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The Sun Is God
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE TROUBLES TRILOGY AND DETECTIVE SEAN DUFFY NOVELS
Colonial New Guinea—1906: a small group of mostly German nudists live an extreme back-to-nature existence on the remote island of Kabakon. Eating only coconuts and bananas, they purport to worship the sun. One of their members—Max Lutzow—has recently died, allegedly from malaria. But an autopsy on his body in the nearby capital of Herbertshöhe raises suspicions about foul play.
Retired British military police officer Will Prior is recruited to investigate the circumstances of Lutzow’s death. At first, the eccentric group seems friendly and willing to cooperate with the investigation. They all insist that Lutzow died of malaria. Despite lack of evidence for a murder, Prior is convinced that the group is hiding something.
Things come to a head during a late-night feast supposedly given as a send-off for the visitors before they return to Herbertshöhe. Prior fears that the intent of the “celebration” is not to fete the visitors but to make them the latest murder victims.
Colonial New Guinea—1906: a small group of mostly German nudists live an extreme back-to-nature existence on the remote island of Kabakon. Eating only coconuts and bananas, they purport to worship the sun. One of their members—Max Lutzow—has recently died, allegedly from malaria. But an autopsy on his body in the nearby capital of Herbertshöhe raises suspicions about foul play.
Retired British military police officer Will Prior is recruited to investigate the circumstances of Lutzow’s death. At first, the eccentric group seems friendly and willing to cooperate with the investigation. They all insist that Lutzow died of malaria. Despite lack of evidence for a murder, Prior is convinced that the group is hiding something.
Things come to a head during a late-night feast supposedly given as a send-off for the visitors before they return to Herbertshöhe. Prior fears that the intent of the “celebration” is not to fete the visitors but to make them the latest murder victims.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
47 people are currently reading
873 people want to read
About the author
Adrian McKinty
49 books4,358 followersAdrian McKinty is an Irish novelist. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Victoria Council Estate, Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He read law at the University of Warwick and politics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. He moved to the United States in the early 1990s, living first in Harlem, New York and from 2001 on, in Denver, Colorado, where he taught high school English and began writing fiction. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
May 12, 2023
I liked The Island and loved The Chain. I was in the mood for something different, so I figured I’d see what else this author’s got.
Will’s narration saves this from being much worse than it could have turned out to be. He’s quite flawed but very likable—he’s got that whole Everyman vibe going for him.
The location is captivating and the descriptions are vivid.
Ultimately, this is a middling read. It’s certainly not boring—but is there an actual point to this tale? It's disappointing to see from the guy who wrote the last 30% of The Island and the entire 100% of The Chain.
Will’s narration saves this from being much worse than it could have turned out to be. He’s quite flawed but very likable—he’s got that whole Everyman vibe going for him.
The location is captivating and the descriptions are vivid.
Ultimately, this is a middling read. It’s certainly not boring—but is there an actual point to this tale? It's disappointing to see from the guy who wrote the last 30% of The Island and the entire 100% of The Chain.
August 16, 2023
I liked The Island and loved The Chain. I was in the mood for something different, so I figured I’d see what else this author’s got.
Will’s narration saves this from being much worse than it could have turned out to be. He’s quite flawed but very likable—he’s got that whole Everyman vibe going for him.
The location is captivating and the descriptions are vivid.
Ultimately, this is a bit of a middling and unsatisfying read. It’s certainly not boring—but is there an actual point to this tale? It's disappointing to see from the guy who wrote the last 40% of The Island and the entire 100% of The Chain.
Will’s narration saves this from being much worse than it could have turned out to be. He’s quite flawed but very likable—he’s got that whole Everyman vibe going for him.
The location is captivating and the descriptions are vivid.
Ultimately, this is a bit of a middling and unsatisfying read. It’s certainly not boring—but is there an actual point to this tale? It's disappointing to see from the guy who wrote the last 40% of The Island and the entire 100% of The Chain.
June 2, 2015
"THE SUN IS GOD!" say the band of German naturalists and nudists who inhabit the tiny island of Kabakon in the South Pacific. "IT SHALL MAKE US IMMORTAL!" but not everyone will be immortal on this sweltering island... Death pays a visit not once, not twice, but thrice - and finally it is time for the authorities to get involved.
this highly engaging murder mystery is set in 1906. it captures the bizarre locale perfectly. everything was made simultaneously intriguing and prosaic, which is exactly how I like my mysterious settings. even better, this was all based on true events.
Adrian McKinty is a talent. brisk pacing, droll characters, eerie atmosphere, and a wonderful central perspective. Will Prior is a rather nice, normal guy who is suffering from PTSD and is slowly getting over it with the help of a native lass. I enjoyed the love story that was bubbling away on the back burner. and I really liked Will - he's such a pleasant protagonist and the horrors haunting him were well-conveyed and felt real. the surprisingly intense opening chapter does a great job at establishing why he is feeling such trauma. I'd definitely read more mysteries with him as the protagonist.
the mystery itself is easily solved by the reader. and the ending felt rather rushed. eh, so what! this was a pleasant and involving read from start to finish. the period detail was light but perfectly accomplished.
also, not to be your typical clichéd progressive, but this book hit all of my far-left wish fulfillment buttons in just the right way. low-key interracial romance. interesting and three-dimensional queer characters. a critique of the class system and of colonialism. a "plain" woman who is basically ignored by the men but who turns out to be stronger, smarter, and more competent than those stupid boys. and it was all done in a way that was so nonchalant. it didn't feel like the author was checking off a list of progressive things he wanted to include or shoving his points in the reader's face; everything felt organic to the story. thanks, McKinty! you seem like a great guy.
this highly engaging murder mystery is set in 1906. it captures the bizarre locale perfectly. everything was made simultaneously intriguing and prosaic, which is exactly how I like my mysterious settings. even better, this was all based on true events.
Adrian McKinty is a talent. brisk pacing, droll characters, eerie atmosphere, and a wonderful central perspective. Will Prior is a rather nice, normal guy who is suffering from PTSD and is slowly getting over it with the help of a native lass. I enjoyed the love story that was bubbling away on the back burner. and I really liked Will - he's such a pleasant protagonist and the horrors haunting him were well-conveyed and felt real. the surprisingly intense opening chapter does a great job at establishing why he is feeling such trauma. I'd definitely read more mysteries with him as the protagonist.
the mystery itself is easily solved by the reader. and the ending felt rather rushed. eh, so what! this was a pleasant and involving read from start to finish. the period detail was light but perfectly accomplished.
also, not to be your typical clichéd progressive, but this book hit all of my far-left wish fulfillment buttons in just the right way. low-key interracial romance. interesting and three-dimensional queer characters. a critique of the class system and of colonialism. a "plain" woman who is basically ignored by the men but who turns out to be stronger, smarter, and more competent than those stupid boys. and it was all done in a way that was so nonchalant. it didn't feel like the author was checking off a list of progressive things he wanted to include or shoving his points in the reader's face; everything felt organic to the story. thanks, McKinty! you seem like a great guy.
