Book Review: The Arid Lands – By Kate Kelly

The book:

The blurb:

The Tyrhennians struggle to survive in the dried out basin of an ancient ocean. Inez knows no other world than this endless cycle of heat and brine, but listens to the stories of a distant land of great cities and endless seas.

She never believed them, until the day her brother is injured by a strange craft crossing the desolate plains. So she discovers that the stories are true. But as she tries to find her brother in a strange city she realises that she is not the only person from the salt plains here. Others from the Arid Lands have infiltrated the city – and they have a plan.

My thoughts:

It’s a measure of a good book to not waste a page and that’s certainly the case here. From the get go, the reader is caught up and literally whizzed along with the main character Inez. She doesn’t know who to trust, but is compelled to find her brother and the truth about her lands along the way.

I knew I would be in good hands from the writer’s debut thriller Red Rock, and is similarly well-written. I love the way she writes from a perspective of a newcomer to a strange world, explaining without needing to say seeing a motorbike or a hospital for the first time.

Equally (and perhaps timely), it brings up the theme of refugees and migration without being condescending and provides some food for thought.

I could not predict how this was going to end at all and kept me guessing for how Inez’s future was going to pan out. All the while, the pace did not let up for a moment and a real sense of urgency and high stakes was key. Visually, I could see this as a film and wrapped up the ending well. My only criticism was it wasn’t as polished as the first book, although this one is a self-published and some formatting issues which were off-putting at times. A few more read through’s may have sorted some typos, etc but I’m willing to excuse it for the gripping narrative and easy writing style.

The other thing was, good or bad, it felt far too short, a real key for leaving the reader wanting more.   

Five star recommendation from me.