Publication Date: Available Now e-book, paperback 8th March from Orenda
Source: Publisher Review Copy
Claymore Straker is trying to forget a violent past. Working as an oil company engineer in the wilds of Yemen, he is hijacked at gunpoint by Islamic terrorists. Clay has a choice: help uncover the cause of a mysterious sickness afflicting the village of Al Urush, close to the company’s oil-processing facility, or watch Abdulkader, his driver and close friend, die. As the country descends into civil war and village children start dying, Clay finds himself caught up in a ruthless struggle between opposing armies, controllers of the country’s oil wealth, Yemen’s shadowy secret service, and rival terrorist factions.
I seriously cannot remember the last time I was this gripped by a thriller – pretty much from the opening pages it sucks you down into the tale and won’t let go – Fantastic writing, a very very intriguing main protagonist and a plot that has its roots in reality.
Mr Hardisty brings Yemen to vivid colourful life, the people and the hardships, the politics and the realities and wraps it up in a beautiful package of really exceptional storytelling, with an authentic edge which means you honestly believe every moment of it. As Clay investigates, desperate to keep his friend alive, what he finds will have far reaching consequences and he finds himself in a race against time.
I admittedly was not sure before I started this – I do tend to avoid the kind of novel that seems like it wants to make a point when all I want is a stonking good read- in the case of “Abrupt Physics” though, Paul Hardisty makes a point AND gives you a stonking good read to boot – there is a message here but it is subtle and makes itself known through the sheer power of the voices he gives his characters. Each one well drawn, each has a tale to tell which adds to the whole and builds a picture, a pretty scary one at that.
Moving away from the moral dilemma and looking at it purely as entertainment, boy does this entertain. By the time I was near the end I was hanging on to every single word, the story unfolds at often breakneck speed and has a really most terrific finale that I still think about now. Clay is a fantastic character, I am so pleased that he will be back – in a bit of a more light hearted side I’ve added him to my list of Literary characters I would definitely marry, although life with Clay would be rather unpredictable to say the least.
Overall this really was an incredible debut – a modern thriller with a literary edge, one that could equally win the highest awards and be the novel everyone is reading on the beach, I truly cannot recommend it highly enough.
Find out more here: http://paulehardisty.wix.com/paulehardisty
Follow the author on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Hardisty_Paul
Purchase Information: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abrupt-Physics-Dying-Claymore-Straker-ebook/dp/B00OYTBHZ0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1424158437
Follow the tour! Next up: http://www.claire-thinking.blogspot.co.uk/
Happy Reading Folks!
