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A review by portybelle
An Act of Silence by Colette McBeth
5.0
The next of my #20BooksofSummer is the brilliant An Act of Silence by Colette McBeth. Linda Moscow was a high flying politician, once Home Secretary, who was disgraced when allegations about corruption came to light. Her son, Gabriel, is a famous comedian. almost as famous for lurid tabloid revelations about his love-life and drug taking. Linda's loyalty is stretched to its limit when he is accused of murdering a young woman he has spent the night with. She wants to believe him, but she's not sure just what he is capable of and now he has disappeared. As a mother, she will do anything for her son but this time secrets from her past may come back to haunt her and even threaten her life.
One of the main themes is a very topical issue and handled with great sensitivity. One of the characters is what you would call a 'National Treasure' and has been accused at various times of child sexual abuse. As the story develops, the reader sees the level of cover-up involved both at the time and in the present day. Reading the story from the viewpoint of the victim who felt so helpless, guilty and betrayed was quite moving.
This book was very cleverly constructed. It moves back and forward in time with each part filling in a little more of the puzzle. Quite often, the reader sees the same scene (or part of it) played out through another character's eyes, adding another perspective and a deeper understanding of events. There were lots of revelations throughout the book too, so that quite often I didn't know who I could believe or trust. There was so much corruption, lies and deceit. It was hard to tell which of the narrators, if any, were reliable.
Some of the characters were put in such difficult situations that they just couldn't see a way out of, they had impossible choices. I had initially despised some of the characters but came to see some good in as they tried to redeem themselves. Others, however, proved irredeemable. During the last chapters of the book it was really fast paced, edge of the seat reading!
An Act of Silence was a perfectly paced, tense and gripping read and one of the best psychological thrillers I've read recently. I highly recommend it.
One of the main themes is a very topical issue and handled with great sensitivity. One of the characters is what you would call a 'National Treasure' and has been accused at various times of child sexual abuse. As the story develops, the reader sees the level of cover-up involved both at the time and in the present day. Reading the story from the viewpoint of the victim who felt so helpless, guilty and betrayed was quite moving.
This book was very cleverly constructed. It moves back and forward in time with each part filling in a little more of the puzzle. Quite often, the reader sees the same scene (or part of it) played out through another character's eyes, adding another perspective and a deeper understanding of events. There were lots of revelations throughout the book too, so that quite often I didn't know who I could believe or trust. There was so much corruption, lies and deceit. It was hard to tell which of the narrators, if any, were reliable.
Some of the characters were put in such difficult situations that they just couldn't see a way out of, they had impossible choices. I had initially despised some of the characters but came to see some good in as they tried to redeem themselves. Others, however, proved irredeemable. During the last chapters of the book it was really fast paced, edge of the seat reading!
An Act of Silence was a perfectly paced, tense and gripping read and one of the best psychological thrillers I've read recently. I highly recommend it.