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Light Shining in the Forest

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About this listen

 'An unsettling, haunting story...memorable, atmospheric and tense' THE LADY

'Well-written, well-crafted and constantly gripping' DAILY MAIL

'A disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel' DAILY EXPRESS

'A grippingly dark thriller...Great writing from a master storyteller' RED MAGAZINE

Norman Stokoe has just been appointed Children's Czar by the new government. He sells his flat and moves up north to take up the position. However before his first salary cheque has even hit his bank account, new priorities are set for the government department for which he works. The Children's Czar network is put on hold but it is too late to reverse the decision to employ Norman. So he is given a P.A. and a spacious office in a new business park on the banks of the Tyne.

He settles down in his new leather chair behind his new desk, to wait for the green light to begin his mission. The green light never comes. What does happen is that two children go missing. As Children's Czar, surely this case should fall within his remit, but Norman has built a career on doing nothing, on stamping pieces of paper with 'send to the relevant department'. Now, faced with a campaigning journalist and a distraught mother, he is forced to become involved. The search will take him to dark places and will make him ask questions about the system he is supposed to uphold.©2013 Paul Torday Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Psychological Supernatural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Scary Fiction

Critic reviews

A grippingly dark thriller...Great writing from a master storyteller (Viv Groskop)
Torday has blended some excellent social satire and even a dollop of the supernatural...this is an excellent mash-up, well-written, well-crafted and constantly gripping
A great story, and very dark in places
A disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel
An unsettling, haunting story...Torday has created some strong characters in this memorable, atmospheric and tense novel...His prose is controlled, elegant and measured and his totally unexpected conclusion is very powerful
A well-crafted novel...there is momentum, and there is excitement
We move from comedy, through pain, to a greater mystery than the mystery with which, on the ordinary level of crime and detection, the author has gripped us
Tautly written, the tone acid and angry
Torday's exploration of human anguish and pain, interspersed with the dark haunting rural environment, provides the template, while his biting social comment showcases a writer at the very top of his game
This is a terrific read in Mr Torday's simple and effective prose style, which should alert us all to what is happening in Britain
All stars
Most relevant

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, because it kept me gripped and listening until it was finished.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Although I have only just read this book,I havealready forgotten the names of the characters.... old age LOL. The girl was my favourite character, because although she was not of any importance to the main characters at the beginning, she managed to get herself to the centre of the action. Also she was the only one who had concern for the children and wasn't only helping out of self interest.

What about David Timson’s performance did you like?

Laid back but gave plenty of amosphere to this unpleasant subject.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt very involved, emotionally about the fate of the children.

Any additional comments?

I am not usually interested in supernatural fiction, but this aspect of the story was kept in the background and added to the plot rather than giving an easy get out.

Good story

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This simply written but chilling novel starts with the shocking statistic that one child disappears every five minutes in the UK. I had to look it up, and was amazed to discover it's true. The narrator, David Timson, does an excellent job in conveying this unsettling narrative of child abduction. Don't listen with the lights out!

Chilling but excellent

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What did you like best about Light Shining in the Forest? What did you like least?

The whodunit style storytelling of the child abductions.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting was the terrifying yet scarily and in most cases accurate manner that missing children and their families get judged and pushed to one side by the authorities. Least interesting would be some of the characters back stories.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

I felt this book was conflicted in its genre and I don't think it flowed well because of that, one minute you're engrossed in this Prime Suspect style abduction case, the next its like an episode of most haunted. I enjoy both mystery and supernatural stories but the 2 together is difficult to pull off and the contrast in this case stopped me from fully enjoying the story, but i did not hate it.

Strange but listenable.

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