Today I read "The Messengers" by Edward Hogan. His other book "Daylight Saving" was well-written and impressed me enough to want to read more of his books. I'm glad I did - "The Messengers" is an even better read.
The Messengers is about a teenage girl, Frances, who has blackouts followed by an irresistible urge to draw. And recently her drawings have become both better and much weirder. Frances discovers that she is drawing scenes of a person's death that will take place in 2 days time. She has only two choices: show the picture to that person within that time frame or someone she cares about will die instead.
She learns all this from a young man, Peter, whom she has recently befriended. He is a messenger too, and says that the death is preordained and messengers are powerless to do anything other than pass on the message to the victim. Frances rebels against this negative view and believes that the future can be changed. She starts trying to save the people in the pictures and persuades Peter to do the same.
I can't tell you any more or I will spoil the story for you. It is a gripping read.
The book also explores complex themes such as families and family breakups, belonging, loyalty and personal power and responsibility. The characters are sensitivity drawn and the pace is well-handled.
The Messengers is a multi-layered page-turner. I've given it 5 stars.
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