Ordinary Thunderstorms,
by William Boyd, Bloomsbury, $38.99
British author William Boyd probably has no room left on his mantelpiece these days with his previous books having won so many awards. These include Booker Prize nominations, Whitbread awards and the Costa Novel of the Year for his spy thriller Restless.
His latest offering Ordinary
Thunderstorms is set in contemporary London where climatologist Adam Kindrel's life is turned upside down by a chance encounter in a hotel restaurant.
Here, he makes a seemingly innocuous decision that brings forth a veritable weather-bomb of murder and conspiracy that will wash away his comfortable life and sweep him into the gutters of the East End.
He soon finds himself wanted by police and being hunted down relentlessly by a hired assassin.
Kindrel is forced to confront the bitter reality of London life at its lowest levels as he joins the forgotten who inhabit the capital's industrial wastelands. Here, he fights for survival as he desperately seeks to uncover the storm of conspiracy that has destroyed his former life.
Boyd does a great job of conveying the grim and grimy reality of London's forgotten places and the forgotten souls who inhabit them. From start to finish, the book crackles and thunders along like an electrical storm. Ordinary Thunderstorms is a refreshingly dense and layered contemporary thriller that will keep most readers thoroughly entertained even over the longest and wettest of weekends.
