A review by steph1rothwell
Fault Lines by Doug Johnstone
5.0
With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.I had never read a book by Doug Johnstone before and I can honestly say that I have never read a book quite like Fault Lines before either. I had been a little bit dubious, worrying whether it would be too scientific for me, but they were needless worries. I had no problems at all and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Many people will be familiar with Edinburgh, but the version of Edinburgh in the novel is make-believe, with its addition of a volcanic island in the Firth of Forth. It is here that the body of Tom is discovered by Surtsey.
Surtsey is the main character in the book. She is more flawed than many other characters who feature in other novels with her sometimes heavy drinking, recreational drug taking and her affair with her married boss. But she also was a character who I liked a lot and she was no different to many of the others who featured. As well as her flaws, she also had a conscience. She was devoted to her terminally ill mother and dealt with her situation a lot better than her sister. This side to her softened her a lot and helped me appreciate the depth to her personality.
All of the different characters are believable, not necessarily likeable or innocent but they suited the storyline. I didn’t feel that there was any over exaggeration of any of them. One of the most powerful parts of the novel was the description of the volcano. Combined with real life news events at the time I could picture it all vividly. First class fiction from another Orenda author.
Many people will be familiar with Edinburgh, but the version of Edinburgh in the novel is make-believe, with its addition of a volcanic island in the Firth of Forth. It is here that the body of Tom is discovered by Surtsey.
Surtsey is the main character in the book. She is more flawed than many other characters who feature in other novels with her sometimes heavy drinking, recreational drug taking and her affair with her married boss. But she also was a character who I liked a lot and she was no different to many of the others who featured. As well as her flaws, she also had a conscience. She was devoted to her terminally ill mother and dealt with her situation a lot better than her sister. This side to her softened her a lot and helped me appreciate the depth to her personality.
All of the different characters are believable, not necessarily likeable or innocent but they suited the storyline. I didn’t feel that there was any over exaggeration of any of them. One of the most powerful parts of the novel was the description of the volcano. Combined with real life news events at the time I could picture it all vividly. First class fiction from another Orenda author.