Psychotherapist Gabrielle Fox is putting her life back together after a car crash which left her paralysed, and her boyfriend and unborn child dead. She has relocated from London to the seaside town of Hadport and has been assigned a case treating Bethany Grall, a 16-year-old who stabbed to death her evangelical Christian mother. Bethany will not talk about the murder but claims to foresee global environmental catastrophes. A startling number of these incidents occur just as Bethany describes and Gabrielle finds that her professional reputation is at stake as she decides how to respond. Mix this with a stalker, a love affair, the relationship of therapist with unpredictable and violent patient, evangelical Christians converging at the former Olympic stadium, and the panic of getting to safety in time before the end of the world, this is not light reading but is fascinating and gripping.
The book is dense with detail. It has been meticulously researched, and has many levels to explore. It is likely to appeal to a broad audience - not just those who enjoy a good thriller but readers who like a deeper exploration of characters and motives, covering serious issues. It is written with a certain level of passion, commitment and anger, too, and I found the first few chapters quite startling in their energy and vehemence. Indeed, I had to make a conscious effort to keep reading as I think I would normally decide the book wasn't for me.
I'd seen the book recommended on the home page of a mental health website when I was researching bibliotherapy (the use of literature to help with emotional problems) and I am very glad I persevered with it. Even though the topics and incidents covered here are dark and the vision apocalyptic, I didn't want to put the book down. I don't think I particularly liked any of the characters but I was lost in the panic and fear, worry and urgency that they felt. I was sorry when this book reached its conclusion, not least due to the outcome which left me stunned.
This is an amazing book written by the author of 'The Ninth Life of Louis Drax' which I also very much enjoyed though quite different.