A Thousand Cuts

This novel by Simon Lelic, is very well done, but there's no one I can recommend it to because it's so upsetting. It opens after a school shooting at a secondary school in England that left two students and a teacher dead, as well as the shooter. Every other chapter is a different monologue from a different speaker talking to Detective Inspector Lucia May about some aspect of the tragedy. The alternate chapters portray what is happening in May's life as she pieces together what led to the shooting. May's own life parallels the shooter's as she is bullied unmercifully in her workplace as the shooter was in his. This is Lelic's first novel and he does a great job. The different characters speak in different voices and are quickly and compellingly fleshed out. I will definitely be on the lookout for his next book.

Book reveiw by Jean

This book can be found at www.newberglibrary.org