White Silence

The first instalment in the new, gripping supernatural thriller series from international bestselling author, Jodi Taylor “I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I am.” Elizabeth Cage is a child when she discovers there are things in this world that only she can see. But she doesn’t want to see them and she definitely doesn’t want them to see her.

What is a curse to Elizabeth is a gift to others – a very valuable gift they want to control. When her husband dies, Elizabeth’s world descends into a nightmare. Alone in a strange and frightening world, she’s a vulnerable target to forces beyond her control. And she can’t trust anyone… This tense and twisty thriller will have you on the edge of your seat.

Review
By Becky Hinshelwood

I didn’t know the work of Jodi Taylor before reading White Silence. I’ve since discovered that she is a prolific writer of serial novels and White Silence is, it turns out, the start of her next. And I have to say I’m hooked. The book opens with a prologue that takes us through a pretty spine-tingling sequence of events and suspense remains high throughout. This makes it an exciting read, even a little scary in a Doctor Who type-of-way. It’s a bit harder, though, to find sanctuary behind the sofa when the book comes with you!

If you can’t bear the spooky or supernatural then you’re probably best to give this a wide berth, but luckily I love a bit of suspended disbelief and this book hits the spot perfectly. With elements of the psychic, spiritual and telepathic seamlessly intermingled with every day life, plus a mildly threatening scientist thrown in for good measure, White Silence is quite addictive.

Elizabeth Cage is something other. She sees auras and the true human nature that they reveal. She knows things about people without knowing why. This is where her knowledge of herself ends, so we don’t know where her power could lead her within this story and beyond. What is clear is that she is surrounded by unspecified peril, and when her husband dies we join her on a journey to encounter and overcome this peril.

It’s not just about gripping supernatural adventure, though. Jodi Taylor writes her characters with appealingly sardonic wit and humour. It’s the kind of dialogue that keeps me watching TV shows like No Offence (fabulously acerbic lines delivered by the inimitable Jo Scanlan). I suspect that it is this tone which separates White Silence from a lot of other supernatural thrillers out there. Not only does the dialogue amuse, but it makes Elizabeth and Michael eminently likeable.

Yes, such clever dialogue can be a bit unnatural – I’ve certainly never managed to come up with the perfect one liner at the drop of a hat and I think that’s quite normal. But frankly, when a story deals with auras, demons and ghosts I don’t expect realism to be high on the list of priorities for a writer. Jodi Taylor clearly enjoyed writing these characters, and I very much enjoyed reading them.

This book is episodic in structure. There’s a reason that I keep coming up with televisual comparisons to White Silence; it’s because this format of storytelling leads you to visualise the events in a televisual way. There are incidents within the overreaching story arc that work as self contained stories. Indeed, I discovered that these episodes were very strong in their power to prevent me from closing the book until the characters had come up for air!

While I was reading White Silence, we were undergoing a digital embargo in our house. It was my husband’s idea, probably because he is not the one who would end up tidying all of the godforsaken craft that the children embarked upon when they were not bemoaning the lack of a screen. One of the aims of the experience, I think, was that we’d spend more time having conversations. Luckily White Silence came to my aid here and I simply binge read this book in the same way as I would any spooky BBC serial!

I still have a plethora of unanswered questions; not just about the action but about Elizabeth herself and how far her gift / curse stretches. We don’t know at the end of the book whether some events actually happened and I for one can’t wait to find out. The small but tantalising image of another front cover is featured on the rear of White Silence. It is an as yet unreleased book – which can only be a sequel, the title being “Black Light” – and has me counting the days until its release

If Becky’s review has inspired you to read more then you can buy your copy HERE + free UK delivery. Published by Accent Press.