Having never really read Ballard before in any determined sense this novel was opened up with some expectations of discovering a writer that has real talent.
There is no sense of disappointment as the story about the middle class activists fighting for the rights in Chelsea Marina opens up. At the heart of it is a psychologist who starts to infiltrate cells of activists in order to answer the question of who planted the bomb that killed his first wife.
Dr Markham straddles the divide between good and evil as he is both recruited by the groups and allowed to carry on with the nod of the authorities.
The story unfolds against a London that is real but also of the imagination. As a reader you are being asked to suspend judgment but not thought as Ballard starts to weave together a story asking some big questions around terrorism, state response and in the current climate they are incredibly relevant.
But he does all that with the ability to provoke a smile on the readers face with touches of humour and confidence as his London open up before you.
More soon...