October 7, 2023
EXCERPT: 'When you came here a little over two years ago, you were made to provide a number of references and affidavits.'
'Ah, about that, listen those references now, some of them were rather elderly gentlemen, so if you've had trouble - ' Will began.
Kessler had taken a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from a case and placed them on the end of his nose like an apothecary. He unfolded the piece of paper and read: 'From March 1899 until May 1903 you were a member of the British Army's Military Foot Police, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant.'
'That's right.'
'As a military policeman did you look into ordinary crimes?'
'That was part of our duties, yes.'
'Did you ever investigate a murder?'
In the Military Foot Police, Will reflected, a murder was one drunken Private bashing another drunken Private over the head and then crying about it until the MFPs came to arrest him.
'I've looked into the occasional murder. What's this about?'
Kessler nodded. Yes, Will Prior would do very nicely. He was an ex-military policeman and had undertaken murder cases. He was not a fool, and neither was he so scrupulous that he would run to the Fathers or the newspapers if he found scandalous goings on. He was therefore the only man in the entire colony who could investigate the suspected murder of Max Lutzow on Kabakon Island.
ABOUT 'THE SUN IS GOD': It is 1906 and Will Prior is in self-imposed exile on a remote South Pacific island, working a small, and failing, plantation. He should never have told anyone about his previous existence as a military foot policeman in the Boer War, but a man needs friends, even if they are as stuffy and, well, German, as Hauptmann Kessler, the local government representative.
So it is that Kessler approaches Will one hot afternoon, with a request for his help with a problem on a neighbouring island, inhabited by a reclusive, cultish group of European 'cocovores', who believe that sun worship and eating only coconuts will bring them eternal life. Unfortunately, one of their number has died in suspicious circumstances, and Kessler has been tasked with uncovering the real reason for his demise. So along with a 'lady traveller', Bessie Pullen-Burry, who is foisted on them by the archipelago's eccentric owner, they travel to the island of Kabakon, to find out what is really going on.
MY THOUGHTS: I think, had this not been written by Adrian McKinty, I would never have picked it up. The Sun is God is a historical mystery centred around real people and real events. Prior to picking this up, I had never heard of Kabakon or cocovores, but I stopped reading long enough to do some research to discover that Kabakon was indeed a real place that had been inhabited by a group of people worshipping the sun and eating only Coconut flesh, convinced that by cutting themselves off from the world, worshipping the sun and following their beliefs, along with ingesting regular amounts of heroin, that they had found the secret of eternal life.
I enjoyed the research more than I did the actual book - sorry, Mr McKinty - which was passably interesting until almost the end when it became decidedly odd, which no doubt can be attributed to the amount of heroin ingested by the main character and the effects of malaria. I remain unconvinced by the ending.
A worthwhile read purely for the historical context.
🌟🌟.5
THE AUTHOR: Adrian McKinty is an Irish novelist. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Victoria Council Estate, Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He read law at the University of Warwick and politics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. He moved to the United States in the early 1990s, living first in Harlem, New York and from 2001 on, in Denver, Colorado, where he taught high school English and began writing fiction. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two children.
I own my copy of The Sun is God by Adrian McKinty.
'Ah, about that, listen those references now, some of them were rather elderly gentlemen, so if you've had trouble - ' Will began.
Kessler had taken a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from a case and placed them on the end of his nose like an apothecary. He unfolded the piece of paper and read: 'From March 1899 until May 1903 you were a member of the British Army's Military Foot Police, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant.'
'That's right.'
'As a military policeman did you look into ordinary crimes?'
'That was part of our duties, yes.'
'Did you ever investigate a murder?'
In the Military Foot Police, Will reflected, a murder was one drunken Private bashing another drunken Private over the head and then crying about it until the MFPs came to arrest him.
'I've looked into the occasional murder. What's this about?'
Kessler nodded. Yes, Will Prior would do very nicely. He was an ex-military policeman and had undertaken murder cases. He was not a fool, and neither was he so scrupulous that he would run to the Fathers or the newspapers if he found scandalous goings on. He was therefore the only man in the entire colony who could investigate the suspected murder of Max Lutzow on Kabakon Island.
ABOUT 'THE SUN IS GOD': It is 1906 and Will Prior is in self-imposed exile on a remote South Pacific island, working a small, and failing, plantation. He should never have told anyone about his previous existence as a military foot policeman in the Boer War, but a man needs friends, even if they are as stuffy and, well, German, as Hauptmann Kessler, the local government representative.
So it is that Kessler approaches Will one hot afternoon, with a request for his help with a problem on a neighbouring island, inhabited by a reclusive, cultish group of European 'cocovores', who believe that sun worship and eating only coconuts will bring them eternal life. Unfortunately, one of their number has died in suspicious circumstances, and Kessler has been tasked with uncovering the real reason for his demise. So along with a 'lady traveller', Bessie Pullen-Burry, who is foisted on them by the archipelago's eccentric owner, they travel to the island of Kabakon, to find out what is really going on.
MY THOUGHTS: I think, had this not been written by Adrian McKinty, I would never have picked it up. The Sun is God is a historical mystery centred around real people and real events. Prior to picking this up, I had never heard of Kabakon or cocovores, but I stopped reading long enough to do some research to discover that Kabakon was indeed a real place that had been inhabited by a group of people worshipping the sun and eating only Coconut flesh, convinced that by cutting themselves off from the world, worshipping the sun and following their beliefs, along with ingesting regular amounts of heroin, that they had found the secret of eternal life.
I enjoyed the research more than I did the actual book - sorry, Mr McKinty - which was passably interesting until almost the end when it became decidedly odd, which no doubt can be attributed to the amount of heroin ingested by the main character and the effects of malaria. I remain unconvinced by the ending.
A worthwhile read purely for the historical context.
🌟🌟.5
THE AUTHOR: Adrian McKinty is an Irish novelist. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Victoria Council Estate, Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He read law at the University of Warwick and politics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. He moved to the United States in the early 1990s, living first in Harlem, New York and from 2001 on, in Denver, Colorado, where he taught high school English and began writing fiction. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two children.
I own my copy of The Sun is God by Adrian McKinty.
