Don't Ask - Paul Carroll

 

I'm so pleased to be on the Blog Tour for this book today.

Description

A DNA ancestry test opens up a Pandora’s Box of secrets.

When Elsa Watson uses a DNA ancestry test kit out of idle curiosity, she little imagines the devastating consequences she is about to unleash.

Two families become reluctantly entwined as inconvenient truths and long suppressed memories resurface.

A whodunnit with a difference, Don’t Ask visits the glam rock Seventies, Britpop, Operation Yewtree and #metoo within its alternating past and present chapter structure.

Don’t Ask explores the true meaning of family and the wisdom of raking up the past.

Thinking of taking an ancestry test?   Be careful what you wish for.  

Review

Even before I began to read the book I was attracted to the fabulous artwork on the cover, it really made me want to pick up the book.

This is such a contemporary storyline based upon the use of a DNA ancestry test kit. To describe the action as opening a Pandora's box is just perfect, and the reader gets to see what's inside that box. 

The chapters alternate between the present day and the past. That's not immediately obvious but becomes so.  We see the unfolding of the consequences of the DNA test and what actually happened all those years ago. The consequences of youth, mental health issues, family values it's all laid bare.  It's a look at the past with the modern eyes of the #metoo movement and operation Yewtree. Whilst not comfortable reading in places the subjects are treated with sensitivity in the writing.

I loved the women characters in this book, they all had great voices, the author gave them original thoughts and believable lines. The writing is succinct and very readable and well researched.  Many references in the past were familiar to me, even down to the TV programmes, Jackie magazine and buying cards from Athena. It's little touches like that which gave an authenticity to the past timeline in the story. The present day timeline is also littered with modern and relevant recognisable references. 

It's certainly a thought provoking read and a brilliant subject for a book plot. At times I couldn't turn the pages fast enough as there were so many contra indications, but realising this was not going to be a fast fix I learnt to pace myself!

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours and the author for a copy of this book to review.

PAUL CARROLL – BIO

Paul Carroll has been drawn to ink and the written word since launching a rock fanzine in his late teens.

Born and bred in Leeds, Paul crossed the Pennines in the mid-70s to study English Language and English Literature at the University of Manchester. 

Chasing a job in journalism he stumbled into the world of PR and ten years after starting his career set up his own PR consultancy, Communique PR, in Manchester.

There he worked on many well-known brands including Boddingtons, Heineken, Thorntons Chocolate, Chicago Town Pizza, Big D peanuts, Co-op Funerals and Manchester Airport.

These days, Paul concentrates on his writing.

Paul’s books are full of dark humour and satirical takes.  His writing has been compared to that of Ben Elton, Nick Hornby and Jonathan Coe in tackling serious contemporary issues in a highly engaging and entertaining way.

Don’t Ask (Matador 2021) is Paul Carroll’s fourth novel, following A Matter of Life and Death (Matador, 2012), Written Off (Matador, 2016), and Trouble Brewing (Matador, 2017).