Kala
'The thriller of the moment'
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4.3 • 18 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER
'NOT TO BE MISSED' OBSERVER
'ADDICTIVE... AND EXPLOSIVE' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'GRIPPING... A STONKINGLY GOOD READ' IRISH TIMES
THE GRITTY HEARTBREAKER OF A THRILLER, FOR FANS OF CHRIS WHITAKER AND TANA FRENCH
Helen, Joe and Mush were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group's white-hot centre. Soon after that summer's peak, Kala disappeared without a trace.
Now it's fifteen years later. Human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. As past and present begin to collide, can the estranged friends figure out what led to Kala's disappearance... and stop history repeating itself?
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YOUR NEW OBSESSION, LOVED BY READERS
'Whatever you do, just read it. Amazing.' *****
'Loved this. Total page turner' *****
'I just could not put it down. I can't recommend it enough.' *****
'My actual heart! This book is amazing.' *****
'Explosive and riveting' *****
'A suspenseful thriller from a writer who can really write!' *****
'I loved this book and stayed up far too late reading it many times' *****
'Wow, it is a mesmerising, clever and highly addictive read... all the stars from me' *****
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Walsh's engrossing if overstuffed story of lifelong friends revolves around a mysterious death in the tourist town of Kinlough, Ireland. In 2003, a group of teenage friends is shattered when one of the six, Kala Lannan, disappears amid circumstances that are only revealed near the end of the novel. Three of the others reunite 15 years later after Kala's bones are discovered at a local building site. Joe Brennan, once Kala's boyfriend and now a famous rock star, has recently returned to open a bar. Helen Laughlin, who was Kala's best friend and is now a struggling investigative reporter in Canada, learns of the discovery while home for a wedding and determines to solve the mystery of Kala's death. Mush, the glue of the group, still works at his mother's café, and after Kala's remains are found, his two teenage cousins go missing. Walsh unpacks individual events through multiple perspectives, and the novel thrives when Joe, Helen, and Mush grapple with conflicting memories of the past. There are a few too many red herrings, and some woolly hints of a temporal reality in which the characters see versions of themselves at different ages, yet the emotional pull of Walsh's core trio steadies the ship. Despite some wobbles, this is hard to put down.
Customer Reviews
When Irish eyes…
3.5 stars
The author is Irish and has several awards for his short fiction. This is his first novel.
The setting is Kinlough, a village on the west coast of Ireland whose population expands significantly with holiday makers each summer. The narrative is split between 2003, when a group of fifteen-year-old locals enjoy a great extended summer, at least until the titular Kala Lanann disappears, and 2018 when two remaining members of the group return to town for unrelated reasons, and reunite (of a fashion) with the one who stayed behind. One returnee, Joe, is a celebrity pop star in LA who is battling alcoholism. The other, Helen, a free lance journalist in Canada, digs tentatively into the past only to have a story she wasn’t expecting dumped in her lap when Kala’s bones turn up after 15 years. Then female twins about the same age as Kala was when she disappeared vanish without trace. What’s going on?
Suffice it to say, it’s a small town with lots of intrigue festering below the surface. Everyone knows everyone else’s business, or at least some of it. The three protagonists are well developed although the mixture of coming-of-age narrative and mystery narrative did not always come off IMO. In particular, the first two-thirds was very slow going, and sufficiently Rooney-esque (Sally not Mickey) that I almost gave up. I hung in there because of a sinister mood that had a Tana French quality. Mr Walsh then flicked the switch for a break-neck James Patterson finish, which didn’t make up for the fact that I’d already worked out whodunnit in the first 100 pages. Perhaps that’s just me.
Trigger warning: animal cruelty.
Highly recommend.
Absolutely loved this - did not want it to end - highly recommended reading.