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Ordinary Thunderstorms

3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 · rating details · 2,399 ratings · 434 reviews

One May evening in London, Adam Kindred, a young climatologist in town for a job interview, is feeling good about the future as he sits down for a meal at a little Italian bistro. He strikes up a conversation with a solitary diner at the next table, who leaves soon afterward. With horrifying speed, this chance encounter leads to a series of malign accidents, through which...more

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published January 26th 2010 by Harper (first published September 7th 2009)

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Apr 21, 2012 ·Karen· rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: brits

Good Reads now makes recommendations, amazon makes recommendations, my friends here guide my impulses of what to put on my wishlist, I have a shelf of unread books that is quietly groaning under the weight of past purchases, and yet, and yet.....
Certain elements come together: I've just sold two books - never mind that, in the past weeks, five have come in for the two going out - it's November and I'm feeling end-of-the-yearish, days-drawing-in-ish, and even if I do buy a lot of my books online,...more Good Reads now makes recommendations, amazon makes recommendations, my friends here guide my impulses of what to put on my wishlist, I have a shelf of unread books that is quietly groaning under the weight of past purchases, and yet, and yet.....
Certain elements come together: I've just sold two books - never mind that, in the past weeks, five have come in for the two going out - it's November and I'm feeling end-of-the-yearish, days-drawing-in-ish, and even if I do buy a lot of my books online, I would never want to forgo the pleasure of going into a bookshop, and, as it happens, the place where I give English classes on a Wednesday morning boasts a 19th century barn that was, in its time, a home, a post office, a local lending library, and is now a lovely little bookshop:

Does this happen to you? You buy a book (OK, three) online, but then it takes three, four days, a week maybe for them to reach you. Yes, there is that wonderful moment when you open the package and feel the heft of the pages and imagine the joy they will bring you. But somehow the mood has passed slightly: they go onto the TBR shelf, and wait. Patiently. Maybe months, maybe years. But when you go into a bookshop and just pick up something on a whim; it's the only thing in the shop that really draws your eye, it's the very thing you need at this particular moment and you take it home and start reading straight away - that is sheer joy.

That's how Ordinary Thunderstorms came to me. The right thing at the right time. After one real heavyweight, with two non-fiction on the go, I needed something fast and furious that at the same time would not make me feel guilty for totally wasting my time. Mr Boyd's thriller fits the bill as no other could. It's perfectly calibrated to wind up the tension at the exact moment where momentum slows, it is satisfyingly familiar and yet surprising at one and the same time, the puzzle is solved in roughly the form that you would have hoped for, but the detail is ultra-modern, using internet forums and suspicion of insider trading to push the plot to its conclusion. And Mr Boyd gives little knowing nods to the reader, and uses words that pull you up for a moment - borborygmus? - and is playful, he's obviously having fun writing this. There is the odd slight implausibility, but utterly forgivable in view of the pleasure afforded. Mr Boyd manages to fulfill all the expectations you have of a thriller in an admirably original way. Ian McEwan, eat your heart out. (less)

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Aug 01, 2010 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-mystery, thriller

Stop me if you‘ve heard this one before. An innocent person discovers someone who has just been murdered, and then they stupidly pick up the weapon, end up covered in blood and then they’re accused of the crime. That scene has played out so many times in pop entertainment that I think anyone with more than ten working brain cells would instantly know that the one thing you should never do if you find a body is pick up the murder weapon.

Then I met Adam Kindred in Ordinary Thunderstorms. Adam is...more Stop me if you‘ve heard this one before. An innocent person discovers someone who has just been murdered, and then they stupidly pick up the weapon, end up covered in blood and then they’re accused of the crime. That scene has played out so many times in pop entertainment that I think anyone with more than ten working brain cells would instantly know that the one thing you should never do if you find a body is pick up the murder weapon.

Then I met Adam Kindred in Ordinary Thunderstorms. Adam is a British climatologist who had been living in the U.S., but is trying to get a job in London following a painful divorce. After his job interview, Adam stops for some lunch and strikes up casual conversation with Dr. Philip Wang. Wang leaves a file at his table, and Adam decides to do a good deed and return it to him at his hotel. When he arrives at the hotel room, he finds that Wang is dying after being stabbed. With his last breaths, Wang begs Adam to pull out the knife.

