Reviewed by Ian Lipke
It’s not a new idea. Writers of many generations have considered the tale that is told when a young innocent decides to fix a worldwide problem only to discover that her colleagues are not as innocent as she first thought. Now, an innocent girl is on the run.
Meg Maher joins a peace protest in the firm belief that, while protesting is not something she would normally do, she believes that making a noise to show her chagrin is essential. Then a bomb is exploded; people are beginning to be hurt; it is all a huge mistake. When the authorities label the protest as a terrorist attack, she realizes that police forces across the land are convinced that any day they will be attacked. Second, because Meg, in her naivety, receives the blame for ‘loose lips’ her colleagues are hunting her with vengeance in their hearts.
A sticky situation to be in.
Terrified and alone Meg turns for help to her father. It is only after she has revealed all that she realises she has made him a criminal. He is now in danger too. Meg is forced into questioning everything she has always accepted as truth. Was the group infiltrated by ‘nasties’ from the beginning? Or has somebody twisted a peaceful protest to make it a foul deed?
The book does not spend too much time on philosophical argument. The focus is on first, convincing Meg that she has no alternative to reporting her situation to the police, and second, much as she rejects the police force as a viable solution to her problems, they are the only organised body fit to save her.
Meg’s original idea was a fight for change. The thrust of this part of the book has significantly altered. The story becomes a fight for survival. This change in emphasis calls on the skills of a talented writer. As Michael Brissenden reveals, ‘Where Truth Ends is a thriller for our times, a compulsive story with heart and purpose, and a powerful examination of a family under pressure.’
The steely character of Meg Mahon is evident in the second half of the book. Tied up, with tape wound tightly to block her vision, and with a sharp need for Ventolin, Meg refuses to surrender. She deduces that the truck in which she is held must have travelled only about fifteen minutes before the men stopped to change its character. She compiled the evidence she needed to decide that her captors were not police officers. Meg’s cool logic differs from the whimpering mess her fellow captive Tessa was reduced to. It is this same logic that allows Meg to sort through her memories and recall details of the hut she had spent so much time in while a ‘terrorist’ and a captive.
Mark Smith treats us to the more dramatic, or glamorous, side of kidnapping. Courageous captives bolster the lagging spirits of other prisoners – and he does this well. But he does not forget the little things – ‘I really need to pee’.
This author is in full charge of his subject.
Where Truth Ends
(2026)
by Mark Smith
Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 978 1 7617 7662 5
$34.99; 335 pp