July 7, 2014
An odd one this. I bought it because Adrian McKinty wrote it. Having been out of touch for a few months, it snuck up on me, I didn’t know McKinty had another novel on the way. Miles away, both thematically and geographically, from what I expected for a McKinty book this story of a little known (unknown to me) colony of sun-worshipping German immortality seekers at the start of the 20th Century probably would not have attracted my attention was McKinty not one of my favourite writers. But it is a fascinating tale of colonialism, cults and murder which McKinty, with few stumbles (a reference to Sherlock Holmes seems a little forced) handles incredibly well.
Through the eyes of his fairly ineffectual hero, an ex-British soldier recovering from the horrors of the Boer war, Adrian explores the mystery of the ‘cocovores’ on a South Pacific island whose belief that the secret of eternal life is in coconuts and sunbathing (with a little sprinkling of heroin) leads to at least one suspicious death. On the way McKinty touches on European empire-building, strange Victorian thinking on medicine and health, the tensions leading to the Great War and beyond. The climax is something of a twist and works very well. The characters are very well drawn. The tone reminded my a lot of Dan Simmons’ ‘The Terror’, a book I love.
I am a McKinty fan and, as an Ulsterman, I love his Irish-noir. ‘The Sun Is God’ is something of a departure but it is perhaps Adrian McKinty’s best novel yet.
Through the eyes of his fairly ineffectual hero, an ex-British soldier recovering from the horrors of the Boer war, Adrian explores the mystery of the ‘cocovores’ on a South Pacific island whose belief that the secret of eternal life is in coconuts and sunbathing (with a little sprinkling of heroin) leads to at least one suspicious death. On the way McKinty touches on European empire-building, strange Victorian thinking on medicine and health, the tensions leading to the Great War and beyond. The climax is something of a twist and works very well. The characters are very well drawn. The tone reminded my a lot of Dan Simmons’ ‘The Terror’, a book I love.
I am a McKinty fan and, as an Ulsterman, I love his Irish-noir. ‘The Sun Is God’ is something of a departure but it is perhaps Adrian McKinty’s best novel yet.
February 16, 2022
This was all new to me as I was in complete ignorance of the German community established in New Guinea along with the aftermath then leading to other world powers using the site (Germany then Japan). I always appreciate McKinty's writing. He did a great job with the main characters and the action in this very bizarre society that existed in early 1900's.
Original, creative writing! Very good read.
Original, creative writing! Very good read.
September 7, 2014
This excellent historical mystery is based upon real events and real individuals; although the author admits that he has put the interests of the novel before historical accuracy. Will Prior was a Lieutenant in the Boer War, until an event which, although it led to him being honoured for his actions, leaves him traumatised and disillusioned. That is why, two years later, he is living a rather idle life in Herbertshohe, in far off German New Guinea. With someone to manage the small plantation he has borrowed the money for and cared for by his native servant girl, Siwa, he enjoys a quiet life.
His pleasant and comfortable existence comes to an end one day when he is approached by Hauptman Kessler and offered a substantial fee to look into the suspected murder of Max Lutzow – a music critic, journalist, concert pianist and member of a sect of sun worshippers on Kabakon Island. The community of Cocovores, led by August Engelhardt, believe that a life of nudity, sunbathing and a strict vegetarian diet of coconuts and bananas, will give them immortality. However, it doesn’t seem to have worked very well so far, as three members of the small group have died of suspected malaria, with Lutzow the third.
Accompanied by English woman Miss Pullen-Burry, Prior and Kessler head for Kabakon Island to investigate. They find a group of characters who delight in healthy breakfasts of bananas, accompanied by heroin, and drinks laced with opium… The real delight of this book is not only in the exotic, South Pacific location, but in the wonderfully eccentric characters. Can Will Prior manage to untangle what happened in the isolated community and how far will the Sonnenorden-or sun worshippers – go to protect their way of life?
His pleasant and comfortable existence comes to an end one day when he is approached by Hauptman Kessler and offered a substantial fee to look into the suspected murder of Max Lutzow – a music critic, journalist, concert pianist and member of a sect of sun worshippers on Kabakon Island. The community of Cocovores, led by August Engelhardt, believe that a life of nudity, sunbathing and a strict vegetarian diet of coconuts and bananas, will give them immortality. However, it doesn’t seem to have worked very well so far, as three members of the small group have died of suspected malaria, with Lutzow the third.
Accompanied by English woman Miss Pullen-Burry, Prior and Kessler head for Kabakon Island to investigate. They find a group of characters who delight in healthy breakfasts of bananas, accompanied by heroin, and drinks laced with opium… The real delight of this book is not only in the exotic, South Pacific location, but in the wonderfully eccentric characters. Can Will Prior manage to untangle what happened in the isolated community and how far will the Sonnenorden-or sun worshippers – go to protect their way of life?
December 13, 2020
I don’t even know what shelf to put this one on so I’ll leave it at that. I love the Sean Duffy series by this author and I can see his talent at story telling in this one but its COMPLETELY different. This book is an interesting study of a bunch of different characters, social and political mores in the South Pacific about a hundred years ago. The blurb describes the book from a high level but the real enjoyment for me was the variety of people and the insights of the Will, the main character.
Gerard Doyle is a fantastic narrator.
Gerard Doyle is a fantastic narrator.
June 18, 2018
OK, so the description of this story hit multiple hot buttons: Historical Fiction, Detective Thriller, supernatural, and Peculiar Locale. Strangely enough, I had also came across a reference to the Coconut Cult that features in this book while studying the occupation of Imperial German Pacific colonies during WWI. I decided to give this story a try. I’m glad I did.
Prose was good. Dialog was better than descriptive prose. The author goes to some length to use Victorian period vernacular. I liked the antique turns of phrase in the spoken dialog. However, there were errors in diction and the inner dialog tended to be in modern vernacular. There was a multiple POV narration. This was handled in an OK fashion, but could have been better. I thought that the introduction of the different narrators in sequence was not done as well as it could be. Descriptive prose is also in Period. Although, I detected modern sensibilities in the descriptions. Sex is abstracted, but not entirely heteronormative. It’s written tastefully. Violence is not graphic and with a minimum of gore. Body count is low.
Note a part of this story is Victorian-period edu-tainment. There is a fair amount of period: social interaction, politics, pharmacology, military-tech, and literature exposed. For example, the character’s name drop Wilkie Collins and Arthur Conan Doyle in conversation during a heavy (for the tropics) formal dinner. (Historically, Conan Doyle’s stories borrowed from Collins.)
