I would not normally have picked this up but my fellow moderator Di was raving about it, so I thought I would humour her. I am glad that I did.
From the first page you are immediatly thrown into the middle of a fast paced political thriller. A hostage situation at a school that takes place over a three hour period. The author uses time jumps back and forth, keeping you on the edge of your seat the whole time as the plot reveals itself.
There are many characters and I did find myself having to flick back occasionally at the beginning to get them straight in my head, but some of them are very clearly developed and given that it was a school with many pupils, it didn't detract from the flow.
This is human courage, love and resilience in the face of evil, death and terror. Every parent's nightmare, a quiet respectable, liberal school under attack by armed gunmen for political reasons. There was a lot of politics involved and so many current topics covered; radicalisation of children, the plight of refugees, the role of the press in stoking divisiveness in society, the dangers of social media and the hate fuelled actions supported, and encouraged by people in power.
But then there is the human goodness,those who risked their life to help others, the love between brothers and friends, the support and bravery of classmates and teachers. This book is a strong voice of determination to overcome evil and terror.
There are so many stories, Rafi the hero refugee with PTSD risking evrything, Hannah trying to preserve a life, Daphne trying to retore some normality and avoid panic by carrying on rehearsals. There is also the mother at first terrified that her son has died or is in danger to the slow realisation that she had lost the child she loved a long time ago.
The overiding message of this book is that love will conquer all. Normal people responding to a dreadful situation as heroes. It is emotional, it is raw but it is uplifting. Thank you Di for the recommendation.
From the first page you are immediatly thrown into the middle of a fast paced political thriller. A hostage situation at a school that takes place over a three hour period. The author uses time jumps back and forth, keeping you on the edge of your seat the whole time as the plot reveals itself.
There are many characters and I did find myself having to flick back occasionally at the beginning to get them straight in my head, but some of them are very clearly developed and given that it was a school with many pupils, it didn't detract from the flow.
This is human courage, love and resilience in the face of evil, death and terror. Every parent's nightmare, a quiet respectable, liberal school under attack by armed gunmen for political reasons. There was a lot of politics involved and so many current topics covered; radicalisation of children, the plight of refugees, the role of the press in stoking divisiveness in society, the dangers of social media and the hate fuelled actions supported, and encouraged by people in power.
But then there is the human goodness,those who risked their life to help others, the love between brothers and friends, the support and bravery of classmates and teachers. This book is a strong voice of determination to overcome evil and terror.
There are so many stories, Rafi the hero refugee with PTSD risking evrything, Hannah trying to preserve a life, Daphne trying to retore some normality and avoid panic by carrying on rehearsals. There is also the mother at first terrified that her son has died or is in danger to the slow realisation that she had lost the child she loved a long time ago.
The overiding message of this book is that love will conquer all. Normal people responding to a dreadful situation as heroes. It is emotional, it is raw but it is uplifting. Thank you Di for the recommendation.