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Isolation

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When an office worker receives a photograph of a grisly murder scene, he thinks it's a prank, not the start of a killing spree where he knows every victim.
 
Nigel Randolph, a solitary man suffering from mental health issues, is implicated in a macabre set of killings, drawn into a dark world of subterfuge and deception, which leaves him questioning his own sanity.
  
As the police investigation progresses, Randolph discovers evidence that he may have been experimented upon as a child during radical hypnotherapy sessions, and is now victim of a high-level cover-up.

Only if he can piece together what happened to him during the controversial psychiatric treatment of his youth, can he ever hope to find the truth.

213 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2017

11 people are currently reading
37 people want to read

About the author

Neil Randall

11 books51 followers
Neil Randall is the author of the novels I Kill Dogs (Therefore I am...), The Belgrade School Shootings, The Professional Mourner, Three Days with Adrianna, Bestial Burdens, The Girl in the Empty Room, Isolation, The Holy Drinker, The Butterfly and the Wheel, Trust No One and A Quiet Place to Die, and of the short story collections, A Fancy Dress Party at a Russian Lunatic Asylum, Tales of Ordinary Sadness, and The Nine Lives of Jacob Fallada. His poetry and shorter fiction have been published in the UK, US, India, Canada and Australia.

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5 stars
15 (29%)
4 stars
13 (25%)
3 stars
6 (11%)
2 stars
12 (23%)
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5 (9%)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Belén.
118 reviews41 followers
November 30, 2016
This book had all the things I usually love to read about: policemen, murders, serial killers, and to top it all a policeman who has a record of mental illness.

Be that as it may, I couldn't help but feeling a bit annoyed by the way some events occurred in the book. There were some things that seemed a bit pushy. For example:
-the way the pictures are introduced in the text made me think dude, I'm not an idiot
-the relationship between Nigel and Liz was so unexpected and happened so fast.
-the horned owl. OMG. I've had it with that symbol. The thing that annoyed me the most about this is how Liz (who had JUST MET Nigel btw) told him what that symbol meant.
-how fast Nigel trusts Liz. That was just... ugh. again, dude, not an idiot

In spite of those items I have to say this is a very short, readable book. Neil Randall has a way with words. He made me enter whatever world he introduced, whether it was the story itself or excerpts of books, online stories, the stories Mrs Forbes-Powers told her son. Very good. All of them very good.
The reason I'm not giving it four stars is the ending. Randall, seriously.
Profile Image for Linda Strong.
3,878 reviews1,706 followers
February 5, 2017
Nigel receives a picture in the mail ... a picture of a horrific murder scene showing 2 women brutally killed. Thinking this is prank, he tosses the picture and goes about his day.

But this is the start of a killing spree ... and he knows all the victims.

Could this all be the result of experimental treatment for mental illness he had as a young teenager?

The premise of this story is good. However, there are many parts that seem to be rambling. He's robbed, he's beaten, he's thrown down some stairs and held captive in the basement .. right along with the resident's son.... he miraculously escapes only to be picked up by a private investigator who happens to drive through the neighborhood.

I understand this is fiction, but there has to be some kind of credibility, plausibility.. and there is none. I didn't connect with any of the characters.

I wish to thank the author / Crooked Cat Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of ISOLATION. The opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Profile Image for Louise Wilson.
3,591 reviews1,681 followers
December 28, 2016
An office worker receives a photograph of a murde run scene but he thinks that it is just someone playing a prank. This is the start of a killing spree where he knows every victim.

Nigel is a solitary man who has a history of mental health problems is implicated in a set of killings which end up making him question his own sanity. Nigel finds evidence of radical hypnotherapy sessions that he might have been experimented on when he was a child. Can he piece together what happened to him during the controversial psychiatric treatment and find out the truth.

