Recently dystopian thrillers have become my go-to as Trump wages war on everyone’s rights and between them he, Putin and Kim Jong Un all conspire to create a frightening and at times utterly abhorrent world for us all, so I was gleeful at the prospect of the intriguing and tantalising Blue Gold, the debut novel of Banker David Barker.
Set in a dystopian future reminiscent of P.D James’ The Children of Men, Blue Gold depicts a time when, instead of infertility, it is water that is the issue, and this vital resource is the centre of great unrest.
A fascinating concept let down by slightly overly complicated dialogue, this is a riveting thriller with some pretty interesting characters and a plot that is both well thought out and not completely unbelievable. The info dumping in the dialogue and wider narrative could do with fine-tuning but beyond that there are really great chapters and at times the reader is able to race through the novel at breath taking speed.
Overall, I did have some misgivings about Blue Gold, but there are more positives than negatives and, in a literature market saturated with fluffy, feel good books designed to make you happy, it’s nice to read a thriller that can make you think.
The Dorset Book Detective 
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