Blog Tour Review: In The Absence of Miracles – Michael J. Malone

In The Absence of Miracles by Michael J. Malone

About The Book

John Docherty’s mother has just been taken into a nursing home. Following a massive stroke, she’s unlikely to be able to live independently again. With no other option than to sell the family home, John sets about packing up everything in the house. In sifting through the detritus of his family’s past he’s forced to revisit, and revise his childhood.

In a box, in the attic, he finds undeniable truth that he had a brother who disappeared when he himself was only a toddler. A brother no one ever mentioned. A brother he knew absolutely nothing about. A discovery that sets John on a journey from which he may never recover. For sometimes in that space where memory should reside there is nothing but silence, smoke and ash. And in the absence of truth, in the absence of a miracle we turn to prayer. And to violence…

My Review

In the acknowledgements at the end of In The Absence of Miracles, Michael J. Malone talks about how this book was originally written in 1996/1997 and it was only in recent years, when he mentioned it to his publisher, Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books that the novel was re-written, tightened up and has now been set free into the world. You can tell that this is a book that has been ruminating in the back of Michael J. Malone’s head for some time. It features complex and emotional themes and a strong narrative with some powerful moments and is a mature and accomplished read.

Our protagonist is John whose mother has recently suffered a stroke and is being cared for in a home. He is shouldering all of the weight of the difficult decisions and the huge emotional fall-out of a parent being in severe ill health. His younger brother, Chris, lives abroad and so he is alone when he returns to the family home and starts to look through the accumulated boxes of ‘stuff’ in the attic. It is in one of these boxes that John discovers a family secret long since buried – he has an older brother who went missing as a teen. John was a toddler at the time and has no recollection of this boy who he resembles so strongly. The lure is too strong and he starts to investigate his sibling’s disappearance inadvertently unlocking memories he has long since buried.

I think what I enjoyed most was getting to know John who at first seems to be a normal kind of guy. He’s a teacher and is in a relationship with a lovely women named Angela who has a young daughter but then we realise that he is a bit of a commitment-phobe. Angela wants more but something is stopping him getting too close to her. Sure he loves her, but spending lots of time with her daughter, moving in together, that seems a bit too much. Then there is his drinking and the fact that the Headmaster is keeping a close eye on him and suddenly we realise that all is not rosy in the land of John. His mother’s illness and the missing brother combine to send John into a spiral of behaviour that upends everything in his life.

In The Absence of Miracles does deal with some difficult and sensitive subject matters of which alcoholism is just one. It is excellently done though and there are some brutal, upsetting and emotional sections that I found hard to read but utterly compelling. There has been some significant research into the themes explored in this book and it is treated with nothing but the utmost of respect ensuring that the book isn’t sensational for the sake of it. It is a sad and melancholy book where loneliness and desperation seeps from the page.

I’m not sure how to classify this book, crime doesn’t really feel fitting, even though at its heart it is a search to find the lost brother. The thing is, it is also about the search by one man to find himself. The mystery is brilliantly executed with paths I didn’t see coming but it was the character of John who I found most intriguing and who by the end of the book I felt fiercely protective over. He is a wonderfully written character who got firmly under my skin – as did In The Absence of Miracles.

It is an exploration of family and memory and the importance of liking oneself and has a brilliant mystery to boot. Just make sure to have a pack of tissues to hand as it may make you cry – don’t say I didn’t warn you.

About The Author

Michael J. Malone

Michael Malone is a prize- poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. Other published work includes Carnegie’s Call; A Taste for Malice; The Guillotine Choice; Beyond the Rage; The Bad Samaritan and Dog Fight. His psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and the critically acclaimed House of Spines and After He Died soon followed suit. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr.