Last month I was very pleasantly surprised when a copy of the latest James Patterson novel, The Noise dropped through my letterbox. This wasn’t a novel I’d heard of previously but was very excited to see that this novel was actually in collaboration with J.D. Barker. In case this is an author that has passed you by, J.D Barker wrote the 4MK trilogy of novels that I was a huge fan of, so I was looking forward to this. (See review of 4MK here)
The Noise begins with young ‘survivalist’ sisters Tennant and Sophia out trying to catch rabbits, when suddenly an explosion rips through their town. Their father pushes them into an underground cellar but when they emerge the world has changed beyond recognition. Tennant seems largely unscathed but Sophia begins acting strangely. How they have survived is a mystery, and a team of elite government investigators are assembled to try and solve it. Dr Chan and Lieutentant Fraser are the two tasked with leading the government group but they have different ideas of how to go about this, one wants to study them, one just wants to contain them. However they are going to have to work together if they wish to save the lives of those at risk.
This novel started with a bang and I was quickly drawn in. The two sisters attempting to navigate their way through uncharted territory was heart rending . Despite her young age Tennant has to step up to try and protect her and her sister, and I felt for her as she tried to be there for her younger sister. This was very much an action led story with numerous characters flitting in and out but that just pushed the story forward at an incredible pace.
I must confess to getting a little disillusioned in the middle, I felt as though it just went on a bit too long without really moving the story on. However that was only a minor gripe, and I suspect it was more my desire to find out how the story ended that led me to think this!
Overall I found this story quite intriguing. It wouldn’t be my usual choice but it sucked me in from the start and was incredibly compelling. It also reminded me of what a great author I think J.D Barker is and so I’ll be on the look out for more from him soon I hope.
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