A long time back, about the time I started book reviewing,
I asked the publisher's Orenda Press for a copy of Paul E Hardisty first novel,
The Abrupt Physics of Dying. The publisher asked if I wanted to wait to receive
a hard copy or get a PDF straight away. Stupidly I chose the PDF, which I found
hard to convert to read on my Kindle. Due to this I found it didn't flow as I
liked and while I gave the book a four-star review, I made a comment about
Hardisty "writing too well", meaning that he used lots of flowery
language.
Now I've just read his second book, The Evolution of Fear,
of which I got a hard copy through Real Readers/Nudge and wow! Just wow! Paul
Hardisty doesn't "write too well", a remark I regret and not
something that's possible to do, but he does write well, very well, bloody well
in fact. This second novel picks off where the first ended, Claymore Straker
now a fugitive with a price on his head after his adventures in the Yemen. He's
hiding out in cottage on the Cornwall coast when some South African mercenaries
try to kill him. So right from the off we're thrown into the action. Straker
flees the country in a boat and heads to Cypress in pursuit of Rania, the love
of his life, who's missing.
Hardisty's descriptive prose brings every aspect of this
novel alive. The violence in this novel isn't excessive but when it comes it's
visceral. Landscapes are brought to life so that you as the reader feel like
you're there. He obviously knows his subjects or has done his research, the
scenes on the yacht bringing the perils of sailing through an Atlantic storm to
life. Most impressive of all however is a subtler thread which works its way
through the novel. At heart, like his earlier novel, The Evolution of Fear is
an Eco-thriller. It's plot revolves around the rich and powerful pillaging the
Cypress environment for profit, stealing land to turn into tourist resorts, the
result being the destruction of turtle nesting sites and thus the endangerment
of rare turtles.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm as concerned with the
environment as the next person, but one of the problems of Eco-activism is that
the subject is often rather bland. I mean if someone said they were writing a
thriller about endangered turtles you might be forgiven for politely stifling a
yawn. I mean turtles, really? But Hardisty makes you care. I mean really, this
novel sneaks up on you, grabs you by the lapels and demands that you give a
shit. He does this by demonstrating an eternal truth: that behind such
ecological devastation is greed, the same avarice that's behind much of what's
wrong in the world, whether it's organised crime, terrorism, state violence,
nations encroaching on other nations, whatever. The villains in this novel are
all too believable and you know that while their actions are harming turtles in
this instance, it could be whales, dolphins, people the next. Indeed, lots of
people are hurt in this novel, anyone trying to stop them stealing the land and
harming the turtles. And is this not what really happens? Have we not read
stories in the press about indigenous people being killed a persecuted when
they try to stop multinationals from exploiting their environment for logging,
oil and gas development, and yes, tourism?
All in all, this is a brilliant novel, one that's both an
entertaining page turner and a cerebral engagement with issues that affect us
all. This is a 5 star read and I certainly look forward to Paul Hardisty's next
novel.
5 out of 5 stars
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