The Blue Light Project: A Novel

by Timothy Taylor

Overview

A hostage-taker hides a shocking secret in "a breakneck literary thriller that combines the worlds of conspiracy theory [and] reality TV."--National Post

Without warning, a man, armed with explosives, seizes a television studio taking over a hundred terrified hostages. He offers no motive. And he makes just a single curious demand. The only person he'll speak to is Thom Pegg, a once honored investigative journalist turned disgraced tabloid reporter. As surprised as anyone, and pressured to comply by authorities, Pegg reluctantly enters the fray as the chosen confidante.

From outside, the enthralling drama is revealed through the eyes of two very different people: Eve, an Olympic gold medalist and local hero; and a mysterious renegade street artist known only as Rabbit. As 24/7 media coverage helps to feed the public's paranoia with reckless rumor, the lives of three strangers are brought inexorably together in an unfathomable and chaotic endgame.

In this "unforgettable . . . exhilarating, at-times alarming read" (Atssa York), prize-winning author Timothy Taylor paints a powerful picture of the sinister side of our interconnected world. The result is "an ambitious . . . wonderful novel--a thought-provoking and challenging story that will . . . change the way you look at our celebrity-driven culture" (The Vancouver Sun).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593764029
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	04/12/2011
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Timothy Taylor is a Canadian novelist, journalist and creative writing professor. Taylor's first novel Stanley Park was published in 2001. It was an immediate bestseller and a critical success. He's since published a prize-winning collection of short fiction, Silent Cruise, and two further bestselling and critically acclaimed novels, Story House and The Blue Light Project, which was award the CBC Bookie Award in the literary fiction category. He is also the winner of the Journey Prize, and has been finalist or runner-up for six other major national fiction prizes in Canada, including the prestigious Giller Prize. His work has also been chosen as the "One Book One City" selection for Vancouver and named a finalist for Canada Reads.

Editorial Reviews

Alternating between former Olympic gold medalist Eve Latour, a street artist named Rabbit, and disgraced journalist-turned-tabloid-reporter Thom Pegg, Journey Prize-winner Taylor's new novel (after Stanley Park) depicts a cynical future wherein the only two options—"Fame and anti-fame"—are equally corrupt. KiddieFame is a reality TV show whose symbolic video-game method of eliminating contestants—called "Kills"—has generated controversy. But when a terrorist takes up residence in the theater, threatening to take it literal unless he's granted an interview with Pegg, the show's young contestants are forced to face the media's increasing speculative narration. The show connects Taylor's main narrative threads and allows him to implicate the viewer (read: reader) by raising a hope of carnage to be exploited. Taylor takes a risk by eschewing the standard blunt-plot-force of the thriller genre and opening his narrative to renegade street art, self-reflection, and cultural references (Werner Herzog; 1984; Parkour), often with an air of indulgence. But Latour, Rabbit, and Pegg, bonded by their resilience, their violent times, and their nameless North American city, finally emerge, if narrowly, as characters. Taylor has a wild and vast imagination, and his work bursts with originality. Though his new novel threatens to break apart under the weight of cleverness, it never does. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Blue Light Project

"Taylor has a wild and vast imagination, and his work bursts with originality."--Publishers Weekly

"Taylor has written a thriller that challenges our perceptions as both individuals and as a species."--Library Journal

"Delightfully engrossing . . . Holding The Blue Light Project together is Taylor's prose style, which jumps across the page like a joyful, risk-loving parkour artist."--Winnipeg Free Press

"An ambitious novel, one that challenges its readers to pay attention or get left behind, but it is definitely worth the necessary concentration . . . It is about the power of art to heal in the aftermath of tragedy. And from a literary standpoint, it works extremely well. The Blue Light Project's closing image will stay with readers for a long time after they close the book . . . A wonderful novel--a thought-provoking and challenging story that will lead to debate and discussion among readers and might even change the way you look at our celebrity-driven culture."--The Vancouver Sun

"Taylor is an intelligent writer, and one whose novels suggest that he has strong political convictions. Some of the best and most unsettling moments come when the grim ironies of the plot illustrate how governments are quietly dismantling long-taken-for-granted rights and privileges and replacing them with libertarian pseudo-freedoms . . . Taylor will one day be a Canadian icon."--J.C. Sutcliffe, The Globe and Mail

"A breakneck literary thriller that combines the worlds of conspiracy theory, reality TV, celebrity culture and street art."--Mark Medley, National Post

"It's tempting to race through The Blue Light Project. It has the compelling narrative momentum and intricate plotting of a thriller. Resist the temptation, because [it's] as much a novel of ideas as it is a page-turner. It's a crucible of topical issues. By turns hopeful and alarming, The Blue Light Project is a thought-provoking take on what one character calls 'our toxic times.'"--Toronto Star

"[Taylor] skilfully juggl[es] the intimate with the public, the small-scale with the monumental . . . He ramps up the suspense as effectively as any more conventional thriller writer could. Best of all--and here is where the writer he most recalls is Don DeLillo--Taylor finds surprising angles into his material . . . In the end, for all horror on display, hope is what The Blue Light Project holds out."--The Gazette

"Beautifully written and brimming with important ideas . . . His themes are absolutely of the moment, and his characters are consistently fascinating."--NOW (Toronto)

From the Publisher

An Olympic gold medalist no longer certain of who she is or the choices she has made; a former engineer-turned-street artist planning one lasting piece before going off the radar; and a once prominent journalist now shunned in the professional community he once dominated are intertwined in the midst of a city in chaos. In the distant future, a man with a bomb has entered a studio for the TV series KiddieFame, releasing hostages one by one without any demands until only children are left. Immediately outside the walls, the city is thrown into turmoil as religious groups, anticelebrity activists, and law enforcement personnel indulge in paranoia that erupts into violence.Verdict Taylor (Stanley Park; Silent Cruise) has written a thriller that challenges our perceptions as both individuals and as a species. His in-depth look at how group mentality, fear, and uncertainty can lead to apocalyptic destruction is recommended for readers interested in neo-Luddism, mob mentality, and psychological fiction.—Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ., Lebanon, IL

Library Journal