Malachi, who has no tongue, is recruited by an organisation which is growing in and harvesting organs from prisoners convicted of murder. They sit naked in their cages; he trims their fingernails and toenails. His reward after six months will be a tongue transplant. Of course, he can't talk to them ... but they can to him and he begins to appreciate the horror of the prisoners' plight. But should he help them? His dilemma is exacerbated by flashbacks to the moment he lost his tongue and the terrible survivor guilt he suffers.
Set on a lonely oil rig in the middle of the ocean with a cast of morally-flawed people, both prisoners and their exploiters, this novel is a powerful exploration of ethical issues. But it is also gritty and hard-edged. Malachi's back story is carefully drip-fed so that the reader often has to puzzle out what happened. It is perfectly paced: important turning points happening around the 33%, 48% and 72% marks. The climax had me rushing through the pages; the jeopardy continued to the very end. And the descriptions were wonderful.
Some magical moments:
- "The mirror has the skin disease mirrors get in gloomy rooms." (p 2)
- "I have seen decapitation. The head disengages as if the spine is nothing. A mere rumour." (p 3)
- "The agent's cinnamon breath disguises her predation." (p 5)
- "It's like Jesus saying he has Weet-Bix for breakfast." (p 203)
- "Jesus would never have had to fight off an erection, would he? But perhaps these are carnal truths the censors burnt." " (p 205)
- "Even his dreadlocks lie down as if chastised, creating the beaten silhouette of a bedraggled thief." (p 206)
- "Money is just paper with some ugly president's face on it." (p 206)
- "One side of her parting looks like she has stuck her finger in a plug, the other half is the good twin, clinging and meek." (p 216)
- "The yellow man lies loosely, like someone cut him from a cross." (p 320)
Thought-provoking and exciting. Brilliant.
July 2021; 324 pages
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