You see where this is going, right?

Dumb-ass Adam yanks out the knife, gets himself covered in blood, and Wang promptly dies. (This is also exactly what they tell you NOT to do from a medical standpoint if you ever find someone with a knife stuck in them.) Adam still might have been able to convince the cops that he didn’t kill Wang, but instead of contacting them immediately, he has a complete mental meltdown and decides to stop at the pub and have a few drinks first. Before he can get his shit together, he’s attacked by Wang’s killer and barely escapes. Completely freaking out, Adam goes turtle and instantly joins the ranks of London’s homeless.

As Adam hides out by dropping off he grid, other characters become entangled in the events that the murder started. There’s a beautiful police woman who discovers the body and struggles with the disapproval of her aging damn-dirty-hippie father. The CEO of a pharmaceutical company is excited that a breakthrough discovery of a new drug is leading to a blockbuster merger, but he’s starting to worry about his business partners. A young prostitute hustles to make the rent and care for her son. And the ex-soldier hired to kill Wang is getting seriously angry that he can’t find Adam Kindred.

Describing Adam‘s discovery of the body probably makes you think that this a pretty standard thriller. But the story does not follow the usual storyline you see in these types of books. One of the more interesting points is the many ways that Adam reinvents himself as he’s on the run.

This was an exciting story that gives wildly different views of London life. From the richest executives living the high life to the poorest street people, all the characters are fully formed and unique. For starting with such a clichéd set-up, the plot has a lot of surprises.(less)

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Dec 11, 2010 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Immensely enjoyable, Ordinary Thunderstorms is a literary thriller set in the world of global pharamceutical companies and packed with enough plot twists for half a dozen novels.

It takes the reader on a whistlestop tour of London society, from millionaires to illiterate prostitutes via academics, hospital porters, dissolute lords, police officers and self-styled African bishops.

The plot springs into life within the first few pages when, after a chance encounter in a cafe, the hero, Adam Kindred...more

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Jan 16, 2013 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is what I wrote about this book on librarything in December 2009. I awarded it 3.5/5 out of 5 there, but since GoodReads does not allow half-points, I have rounded down rather than up.

I agree with those who say this is a compulsive read, even if lacking the same degree of depth found in Restless, Boyd's last book. I disagree with the reviewer who liked the remaining loose ends, I would have preferred a bit more by way of resolution. As it is, it was a bit like one of those gripping week lon...more This is what I wrote about this book on librarything in December 2009. I awarded it 3.5/5 out of 5 there, but since GoodReads does not allow half-points, I have rounded down rather than up.

I agree with those who say this is a compulsive read, even if lacking the same degree of depth found in Restless, Boyd's last book. I disagree with the reviewer who liked the remaining loose ends, I would have preferred a bit more by way of resolution. As it is, it was a bit like one of those gripping week long series that British television is currently quite fond of, in so far as it kept me hooked but ulimately left me wondering whether it was really worth the time I had given to it.

Boyd invented his own street slang for this novel, arguing that if he had researched the latest lingo from contemporary London he would simply have been left with something that appeared very dated very quickly. I think this was a smart move.

I also love some of the names he dreamt up for his characters, in particular Burton Keegan, one of the 'bad guys' from the drug company, and Fortunatus Fryzer, the youngest son of the company's CEO. One assumes that Ingram Fryzer's wealth enabled his children to attend expensive schools, since I can't imagine a boy called Fortunatus having an easy time of it in an inner city comprehensive. Come to think of it, he probably would have suffered severe ribbing whichever school he went to.

The Observer review quoted on the front cover of my paperback edition praised Ordinary Thunderstorms as a novel "dripping with ideas". Similarly, the review from it's sister paper The Guardian described the book as "a mini exploration of the nature of modern citizenship combined with a picaresque tour of the various strata of modern metropolitan life." Whilst I can see where they are coming from, this book is more of a literate thriller than a literary thriller. Literate in the sense of being, for the most part, intelligently and carefully written; but not highly literary in the sense of exploring significant ideas in an original or deeply thoughtful way.

There are many disturbing things about this novel, perhaps not least the way in which one can became almost blase about violence. The murder of a blackmailer that comes towards the end shocked me less than it perhaps should have done. It certainly didn't diminish my sympathy for the perpetrator to a significant extent.