Characters were good. The narrators included: Prior, Pullen-Burry, and Siwa. Prior is a bit of cliché for this type of story. He's a PTSD-suffering, dishonorably-discharged, military policeman, of good family , going native on the back-side of civilization. Miss Pullen-Burry is yet another cliché for this type of story. She’s a flavor of the Lady of Adventure masquerading as a spinster travel writer. She’s also of good family. Siwa is more interesting. She’s Prior’s Papuan, missionary-trained, servant and lover. She’s a variation on the Mystical Negro . Major supporting characters were Kessler and The Sonnenorden of Kabakon (Coconut Cultists). Kessler is an Imperial German soldier acting in a civil police role, gutting-out a very bad duty station. There’s a lot of Kaiserreich in his role. The Coconut Cultists are a vaguely Aleister Crowley -like cult with an authoritarian yet charismatic leader. They're the pool of potential antagonists. Frankly, they reminded me more of Germans from the inter-War period than before WWI. Finally, the author puts some backspin on all the characters to keep them from being other than vanilla-flavors of their trope. I embraced the clichés in my reading of this book.
Plot is straight forward. Prior gets dragooned into conducting a police investigation of an Imperial German citizen on the Coconut Cultist’s remote island with Kessler. Miss Pullen-Burry comes along. There is the inevitable clash of sensibilities. . If I have a problem with the story, it’s that the protagonists seemed to have superior knowledge for English Victorians of good family and for a native concubine. The Prior character was 21st century savvy forensically and with investigative procedure. Who knew Pullen-Burry was a martial arts expert? And, it’s fortunate that Siwa had witchlike powers.
World building was good. The South African locale and action were well handled. I was reminded of The Defense Of Duffer's Drift. I particularly liked the Herbertshöhe location. Malarial backwaters where 19th and early 20th Century Europeans go off to: ‘get lost’, make their fortune, go native, or die are a favorite of mine. I was relieved that Kabakon island wasn’t portrayed as a Bora Bora-like paradise in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It reminded me enough like descriptions I’m familiar with of the nearby Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal to appear authentic to me.
This was a good story, but not truly epic. I enjoyed the early 20th Century, South African and German Pacific colonial settings of the book. They were unusual for detective, historical fiction. The supernatural aspects of the story were OK, but its stitching showed. It could have had better integration into the story. Finally, the characters responded with more modern sensibilities and skills than I expected they would have. I hope and pray the author does not spawn a series with Pullen-Burry in a Victorian Lara Croft -like character. However, for modern historical, Victorian fiction, this is a good read despite my geeky misgivings.
If you're interested in detective historical fiction set in the Victorian period, I recommend House of Silk (my review).
Prose was good. Dialog was better than descriptive prose. The author goes to some length to use Victorian period vernacular. I liked the antique turns of phrase in the spoken dialog. However, there were errors in diction and the inner dialog tended to be in modern vernacular. There was a multiple POV narration. This was handled in an OK fashion, but could have been better. I thought that the introduction of the different narrators in sequence was not done as well as it could be. Descriptive prose is also in Period. Although, I detected modern sensibilities in the descriptions. Sex is abstracted, but not entirely heteronormative. It’s written tastefully. Violence is not graphic and with a minimum of gore. Body count is low.
Note a part of this story is Victorian-period edu-tainment. There is a fair amount of period: social interaction, politics, pharmacology, military-tech, and literature exposed. For example, the character’s name drop Wilkie Collins and Arthur Conan Doyle in conversation during a heavy (for the tropics) formal dinner. (Historically, Conan Doyle’s stories borrowed from Collins.)
Characters were good. The narrators included: Prior, Pullen-Burry, and Siwa. Prior is a bit of cliché for this type of story. He's a PTSD-suffering, dishonorably-discharged, military policeman, of good family , going native on the back-side of civilization. Miss Pullen-Burry is yet another cliché for this type of story. She’s a flavor of the Lady of Adventure masquerading as a spinster travel writer. She’s also of good family. Siwa is more interesting. She’s Prior’s Papuan, missionary-trained, servant and lover. She’s a variation on the Mystical Negro . Major supporting characters were Kessler and The Sonnenorden of Kabakon (Coconut Cultists). Kessler is an Imperial German soldier acting in a civil police role, gutting-out a very bad duty station. There’s a lot of Kaiserreich in his role. The Coconut Cultists are a vaguely Aleister Crowley -like cult with an authoritarian yet charismatic leader. They're the pool of potential antagonists. Frankly, they reminded me more of Germans from the inter-War period than before WWI. Finally, the author puts some backspin on all the characters to keep them from being other than vanilla-flavors of their trope. I embraced the clichés in my reading of this book.
Plot is straight forward. Prior gets dragooned into conducting a police investigation of an Imperial German citizen on the Coconut Cultist’s remote island with Kessler. Miss Pullen-Burry comes along. There is the inevitable clash of sensibilities. . If I have a problem with the story, it’s that the protagonists seemed to have superior knowledge for English Victorians of good family and for a native concubine. The Prior character was 21st century savvy forensically and with investigative procedure. Who knew Pullen-Burry was a martial arts expert? And, it’s fortunate that Siwa had witchlike powers.
World building was good. The South African locale and action were well handled. I was reminded of The Defense Of Duffer's Drift. I particularly liked the Herbertshöhe location. Malarial backwaters where 19th and early 20th Century Europeans go off to: ‘get lost’, make their fortune, go native, or die are a favorite of mine. I was relieved that Kabakon island wasn’t portrayed as a Bora Bora-like paradise in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It reminded me enough like descriptions I’m familiar with of the nearby Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal to appear authentic to me.
This was a good story, but not truly epic. I enjoyed the early 20th Century, South African and German Pacific colonial settings of the book. They were unusual for detective, historical fiction. The supernatural aspects of the story were OK, but its stitching showed. It could have had better integration into the story. Finally, the characters responded with more modern sensibilities and skills than I expected they would have. I hope and pray the author does not spawn a series with Pullen-Burry in a Victorian Lara Croft -like character. However, for modern historical, Victorian fiction, this is a good read despite my geeky misgivings.
If you're interested in detective historical fiction set in the Victorian period, I recommend House of Silk (my review).
September 8, 2014
It is a fine day Kessler said. It had rained for eight hours solid during the night, mosquitoes were in swarm, the heat and humidity were almost unbearable.
Will Prior - war-damaged Yorkshireman; a former military policeman on the run from the horrific events of the Boer War - has fled to German New Guinea, hoping to escape his past and live a quiet life running a rubber plantation. And so he does, until his friend and neighbour, Kessler - a German officer, always in uniform, to whom everything German is by its very nature superior - arrives and offers Will a hefty fee for his help: Max Lutzow, a member of the Sonnenorden cult, has died in suspicious circumstances. He may have been murdered.
I rarely read detective fiction; it's really not my thing at all. This one slipped past my radar on account of the fabulous cover and intriguing blurb; it was only some time later that I realised this was a crime novel (being, ostensibly, about the search for a presumed murderer), but all that rather slipped my mind most of the time I was reading it; I was too busy enjoying the terrific characters and laugh out loud banter between them, the unusual setting of German Papua New Guinea at the turn of the 20th century, and the decidedly odd subject of murder amongst the (real-life), Sun-worshipping, nudist cult of the Sonnenorden of Kabakon who believed that a diet of coconuts, bananas and heroin would grant them immortality.
