The publisher's summary is:

"In a reimagined contemporary Edinburgh, in which a tectonic fault has opened up to produce a new volcano in the Firth of Forth, and where tremors are an everyday occurrence, volcanologist Surtsey makes a shocking discovery. On a clandestine trip to The Inch—the new volcanic island—to meet Tom, her lover and her boss, she finds his lifeless body, and makes the fatal decision to keep their affair, and her discovery of his corpse secret. Desperate to know how he died, but also terrified she'll be exposed, Surtsey's life quickly spirals into a nightmare when someone makes contact—someone who claims to know what she's done."

This led me to imagine I'd be reading a tense thriller in which a brave young vulcanologist in training would be stalked by an evil killer, with the probable involvement of a live volcano.

It's not that kind of book. In many ways, it's much better. Most of the “fault lines” are emotional rather than geophysical. It’s introspective, personal and deeply emotional.

Way back in Chapter One, when I was still living off the publisher's branding rather than the author's text, I found the novel hard to connect to. There I was, at the beginning of a promising thriller which opened with our heroine being where she shouldn't be, discovering a dead body and running away unseen.

Hours later, in the middle of the night our, by now high on grass, heroine receives a text on a phone only she is supposed to know exists and which she retrieved from the dead body.

It's a moment of high drama. I should be tense. But the text message takes my badly wired head to the wrong place. The message reads:

"I know you were there".

And my mind, without hesitation, provided the reply she would make if she were a sassy American Urban Fantasy heroine rather than a Scottish vulcanologist:

"But do you know what I did last summer?"

Sadly, the heroine's response was "Who is this?" and I was unable to continue with the novel until I'd given the voices in my head time to settle down and pretend to be grown-ups.

The chapters that followed didn't pull me into some kind of Clarice Starling versus Hannibal Lecter cat and mouse thing. Instead I learned more about our heroine Surtsey: her relationship with her mother, who is in a hospice dying of cancer in her forties, with her sister who is losing herself in casual sex and alcohol and only really comes alive while serving behind a bar, with her he's-cute-and-convenient classmate/lover and with her she-always-has-great-grass roommate.

It was well written, especially the relationship with the dying mother and with the if-I-ignore-it-it-isn't-really-happening sister. The love, grief, shame, anger and helplessness were delivered with an authentic emotional punch.

That's what carried me to the 65% mark in the book.

I abandoned it after another of Surtsey's paranoid, anger and fear-driven violent outbursts.

I realised I don't really care what happens to this woman. I feel sorry for the pain the deaths of those she loves is causing her but to me, she seems selfish, irresponsible, angry and violent. She uses the people around her to meet her needs without really connecting with them and she hides from her emotions and the consequences of her actions by staying drunk or high or both.

It's nicely drawn but it doesn't make me root for her.

I'll read more of Doug Johnstone's work, but this one isn't for me.
( )

I wasn't completely certain what to expect from Fault Lines but it intrigued me so much, and given that I'd heard some great things about it, I knew I wanted to give it a go. I wasn't disappointed, in fact I loved this book.

Surtsey McKenzie lives in Edinburgh. But this is not Edinburgh as we know it. In this Edinburgh there is a volcanic island in the Firth of Forth called The Inch. Surtsey is part of a volcanology team studying the island and one day she discovers the body of her lover, Tom, there. This sets in motion a chain of events in which Surtsey finds herself lurching from one shocking event to another.

This is such a clever and engrossing read. The different, but so similar, landscape is fascinating and the idea that there could be a volcanic island in the UK and earthquakes happening all the time is a little freaky. I think what worked so well for me was that it was so plausible in that it was worked into the story as just part of everyday life, something that the locals saw every day.

Then there's Surtsey, with the fabulous name (she was named after an Icelandic volcanic island). She's mid-20s, pretty difficult to like, prickly and as volatile as a volcano, and yet I did rather like her. She's very strong, very confident and I liked that about her. I didn't take to any of the characters particularly, but I don't care about that and don't need to like characters when the story is so strong and so well plotted.

Fault Lines is a thriller and a murder mystery. It really did thrill me. It is a short read at 215 pages and I shot through it. Short chapters helped as it was always a case of just one more, just another one. I was so drawn into the suspense and needed to know what was going to happen.

The ending was a real wow ending. Not something I was expecting to happen at all, (although perhaps I should have) and a very imaginative way to round up one particular character's role. I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this imaginative and intense story. ( )

A tectonic plate has opened up in the Firth of Forth, outside of Edinburgh. This change has caused daily tremors to be felt throughout the nearby towns and created a volcanic island, known as The Inch. This island is a source of intrigue for the local geologists and volcanologists. Surtsey is one of those volcanologists. She is studying and working towards her PhD with a small group of fellow students under the direction of Tom Lawrie.

One night Surtsey takes a trip out to The Inch to meet Tom, who is not just her boss, but also her lover. When she gets there she finds him lifeless on the beach with his head smashed in. In order to keep her private life private Surtsey lies to the police about their relationship and her whereabouts that night. Things quickly spiral out of control. On top of being unable to stop the police from seeing her as a suspect, Surtsey must also face the reality that her mother is dying. Can Surtsey balance a deteriorating personal life while trying to prove she’s not a murderer? Who really killed Tom?

Doug Johnstone creates a captivating work of crime fiction in FAULT LINES. The reader tags along with suspect number one, Surtsey, as she fumbles through an attempt to cover up her relationship with a now murdered married man. Her lies to the police about her whereabouts the night of Tom’s death quickly sweep her on to the list of possible murderers and leaves the reader begging her to tell the truth. In addition to the murder investigation, Surtsey must also come to terms with her mother’s nearing death and the impact this has on her relationship with her sister. Johnstone is able to weave together these dominating plot lines in Surtsey’s life and create a seamless story. FAULT LINES is filled with edge of your seat moments, heartbreak, and the possibilities that can spiral from telling a lie.

Thank you so much to Orenda Books and Doug Johnstone for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the fabulous Anne Cater for setting up another #teamorenda tour full of fantastic bloggers! Please be sure to check out the rest of the blogs showcasing FAULT LINES on its blog tour! ( )