Boyd is quite blunt about what his characters do to their bodies and, moreover, to the bodies of others, whether this be for pleasure or pain. This includes being far more comfortable than I am (in my own quaint way) with the use of 'the F word'. I guess this goes with the territory, a novel touching on the gritty realities that affect many modern urban lives could hardly have tough guys using curses like "blooming heck"! Personally, I'm not entirely happy with the association so often made between the coarse, either in language and action, and artistic merit. I can't help thinking that a society whose art spent more time celebrating moral goods rather than pandering to our baser obsessions, might actually be a better society. Perhaps that's just me being old fashioned?

Despite my reservations, a 400 page book that I got through in the space of a day clearly has something to recommend it. It may not be my idea of great but it is certainly gripping.(less)

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Sep 30, 2012 Ian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Ordinary Thunderstorms William Boyd has fashioned a fast-paced suspense novel, an edge-of-the-seat innocent-man-on-the-run thriller. Because of a chance encounter in a restaurant, Adam Kindred's life is irrevocably altered. A simple act of kindness turns lethal, and Adam finds himself on the run, pursued by a murderer, for whom he is a loose end, and by the police, for whom he is a prime suspect. All is not lost however. Adam, a climatologist by trade, is shrewd and resourceful. He uses his s...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The core of this book is a steal from The 39 Steps, with an innocent man finding himself at the wrong place at the right time, interrupting a murder for which he is subsequently framed. Spinning out from this we have the familiar tropes of such thrillers recast with a modern, literary bent: the hero goes on the run, but rather than fleeing to Scotland he loses himself in the murky London underworld of outcasts and the homeless; the murderer is clear from the outset, though who he’s working for i...more

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May 29, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

I struggled with whether this was 3 stars or 4. I thought the characters were interesting, and wildly different. I wondered what would happen to Adam, one of the main characters - his next steps, how he would regain a life.
But ultimately I wanted a little more. I thought the pharma story could have been somewhat more clearly defined - I get it, big drugs, big money, worth killing for - but the storyline kept hinting that there was more to come, that (I felt) never materialized. I also thought t...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Nick Sweeney rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like William Boyd's writing a lot, and have read everything of his apart from his spoof biography of painter Nat Tate, which I must track down. My favourite WB books are The New Confessions and Any Human Heart, which were both long sagas taking in a lot of events and people through the whole of the twentieth century, and I feel that he pulls off such monumental tasks with great skill. He also does small worlds very well, such as those in Brazzaville Beach and A Good Man in Africa. So how does...more I like William Boyd's writing a lot, and have read everything of his apart from his spoof biography of painter Nat Tate, which I must track down. My favourite WB books are The New Confessions and Any Human Heart, which were both long sagas taking in a lot of events and people through the whole of the twentieth century, and I feel that he pulls off such monumental tasks with great skill. He also does small worlds very well, such as those in Brazzaville Beach and A Good Man in Africa. So how does he do with a 'straightforward' thriller? Not so well, in my opinion, though I state here that the book is a fine competitor among other thrillers; that may just be another way of saying that WB has dumbed his style down a bit to get into the thriller genre, and I think a man of his skills shouldn't need to. I missed the literary flourishes of his other work, and, occasionally, got annoyed at the thrillerish one-dimensional characters, as if he's sometimes saying 'this character won't be hanging around too long, so you don't need so much information'. Good story, anyway: after a chance meeting, a man is blamed for a murder orchestrated by shadowy types that John Le Carre has already marked out for villainhood - an international pharmaceutical company. So far so North-by-Northwestish. What does such a man do? How does he hide in a place like London? As you do for many thrillers, you have to suspend your disbelief pronto - which I have no problem doing - and enjoy the ride. Respectable Adam Kindred - rather Bunyanesque name, I thought, and kind of disapproved of WB trying a bit too hard to convince us that Adam is an ordinary bloke - has to not only hide from the law and the brutal killer the company has sent after him, but, in time-honoured fashion, has to solve the crime, and the scam at its centre, himself, as nobody else will. And I did enjoy the ride, and am sorry if this sounds a bit scathing, but I look forward to the next WB with the hope that he gets back to 'being literary'. Whatever that means.(less)

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Sep 24, 2011 Ronald Roseborough rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure-thriller, murder, mystery