The only time my enjoyment slipped was the very end, which - after the previous slow ride through gloriously evocative, descriptive and very funny chapters - seemed so rushed and violent; a suddenly shoehorned element of mystery and a twist that didn't really work for me - but I never once cared who actually dunnit, or why, or anything about any of that, to be honest. For me, it was all about the setting, and the characters - the characters most of all. Kessler is quietly fascinating; not enough was made of his sexuality, which became a mere interesting aside, dropped into the narrative for no apparent reason. I was expecting more of him, but I enjoyed what I got. Will, by contrast, is a very masculine character who, in time honoured colonial tradition, has taken his devoted native housekeeper to his bed. He has an hilarious and typically male obsession with penis size on naked Kabakon, especially Harry von Cadolzburg's enormous willy, like the albino stoat Sergeant Mulvenny had kept as a rat catcher in South Africa. Miss Pullen-Burry - a stolid Englishwoman on an adventure, who throws herself into the ways of the Sonnenorden to an astonishing degree for a supposed Victorian virgin - was greatest of them all; so wonderfully evoked, she was the only one who managed to surprise me.
But they were all, even the maddest of them, likeable and fascinating characters I would have gone on reading about them in a novel twice the length.
This is the first Adrian McKinty I've read. I believe his usual work is very different; violent crime fiction of the gore and guts kind - not my thing at all, which is probably why I've never come across him before, but I'll definitely be looking out for his future work, if it's anything like as good as The Sun is God.
Will Prior - war-damaged Yorkshireman; a former military policeman on the run from the horrific events of the Boer War - has fled to German New Guinea, hoping to escape his past and live a quiet life running a rubber plantation. And so he does, until his friend and neighbour, Kessler - a German officer, always in uniform, to whom everything German is by its very nature superior - arrives and offers Will a hefty fee for his help: Max Lutzow, a member of the Sonnenorden cult, has died in suspicious circumstances. He may have been murdered.
I rarely read detective fiction; it's really not my thing at all. This one slipped past my radar on account of the fabulous cover and intriguing blurb; it was only some time later that I realised this was a crime novel (being, ostensibly, about the search for a presumed murderer), but all that rather slipped my mind most of the time I was reading it; I was too busy enjoying the terrific characters and laugh out loud banter between them, the unusual setting of German Papua New Guinea at the turn of the 20th century, and the decidedly odd subject of murder amongst the (real-life), Sun-worshipping, nudist cult of the Sonnenorden of Kabakon who believed that a diet of coconuts, bananas and heroin would grant them immortality.
The only time my enjoyment slipped was the very end, which - after the previous slow ride through gloriously evocative, descriptive and very funny chapters - seemed so rushed and violent; a suddenly shoehorned element of mystery and a twist that didn't really work for me - but I never once cared who actually dunnit, or why, or anything about any of that, to be honest. For me, it was all about the setting, and the characters - the characters most of all. Kessler is quietly fascinating; not enough was made of his sexuality, which became a mere interesting aside, dropped into the narrative for no apparent reason. I was expecting more of him, but I enjoyed what I got. Will, by contrast, is a very masculine character who, in time honoured colonial tradition, has taken his devoted native housekeeper to his bed. He has an hilarious and typically male obsession with penis size on naked Kabakon, especially Harry von Cadolzburg's enormous willy, like the albino stoat Sergeant Mulvenny had kept as a rat catcher in South Africa. Miss Pullen-Burry - a stolid Englishwoman on an adventure, who throws herself into the ways of the Sonnenorden to an astonishing degree for a supposed Victorian virgin - was greatest of them all; so wonderfully evoked, she was the only one who managed to surprise me.
But they were all, even the maddest of them, likeable and fascinating characters I would have gone on reading about them in a novel twice the length.
This is the first Adrian McKinty I've read. I believe his usual work is very different; violent crime fiction of the gore and guts kind - not my thing at all, which is probably why I've never come across him before, but I'll definitely be looking out for his future work, if it's anything like as good as The Sun is God.
November 25, 2015
This is going to have to be another one of those reviews that comes with a disclaimer. I love Adrian McKinty's books. Although I will admit that it's always been the dark side, his flawed and controversial characters, and his noir stylings that I'd thought appealed particularly.
THE SUN IS GOD is none of that and yet there are glimpses. Based on elements of a true story, set in 1906 New Guinea, this is the tale of the investigation into the death of a man on a remote island in the midst of a community of nudist, back-to-nature "Cocovores". They eat only coconuts (and bananas as they grow at the top of trees and are therefore close to the Sun). They spend days sunbathing, they live in a weird sort of "Ikea-style" village of odd little pre-fab cottages, supported by local servants, and, whilst they are a small community, they make up for that with large bucket loads of odds.
Before all of that starts though, the reader is introduced to retired British military policeman Will Prior, who after serving during the Boer War ends up in the Germany colony of Herbertshöhe in the middle of the New Guinea islands. He has a loving relationship with a local woman who serves as his housekeeper, keeps himself a little distant from the mostly German ex-pat community, and is somewhat bemused to find himself pressed into investigative service in the pursuit of the truth of Max Lutzow's death.
Needless to say - oddity by the bucket loads - told in a most engaging manner. The central characters - Prior; local government representative, and fellow investigator Hauptmann Kessler and Bessie Pullen-Burry, intrepid lady traveller and reporter, shine. Glow and not just from sunburn. Somehow the oddness of the community into which they are thrust becomes endearing, and yet slightly threatening when viewed through Prior's eyes. Whilst the story is littered with eccentric characters, there are no caricatures. Even the favoured community tipple of Bayer aspirin and heroin ... well of course a bunch of people who believe in eating only Coconuts are going to have a drink like that. Of course.
Echoing much of the true story, McKinty warns at the commencement that there are some fictional characters, and some fictional elements, but in the main, the book follows the facts, as they are known. The deaths that took place on Kabakon during this period haven't been solved, although there's nothing held back in exploring or investigating the possibilities.
Whilst the subject matter, the setting, and the characters are very different from that which fans of Adrian McKinty's books could normally expect, it's what reminds you that aside from anything else, this author can write. Because it's much lighter THE SUN IS GOD is just the ticket for readers who find the darker side too much, but it also works for those of us who don't care. Especially those of us who would happily stump up to the cliché and read the author's shopping list should he be tempted to publish it.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
THE SUN IS GOD is none of that and yet there are glimpses. Based on elements of a true story, set in 1906 New Guinea, this is the tale of the investigation into the death of a man on a remote island in the midst of a community of nudist, back-to-nature "Cocovores". They eat only coconuts (and bananas as they grow at the top of trees and are therefore close to the Sun). They spend days sunbathing, they live in a weird sort of "Ikea-style" village of odd little pre-fab cottages, supported by local servants, and, whilst they are a small community, they make up for that with large bucket loads of odds.
