Blackwater by Sarah Sultoon #BookReview #BlogTour

 

They feared the machines.

They should have feared the people…

London, Christmas 1999. The world is on edge. With the new millennium just days away, fears of the Millennium Bug are spiralling – warnings of computer failures, market crashes, even global catastrophe. But fifty miles east, on the frozen Blackwater Island, a different kind of mystery unfolds. A child’s body is discovered on the bracken, untouched by footprints, with no sign of how he died. And no one has come forward to claim him.

At the International Tribune, reporter Jonny Murphy senses something is off. Police are appealing for relatives, not suspects. An anonymous call led officers to the scene, but no one knows who made it. While the world fixates on a digital apocalypse, Jonny sees the real disaster unfolding closer to home. With just twenty-hour hours before the century turns, he heads to Blackwater – driven by curiosity, desperation, and the sting of rejection from his colleague Paloma.

But Blackwater has secrets buried deep in the frozen ground. More victims – some dead, others still paying for past sins. And when Paloma catches up to him, they stumble onto something far bigger than either of them imagined. Something that could change everything. The millennium is coming. The clock is ticking. Can Jonny stop it? Should he?

And what if Y2K wasn’t a hoax, but a warning…?

It is my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Blackwater by Sarah Sultoon but I also need to apologise for mixing up the dates as my slot was actually yesterday. Many thanks to Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for my advance copy of the novel. 

Blackwater sees the return of young journalist Jonny Murphy and photographer Paloma Glen who met in Sarah Sultoon's last book, Death Flight. Although there are a few references to the events that brought them together in Argentina, it is not necessary to have read that novel first as Blackwater is a stand-alone. 

It's December 1999 and it seems that all the world is concerned about is the potential threat of the Millennium Bug. With the benefit of hindsight, readers will know their fears were unfounded but back then, there were genuine doubts as to whether the global digital infrastructure would survive the change of date. With the New Year fast approaching, it's the only story that apparently matters but Jonny Murphy is desperate for something more interesting to report on. At the start of the book, he finds himself in a tense situation which he doesn't handle as well as he should and so he also has something to prove. When a report comes in about the discovery of a young child's body on Blackwater Island in Essex, alongside a request from the police for his family to come forward. Jonny's boss, Lukas takes pity on the reporter and gives him a day to find out more.

In contrast to Death Flight, this looks to be a smaller story but nevertheless, what Jonny discovers at Blackwater eventually has far-reaching consequences; however, it is also a more intimate portrayal of loss and grief. Blackwater Island is an unmapped small island and a protected nature reserve which is closed to visitors, so the discovery of the little boy's body – following an anonymous phone call – is even more puzzling. When Jonny arrives in Eastwood, a desolate hamlet on the murky Blackwater River, he receives a disquieting welcome from the pub landlady who serves him the local spirit and oysters before telling him about the island's history as a hiding place when Vikings and Saxons battled over the land. However, she is clearly reluctant to divulge anything further and warns him off the place explaining the only things there now are plants, some of which are apparently magical. Jonny then makes the acquaintance of Detective Inspector Gillian Peters who informs him that trespassers – or those with intent to trespass – will be arrested and fined. It seems to be a clear warning forbidding him to visit the island but then she opens up to him about the lonely, isolated situation she is in and asks for his help to solve the mystery of this little boy's death when nobody else is interested.                                                                                              Local myths and the dark reality of the place ensure Blackwater is a chillingly atmospheric read and when Paloma joins Jonny, they unearth some startling secrets. Their own relationship is also uncertain and throughout the novel, he is haunted by memories of his own childhood. These insights into his personal life add a further layer to proceedings and explain why he is so driven to seek the truth for families suffering a loss. The pair inevitably visit the island and after some nailbiting scenes, what they eventually unearth there changes everything. What was a poignant local mystery proves to be far more alarming, with disturbing revelations for the whole country. As the murky truth comes to light, an intriguing character's desperate need for redemption results in Jonny becoming involved in a nerve-racking race against time as the clock ticks down to the new millennium, and the taut conclusion to this intelligent, multilayered novel is breathtakingly compulsive. 

Blackwater is a suspenseful, gripping and deeply moving thriller which, although a work of fiction, is inspired by an unsettling truth regarding actions supposedly taken for the greater good but which had a devastating effect on innocent families. I highly recommend it.

Blackwater is published by Orenda Books and can be ordered directly from their website. Further purchasing links can be found here. 

Follow the blog tour, details are below.

   

About the Author    

Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs. As passionate about fiction as nonfiction, she recently completed a Masters of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, adding to an undergraduate language degree in French and Spanish, and Masters of Philosophy in History, Film and Television. When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if… Sarah lives in London with her family.  

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