Stephanie Jane reviewed Time Is a Killer by Shaun Whiteside
Disappointing
3 stars
In the front of Time Is A Killer readers are told that Michel Bussi is the second-best-selling author in France and has won sixteen literary awards. Unfortunately, I couldn't see much evidence of that acclaim in this novel. The book is not a complete waste of time to read, but sadly I was mostly underwhelmed! To start with the positives, I appreciated the vivid descriptions of rugged Corsican scenery and glimpses into the history and culture of the island. I also enjoyed reading fifteen year old Clothilde's notebook entries which is how the 1989 storyline is told. An self-absorbed and exasperating teenager, she reminded me a lot of myself at that age so I could easily empathise with her awkwardness and vulnerability. Occasionally her physical observations of other female characters sounded more like the thoughts of a middle-aged man(!), but overall I liked young Clothilde and got happily involved in …
In the front of Time Is A Killer readers are told that Michel Bussi is the second-best-selling author in France and has won sixteen literary awards. Unfortunately, I couldn't see much evidence of that acclaim in this novel. The book is not a complete waste of time to read, but sadly I was mostly underwhelmed! To start with the positives, I appreciated the vivid descriptions of rugged Corsican scenery and glimpses into the history and culture of the island. I also enjoyed reading fifteen year old Clothilde's notebook entries which is how the 1989 storyline is told. An self-absorbed and exasperating teenager, she reminded me a lot of myself at that age so I could easily empathise with her awkwardness and vulnerability. Occasionally her physical observations of other female characters sounded more like the thoughts of a middle-aged man(!), but overall I liked young Clothilde and got happily involved in her late 1980s world. The slightly older teenage group she yearns to join were believable and their summer shenanigans made for entertaining reading.
Adult Clothilde is basically a non-character though. I understand that the shocking deaths of her entire immediate family would have had major repercussions on her mental health, but twenty-seven years later, the grown-up woman doesn't seem to actually have a personality at all. Occasionally she remembers she is a lawyer and fills lawyer-y tropes such as marching uninvited into police stations and shouting at people, but mostly she is an object for other characters to revolve around. I found this very disappointing, especially as most of them aren't exactly fully rounded creations either.
The 2016 storyline didn't do much for me either. I know I usually find that mass market thrillers stretch my credulity, but this one lurches from barely plausible to utterly ludicrous and beyond! Perhaps if the narrative kept up enough of a pace that I didn't had time to reflect, then I might have been sufficiently swept into the excitement to let unbelievable moments pass. That isn't the case though. Bussi has characters repeatedly stop to ponder before they leap into yet more unrealistic stunts. I think Time Is A Killer must have been written with one eye on the film rights rather the creation of a coherent novel. I liked a third of the book as a nostalgic beach read, but the remaining two-thirds just didn't work for me at all.