Before all of that starts though, the reader is introduced to retired British military policeman Will Prior, who after serving during the Boer War ends up in the Germany colony of Herbertshöhe in the middle of the New Guinea islands. He has a loving relationship with a local woman who serves as his housekeeper, keeps himself a little distant from the mostly German ex-pat community, and is somewhat bemused to find himself pressed into investigative service in the pursuit of the truth of Max Lutzow's death.
Needless to say - oddity by the bucket loads - told in a most engaging manner. The central characters - Prior; local government representative, and fellow investigator Hauptmann Kessler and Bessie Pullen-Burry, intrepid lady traveller and reporter, shine. Glow and not just from sunburn. Somehow the oddness of the community into which they are thrust becomes endearing, and yet slightly threatening when viewed through Prior's eyes. Whilst the story is littered with eccentric characters, there are no caricatures. Even the favoured community tipple of Bayer aspirin and heroin ... well of course a bunch of people who believe in eating only Coconuts are going to have a drink like that. Of course.
Echoing much of the true story, McKinty warns at the commencement that there are some fictional characters, and some fictional elements, but in the main, the book follows the facts, as they are known. The deaths that took place on Kabakon during this period haven't been solved, although there's nothing held back in exploring or investigating the possibilities.
Whilst the subject matter, the setting, and the characters are very different from that which fans of Adrian McKinty's books could normally expect, it's what reminds you that aside from anything else, this author can write. Because it's much lighter THE SUN IS GOD is just the ticket for readers who find the darker side too much, but it also works for those of us who don't care. Especially those of us who would happily stump up to the cliché and read the author's shopping list should he be tempted to publish it.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
April 23, 2019
A curious little book, partly based on true historical events in German Colonial New Guinea in the early part of the 20th Century. Will Prior is an ex-British army military policeman who has fled from the world, disillusioned and haunted by atrocities from his time in the Boer War. He has 'gone native' and is living idly on a failed plantation with his live in housekeeper/mistress, when he is asked to investigate the suspicious death of a member of a cult on a nearby island. The cult, which believes that they can achieve immortality by eternal sun-bathing/sun-worshippping, and eating only coconuts, has had quite a few members die. Malaria, they allege, but the local German government is not so sure. So Will, along with a German army captain, and.an Englishwoman foisted on them by the owner of the island (a true historical figure apparently), go to the island to investigate. What they find is a strange cult - nudist, sun-worshipping, and rejecting the modern ways of the 20th century. Not a traditional whodunnit, and quite different to Adrian McKinty's other action-packed books set in Ireland and America. Did have some personal interest for me, as the setting in New Guinea was exactly where I lived for a couple of years in my childhood (in what is now Papua New Guinea - Kokopo and Rabaul). The depictions of the life on the island, with the oppressive humidity, the malaria, and the life of the colonials, did evoke similar memories in me, despite the time difference of 80 years.
Not a bad little book, but can't help feeling that Mr McKinty, having happened upon an interesting historical event, just decided to make it into a book, without much further thought than that.
Not a bad little book, but can't help feeling that Mr McKinty, having happened upon an interesting historical event, just decided to make it into a book, without much further thought than that.
April 2, 2018
Great prose, but not a great story.
This is a work of historical fiction about a relatively minor episode in the history of New Guinea, although it does provide a glimpse of what German colonialism was like in 1906. I've read all McKinty's mysteries, and this novel is quite different. Although I thought his prose was often as fine as usual, the story itself isn't all that exciting. Some of the characters were interesting, although I couldn't tell how much of their personalities were figments of McKinty's imagination. I love listening to Gerard Doyle, so between his narration and McKinty's writing, I found the book enjoyable. Thankfully, at 7 hrs and 43 mins, it wasn't too long.
This is a work of historical fiction about a relatively minor episode in the history of New Guinea, although it does provide a glimpse of what German colonialism was like in 1906. I've read all McKinty's mysteries, and this novel is quite different. Although I thought his prose was often as fine as usual, the story itself isn't all that exciting. Some of the characters were interesting, although I couldn't tell how much of their personalities were figments of McKinty's imagination. I love listening to Gerard Doyle, so between his narration and McKinty's writing, I found the book enjoyable. Thankfully, at 7 hrs and 43 mins, it wasn't too long.
September 3, 2015
The Sun Is God by Adrian McKinty is small historical mystery novel, centered around a secluded cult of sun worshipers in Colonial New Guinea in the early 1900s.
A group of nudists, mostly Germans, who live mainly on a diet of coconuts and bananas on the remote island of Kabakon, spend their existence worshiping the sun. Their belief that this extreme lifestyle will somehow grant them immortality and that the outside world can only contaminate their goals. But when the death of one of their members appears to have happened under suspicious circumstances, they find their quiet and hidden lives about to be revealed.
Will Prior is a retired military officer in the British Army who has exiled himself to these remote islands when he is recruited by the German government to investigate the death. The islanders claim the death was caused by malaria but an autopsy revealed something far more dire. The corpse was a victim of drowning.
Prior is sent to the island to uncover the truth, but days pass, he begins to suspect that the islanders are not at all what they appear and he may soon become the next victim.
I am a huge fan of Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy novels of Ireland the times of the Troubles. If you want gritty well written crime novels centered in Ireland at the time when the civil war was raging, then the Sean Duffy novels are for you.
The Sun Is God is a departure from these books and is a stand alone historical mystery that unfortunately lacks the narrative that drives McKinty's other books. Will Prior is a good character and the back story of his time in battle and his subsequent discharge and trouble dealing with what must be post traumatic stress and alcoholism is well structured. Prior would be a good character to create a series around. My issue is that The Sun Is God loses focus when Prior and his group land on the island among the cult. Its as if their addiction to drugs and lack of nutrition creates a daze that the narrative falls into. So that it is difficult to follow. Like trying to make sense from a drunk storyteller. There is a lot of interesting history here, in a forgotten place and time. It might have been better served with a larger novel and deeper detailed.
A small novel like this shouldn't lose its way and McKinty is a far better writer than what this book shows.
A group of nudists, mostly Germans, who live mainly on a diet of coconuts and bananas on the remote island of Kabakon, spend their existence worshiping the sun. Their belief that this extreme lifestyle will somehow grant them immortality and that the outside world can only contaminate their goals. But when the death of one of their members appears to have happened under suspicious circumstances, they find their quiet and hidden lives about to be revealed.
