Review: Fault Lines by Doug Johnstone

Fault Lines
by Doug Johnstone
Published by Orenda Books
Thriller, contemporary

In a reimagined contemporary Edinburgh, where a tectonic fault has opened up to produce a new volcano in the Firth of Forth, and where tremors are an everyday occurrence, volcanologist Surtsey makes a shocking discovery.

On a clandestine trip to new volcanic island The Inch to meet Tom, her lover and her boss, she finds his lifeless body, and makes the fatal decision to keep their affair, and her discovery, a secret. Desperate to know how he died, but also terrified she'll be exposed, Surtsey's life quickly spirals into a nightmare when someone makes contact - someone who claims to know what she's done...

Fault Line had me on the promise of volcanic eruptions, murder mystery, reimagined Edinburgh and university setting. The premise certainly sounds thrilling and exciting, and promises a fast-paced story with twists and turns. Sadly, that's all the excitement and thrill the story had.

The story had unrealistic representation of university students, as everyone was described as having one night stands, drinking extensively and getting stoned almost daily basis in the story. No one seemed to focus on their research and studies, which seems hard to believe when it's PhD level students. Main character Surtsey was an epitome of this type of behaviour: there wasn't a day when she wasn't either drunk or stoned. She also had few morals and even less redeeming qualities, mostly because she didn't seem to care about anyone but herself. Her married lover died? She only worried that their affair would be discovered and she'd lose her boyfriend. And it just went on and on. Her sister, mother, and friends weren't any different, and the police were pretty much bad stereotypes without personality.

Plot was also predictable and I guessed the killer when they were introduced to the story, and that killed the tiny bit of thrill and mystery the story had going. With such unlikable characters who didn't seem to do anything but drink and smoke weed, the story was a bit dull until the last third of the book, when the pace picked up. The best part was the volcanic island Inch and all the geological stuff, which was truly interesting. Short chapters also kept the pace quite fast and the writing was good.

Fault Lines is a fast paced read, but it's not as thrilling as it promises and the extremely unlikable characters makes it hard to connect with anyone. Premise and setting in a reimagined Edinburgh sounded intriguing and captivating, but unfortunately the story didn't live up to it.

2 of 5 stars

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(A copy of this book was provided in return for an honest review.)