Claymore Straker's Journey - The Abrupt Physics of Dying

Claymore Straker is the main character in Paul Hardisty's Straker series, which is published by Orenda Books. These are action-packed, and also thought-provoking, environmental thrillers. With each book, I have followed Straker's emotional & ripping rollercoaster journey, and I have learnt so much about environmental issues and political climates around the world too.

There are four books in the Straker series so far - An Abrupt Physics of Dying, The Evolution of Fear, Reconciliation for the Dead and, recently published on 30 May 2018, Absolution. I am a huge fan of these books and recommend them highly!!

Today, Paul Hardisty talks about Claymore Straker's Journey through his first book, The Abrupt Physics of Dying.

Here's a little about the book first:
Claymore Straker is trying to forget a violent past. Working as an oil company engineer in the wilds of Yemen, he is hijacked at gunpoint by Islamic terrorists. Clay has a choice: help uncover the cause of a mysterious sickness afflicting the village of Al Urush, close to the company's oil-processing facility, or watch Abdulkader, his driver and close friend, die.
As the country descends into civil war and village children start dying, Clay finds himself caught up in a ruthless struggle between opposing armies, controllers of the country's oil wealth, Yemen's shadowy secret service, and rival terrorist factions.
As Clay scrambles to keep his friend alive, he meets Rania, a troubled journalist. Together, they try to uncover the truth about Al Urush. But nothing in this ancient, unforgiving place is what it seems. Accused of a murder he did not commit, put on the CIA's most-wanted list, Clay must come to terms with his past and confront the powerful forces that want him dead.
Gritty, gripping and shocking, The Abrupt Physics of Dying will not only open your eyes, but keep them glued to the page until the final, stunning denouement is reached.

And now over to Paul:

"The first book of the series, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, is set in Yemen in 1994 as the civil war erupts. I was there at the time, and wanted to write something that would capture the time, the sheer chaos and terror of the place, and the really bad stuff I saw. I was working on it for ten years, on and off, but it wasn’t until I got to Australia that it really came together. 

Clay is in Yemen working as an engineer with the burgeoning oil industry, in the loneliest place he can find, trying to escape his brutal past - trying to escape himself.  There he meets Rania, a beguiling, troubled journalist who is researching the Islamic uprising in the country. She is Muslim, he atheist, a scarred veteran of South Africa’s war in Angola, haunted by the memories of what he saw and did. 

As Yemen descends into chaos, and kids start dying in the villages close to the oil company’s operations, the pair are thrown together in a search for the truth. Their journey begins."

The Abrupt Physics of Dying was one of the first books I reviewed on Off-the-Shelf Books. 
You can find my review here.  

About Paul Hardisty

Read about Paul Hardisty's life experiences and qualifications, and you'll understand why he writes his Straker books!

Canadian by birth, Paul Hardisty has spent 25 years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist. He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, mapped geology in Eastern Turkey (where he was befriended by PKK revels) and rehabilitated water wells in the wilds of Africa. He was in Ethiopia in 1991 as the Mengistu regime fell, and was bumped from one of the last flights out of Addis Ababa by bureaucrats and their families fleeing the rebels. In 1993 he survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana’a, and was one of the last Westerners out of Yemen before the outbreak of the 1994 civil war. Paul is a university professor and Director of Australia’s national land, water ecosystems and climate adaptation research programmes. He is a sailor, a private pilot, keen outdoorsman, conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia with his family.

Follow Claymore Straker's Journey

To learn more about all of the Claymore Straker books, visit:

Monday 2nd July - @Lizzy11268

Wednesday 4th July - @dakegra

Thursday 5th July - @grabthisbook

Friday 6th July - @sjroth21

You can find Paul Hardisty on Twitter here. Plus check out the Orenda Books website too!

The Evolution of Fear by Paul E. Hardisty - BLOG TOUR REVIEW

I am delighted to be today's stop on the BLOG TOUR for Paul E. Hardisty's The Evolution of Fear, which was published in paperback on 5th May 2016 by Orenda Books.

