I read books to learn, to incite curiosities, and to arouse my soul. The Nameless Ones stirred something in me.
Rather than regurgitate this story’s content and call it a review, I choose to discuss its underlying theme.
I still struggle to fully understand the motivations and constructs of war, the longstanding feuds, the steady clash between neighboring clans and cultures. I look at the constant maneuvers like the ever-changing landscape of a furious chessboard, the innocent and not so innocent victims, the fallout, and the vicious cycles of revenge. All to what end? I see no winners, only the inherited madness to play a game of murder and damage on repeat.
Though John Connolly’s book is a work of fiction it explores these subjects with a stark real-ness. Not watching the dry machinations of governmental bodies, but seeing the pain and long-lasting effects of the people caught up in giant webs of hate and destruction on individual levels.
After closing the book I was left with this thought . . . Many are long affected by the violence they never asked for or wanted any participation in, people simply trying to exist on someone else’s chessboard. Atrocities are not easy to look at, but what are the consequences for consistently looking away?
I’d like to thank the author, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Nameless Ones for an honest review.
