All the other residents have moved out but Aaron is determined to block Clive's plans. Clearly something serious has happened in the twins' lives to cause such animosity and slowly we uncover what happened on a fateful night in 1976 and how it changed the lives of everyone involved. 

The story is told in a dual timeline - the present day and then one starting when the men moved to the tower as boys with their mother Zoë and ending in the late 70s, maybe early 80s. It is 1976 when they meet another set of twins, Annette and Christine, who are a little older than them and the first black people to live in the estate. 

I loved the description of the twins, both sets. Aaron and Clive, so similar and yet so different. When we meet them as old men, their world weariness is well described, their aches and pains, and their loneliness. I think for Aaron particularly, who hasn't had the successful life that Clive has. There are a couple of lines at the end of a chapter which said so much and for me was one of the saddest moments in the book. 

'He's never got used to doing things alone. So he does very few things.'

And the girls - in many ways the opposite of Aaron and Clive - free spirited, centre of attention, well liked with lots of friends. It's these attributes that attract the boys to them. Their mother isn't pleased. Zoë is a complicated character - I wasn't sure I liked her - and we don't really know her. But so many things are revealed throughout the book. 

The author has an unusual storytelling style. We view the action from above, or through the window or open door. Initially it was like we were a bird moving with the wind but it was more like we were just moving through the air, following characters into rooms, down stairs - it made it feel more real, three-dimensional and I loved it. But I think I've described it really badly!  Talking about the wind, one of my favourite little moments was 

'He steps out and the wind catches his head in its grasp, runs fingers through his hair and then gads off over the river, laughing and looking back. Laughing again.'

As I said at the beginning, quoting Carol Lovekin because she's far more eloquent than I, the story unfolds like a spell, and, for me, this is it's real strength. I was rocked by events and revelations time and time again. Things I didn't see coming, or expect, but which fitted the storyline perfectly. And it is all told so cleverly and beautifully. 

Fall is a fascinating book. With gorgeous descriptions and accurately drawn characters it tells of family, friendship, love, anger, resentment and redemption. But it also talks about prejudice, injustice and inaction. Someone, Aaron I think, says at one point 'We should say something.' This strikes me as something we should all take on board as there is still so much prejudice, discrimination and injustice going on around us. But this book also speaks to me of the importance of staying close to the ones we love, talking to them even when we don't want to, not letting ill feelings fester away. And finally, it's about the beautiful, devastating power of words. I will be thinking about Fall for a long time yet. 

The Author

Born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher education and business before turning his attention to the arts and publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology, before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He currently combines his work as editorial director at Orenda with editing The Riveter magazine and #RivetingReviews for the European Literature Network. He has also written several short scripts, which have been produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old Vic’s 12 playwrights project. His debut novel, Attend was published in 2018, and was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. His second novel, Fall is published this month. Follow West on Twitter @west_camel and on his website www.westcamel.net.