The Evolution of Fear

By Paul E. Hardisty

Published by Orenda Books (5 May 2016)
ISBN: 978-1910633243

Publisher's description
Claymore Straker is a fugitive with a price on his head. Wanted by the CIA for acts of terrorism he did not commit, his best friend has just been murdered and Rania, the woman he loves, has disappeared. Betrayed by those closest to him, he must flee the sanctuary of his safe house in Cornwall and track her down. As his pursuers close in, Clay follows Rania to Istanbul and then to Cyprus, where he is drawn into a violent struggle between the Russian mafia, Greek Cypriot extremists, and Turkish developers cashing in on the tourism boom. As the island of love descends into chaos, and the horrific truth is unveiled, Clay must call on every ounce of skill and endurance to save Rania and put an end to the unimaginable destruction being wrought in the name of profit. Gripping, exhilarating and, above all, frighteningly realistic, The Evolution of Fear is a startling, eye-opening read that demands the question: How much is truth, and how much is fiction?

My verdict
I loved Paul E. Hardisty's first book, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, when I read it last year. Often when you enjoy a book that much, you worry the second in the series won't do it justice. That dreaded 'second book syndrome'. But, actually, The Evolution of Fear is another stunning read. You could probably read it as a standalone. But I would still suggest buying The Abrupt Physics of Dying first - why read one amazing book, when you can read two?

The Evolution of Fear overlaps genres, as do many of the amazing books from Orenda, which means they'll appeal to a wide range of readers.

Firstly, The Evolution of Fear is an intelligent gripping action thriller. The book starts off in Cornwall, where Claymore Straker is lying low in an isolated location and recovering from his wounds (not just physical ones). But it doesn't take long for trouble to arrive at his door and for the action to begin. A fast-paced cat and mouse chase takes place across the Cornwall coastline. And that's just in the first few chapters. The complex plot soon leads Clay to Cyprus and Turkey in search of journalist Rania (the woman he loves). There are various factions who want to see the end of Clay and Rania and he isn't sure who to trust. The action keeps on coming and I read the last few chapters with bated breath. The tension builds up to some explosive action-packed final scenes.

Secondly, The Evolution of Fear is a thriller of the modern age, tackling some key topical environmental issues. Turtles are being deliberately driven away from their breeding ground so that tourist resorts can be built there. I find the background to these books just as fascinating as the plot and characters. Paul E. Hardisty writes with such fervour that it's clear he feels just strongly about this issue as his characters do. He also weaves significant emotion into his writing. Clay is a strong lead with a caring heart and strict morals. Fear is definitely a key theme of the book - how it leads you to act in a certain way, whether it's to protect yourself or the ones you love, and how it can be used to manipulate others. Sometimes the only way to deal with stressful situations is to embrace the adrenaline rush that fear creates - and this is how Clay lives from day to day.

Thirdly, The Evolution of Fear is literary fiction too, with beautifully written prose and vivid imagery of the stunning settings interspersed with the full-on action scenes. The descriptive passages are so carefully crafted that they're a pleasure to read in themselves. This is something you don't find in many other books within the action thriller genre, which is why The Evolution of Fear stands out.

I'm looking forward to reading the third book in the series - to find out what's next in store for Claymore Straker. And to discover more of Paul E. Hardisty's beautiful writing.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

You can read my review of The Abrupt Physics of Dying here.

Follow the Blog Tour:

Mark Twain Said it, Hemingway Bettered It: a guest post by author Paul E. Hardisty

I would like to welcome Paul E. Hardisty to my blog today. Paul's book The Abrupt Physics of Dying was published in paperback by Orenda Books on 8 March 2015.  His next book - The Evolution of Fear - will be published in early 2016.

Mark Twain Said It, Hemingway Bettered It

By Paul E. Hardisty

It was Mark Twain who said: write what you know. Decades later, Hemingway, searching for the truest sentence he knew, bettered it. To EH, the essential question for a writer was: ‘What do I know about and truly care for the most?’ 

It took me ten years to write my debut novel, The Abrupt Physics of Dying. Rather, I wrote it over a period of ten years. The vast majority of that time wasn't spent writing, but working all over the world as an environmental and water resources engineer. Like most of us, I was exchanging time for money, so I could feed and clothe my family, pay the mortgage.

But I was also learning about the world, observing and recording, building knowledge and experience doing something I cared about. Working with the UN, I was lucky enough to go to Yemen, on the Southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, right after the first Gulf War, and see first hand the effects of war and the mass displacement of people. Over a fifteen year period, I worked and travelled all over the region, and was in Yemen as the 1994 civil war erupted. Those experiences eventually formed the core of my novel.

