Book Review – Silence is an Enemy (2020)

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭; 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.”

“Even Oli had taken on this dream. This pretence. A sham almost. That everything was still rosy. That everything could go back to just how it had been before. As if the crash had never happened.”
― Thomas M. Atherton, Silence is an Enemy

*Silence is an Enemy* (2020), published and written by Thomas M. Atherton.

❌I received an e-Book of this story in exchange for a fair review!❌

I just want to preface my thoughts; I read a couple of the reviews for this book on goodreads shortly after finishing, and to be honest I share almost exactly the same sentiments as a lot of other reviewers on there.

Silence is an Enemy (2020) follows a man named Oliver Harrison, who is described as being a pretty average character overall, leading an equally unremarkable life. He meets Isobel, and the two appear to be a perfectly matched couple. One evening, after their engagement party with their mutual friends, the two are in a car crash, and Isobel is left with serious injuries. The narrative then follows Oli’s attempts to cope with the aftermath of the accident, and with the injuries Isobel suffered. It sort of proceeds as an examination of their relationship, and of Oli’s psyche, with a sprinkling of thriller elements.

I really liked the intro chapter; it was well-written and engaged me from the offset. This is followed by a section which introduces us to our narrator, who seems to be a character that knows Oli pretty intimately but is never identified themselves. Personally, I found this device and this section a little confusing – I’m not sure it was entirely necessary, and the lengthy backstory about Oli slowed the intrigue of the opening act right down.

Which brings me onto my biggest gripe and the main area for improvement in this story: the pacing. As a few of the other reviews have said, this is very much a book of two halves, the first of which really feels more like a romantic/relationship drama. I’ll admit, I didn’t have too much background information on this book going in (outside of the one review on Instagram that originally introduced me to this author), but even by the halfway mark of around 110 pages, I still wasn’t entirely sure what genre Silence is an Enemy belonged to.

As a result, the narrative moved at a pretty slow pace for the entirety of its first half, and it wasn’t until the latter third that the tempo started picking up. Unfortunately, this meant that several plot elements were introduced late in the game, and didn’t have quite enough time fully manifest before the ending. Whilst on the subject of the finale, for my taste it was left a little too open-ended. I think I can see the general idea behind the conclusion, and what the author was trying to imply with it, it just didn’t quite land for me.

However with that being said, there are a lot of positive aspects to Silence is an Enemy too. Atherton has a real talent for writing, I think that much is more than evident. His descriptions of scenes and events are in depth and vivid, and as such very easy to picture. His language is accessible but also varied, which is always a bonus. The cast of characters he creates feel genuine, and the emotional states they each go through came across as natural and sincere. I think Oli was relatable, and the way he responded to certain traumatic situations felt organic and realistic too.

All in all, I thought this was a more than competently written story, with some intriguing plot elements, developed and fleshed out characters, and is certainly worth a read. I feel like the areas for improvement are all things that will come to Atherton naturally with the more he writes, and as a debut novel, Silence is an Enemy is a solid and admirable start.

VERDICT: Overall, I think there are some areas that Silence is an Enemy excels in, and other departments that could do with a bit of tightening up. This book certainly illustrates that Atherton is an author with a hell of a lot of future potential; he clearly has a strong vocabulary pool and a knack for writing characters. Regretfully, the first half of this book does move along at a slow pace, and its quite difficult to really gauge what type of story it is trying to be. But that said, its a promising debut and indicates a lot of storytelling ability, so I’d definitely keep an eye on this author as he hones his writing style and craft.

It’s a strong ⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from this reviewer. I also want to say a humongous thank you to Thomas M. Atherton for providing a copy and giving me the chance to read and review it. Please do consider giving his Instagram author page a follow here, @tma.author.