Out of the Blackout

By Robert Barnard

With the Nazis bombing London on a nightly basis, many working-class families sent their children to the comparative safety of the countryside. When the Blitz ended, the families came for their kids . . . but no one ever came for Simon Thorn. His name appears on no list of the evacuated children. And none of his meagre belongings offer any clues to his origins.

Now an adult, newly moved to London, Simon is puzzled by an odd sense of familiarity when he walks down certain streets. He remembers his years of terrible nightmares—nightmares that would cause him to wake up screaming, terrifying his bewildered foster parents. And he resolves, once and for all, to find out where he originally came from . . . even as everything he uncovers suggests that, really, he doesn’t want to know.

Widely praised for his deliciously, maliciously witty mysteries, the multi-award-winning Robert Barnard takes a decidedly different tack in this fascinating novel of wartime London and the dark side of identity.

‘An engrossing tale of a man’s search for his identity and his discovery of an alarming past’ Publishers Weekly

‘There are shrewd characterisations and villains aplenty in this oddly affecting tale’ Time

‘Barnard untangles his riddle with great skill, and I suspect he is going to outwit all but a handful of readers’ New York Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Feb 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781447240082

Robert Barnard

Robert Barnard (1936-2013) was awarded the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Nero Wolfe Award, as well as the Agatha and Macavity awards. An eight-time Edgar nominee, he was a member of Britain's distinguished Detection Club, and, in May 2003, he received the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement in mystery writing. 

Reviews for Out of the Blackout

[grundlecat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent mystery!

[matke-261098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A five-year-old boy who calls himself Simon Thorn arrives in the English countryside, having been evacuated from London during the height of the blitz. He's taken in by a loving childless couple, the Cutheridges.But Simon has no papers and no record of him can be found anywhere. The Cutheridges are so pleased to have a charming, amiable boy to care for, that they don't press too hard to find out the particulars of his background.As Simon grows up, he wonders about his origins and why he had recurring nightmares for about a year after his evacuation. Eventually he painstakingly pieces together some clues and sets out to solve the mystery of his birth.Not an ordinary mystery by any stretch, this is more of an exploration of identity, and the possible value of determining one's roots. Barnard has an interesting idea here and develops it fairly well. More realistic than emotionally satisfying in a dramatic sense.

[pdebolt_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Simon Thorn arrives as a child with other children who have been evacuated from London during the WWII bombing, but he has no official identity papers. As an adult, he returns to London and his dim memories of an early childhood there to unravel the mystery of his missing parentage. I didn't find this an enthralling book, but I did finish it. It is, in my opinion, a mediocre book.