- Colum McCann's novels are always worth reading. He tells big stories full of big characters and fills them with ruminations about virtually every dimension of humanity. Twist is no exception.
- The story is told by Anthony Fennell, an Irish author and journalist who is researching an essay on undersea cables that link the entire world's internet and media communications. Unfortunately the cables are frequently snapped by vessels, debris, eruptions and earthquakes. Specialised boats staffed by a team of mechanics and technicians are always on call to locate and fix the broken cables.
- A cable has snapped off the Congo in East Africa, downing the internet for virtually the entire African continent. A repair boat departs from Cape Town in South Africa, captained by John Conway, an Irish seaman and expert diver. He is highly respected by his team. But is Conway really who he proclaims to be? That mystery lies at the heart of the novel.
- A cable has snapped off the Congo in East Africa, downing the internet for virtually the entire African continent. A repair boat departs from Cape Town in South Africa, captained by John Conway, an Irish seaman and expert diver. He is highly respected by his team. But is Conway really who he proclaims to be? That mystery lies at the heart of the novel.
- We are reminded of the the greed, the mining, and the plunder by the colonialists against the impoverished indigenous tribes of Africa. The discarded wires, for example, left abandoned by the repair boats are always melted down by the villagers to help them buy food.
- After the Congo expedition is successfully completed Conway suddenly disappears, never to be found again. But we readers join him in Alexandria in Egypt, where he's posing as a local fisherman. He’s training himself in deep diving where he'll be able to hold his breath for long, ten minute or so, periods. He intends to bomb a number of cables using a thermite mixture.
- After the Congo expedition is successfully completed Conway suddenly disappears, never to be found again. But we readers join him in Alexandria in Egypt, where he's posing as a local fisherman. He’s training himself in deep diving where he'll be able to hold his breath for long, ten minute or so, periods. He intends to bomb a number of cables using a thermite mixture.
- And he’s successful. But then he disappears and no body is ever found.
- The media across the world widely covers these 'terrorist bombings', and five months later report that Conway's skeleton has been found washed up on a beach in Northern Libya.
- The media across the world widely covers these 'terrorist bombings', and five months later report that Conway's skeleton has been found washed up on a beach in Northern Libya.
- There are other dimensions to the story: partners, lovers, and children particularly, that add richness and texture to it.
- But, in the end, the question most readers will ask is: what on earth is the meaning of all this? What is Colum McCann's point? What, even, was Conway really on about? Why would the temporary destruction of the internet, of worldwide communication systems generally, be anything more than an insane and petty act of revenge? An anti-colonialist gesture? Sure, OK, but...
- An enjoyable tale, but it's just adventure writing. That's about it.
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