by G X Todd

Headline, out 31 October 2019

Eight years have passed since the voices emerged, whispering their malice inside the minds of millions, convincing them to kill, convincing them to die.

Those whose headspace remained their own watched society crumble under the barbarism the voices awakened deep inside the human psyche. But a dead world of isolated wanderers was not their end goal: the Flitting Man is building a new order out of the chaos. The fate of humanity, clear-minded and voice-hearing alike, rests with a group of survivors, separated and hopelessly lost, who hear the whispers of a different kind of voice. Meanwhile, a man with too much past and too few memories crawls from his own grave, a voice in his head the only link to who he was and what he needs to do. His ruined mind knows only four things: BURNING, MADNESS, DEATH, and Lacey. To find her, he must traverse his shattered memory, reviving the people he banished to its swirling depths.

The third book in G X Todd’s acclaimed four-part Voices series, Survivors weaves the threads of mystery laid down in previous books into a horrifying yet enthralling picture of conspiracy and violence. This part follows Pilgrim, and we take agonising baby steps with him into his past, where the enigma of the Flitting Man lurks. Prose flows artfully, combining with a skilful non-linear narrative style to unlock the complex mind of our hero, and paint a vivid post-apocalyptic world of both decaying ruins, and sterile, clinical evil. Poignant issues of mental health are raised, and how we treat those who suffer from it.

Verdict: Simultaneously chaotic and masterful, Survivors is a fierce thrill-ride through a broken world, seen through the eyes of a broken man determined to become whole again. 9/10

Sophie Simpson

Click here to order Survivors from Amazon.co.uk