APPARENT HORIZON by Patrick Morgan #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member. 

In a Nutshell: A man with nothing to lose.  

This was a terrific story, a most original idea that would make a marvellous film or miniseries.  Three friends, Michael, Drew and Aaron, get together on the eve of Drew's wedding.  Aaron, who works on top secret projects at NASA, tells the other two about a gamma ray burst that will hit the southern hemisphere the next day. He warns that it will quickly destroy the food chain, cause massive radiation and thus end human life on earth, sooner rather than later.  Basically, the world is about to end. 

During Drew's wedding the sky does indeed light up at exactly the time Aaron predicted, but the news media dismisses it as a harmless event, as he warned would happen. 

The story is written in the third person POV of Michael, and details his reactions to this news, and the effect it has on him.  Having always been an introverted sort of guy who lived a 'safe' life, he wonders if, now that there is so little time left, he can let loose a part of himself that he is not even sure exists. 

The characters are all clearly defined, and the dialogue is great—you know it's good when you don't feel as though you're 'reading dialogue', as I didn't, in this.  The plot itself is extremely well thought out, with plenty of surprises, though a few warning bells did ring for me early on.  On the whole I enjoyed reading it, though I found it somewhat lacking in suspense; there was too much 'Michael did this, then Michael did that'.  I thought some of the detail could have been edited out; a loss of around twenty-per cent could have made it sharper, fast-paced, more of a page-turner.  It just needed a bit more pizazz, to do justice to the excellent plot. I also expected a final twist that never came; okay, I'd actually decided what it would be, but this is Patrick Morgan's book, not mine!

This is a commendable first novel, and I'm sure that the author will develop his style as he continues to write.  Nice one.