This novel by Tim Weaver offers more than what is expected of a debut novelist. The story aims at unveiling the mystery behind a death caused due to an accident, which according to the victims' mother, had not occurred. The investigative journalism that follows, keeps the plot fast moving.
Securing lives
David Raker, a newspaper journalist, quits his job after coming to know that his much- loved wife Derryn is in her last stage of cancer. He agrees to look out for his wife's friend's kid who goes missing and that job later becomes his livelihood. After Derryns' death he takes it up to keep himself occupied and divert attention from his personal tragedy.
At that time, a family friend, Mrs. Mary Towne, approaches him with her strange case. David was aware that Mary's husband Malcolm, was suffering from Alzheimer's and their only son Alex had run away from their house six years back and was found dead in an accident a year ago. Mary tells David that she had seen her son alive. She wants David to investigate the case as she feels he will understand the pain of missing their beloved one, more than anybody else does. After much hesitation, David agrees to take it up and the successive unpredictable happenings in the story, makes the book a worthy read.
The way David uses his journalistic resources to put the pieces together seems logical and makes perfect sense. The fact that a single murder investigation opens up to a world of horror and disaster is terrific. The portrayal of characters like Andrew and Legion is extremely scary and their deeds make the readers wonder as to how people could be so very inhumane. The author finishes with an unexpected touch when revealing who the mastermind behind the whole plot is. Put aside the crude crucification process held for innocents by the villans, the story provides loads of interesting incident-tracking techniques for thriller loving readers.
Title:Chasing the dead
Author:Tim Weaver
Publisher:Penguin
Price:£6.99
Divya is a ECE, final yr student of Vel Tech Engineering College.
