Narrated by Ciaran Saward
BelEdit Book Reviews
Kill Them with Kindness is a dark speculative science fiction thriller that is so close to a reality we all experienced that it delivers shivers from the first page to the last.
From the blurb:
“Dr Haruto Ikeda, a Japanese scientist working at a Chinese research facility, wants to save the world. He has discovered a way to mutate a virus. Instead of making people sick, instead of causing death, it’s going to make them … nice. Instead of attacking the lungs, it will work into the brain and increase the host’s ability to feel and show compassion. It will make people kind.
“But governments don’t want a population in agreement. They want conflict and outrage and fear. Reasonable people are harder to control.”
You don’t have to be a fan of conspiracy theories to see connections between this storyline and COVID-19. A worldwide epidemic is happening following the release of a deadly virus from a Chinese lab. However, in Kill Them with Kindness, it was released deliberately by governments with malicious intent. It’s too late to stop it, but scientist Dr Ikeda hopes that by releasing another, mutated version of the virus, instead of dying people will become compassionate and kind.
It’s a wonderful premise for a speculative novel and Carver narrates it brilliantly. The characters leap from the page, the pace is well balanced, the dialogue realistic, and no matter how much you think you know ‘this’ story, it’s impossible to guess how it’s going to play out.
There are some brilliant touches. The truly horrible British Prime Minister is a wonderfully nasty, true-to-life portrait of Boris Johnson (I would have called it a caricature but it’s hard to create a ludicrously exaggerated distortion of someone who is in fact a ludicrously exaggerated distortion of a human being)… Named ‘Harris Jackson’, just to remove all doubt! Narrator Ciaran Saward’s reading of Harris’ lines is so true to the original that you can easily imagine Boris J. in the role.
Carver’s contempt for the covid-era Prime Minister is so blatant (and warranted), and the portrait so clever, that I’ve added a star just for that.
Kill Them with Kindness is an intelligent speculative thriller that would provide rich pickings for a book club discussion. It blurs the lines between fiction and reality. It points an accusatory finger at those in power who will stop at nothing to hold on to their power, no matter the cost. It also points the finger at ordinary people, showing how little it would really take for us all to choose compassion and kindness rather than self-interest.
I cannot recommend it highly enough! In fact, I was so impressed that I went looking for Carver’s other work and discovered that he produces a wonderful podcast, Nothing Important Happened Today, which I binge-listened to on a 4-hour drive and also highly recommend.
Needless to say I’ll be checking out his other novels too. Seems I’m late to the party, as Carver is called a cult author, although I’d never heard of him before. I’ve been missing out!
Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
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