When I heard that Abrupt Physics had been shortlisted for the prestigious CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger award for best crime novel or thriller by a new author in 2015, I was stunned. I thought back on the years it took to find an agent, let alone a publisher. I reflected on the dozens of polite, often complimentary and helpful rejections, and the most common reason given for turning me down: ‘It’s just too different’. And I remembered how I felt at the time: saddened that I hadn’t been successful, but at the same time hugely buoyed, because that was exactly what I had been trying for:  something different. Something only I could write, born not only of the things I’d learned and done and seen, but from the deep passion I had developed for social and environmental justice, and the plight of the less fortunate, the disenfranchised, and the voiceless in our world.

And so to the most recent, and in my view devastatingly difficult, variation on Mark Twain’s famous edict, this time from Martin Amis: ‘Write about what you know so you don’t have to write what others already have.’ This is perhaps the hardest part of all, to avoid, as Amis put it, not only ‘clichés of the pen, but also of the mind and heart’. I didn’t win the Dagger, but just getting that far was wonderful affirmation that striving for something different and fresh may be difficult, but it is worth it. 

As I put the finishing edits to my second novel, The Evolution of Fear (out in early 2016), the voices of those masters continue to rattle around my brain like a looping algorithm buried in a dream.  I need to trust my voice, be steadfast in my attempts to integrate science and mathematics into prose and plot in a way that is non-threatening to readers, because, yes, science can be beautiful. I must continue to write about issues that I care about, without that passion taking over the story and becoming polemic. I also have to understand that there is a role for research – not everything you know has to come from first-hand experience. John Updike, after all, famously crammed himself full of several PhDs of research for each novel he wrote. And last, I need to remember that after all, this is fiction. It’s about making stuff up.  So, please, Messieurs Twain, Hemingway and Amis, be patient with a humble engineer who still learning the craft of writing, and has a long way to go.

About Paul E. Hardisty

Canadian by birth, Paul Hardisty has spent 25 years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist. He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, mapped geology in Eastern Turkey (where he was befriended by PKK rebels), and rehabilitated water wells in the wilds of Africa. He was in Ethiopia in 1991 as the Mengistu regime fell, and was bumped from one of the last flights out of Addis Ababa by bureaucrats and their families fleeing the rebels. In 1993 he survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana’a, and was one of the last Westerners out of Yemen before the outbreak of the 1994 civil war. Paul is a university professor and Director of Australia’s national land, water, ecosystems and climate adaptation research programmes. He is a sailor, a private pilot, keen outdoorsman, conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia with his family.

Follow Paul E. Hardisty on Twitter - @Hardisty_Paul

The Abrupt Physics of Dying by Paul E. Hardisty

The Abrupt Physics of Dying
By Paul E. Hardisty
Published by Orenda Books (Kindle Edition - 15 December 2014; Paperback - 8 March 2015)
ISBN: 978-1910663052

Publisher's description
Claymore Straker is trying to forget a violent past. Working as an oil company engineer in the wilds of Yemen, he is hijacked at gunpoint by Islamic terrorists. Clay has a choice: help uncover the cause of a mysterious sickness afflicting the village of Al Urush, close to the company's oil-processing facility, or watch Abdulkader, his driver and close friend, die.

As the country descends into civil war and village children start dying, Clay finds himself caught up in a ruthless struggle between opposing armies, controllers of the country's oil wealth, Yemen's shadowy secret service, and rival terrorist factions.

As Clay scrambles to keep his friend alive, he meets Rania, a troubled journalist. Together, they try to uncover the truth about Al Urush. But nothing in this ancient, unforgiving place is what it seems. Accused of a murder he did not commit, put on the CIA's most-wanted list, Clay must come to terms with his past and confront the powerful forces that want him dead.

Gritty, gripping and shocking, The Abrupt Physics of Dying will not only open your eyes, but keep them glued to the page until the final, stunning denouement is reached.

My verdict
The Abrupt Physics of Dying is an eco-thriller with immense detail and a fascinating background story.  The well-written almost-poetic vivid descriptions are unusual in a book of this genre, showing how the author Paul E. Hardisty has a gift for detailed but fast-paced writing.

The book was a pleasure to read. There's a bit of everything in here - conspiracy theories, history, politics, a love interest and, of course, a strong action hero. You can tell the author cares deeply for his subject, with the historical and political detail weaved within the thrilling plot.

When you read the author's bio, you realise that the subject matter is one of his many passions. Paul E. Hardisty has worked as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist and survived a bomb blast in a cafe in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, in 1993. He's also an action man himself - sailor, private pilot, keen outdoorsman and conservation volunteer.

This is an excellent debut novel for both the author and the publisher and I am looking forward to reading the sequel, The Evolution of Fear, which is being published next year.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.