Book Review – Unknown by Didier Van Cauwelart

American scientist Martin Harris wakes up from a coma and returns home expecting a warm loving embrace from his wife. But when another man answers the door claiming to also be ‘Martin Harris’, his world comes crashing down. Suddenly his wife no longer recognises him and there is someone else living his life with the memories and documents to prove it. How can there be two of him and more importantly, how can he prove that this man is lying?

No one in France knows who he is apart from the taxi driver who knocked him over three days before. He’s lost everything apart his memories but can he even trust them to be true? Is this a cruel plot against him or is he in fact the fake – Unknown is the thrilling quest he takes to find out why someone is trying to erase him from this world.

Cauwelart throws you straight as the book starts with the exact moment Martin arrives at his home to find his wife and the other ‘Martin’. With the narrative being purely from Martin’s point of view, we follow every aspect of his journey but are still left unsure as to who is right and who to believe. Martin’s character is slowly revealed in between all the action which adds both depth and even more confusion. Cauwelart makes sure that Martin is relatable enough for us to want him to be right but uses clever techniques to make us continue to doubt him. As the character gets more and more erratic, so does the narrative. Martin’s thoughts slowly start to jump from the present to past memories that perfectly capture the confusion someone would feel in this situation.

Cauwelart plays around with some very interesting topics but doesn’t develop them enough to make this novel as good as it could have been. But this is still a thrilling read for anyone who likes suspense.

Unknown was first released as ‘Out of My Head’ but the name change comes along with the film adaptation starring Liam Neeson which is in cinemas now.

By Nola Ojomu

Published: www.thenewcurrent.com