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Light Shining in the Forest
- Author
- Paul Torday
- Narrator
- David Timson
- Publisher
- Orion
- Publish Date
- 31 January 2013
- Run Time
- 10 hours 51 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
'Well-written, well-crafted and constantly gripping' DAILY MAIL
'A disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel' DAILY EXPRESS
'A grippingly dark thriller...Great writing from a master storyteller' RED MAGAZINE
Norman Stokoe has just been appointed Children's Czar by the new government. He sells his flat and moves up north to take up the position. However before his first salary cheque has even hit his bank account, new priorities are set for the government department for which he works. The Children's Czar network is put on hold but it is too late to reverse the decision to employ Norman. So he is given a P.A. and a spacious office in a new business park on the banks of the Tyne.
He settles down in his new leather chair behind his new desk, to wait for the green light to begin his mission. The green light never comes. What does happen is that two children go missing. As Children's Czar, surely this case should fall within his remit, but Norman has built a career on doing nothing, on stamping pieces of paper with 'send to the relevant department'. Now, faced with a campaigning journalist and a distraught mother, he is forced to become involved. The search will take him to dark places and will make him ask questions about the system he is supposed to uphold.
Critics Review
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A grippingly dark thriller...Great writing from a master storyteller
RED MAGAZINE
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Torday has blended some excellent social satire and even a dollop of the supernatural...this is an excellent mash-up, well-written, well-crafted and constantly gripping
DAILY MAIL
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A great story, and very dark in places
ESSENTIALS MAGAZINE
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A disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel
DAILY EXPRESS
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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An unsettling, haunting story...Torday has created some strong characters in this memorable, atmospheric and tense novel...His prose is controlled, elegant and measured and his totally unexpected conclusion is very powerful
THE LADY
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A well-crafted novel...there is momentum, and there is excitement
SPECTATOR
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We move from comedy, through pain, to a greater mystery than the mystery with which, on the ordinary level of crime and detection, the author has gripped us
THE SCOTSMAN
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Tautly written, the tone acid and angry
EVENING STANDARD
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Torday's exploration of human anguish and pain, interspersed with the dark haunting rural environment, provides the template, while his biting social comment showcases a writer at the very top of his game
YORKSHIRE POST
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This is a terrific read in Mr Torday's simple and effective prose style, which should alert us all to what is happening in Britain
COUNTRY LIFE
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Paul Torday
- Narrator
- David Timson
- Duration
- 10 hours 51 minutes
- Release Date
- 31 January 2013
- ISBN
- 9781409126683
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Orion
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Psychological thriller, Contemporary horror, ghost stories and supernatural fiction, Thriller / suspense fiction, Horror, ghost stories and supernatural fiction, Crime and / or mystery fiction, Fiction: literary and general non-genre
Synopsis
'An unsettling, haunting story...memorable, atmospheric and tense' THE LADY'Well-written, well-crafted and constantly gripping' DAILY MAIL'A disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel' DAILY EXPRESS'A grippingly dark thriller...Great writing from a master storyteller' RED MAGAZINENorman Stokoe has just been appointed Children's Czar by the new government. He sells his flat and moves up north to take up the position. However before his first salary cheque has even hit his bank account, new priorities are set for the government department for which he works. The Children's Czar network is put on hold but it is too late to reverse the decision to employ Norman. So he is given a P.A. and a spacious office in a new business park on the banks of the Tyne.He settles down in his new leather chair behind his new desk, to wait for the green light to begin his mission. The green light never comes. What does happen is that two children go missing. As Children's Czar, surely this case should fall within his remit, but Norman has built a career on doing nothing, on stamping pieces of paper with 'send to the relevant department'. Now, faced with a campaigning journalist and a distraught mother, he is forced to become involved. The search will take him to dark places and will make him ask questions about the system he is supposed to uphold.
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