I quite enjoyed this novel about a serial killer.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Crooked Cat Publishing and the author Neil Randall for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for CL.
773 reviews26 followers
December 18, 2016
A young man receives a picture at work of a murder scene with two bodies and when it turns out to be a real murder he reports it to the police only to have the victims be people he knows from his past. Here the story goes from a single crime to people he knows turning up dead as he runs all over trying to figure out what is happening. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.
Profile Image for Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime.
5,621 reviews326 followers
November 15, 2016
Review: ISOLATION by Neil Randall

ISOLATION is a sure-fire page-turner, constantly suffused with the questions of "what next" and "what really happened" inextricably intertwined. Readers will be on the edge of their seats trying to ascertain the facts, and beyond that, the truth of the facts. Fans of the 1960's TV series "The Prisoner" will witness similar overtones, and literate readers will see glimpses of the nightmarish dystopia of "1984," and of the unspeakable mind-control experimentation of "Firestarter." But ISOLATION stands on its own substantial merits, a novel which will ring long in memory.
Profile Image for Bill.
1,141 reviews190 followers
March 23, 2017
The front cover of Isolation claims that it is "A heart stopping thriller. Shutter Island Meets Memento." That was enough to get my interest.
However, Shutter island & Memento are highly entertaining stories & this is not. Neither is it heart stopping or thrilling. It starts well enough with a man working in a dull complaints office wondering why he is receiving information on gruesome murders. His character background is reasonably well handled & there are some good moments to be had here and there. Unfortunately the writing is often clumsy & awkward & the plot has a very uneven pace. On the bright side, at least it was short.
Profile Image for C.J. Sutton.
Author 2 books12 followers
April 30, 2018
A psychological thriller that will hook you in from page one. Randall writes with such ferocity that the original characters become acquaintances you will want to follow to the end. Part Shutter Island, part One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest, I needed to finish this book to see what would happen to our narrator Nigel. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a deep, dark look at the human condition.
Profile Image for Marvin.
1,414 reviews5,408 followers
December 29, 2016
In the world of suspense and mystery, plausibility is an big issue. The task for most mystery writers is to make the implausible plausible. A good mystery novel is often loaded with coincidences and those coincidences must be such that the reader is willing to suspend belief at least for a little while as the author patches them up to create a believable whole and a believable conclusion.

The issues with Isolation is all about plausibility. The plot starts with an unlikely premise and is then loaded with one thing on top of another. To a certain extent it works. The author, Neil Randall, has a lightning style that keeps throwing weird things at you and leave you wanting for more...and a resolution. The set-up is certainly irresistible. Nigel Randolph is an unassuming man who works in a government office taking safety complaints. He receives a photograph of what appears to be a murder scene. At first he thinks it is a prank but changes his mind when the exact same scene shows up on the news. He reports it to the police and becomes more involved when it is discovered the two murdered women were,along with Nigel, part of a therapy group ten years earlier when he was having mental health problems. Pretty soon there are other deaths of people Nigel knew and they all seem to be related to that therapy group.

There are other strange clues. A drawing of an great horned owl keeps showing up coupled with a Native American myth. A new girl friend comes into his life while an old girl friend is writing things about Nigel that is the opposite of what he remembered. And of course, he is quickly becoming the police's prime suspect. It all mounts up quite well until a situation involving Nigel going to a house to investigate a complaint really stretches my ability to suspend disbelief. It never quite recovers from that point. But the storytelling skills of Randall is good enough to keep my interest until...

The ending. Oh, that ending. I certainly do not want to ruin it but it is a cliche. It explains the piling of coincidence but in the least original way possible. What the author meant to be a shock become merely a groan and deadens any enthusiastic for wanting the author to wrap up all the loose ends. It's too bad since I really did like the build-up regarding of the heightening of the implausibility. Yet that style of build-up always risks falling off the edge and this edge is off the Empire State Building, so to speak.

It isn't that an ending like this can't work. It simply doesn't. In order for it to work we need an inkling of a clue so when we get there we can say, "Why didn't I see that coming." We do not get it. What should feel like a surprise feels more like a cheat. It is too bad because the plot really grabbed me at least for a while. Neil Randall writes well and to some extent there was good structuring of his plot. Yet if an author piles on the implausible there must be a climax that pulls it off. That is what's missing and why I can not recommend Isolation
Profile Image for Lynn Mccarthy.
658 reviews27 followers
July 21, 2017
Sorry did not finish read 45% then gave up :(The storyline was very confusing.

