It's time for another wonderful Orenda blog tour for Eve Smith's speculative fiction, The Waiting Rooms. For the chance to win an e-copy of it, follow the details which are at the foot of this post.
Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a
global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch
from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one
over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals
nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’ … hospitals where no one ever gets well.
Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a
search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate
unearths disturbing facts about her mother’s past, she puts her family in
danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that
her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too.
Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis
South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with
unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only
a few mutations away.
MyThoughts
The Waiting Rooms is an amazing debut novel by Eve Smith which has so many echoes of the world we are living in, that you find yourself nodding in recognition at some of the measures which are described. Following a global antibiotic crisis, we are presented with a transformed world of control and restriction. Alongside this, we follow Kate's story as she searches for her birth mother. Alternating between life in South Africa before 'The Crisis', and life in a changed world, you begin to realise that there might be dark forces at play.
In this thriller, the tension is kept up, despite the changing timelines, and you cannot help but feel anxious at the world as described. Reading it at the current time adds a frisson and makes the plighty of the elderly even more chilling. With some well drafted characters and an intriguing plot, this has all the hallmarks of a great read. Be sure to read Eve's description at the end of how she got her inspiration for the story. I found it even more unsettling than the book and there is more information on her Website.
In short: Chilling and oh so credible!
About the Author
Eve Smith writes speculative fiction, mainly about the
things that scare her. In this world of questionable facts, stats and news, she
believes storytelling is more important than ever to engage people in real life
issues. Set 20 years after an antibiotic crisis, her debut novel The Waiting
Rooms was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award. Her flash
fiction has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and highly
commended for The Brighton Prize. Eve's previous job as COO of an environmental
charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and
she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung
places.
Thanks to Eve Smith, Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out the rest of the tour!
Giveaway (International)
To win an e- copy of The Waiting Rooms, just Follow and Retweet the pinned Tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!
Closing Date is July1st 2020
and there is one winner.
*Terms and Conditions – International. The winner will be selected at
random via Tweetdraw from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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