Publication Date: Available Now from Transworld Digital/Doubleday Ireland
Source: Review copy Paperback
It was a time when nobody called. Early evening, the hottest August in living memory.
A frightened girl bangs on a door. A man answers. From the moment he invites her in, his world will never be the same again.
Nothing On Earth was a novel I read in one huge gulp of a sitting, obsessively from the very first page to the very last page. It is strangely, softly, utterly terrifying. And quite quite beautiful.
A reviewers dilemma here: I want to say so much about it, but this book, really, no. In a way it is indescribable in any way that would not spoil it – even now I’m not really sure about anything. It has a surreal, deeply disturbing, yet utterly gorgeous vibe to it, the prose is lyrical with an eerie cadence – I actually think I was hypnotised somewhat by it, certainly by the characters in the pages and most definitely by the story being told. A story that begins with a girl banging on a door one evening in Summer…
That girl. Oh good lord that girl…
Sometimes a book surprises and delights you, floors you with an unexpected rythym, those moments when you get something you are not quite prepared for. This book did that to me, I loved it. A brilliantly imaginative concept executed in haunting, compelling fashion and this was a unique reading experience for me – but don’t ask me to put into words why or why right now I feel like I’m in fight or flight mode and may never sleep again, but thats where I ended up.
I’ve never read a story that is so utterly alluring and elegantly written but has chilled me to the bone in quite the same way, this book has at its heart many things unseen, and something different there is no word for yet. Perhaps Conor O’Callaghan could come up with one, he is certainly talented enough to be creating language as well as using it. Nothing On Earth comes highly recommended from me – read it if you really do want something out of the ordinary and appreciate skill when you see it – or simply because its a blast of a tale told slowly but surely and with oodles of heart.
I’ll really need to read it again. Hang on what just happened?
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Happy Reading!
