Book Review – The Place That Didn’t Exist

by Mark Watson (Picador) ISBN: 9781447243359

Mr Watson enjoys acclaim in a variety of literary fields but is best known for his stand-up comedy work. This is evident in his pithy dialogue injected with empathy.

Advertising agency creative, Tim Callaghan, is thrilled when he wins the pitch on a lucrative TV commercial for an international NGO based in Dubai. Upon arrival Tim’s expectations of the shiny city immediately turn to suspicions culminating in the murder of a crew member on the shoot. As Tim seeks to understand why the death is dismissively dealt with, even the very NGO he believed held so much promise, is called into question.

This is an engaging and well-paced novel although the sudden change in viewpoint for a single chapter at the end threw me for a bit of a loop. I didn’t quite recover from it.

Justine Cullinan
3/5