Thank you Netgalley the Publisher and Author for a chance to read this book
Profile Image for Diana Febry.
Author 21 books177 followers
February 23, 2017
I spotted this book on twitter and unlike several reviewers I thought it a corker of a find. One of the best "mess with your mind" thrillers I've read in a while. The central characters were solid and believable and I had no problem following the story as the situation Nigel found himself in became more and more bizarre and questionable. I was intrigued and guessing throughout this fast paced read.
Highly recommend to readers who like thrillers where things are not as they seem.
Profile Image for Michael Steed.
21 reviews2 followers
October 10, 2016
'I might be insane but I'm not stupid', came to my mind while reading this book, and the predicament that surrounds the main character. This 'Psychological Thriller' which includes influences of ' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', and 'Shutter Island';  will interest anyone who has either read the books or watched these films. Bringing to the fore the silent pain that people with Mental Health conditions endure.
The main character of the story Nigel Barrowman, an intelligent young man, hard working, comes in to work early, last one to leave; obviously performs far beyond his job description and the ability of his Line Manager, and yet finds himself in a junior ranked position within the Local Authority.
Nigel  is seemingly an insular person with a relatively repetitious , and boring administrators job. One particular morning, very much like any other  opens up the mail to find a macabre picture of a murder with an enclosed threat. Nigel troubled by this, and the breaking news story in the media of a murder; which incidentally appears to be identical to the picture he was sent, reports the incident to the Police. The events lead to more murders, and tenuous links to his past are used by the Police resulting in Nigel becoming the 'Number One Suspect!'
Nigel confused by the unfolding events of Kidnapping, Assaults, references to 'Native American myths' and  links to his past Psychiatric Treatment; tries to piece together old memories of fellow patients, and recollections of what went on within his group therapy sessions.
This really is a great story, loved reading it! It worked for me for me for two  reasons;  firstly the underpinning back story line of the main character, which the Author teases the reader with by drip feeding various  disclosures of Nigel's past events and actions;secondly the pace of the narrative which keeps changing from one of a mellow pace in some scenes, and goes though the gears the next, dovetailing nicely to the eventual ending.
If I was pushed to find one main criticism to make about the whole book, its the somewhat abrupt ending, but on balance works due to eventual conclusion.
Is he really insane, or is it the system? No spoilers here, you'll just have to read it for yourselves.

https://booksandblarney.wordpress.com/
Profile Image for Kate.
606 reviews579 followers
February 5, 2017
Not going to review this on my blog due to low rating. Really unusual and highly unbelievable plot. Disjointed and chaotic, I found it really hard to read it.
Profile Image for Rowena.
Author 5 books136 followers
April 28, 2017
I know I've read a good book when I continue thinking about it way after I finished it - and this is one of those books. This is not your typical psychological thriller, instead it goes deeper, mining areas of the mind, memory, experiences, blurring the lines between reality and illusion. Randall has a clear, crisp style and has created a gripping page turner, however it was the stories within stories that really impressed me. Isolation is a distorted journey for those that prefer discovery than the guided tour.
Profile Image for Katharine Johnson.
Author 15 books75 followers
March 5, 2017
I was completely absorbed by this. It's nightmarish, psychological and very cleverly crafted. Nigel finds himself trapped in a world where things happen before they really happen and people aren't who they appear to be - including, it seems, himself. I really didn't know how it would end but it all made perfect sense when it did.
Profile Image for Nancy.
Author 14 books81 followers
March 11, 2017
I doubt I will ever use the word nightmare again in any glib way. In ‘Isolation’ Nigel has the most freakish nightmare ever, one that’s irresolvable. The writing is powerful, scary and compelling. I was rooting for the ending to be different but could sense the way it was heading in a definite bleak direction. Bleak is a word which appears earlier in the novel and it has many bleak aspects, yet it was hard to put down once started. It’s another Crooked Cat Novel that crosses many genres and sub-genres and is thrilling from page 1. Crimes abound with a plethora of mangled bodies but that brings us back to deciding as the reader- what is real and what imagined?


Profile Image for Wendy Unsworth.
Author 8 books161 followers
November 23, 2016
Monday morning for Nigel Barrowman, conscientious office worker for the District Council of Ilford, finds him at his desk and on time, as usual. It should be another very ordinary day, except in the post is an envelope addressed to Nigel and inside that envelope is a very disturbing photograph. When the news that evening reports a grisly double murder Nigel recognises the scene of the crime from the photograph and decides he must go to the police.

The authorities are quite sceptical at first and Nigel is wary that he is coming across as 'some kind of weirdo', a time-waster, especially when his line manager, Michael, tells the attending police officer that he is sure the photograph was just a practical joke.

