Synopsis:
Tashué’s faith in the law is beginning to crack.
Three years ago, he stood by when the Authority condemned Jason to the brutality of the Rift for non-compliance. When Tashué’s son refused to register as tainted, the laws had to be upheld. He’d never doubted his job as a Regulation Officer before, but three years of watching your son wither away can break down even the strongest convictions.
Then a dead girl washed up on the bank of the Brightwash, tattooed and mutilated. Where had she come from? Who would tattoo a child? Was it the same person who killed her?
Why was he the only one who cared?
Will Tashué be able to stand against everything he thought he believed in to get the answers he’s looking for?
SPFBO Finalist – Indie Ink Award Finalist – BBNYA Finalist – Stabby Nominee—Best Debut 2021/Best Indie Book 2021
Review:
Okay, it’s brilliant.
But…
To begin this review, I needed to solidify my thoughts, so browsed some of the past reviews, and did my usual thing and read a few of those 1/2/3 star ratings. Why? This is a long book, with a lot of rich complexity and depth, emotions that play with your heartstrings, and a horrifying premise that is slapped in your face in the first few chapters, the source of which is slowly revealed until dashes of raw blood spill over the last hundred pages. And those reviews helped encapsulate the parts that perhaps nagged at me, and now allow me the chance to encourage those who might DNF, or flick through the weight of the book, and walk away, to hang on in there.
Because it’s brilliant.
But that’s not the end of the conversation. Some will arrive at this book thinking it’s solely a murder mystery. That storyline is woven slowly through the book ‒ and for some who are only looking for the clues, it may be too slow. For other readers there might be too much emotional detail, angst, denial and, dare I say it, ‘romance’, and turn away, seeking a pacier read that focuses more on plot, and not the characters. And for some, the combination of such layered character development may well lead them to judge the pacing as skewed, for instance when seeking a chink of light amid the dark world, we instead move to another POV.
But hang in there. This book is an experience. It draws you into a grime-laden world, where those with magical talent are regarded as ‘tainted’ and thus regulated and controlled. Where those with power always seek more, while those steeped in honour drown in the detritus into which they are thrown. Amid this, we have a man who does not know he is broken, who hangs on to the shreds of his honour as a mutilated child washes up on the shores of the Brightwash. From that moment, Matar soaks you in blood, sweat, and tears amid the murky layers of society. Awash with failed love, broken families, is a world ruled for the benefit of the rich and untainted, or the criminal underbelly that feeds off the desperate that remain. She takes you on tangents, compiling a mystery entwined in the politics and rule of law, as we follow Tashue Blackwood, who tries to hold together his broken family and shattered reputation, while seeking answers about the murdered child.
You will not come out of this world clean.
Read it.
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