So far so tropey, verging into cliche.
Once I started reading it, all my worries were wiped away. This is one of the top three books I've read this year.
The plot is not as simple as summarised above. Obviously, most stories do rise above the tropes if they're competently written. this isn't just competently written though. there were times reading this that I had to stop and read a paragraph again, not because I didn't understand it, but because it was so well phrased i needed to read it again.
This is just gorgeously written.
A group of 6 childhood friends are blown apart when the eponymous Kala disappears without trace. Life in the town of Kinlough continues as always. Fifteen years pass.
Joe has returned to Kinlough to open a nightclub. He's a successful music artist and famous in his own right but still has issues with confidence.
Helen has been living in Canada and returns to the town for her sister's wedding. She's had moderate success as a journalist and has exposed a few major controversies in the last decade. She might not be doing as well as she lets on. but she knows how to investigate when things are wrong. So she thinks.
Mush has never left the town. he still runs the local café with his mother. His face is horrifically scarred for reasons we don't find out till very late on.
Soon after Joe arrives back in town. human remains are found in a building site in the woods on the outskirts of town. Events start to build which draw the three of them together again. The town's ugly secrets will soon be laid bare.
What makes this book stand out is the prose, the characterisation and the unexpected twists and turns of the narrative. Colin Walsh is an absolute genius when it comes to foreshadowing. the hints dropped through the narrative are so enticing it's almost impossible to put this book down. What caused Mush's scars? What happened to Kala? Has there been another unexplained disappearance?
This is a crime novel without a policeman at the heart of it. These are beautifully drawn characters. each chapter is told from the perspective of either Joe, Helen or Mush. Their voices are so distinct you can tell in a couple of lines which character is the focus of any randomly chosen page. Joe's narration is a great example of second person writing. two books in a row that nailed it....
The tension Walsh builds is remarkable. The treatment of the new disappearance is absolutely perfectly handled. the savvy reader knows something has happened a long time before the characters catch on and the delay in taking action feels so real and adds to the atmosphere.
I always worry when the build up is so good, is the writer going to blow it all in the final act, but he doesn't. He lands this ending absolutely perfectly. It's one of the most perfect endings. None of the characters suddenly develop miraculous fighting prowess to deal with any violence that occurs and it all feels totally real. The secrets the town is hiding are suitable nasty and there's a reveal that I'm still kicking myself that I missed.
I can not find any issues with this book. The rhythm of the prose (especially for Mush) reset my inner narrator to the cast of Father Ted. That's a good thing by they way. And this is a debut novel! How does someone come straight out of the posts with something this good?
I've no idea what the answer to that is. But you all need to buy this book, or borrow it from a legal source, and read it. You won't be disappointed.
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