THE RAGGED EDGE

The Long Winter is over and "the quaking spring" is upon us. Those who have shivered their way through other Christopher catastrophe novels, and await another earthshatterer, will not be disappointed. For this is the earthquake season and John Matthew, surviving many a ragged edge, revives to find the country, continent and world? decimated. The sea is no longer flowing between the Channel isles of Britain; a volcanic fire flares on the coast of France and the people? Well, it's primitive modern again when Matthew and the ten year old boy, Billy, whom he rescues, battle their way to England's former mainland in search of Matthew's daughter. They make their way through incredibly brutal scenes with Matthew resolutely maintaining his dream of finding his daughter alive and intact. As the heroic female they eventually meet puts it- "I despise you as a man. As a person I almost envy you . Nothing has changed for you except the scenery." The scenery leads to the sea, where it never used to be, and disillusionment. Although the story is not as fresh and the coincidences may sometimes seem a British much, Christopher is a solid tale spinner and his flair for bizarre landscapes make one wonder on what planets the man has trod. A writer to be thoroughly enjoyed.