The Second Sleep (Robert Harris)

24 February 2021

The Second Sleep

Dusk is gathering as a young priest, Christopher Fairfax, rides across a silent land.

It’s a crime to be out after dark, and Fairfax knows he must arrive at his destination – a remote village in the wilds of Exmoor – before night falls and curfew is imposed.

He’s lost and he’s becoming anxious as he slowly picks his way across a countryside strewn with the ancient artefacts of a civilisation that seems to have ended in cataclysm.

What Fairfax cannot know is that, in the days and weeks to come, everything he believes in will be tested to destruction, as he uncovers a secret that is as dangerous as it is terrifying …

Average Rating:

Sinclair Manson (17 March 2021 21:46)

This book was a bit disappointing. In some ways it was formulaic, for example in its central love triangle. At the same time it seemed to sprout any number of plot strands that didn't go anywhere. What were all the villagers doing so mysteriously in the middle of the night near the start of the book? Other revealed mysteries, like the old priest's daughter pretending she couldn't speak, didn't actually seem to add much to the story. Overall it felt very pessimistic, the overarching mystery leading only to selfishness, brutality and superstition.

Sean Aaron (28 February 2021 02:06)

Disjointed bunch of pants ideas that don’t go anywhere. Easy read though!