VISIBILITY is the fourth book from Boris Starling. It is set in 1952 in London in the middle of one of the last great, lingering pea-souper fogs.VISIBILITY could be a reference to the fog which is all pervading and dictates all of the action and events in this post-war thriller. When biochemist Max Stensness is found drowned in early in the evening, in the middle of the fog, Herbert Smith, ex-MI5 and now member of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad gets the case because it's probably going to be an uninteresting one, and the rest of the murder squad are very unwelcoming and suspicious of Herbert's background.VISIBILITY could also be a reference to Hannah, the underwater diver called on to search the location where Stensness's body is found. Hannah is Hungarian, blind and a refugee from the Nazi concentration camps.VISIBILITY could also be a reference to the world of espionage. When Herbert gradually reveals more about the victim he finds that he is back looking at the world of spies, informers, the CIA, the KGB and MI5, despite the fact that he's now looking at it from the point of view of a murder investigation.VISIBILITY finally could also be a reference to the events surrounding the end of the war and the dissipation of all levels of Nazi party members.The design of the plot of this book intertwines a lot of historical components - setting the place and the time for the book squarely in a world still dealing with the fallout of the Second World War. Herbert Smith is an interesting detective character, having been forced from MI5 and feeling the effects of a life as a spy which has made him a very lonely, conflicted man. He has a complex and difficult relationship with his mother, currently hospitalised with chronic respitory ailments, exacerbated by the fog. Hannah is a lively, interesting, exciting character, who despite suffering dreadfully at the hands of the Nazi's is not a victim. She's a really strong, capable, independent woman and her blindness is not a disability.The only minor criticism is that the final outcome is a twist of historical fact which is an approach that can be confronting - what is actually the truth and what did you read in a fiction book? Other than that small, probably personal quibble, this is a good, paced, interesting and involving book with some very engaging characters.
As a fearful fog moves through London, Herbert Smith of London's murder squad is on the hunt for a suspect who killed a young scientist in the murky waters of Long Water. London is gripped by this fog which is such a pea souper that it causes ambulances and police to lose their way and hinders people who become lost though they know the area as well as the back of their hand. The fog is also toxic and it makes many people sick and unable to breathe. The hospitals are full of people suffering from breathing difficulties and bronchial ailments. Herbert meets many people of interest in his quest to find the killer. During his investigation he makes friends with Hannah, a blind diver who searches the river for evidence in the case. Her help proves to be invaluable in the fog since she doesn't depend on sight to help her get around. Shady characters come out of the woodwork and spies are around every corner. It seems that the young scientist had proof of something that could change the entire world.After the war, there was spy activity from Russia, England, USA and elsewhere. The hunt was on for Nazi war criminals and there were hunts for communists. And everyone wanted intelligence. Who could be trusted? Who was a spy? Who was a Nazi, or a commie or a double agent? Who had secrets that could change the world? The unsettled atmosphere of post World War II is present in this spy caper set in enshrouding fog in the city by the Thames. The dense fog adds to the mysterious atmosphere as the story skips back and forth between Nazi occupation and the hunt for the mysterious killer where the suspect list grows with each piece of evidence that Herbert discovers.I really enjoyed this story. It was the first book I've read by Boris Starling and I will look for more of his work. If you like a good post World War II yarn with all the paranoia and intrigue, this is a great story and it is filled with the atmosphere of London in 1952.
Do You like book Visibility (2011)?
I like period thrillers and the Cold War era is a great setting. This one makes use of a killer fog/smog that chokes London for days and provides cover for various acts of mayhem. There's a sort of anti-hero who falls in love with a blind girl who survived Mengele. Conniving spies, rival agencies, plenty of gore.But I got sick of the damn fog about halfway through.The characters occasionally break out in decidedly 21st century slang; "Do the math." "Awesome" (not used in the sense of "inspiring awe" but in the current sense of "very good.")Page 249 of the hardcover — "But it was a race; Herbert could see that full well. The structure of DNA remained unknown, Everest was yet to be climbed, the four-minute mile was yet to be run, the moon was yet to be walked on."Huh? Where did the omniscient narrator get the idea he could just start brooding at will? A truly jarring moment that disrupts the story. So — nice try, better luck next time.
—Patrick
I am a big fan of Boris Starling's Messiah so, although I wasn't particularly struck by the blurb of this book, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Either fortunately or unfortunately, my copy contained a hugely misleading blurb which spoke excitedly of a rising body count (there isn't), and the tagline "Now you see it, now you're dead" (you aren't).This is a very claustrophobic novel and it does a decent job of evoking the thick London fog the characters move through as they go about their investigations. However, there's little feeling of threat. There's a secret the MC, Herbert Smith, is trying to find out but - and particularly because this is set in the 50s - it's not exciting enough. At the grand reveal I was waiting for a second denouement, or some tension, or anything at all to get me past the mild disappointment (particularly as if I had a better memory for names I would have had an idea where this was going within the first third).This book reminds me very much of Robert Harris' Fatherland - it has the same cold atmosphere and gradual pacing, but where that had an emotional impact (by pulling a neat little trick with what we, the modern reader knows, vs what the MC in that knows), here Starling's neat plotting is slightly too dull. The pieces are there and they all line up well enough, but ... I could easily have given up on this one.
—Dor
When everyone else who read the book, rated it as 3 and 4 stars, perhaps you should read it again - more carefully, get involved in what Starling is telling you. Don't be "too sophisticated" for your own good and knock the story just because it seems the cool thing to do. You miss a lot that way.
—Joshua
