Pendulum by Adam Hamdy will be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 9 January.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of brilliant library staff from across the UK.
WIN 10 copies of the brilliant high-octane thriller Pendulum for your reading group when you visit our Noticeboard! Take a look at these discussion questions for your reading group (SPOILER warning).
Pendulum
You wake. Confused. Disorientated.
A noose is round your neck.
You are bound, standing on a chair.
All you can focus on is the man in the mask tightening the rope.
You are about to die.
John Wallace has no idea why he has been targeted. No idea who his attacker is. No idea how he will prevent the inevitable.
Then the pendulum of fate swings in his favour.
He has one chance to escape, find the truth and halt his destruction.
But with a killer on his tail, everything can change with one swing of this deadly pendulum…
You have one chance. Run.
Selection panel review
Our library reading panel loved Pendulum – here are some of their comments:
“John Wallace wakes up finding himself bound and hooded and things go downhill from there; a noose is forced around his neck and a stranger in his flat proceeds to hang him. John has no idea who is doing this and why! This is just the beginning of a ‘rip roaring’ adventure. You can tell this is written by a screenplay writer as it is brilliantly described, very easy to visualise and reads like you are watching a movie. I loved it; it’s pacey, thrilling, edge of your seat storytelling at its best.”
“The sheer size of this made me wonder if it would hold my interest for the whole running length. But the first chapter is an absolute corker, as we interrupt a murder attempt as it is taking place, a man being forced to hang himself as his murderer looks on, in his own flat. It’s what you’d call ‘high octane’ in a film, adrenaline filled, as the main character also has to be. The poor guy, running (often literally) from one murder attempt to the next as he struggles to convince anyone he was not suicidal. I did, at times, wonder if John Wallace is more Action Man than Everyman to escape death so frequently, but I really came to like John and the other characters he meets, some of whom you start to like and then find that, Game of Thrones-like, they are not to last until the final pages. It’s rather violent at times, including a Terminator 2 like asylum escape, weapons, and fights, and nobody is safe from the killer. I fully enjoyed the non-stop pursuit and manhunt, murder and intrigue. It was like a mix of action movies stirred together to make a glorious cocktail of a thriller.”
About the author
Adam Hamdy is an author, screenwriter and filmmaker who has worked with producers and studios on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to his own original work, Adam has adapted a number of comic books and novels for the screen, including the forthcoming film version of David Mitchell’s novel, Number9Dream.
A word from Adam
“When I was growing up, South Ruislip Library was a glass-panelled gateway to countless worlds and gave me access to books my family simply couldn’t afford. My own children are thrilled by their weekly library trips because they know they’ll be coming home with a stack of adventures.”
Get involved
Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 9 January to hear a live interview with Adam talking about his book.
Have you read Pendulum? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter or follow author Adam Hamdy. You can take a look at what other readers thought, or leave your own review.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.
