Light Shining in the Forest, Paul Torday
Light Shining in the Forest, Paul Torday
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
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Light Shining in the Forest

Author: Paul Torday

Narrator: David Timson

Unabridged: 10 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/31/2013


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 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.

About Paul Torday

Paul Torday burst on to the literary scene in 2007 with his first novel, SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN, an immediate international bestseller that has been translated into 28 languages and has been made into a film starring Ewan McGregor, Kristin Scott Thomas and Emily Blunt. His subsequent novels, THE IRRESISTIBLE INHERITANCE OF WILBERFORCE, THE GIRL ON THE LANDING, THE HOPELESS LIFE OF CHARLIE SUMMERS, MORE THAN YOU CAN SAY, THE LEGACY OF HARTLEPOOL HALL and LIGHT SHINING IN THE FOREST, were all published to great critical acclaim. He was married with two sons by a previous marriage, had two stepsons, and lived close to the River North Tyne. He died at home in December 2013.

About David Timson

David Timson has recorded numerous audiobooks and poetry compilations and has recording the complete Sherlock Holmes stories for Naxos. He wrote The History of the Theatre, which won an award for most original production from the Spoken Word Publishers Association in 2001. His production of Richard III won Best Drama Award from the SWPA in 2001 and in 2002 he won the Audio of the Year Award for his reading of A Study in Scarlet.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ronna on March 27, 2014

I got this book free from Firstreads. This is my honest review. LIGHT SHINING IN. THE FORREST is one of those books that grabs you from the beginning and makes you yell at the characters and situations throughout the book. The premiss from English headlines is: " The best estimate we have shows that......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on January 18, 2013

“Every five minutes a child goes missing in the U.K.” Light Shining in the Forest is about the search for three missing children. This gripping, dark read will stay with you for a long time after you have read the last line. It is sinister, supernatural and spiritual all at once. It begins with an e......more

Goodreads review by Mary Lou on September 17, 2018

Norman is a recently appointed ‘Children’s Czar’ designate, with a big salary and no real brief. A civil servant who has only ever taken a strategic rather than operational role, he finds himself forced against his better judgement into an unlikely alliance with Willie, a bored but ambitious local j......more

Goodreads review by David on February 05, 2014

You don't like to be harsh on an author's last work, especially when the author in question has only very recently passed away. However, it has to be said that thematically speaking, it's a bit of a mess. There's always been a sneaking suspicion that Torday's been a bit of a closet Daily Mail reader......more

Goodreads review by Natasha on February 27, 2020

DNF @ 50%. There were many aspects for this book that were problematic for me. Firstly, it is hard to read - child abduction is never fun to think or read about, but I can usually stomach it, but this felt impersonal and removed from the victims. Secondly, the misogyny - i just can't deal with the w......more


Quotes

A grippingly dark thriller...Great writing from a master storyteller RED MAGAZINE

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

A great story, and very dark in places ESSENTIALS MAGAZINE

A disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel DAILY EXPRESS

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

A well-crafted novel...there is momentum, and there is excitement SPECTATOR

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

Tautly written, the tone acid and angry EVENING STANDARD

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

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