Will Prior is a retired military officer in the British Army who has exiled himself to these remote islands when he is recruited by the German government to investigate the death. The islanders claim the death was caused by malaria but an autopsy revealed something far more dire. The corpse was a victim of drowning.
Prior is sent to the island to uncover the truth, but days pass, he begins to suspect that the islanders are not at all what they appear and he may soon become the next victim.
I am a huge fan of Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy novels of Ireland the times of the Troubles. If you want gritty well written crime novels centered in Ireland at the time when the civil war was raging, then the Sean Duffy novels are for you.
The Sun Is God is a departure from these books and is a stand alone historical mystery that unfortunately lacks the narrative that drives McKinty's other books. Will Prior is a good character and the back story of his time in battle and his subsequent discharge and trouble dealing with what must be post traumatic stress and alcoholism is well structured. Prior would be a good character to create a series around. My issue is that The Sun Is God loses focus when Prior and his group land on the island among the cult. Its as if their addiction to drugs and lack of nutrition creates a daze that the narrative falls into. So that it is difficult to follow. Like trying to make sense from a drunk storyteller. There is a lot of interesting history here, in a forgotten place and time. It might have been better served with a larger novel and deeper detailed.
A small novel like this shouldn't lose its way and McKinty is a far better writer than what this book shows.
May 8, 2015
This McKinty book is a bit of departure from his usual fayre, in both its setting and era. The narrative takes place in 1906 on the German colonial island of Kabakon, part of German New Guinea, and features former British military policeman Will Prior, now a rubber plantation manager, who thanks to his past experience is asked to investigate the death of a member of a group called the Cocovores, a group of nudists who live on the island, worship the sun, and eat nothing but coconut. Bizarre? The fact that the case actually did exist makes it all the more intriguing.
I have issues with many of McKinty's NI based novels, thanks to their far fetched storylines, but I was freed from that this time, and enjoyed what was a pretty short book. McKinty did a pretty good job in bringing the colony, with all its strange ideas and customs to life, as well as portraying the early 20th century hangups and beliefs of Prior and his 'civilised' compatriots, though don't be expecting a neatly tied up ending as you often do in a crime novel, based on fact like this one is.
A novel that I probably wouldn't have bothered with had it not been a 'Daily Deal' from Audible, but one that I found enjoyable.
I have issues with many of McKinty's NI based novels, thanks to their far fetched storylines, but I was freed from that this time, and enjoyed what was a pretty short book. McKinty did a pretty good job in bringing the colony, with all its strange ideas and customs to life, as well as portraying the early 20th century hangups and beliefs of Prior and his 'civilised' compatriots, though don't be expecting a neatly tied up ending as you often do in a crime novel, based on fact like this one is.
A novel that I probably wouldn't have bothered with had it not been a 'Daily Deal' from Audible, but one that I found enjoyable.
January 22, 2015
If you are expecting a novel in the style of his previous work, you are going to be sorely disappointed. On the other hand if you enjoy nudist colonies, descriptions of men genitalia combined with a mystery in German New Guinea, then this is your book. The story is interesting as it is part historical fiction and the setting has some appeal. On the other hand, the story is slow and the ending is too far fetched. A two star is a little too low but a 3 is too high.
September 13, 2016
The pace was way too slow to be satisfying and the ending felt inconclusive. Interesting setting, place, and time; disappointing characters.
May 22, 2015
In his latest novel, Adrian McKinty – one of Northern Ireland’s best crime writers – has taken an unexpected turn away from his usual settings: the trouble torn Belfast of the 1980s and 1990s New York of the Michael Forsythe books.
Admittedly, I was sceptical about The Sun is God which transports the reader back to the turn of the twentieth century, retelling the story of a murder in the South Pacific within a German nudist religious cult. The novel could not be more different to McKinty’s work-to-date in terms of setting and structure but once you get into it – and you will – you’ll find yourself settling down in familiar McKinty territory. What is undeniably similar about this book is the way McKinty effortlessly manages real history within his fictional vision.
The novel is centred on the character of Will Prior, a shell-shocked veteran of the Second Anglo-Boer War. After witnessing a massacre, he disappears to the island of Herbertshohe, where he manages a rubber plantation. On a nearby island, a suspicious death happens to a member of the Cocovore cult and, due to his military expertise, Prior is called upon to investigate the particularly murky and ambiguous mystery.
McKinty’s prose is characteristically fluid, sharp and economical; not a word is wasted in this exceptional mystery in which every possibility is explored. Even if this book was nothing more than a distraction from the Duffy books for the author, it’s well worth following him on his diversion.
Admittedly, I was sceptical about The Sun is God which transports the reader back to the turn of the twentieth century, retelling the story of a murder in the South Pacific within a German nudist religious cult. The novel could not be more different to McKinty’s work-to-date in terms of setting and structure but once you get into it – and you will – you’ll find yourself settling down in familiar McKinty territory. What is undeniably similar about this book is the way McKinty effortlessly manages real history within his fictional vision.
The novel is centred on the character of Will Prior, a shell-shocked veteran of the Second Anglo-Boer War. After witnessing a massacre, he disappears to the island of Herbertshohe, where he manages a rubber plantation. On a nearby island, a suspicious death happens to a member of the Cocovore cult and, due to his military expertise, Prior is called upon to investigate the particularly murky and ambiguous mystery.
McKinty’s prose is characteristically fluid, sharp and economical; not a word is wasted in this exceptional mystery in which every possibility is explored. Even if this book was nothing more than a distraction from the Duffy books for the author, it’s well worth following him on his diversion.
November 24, 2014
Irish crime novelist McKinty turns his hand to something new with this historical mystery based on real events. Set at the dawn of the 20th century, the story features Will Prior, an ex-British Army military police officer who served in the Boer War and has fled to the far Pacific of German New Guinea to escape his nightmares. However, when a man dies under mysterious circumstances on a nearby island inhabited by a colony/cult of nudist "cocovores" (they only eat coconuts), Prior is asked to accompany the local German government representative to investigate.
What follows is a kind of Wicker Man-type investigation, as Prior and the German spent a few days on the island questioning the members of the cult and getting drawn into their odd customs. It's a literally hallucinatory experience, with a moderately interesting outcome. As a mystery, it's fairly mediocre, but as an exploration of a strange cult in a far off corner of the world a century ago, it's moderately interesting. Ultimately, it's probably mainly of interest to those already interested in New Guinea, or the time period.
What follows is a kind of Wicker Man-type investigation, as Prior and the German spent a few days on the island questioning the members of the cult and getting drawn into their odd customs. It's a literally hallucinatory experience, with a moderately interesting outcome. As a mystery, it's fairly mediocre, but as an exploration of a strange cult in a far off corner of the world a century ago, it's moderately interesting. Ultimately, it's probably mainly of interest to those already interested in New Guinea, or the time period.
