Review: Superbly written, compelling and original
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 3, 2012
Seb Kirby's thriller is a barnstorming, relentlessly paced study in strangeness that begins as a seeming mistaken-identity yarn and develops into a bizarre tale involving torture, conspiracy and some fairly hard science fiction themes. And I mean hard in both senses: with a solid grounding in actual science, and difficult to get one's head around. That's by no means a criticism, as this is one of the most thought-provoking thrillers I've read in a long time, one that makes no bones about its `message' but at the same time doesn't browbeat the reader with it.Other reviewers have given a flavour of the plot so I won't do so, not least because there's a limit to what can be revealed without introducing major spoilers. I will however mention one aspect which grated with me, and would have earned Double Bind four and a half stars instead of five if this were possible. The depiction of psychiatry in the story doesn't ring true. As someone who works in the field, I can say with complete certainty that electroconvulsive therapy is never practised in Britain nowadays in the brutal, punitive way shown here: without anaesthetic, with a bit of leather jammed between the jaws, and several times within a few days. It makes for gripping, frightening fiction; but for me it was just jarring. Still, this probably won't be an issue for most readers.That quibble aside, the novel easily earns its five stars for two aspects alone: its originality - I really haven't ever read anything quite like it - and above all, the style of the writing. The more fiction I read, the more I'm drawn to the conclusion that what matters to me most of all, above even plot and dialogue and characterisation, is the author's style. I found Kirby's voice incredibly compelling and easy to slip into and be taken along by.First class stuff. I'm looking forward to reading everything else I can get my hands on by Seb Kirby, including his first novel Take No More.