Awakening by Sharon (S. J.) Bolton
August 1, 2010 14 Comments
Awakening
Awakening (2009) is a thriller that focuses around a small English village. Clara Benning is the local veterinarian and she likes to deal with animals more than with people. In fact, she’s been hiding from people most of her life.
But when things are happening in her village that involve animals, Clara has to come out of her shell and help her neighbors. It starts with a woman finding a snake in her baby’s cot. Clara manages to get it out safely. Then a large number of snakes are discovered in another house and a man gets bitten.
With the help of Matt, a local man around whom she gets even more nervous than she is with most other people, she removes the snakes and starts to investigate what is going on.
This is not only a thriller, it is also the story of Clara coming to terms with herself and finding a place in society.
Thrillers in English villages are usually capable of arousing a reader’s interest, and this book is no exception. The beginning was great, then a hint of zombies was thrown in, and I went “Oh, no!”. When zombies didn’t play a major part in the book (in fact, there aren’t any!), I enjoyed it again, and only towards the end, I found things getting a little complicated. Suspicions moved form one person to the next, all with a likely explanation of why they would be involved. The end was satisfying if a little far-fetched. But in all, a pleasant thriller, which did “thrill” me to some extend.
Rating: 4/5
Since, I’ve also read Sacrifice, Now You See Me and Dead Scared
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Hmm, this sounds quite interesting being someone who also prefers animals to a lot of people. I may have to check this out – you know I love a good thriller too.
Yes, although you probably have a few books still to read from the Thriller Festival. Did you get any? I’m not sure you told us.
I do like the sound of this one — what is it about those English villages and characters that either have a past or have something to internally come to terms with? They do just suck me in, and then before I know it, the day has gone by and I end up having nightmares. Love it, though!
I know what you mean, Nathalie. I guess it’s the contrast between the tranquil, old-fashioned English village (or the idea of it) and the crime. Aren’t crimes supposed to be committed by real criminals in a big city?
Yes, and not to mention, we always like to believe that a small village is supposed to be the area where nothing happens — as you wrote, crime only happens in the big city, not the small quaint villages! So, when a book travels down that path, it’s even more intriguing!!
I would have said the same thing about zombies. I draw the line at zombies—just can’t do it! That’s good that this thriller was, well, thrilling. Sometimes they aren’t!
This sounds like a good read for me, I’ll put it on my list. I am glad to know in advance that there are no real zombies in the book! I won’t be tempted to put it away when I reach that part!
Gerda, I could maybe handle zombies if I knew in advance they were in the book, but when I was expecting a standard thriller, the occurrence of zombies felt a bit strange. Luckily, it only seemed there were zombies! 🙂
The author has a beautiful website:
http://www.sjbolton.com/
Thanks, Gerda, I’ll check it out. I haven’t heard of the author before.
I just came across your review for this book and I’m definitely intrigued! I love a good mystery.
Emily, it was an interesting read. It wasn’t a standard detective novel.
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