#BlogTour: Turbulent Wake by Paul E Hardisty @Hardisty_Paul @OrendaBooks @annecater #TurbulentWake #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

Ethan Scofield returns to the place of his birth to bury his father. Hidden in one of the upstairs rooms of the old man’s house he finds a strange manuscript, a collection of stories that seems to cover the whole of his father’s turbulent life.

As his own life starts to unravel, Ethan works his way through the manuscript, trying to find answers to the mysteries that have plagued him since he was a child. What happened to his little brother? Why was his mother taken from him?

And why, in the end, when there was no one else left, did his own father push him away?

Swinging from the coral cays of the Caribbean to the dangerous deserts of Yemen and the wild rivers of Africa, Turbulent Wake is a bewitching, powerful and deeply moving story of love and loss … of the indelible damage we do to those closest to us and, ultimately, of the power of redemption in a time of change.

Turbulent Change is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

Wow what an amazing change in pace for this talented author! The blurb says that it is a major change in direction but I didn’t think it would be such a dramatic or well worked one! Turbulent Wake is a beautifully written and atmospheric read that will stay with me for a long time. From the author’s blurb I think this was a personal book for him and I think this shows in the passion with which this book is written.

The story alternates between past and present revealing a complicated and emotional father-son relationship that Ethan had with his father, Warren. In the past chapters we learn more about Warren’s life and the experiences that shaped him. I liked the way that the author slowly allows the reader to get to know him and to form their own opinions about him. I especially liked the parts where Warren’s version of events contrast sharply with Ethan’s own memories of how they happened. I thought this was truly thought provoking and confirmed my belief that all parents are just human. Warren has definitely had some amazing experiences and it was great to see Ethan slowly gain understand and acceptance as to who his father was.

This book starts off slow but soon gathers pace as we start to learn more about the characters and about Warren’s experiences. The author’s vivid descriptions are wonderful and I felt like I had a fly on the wall view of everything that was happening. He writes with great passion and is able to convey the emotions his characters may be feeling beautifully so that they are almost palpable. His ability to switch from describing a love scene to a war scene showed great skill particularly as he managed to make both very realistic.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orenda books for my copy of this book. If you like emotional, atmospheric books that manages to cover lots of different genres then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Canadian by birth, Paul has spent 25 years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist. He has rough-necked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, and rehabilitated village water wells in the wilds of Africa. He survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana’a in 1993 and was one of the last westerners out of Yemen before the outbreak of the 1994 civil war. The Abrupt Physics of Dying, his first novel, received great critical acclaim, and was short-listed for the CWA Creasy New Blood Dagger award. The Evolution of Fear, his second novel, will be released early this year. Paul is a university professor and Director of Australia’s national water, land and ecosystems research program. He is a pilot, a sailor, a keen outdoorsman, and conservation volunteer. Paul lives in Western Australia.