The Clarity, by Keith Thomas, is the kind of book that really wants to be a screenplay. The science fiction premise is only cursorily explored. The rampaging bad guy is described in almost loving detail. The chapters are short and packed with gun fights. I think this will be a great read for those who want a thrill. For those of us who wanted to know more about the possibility of reawakening ancestral memories, The Clarity is disappointing.
While the experiment known as Project Clarity has been going on for decades, Dr. Mathilda Deacon only gets involved when she is tipped off by a resident of a housing project in Chicago that there’s something wrong with a girl named Ashanique. Ashanique can remember the lives of dozens of people who died years or even centuries ago. She seems perfectly rational, apart from the memories. Because Mathilda works in memory and dementia, Ashanique is an irresistible patient. But before Mathilda can do much more than be convinced by Ashanique’s memories, the shooting starts.
We learn a bit more about Project Clarity and what’s going on with Ashanique, but most of the rest of The Clarity shows us a series of gun fights and chases all over Chicago. As soon as our protagonists find a safe spot, Rade, their terrifying pursuer (who works for the project) shows up and kills a bunch of people. Repeat. The more I read, the more I realized I would have enjoyed this more as a TV movie or something similar. This story is crying out to be filmed. It should be an easy task, since there’s not all that much detail that would need to be cut out to fit into a two hour movie. As a book, this book left me wanting so much that I was very disappointed by the little I was given.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 20 February 2018.