The Blue Light Project
A Novel
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A hostage-taker hides a shocking secret in “a breakneck literary thriller that combines the worlds of conspiracy theory [and] reality TV.”—National Post
Without warning, a man, armed with explosives, seizes a television studio taking over a hundred terrified hostages. He offers no motive. And he makes just a single curious demand. The only person he’ll speak to is Thom Pegg, a once honored investigative journalist turned disgraced tabloid reporter. As surprised as anyone, and pressured to comply by authorities, Pegg reluctantly enters the fray as the chosen confidante.
From outside, the enthralling drama is revealed through the eyes of two very different people: Eve, an Olympic gold medalist and local hero; and a mysterious renegade street artist known only as Rabbit. As 24/7 media coverage helps to feed the public’s paranoia with reckless rumor, the lives of three strangers are brought inexorably together in an unfathomable and chaotic endgame.
In this “unforgettable . . . exhilarating, at-times alarming read” (Atssa York), prize-winning author Timothy Taylor paints a powerful picture of the sinister side of our interconnected world. The result is “an ambitious . . . wonderful novel—a thought-provoking and challenging story that will . . . change the way you look at our celebrity-driven culture” (The Vancouver Sun).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Alternating between former Olympic gold medalist Eve Latour, a street artist named Rabbit, and disgraced journalist-turned-tabloid-reporter Thom Pegg, Journey Prize-winner Taylor's new novel (after Stanley Park) depicts a cynical future wherein the only two options "Fame and anti-fame" are equally corrupt. KiddieFame is a reality TV show whose symbolic video-game method of eliminating contestants called "Kills" has generated controversy. But when a terrorist takes up residence in the theater, threatening to take it literal unless he's granted an interview with Pegg, the show's young contestants are forced to face the media's increasing speculative narration. The show connects Taylor's main narrative threads and allows him to implicate the viewer (read: reader) by raising a hope of carnage to be exploited. Taylor takes a risk by eschewing the standard blunt-plot-force of the thriller genre and opening his narrative to renegade street art, self-reflection, and cultural references (Werner Herzog; 1984; Parkour), often with an air of indulgence. But Latour, Rabbit, and Pegg, bonded by their resilience, their violent times, and their nameless North American city, finally emerge, if narrowly, as characters. Taylor has a wild and vast imagination, and his work bursts with originality. Though his new novel threatens to break apart under the weight of cleverness, it never does.
