Jane Goodall - The Calling

I have generally steered clear of the psychological thriller genre - it does not generally auger well with my over vivid imagination. However, desperate measures (many hours in the car) led me to pick up this tightly written audio book, and I was not disappointed. Jane Goodall is an Australian crime writer.  'The Calling' is set in her native England, during the 1970s era of wild and angst-ridden punk rebellion. The novel follows the stories of Detective Briony Williams, and teen-aged punk girls who find themselves involved a little too deeply with an extremist punk band “Sudden Deff”, with a penchant for dangerous theatrics and serial killers. To reveal any more would spoil the story. The audio book version was narrated by Nicki Paull, and her expert characterisation breaths life into the characters. The rebellious and frightened teen girls are especially endearing for all their toughness, and this is brought about by the sensitive dramatisation of their characters. And of course the delightful accents add authenticity and atmosphere.

It does not take too long to work out the direction of the plot - I suspect the character development and suspense filled descriptions add more to the tension than the story line. Even so, the climax hits swift and hard, and found me driving around the block once or twice before reaching my destination as I simply did not want to wait to hear the unfolding events. There is some degree of predictability about the Detective Briony Williams - she is wedded to the job, struggling to prove herself as a female in the police force. She experiences difficulties in her personal relationships, the predictable victim of her own “calling”. The biggest hint that the book is set in the 1970s is the lack of technology. Those in the know might recognise models of cars, but for me, the fact that Briony couldn’t ring someone whenever the whim presented itself clearly dated the novel. Of course the rise of punk culture and the mention of bands such as the Sex Pistols or the the Clash will also stand out to any British pop culture afficionado.

As far as “whodunnits” go, this book does not really have enough twists and turns to keep people guessing. For those who like to peer thoughtfully inside the minds of psychopaths, this book will likewise not deliver. However, the novel moves along at a steady pace, and builds a strong picture of clashing subcultures and teen rebellion against the backdrop of bustling 1970s London.

I enjoyed reading 'the Calling', and have already placed the other two books on hold at my local library. If you have time and space to read this novel as an audiobook, I would strongly urge you to do so. The skilled narration adds colour, liveliness, and builds an atmosphere that would be hard to establish with the paperback alone.
Rating: 7.5 / 10.

My local library service was prompt in obtaining Jane Goodall’s other two novels - ‘The Walker’ and ‘The Visitor’.  Both books are well worth reading.  However, I would suggest reading them in release order, as it did not feel right reading about  Briony Williams as a naive and insecure rookie after the gutsy character presented in ‘The Calling’.