May 22, 2016
At first I was dubious about reading this book by Adrian McKinty because it is so far in subject matter from his other work: but oh how wrong I was! The Sun is God simply shows how versatile McKinty is in his writing, and also how he calls on his background in philosophy. And the subject matter is not really that far from the detective stories that McKinty writes and is best known for. This time, the mystery is not set in the Troubles of Northern Island, but rather in the Bismarck Archipelago of New Guinea during the early 1900s. There is a mysterious death amongst a colony of sun-worshippers and the local German official and a former English military foot policeman have been sent to a remote island to investigate. The book is based on true events and a little googling helped me to fill in the background to the cult of 'cocovores' around which the story is set. Well done Adrian McKinty.
April 17, 2016
Adrian McKinty is a favourite of mine, and this novel seems to be one of his most popular. So, I read it. It took me two tries to get through it, and although the characters are interestingly written, the story isn't.
Will and Klaus are likeable, but their mission seems pointless from the start. They are quite trapped on the island Kabakon, and the investigation plods along, with little actually happening.
Miss Pullen-Bury is initially annoying, but is a force to be reckoned with throughout, and actually ends up being my favourite character.
But, the book seems largely aimless, and even the end is unsatisfying, so I'm glad it was short, since, for me, it wasn't sweet.
I'll still read more McKinty, but this book was, unfortunately, disappointing.
Will and Klaus are likeable, but their mission seems pointless from the start. They are quite trapped on the island Kabakon, and the investigation plods along, with little actually happening.
Miss Pullen-Bury is initially annoying, but is a force to be reckoned with throughout, and actually ends up being my favourite character.
But, the book seems largely aimless, and even the end is unsatisfying, so I'm glad it was short, since, for me, it wasn't sweet.
I'll still read more McKinty, but this book was, unfortunately, disappointing.
June 17, 2017
An interesting departure for McKinty, this is based on true incidents which only makes it seem weirder. I do find the dream state ramblings a bit overwhelming but given the nature of their diet it seemed to fit rather well.
I prefer his more gritty recent history crime novels but was fascinated by the cult in question. I couldn't help wondering though - 'What sort of novel would Tim Powers have written given these facts?'
I prefer his more gritty recent history crime novels but was fascinated by the cult in question. I couldn't help wondering though - 'What sort of novel would Tim Powers have written given these facts?'
February 19, 2017
Excellent writing but the story didn't grab me. Interesting characters. Great location. Narration was ideal.
I have now read all of McKinty's books. Most are exceptional. This book, although not the staggeringly brilliant Sean Duffy series, is interesting just not my favorite.
I kept wondering if Michael Forsythe would be mentioned as a relative.
I have now read all of McKinty's books. Most are exceptional. This book, although not the staggeringly brilliant Sean Duffy series, is interesting just not my favorite.
I kept wondering if Michael Forsythe would be mentioned as a relative.
February 13, 2015
3.5 stars
I liked this book a lot, but it fell apart at the end. The narrative moved along at a good pace, but then sped up in the last three chapters to a somewhat unsatisfactory resolution of the murder case at the center of the plot.
I liked this book a lot, but it fell apart at the end. The narrative moved along at a good pace, but then sped up in the last three chapters to a somewhat unsatisfactory resolution of the murder case at the center of the plot.
June 13, 2022
Historical fiction t it's best: It really puts you in the 1907 South Seas German colony, and the pace moves along nicely. Literature, not mass-market copy without a word more than 2 syllables, but a well paced, well written , experience.
June 17, 2018
Quite a change from the Sean Duffy series. Still featuring a detective ( of sorts) for whom things don’t go as planned but in a totally different time and place.
September 16, 2020
An ok read but doesn’t really talk about the investigation of the murder that much. I wa shooing to learn more about New Guinea as well...
February 6, 2024
This was a surprisingly good read!!!!
August 31, 2014
The Sun is God is based on the true story of the suspicious death of a member of a strange cult on a small island, Kabakon, in German New Guinea in 1906. Rejecting modern life, the Cocovores believed that they could achieve immortality through sun worship and a strict diet of coconuts and bananas (fruit that grows at the top of trees, nearest to the sun). Whilst most of the case are based on real characters, McKinty sends a fictional, ex-military policeman, Will Prior, to the island to investigate the case. Prior is a veteran of the Boer War, still suffering from post-traumatic stress from the conflict, and a reluctant policeman who’s prone to leap to conclusions and stumble his way through an investigation. The tight knit nature of the small community, their addiction to industrial heroin, and the surfacing of Prior’s malaria fever doesn’t help matters. The strength of the story is the oddity of the case itself, the mix of nicely penned characters, and the dynamic of the religious cult. However, background information on the history of the cult and the suspicious death is a little thin. Curiously for a McKinty book, the telling was slightly detached, almost as if he was mimicking an Edwardian voice, and it’s not until the last few pages when the narrative shifts focus and tense that his usual style kicks in, providing a climax to what had been a rather terse and reserved narrative. Overall an interesting and thoughtful historical crime tale.
January 31, 2016
This is a mystery taking place in German New Guinea the the beginning of the 20th century.
The leader of a cult of "Cocovores" decided that civilization was ending so it would be best to wait it out on this island, worshiping the sun, which was the source of life, and living exclusively on coconuts and bananas (as fruit that were closest to the sun) and hence becoming immortals. Strangely enough, this cult of mostly German followers, actually existed.
A rather washed up, ex military policeman, Will Prior, is asked to go out to the island with a representative of the German military, to look into the death of one of inhabitants of the island.
The author draws what a appears to be a very life-like portrait of what life on the island must have been like--the heat, the constant rain, the unending insects and the feeling of dread as more and more of the details of the lives of the cultists are revealed.
A good read. I didn't really find the change of voice towards the end of the story worked for me, where a different point of view was used from time to time, but I can see why the author chose it.
3.5 stars.
The leader of a cult of "Cocovores" decided that civilization was ending so it would be best to wait it out on this island, worshiping the sun, which was the source of life, and living exclusively on coconuts and bananas (as fruit that were closest to the sun) and hence becoming immortals. Strangely enough, this cult of mostly German followers, actually existed.
A rather washed up, ex military policeman, Will Prior, is asked to go out to the island with a representative of the German military, to look into the death of one of inhabitants of the island.
The author draws what a appears to be a very life-like portrait of what life on the island must have been like--the heat, the constant rain, the unending insects and the feeling of dread as more and more of the details of the lives of the cultists are revealed.
A good read. I didn't really find the change of voice towards the end of the story worked for me, where a different point of view was used from time to time, but I can see why the author chose it.
3.5 stars.
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