Far from being a joke, Nigel's ordinary life rapidly descends into chaos. A strange connection to ancient Native American Indian folklore becomes apparent and then almost an avalanche of accusations, missing people and murders. Most disturbing of all is that everything and everyone involved seem to link back to a dark time in Nigel's life when he was part of a group of psychiatric patients undergoing experimental treatment.

As these characters from the past reappear in his life, Nigel struggles to separate truth from lies and deceit and fantasy.

Isolation is a disturbing story. Beginning with such an ordinary, believable and, to many I would suspect, mind-numbingly recogisable start to the working week, it becomes at first alarming but then bizarre. At one point I was thinking, no, this is too weird! But then the weirdness itself becomes intriguing, as how can the story possible pan out?

The answer is as chilling as it is sad and is left, to a certain extent, for the reader to make up their own mind.

With many thanks - I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Lisa Robbins.
417 reviews11 followers
December 19, 2016
Nigel receives an interesting package addressed to him at his government job, and he gets sucked into a bizarre murder mystery. There are indications that it is somehow related to the psychiatric treatment he received as a young adult. Is his life in danger? Will he be next? The intrigue continues to grow as each day passes and the bodies keep piling up. I enjoyed this book and the trials and tribulations Nigel went through trying to figure out how all of these murders were related to him. The ending threw me for an absolute loop! Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this exciting thriller!
Profile Image for Fiona Wilson.
Author 2 books57 followers
January 18, 2017
I am afraid this book just wasn't for me. The coincidences throughout went from strange to plain silly, and the ending was such an anticlimax. The beginning had so much potential but unfortunately, for me, after that it failed to capture my attention.

Copy received via NetGalley.
Profile Image for Danielle Ciesielski.
8 reviews
March 12, 2017
It's exhausting

The story line was decent up until a point where it became more hard to believe all of the events. Coupled with the grammatical errors, and the multiple mini stories involved, i found it far fetched and hard to keep up with.
724 reviews11 followers
October 26, 2016
Really struggled to read this book and only finished it because I don't like not giving a book a proper try. Didn't enjoy it all . Very confusing storyline - never sure if everything was really happening to the main character or all in his head.

117 reviews2 followers
June 27, 2019
Interesting plot.

Well quite a thriller, it seems Nigel is the product of some extreme hypnotherapy. Many twists and turns and when you think you have figured out the plot another twist begins. You will not be prepared for the ending.
Profile Image for Trina.
828 reviews9 followers
January 19, 2017
I received this arc from Netgalley.

Major disappointment. There were times when I almost gave up on this book but pushed on, hoping for a twist to save it. That did not happen. The ending pretty much leaves you hanging. As the saying goes, once burned, twice shy. I will avoid this author in the future.
Profile Image for Veracious Reads.
162 reviews15 followers
January 30, 2017
Isolation started with a strong premise right from page one. I was intrigued and kept reading, trying to understand where the plot was going. Even when there were so many warped ideas thrown into the plot, I didn't know whether I was being mocked as a reader or simply being taken on a ride.

A ride that I didn't enjoy till the end.

The cover of Isolation mentions Shutter Island & Memento - two of my favorites- a book and a movie. However, the basic and the most merging concept in both these favorites is that of 'plausibility'. In the great big reveal in the end of both, every thing makes sense.

Every clue is valid.
Every detail come back to validate what a reader/watcher had missed.
And the twist leaves you gasping or with a mouth wide open to think again of all that happened.

To be honest, Isolation lacked plausibility. It was really difficult to make out the connection between Nigel and the other characters. I must say, the writing was great, but the plot achieved very less of what I was expected.

I wanted to be blown away! Is it too much to ask?
Profile Image for Helga Nel.
44 reviews
February 8, 2017
I have to say that I do not usually do this but I really struggled to read this book and truth be told did not finish the last 25% of if. The storyline was very confusing and I was not able to connect to any of the characters. Was the whole story in the main characters head?? I really didn't enjoy it all. Sorry.
Profile Image for Lindsay.
1,165 reviews
July 17, 2017
Dark, confusing yet compelling

We are given over to the point of view of Nigel a council office worker with historic mental health issues.
What starts off as a photo of a disturbing murder scene provides flashes of Nigel's past with treatments to help him in his illness.
This is a clever imaginative story that changes direction many times.
A good read.
Profile Image for Sang.
235 reviews
October 27, 2016
***NetGalley ARC***
Very readable. And ultimately, very disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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