Have you ever set aside a book promising yourself to read it later, because another book came along that you were dying to read? Then another book comes along that was well hyped and then another. Eventually you find that first book under a pile of other books you have read. You finally get a chance to read it and it turns out this book is better than many of the other books you read since you first set this one aside. Ordinary Thunderstorms: A Novel is that book. Adam Kindred is a young man who...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: 21st-century-fiction

William Boyd is Scottish by descent, was born in Ghana, and educated in Scotland and France. He completed a PhD in literature at Oxford. He is to my thinking a hybrid, an intellectual who has written a dozen novels, won awards but is considered British because he lives there part of the time. (You will see where I am going with this.) I have always been curious about his books, though Ordinary Thunderstorms, his 12th novel, is the first I have read. It won't be the last.

Recently I have come acro...more
William Boyd is Scottish by descent, was born in Ghana, and educated in Scotland and France. He completed a PhD in literature at Oxford. He is to my thinking a hybrid, an intellectual who has written a dozen novels, won awards but is considered British because he lives there part of the time. (You will see where I am going with this.) I have always been curious about his books, though Ordinary Thunderstorms, his 12th novel, is the first I have read. It won't be the last.

Recently I have come across several discussions on various lit blogs about highbrow vs lowbrow novels and whether or not literary fiction is passe because it doesn't sell well. Some see a trend where literary authors are trying their hands at genre fiction is an effort to sell more copies of their novels. Others see it as a marketing ploy by publishers in an effort to sell more books.

I find most of this speculation to be hogwash, though I am pretty sure marketing personnel are the key suspects. After all, it is their job. I think an author should write what he or she wants to write, should experiment, not always write the same story over and over for the sake of fans, income or profits. Basically, if an author can write well, I will read just about any novel by that author despite subject matter or genre.

William Boyd has a pretty solid reputation as a literary writer. Ordinary Thunderstorms was marketed as a "literary mystery about crime and punishment." See what I mean? Well, it is tremendously exciting, it does involve murder, crime, the dastardly side of big pharma, and the underbelly of London. The violence is brutal and the mystery is complex. Not one truly admirable character inhabits its pages.

However, the novel is about identity. Adam Kindred has returned to the country of his birth after many years in the United States. He is in London to interview for a job. A respected and successful climatologist, he has made a mess of his personal life. While he intends to start anew in London he was surely not planning the drastic transformation he undergoes.

Within 24 hours he is a prime suspect for a murder he did not commit. He makes the decision to go "underground" for a while until he figures out what to do. He goes about as far underground as a person can go in a major metropolis, sleeping in a park, begging for food, and becoming a man with no social identity.

In an interview, William Boyd says his intention was to write about what happens to a person who loses everything that makes him who he is. One thing that happens is that a person who loses his social identity finds he still has a self. Adam is intelligent, resourceful, often impulsive and foolish, a risk taker where people he cares for are involved. His innate goodness and humanity bring him up against a couple of true psychopathic personalities. His intelligence and something like bravery make him a Dickensian character in a modern world.

William Boyd calls no attention to himself as an author, but in straightforward prose tells us a powerful and exciting tale full of heart while it is steeped in all manner of human degradation.

In no way would I call the novel lowbrow. I suppose one could read it just for the thriller aspect, as Boyd does not write in any sort of wordy or obscure manner. He is certainly several cuts above Brad Thor, David Baldacci, and the like. Does that mean he is highbrow?(less)

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Aug 03, 2011 Simon Lipson rated it 1 of 5 stars

I recently finished reading William Boyd's latest novel, Ordinary Thunderstorms. It took me forever because I kept abandoning it then picking it up again. I mean, surely it couldn't be that awful all the way through to the final page. Could it? Well, no. Somehow, it actually got worse before disappearing up its own bottom with a grim squelch. I had to check that this was the same William Boyd who wrote Restless and Armadillo. Tragically, it was.

I'm not Boyd's biggest fan, but have generally foun...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Stuart rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I enjoyed this book. Having read the thoughtful and original Restless, I looked forward to it. It was in fact completely different from the previous work. I like that in an author – the ability to change genre. This was a fast-paced thriller based on a Hitchcock-style wrong-man-did-it type story. In London to interview for an academic job, to escape from his US life that has crumbled around him, Adam Kindred manages to walk into a murder-in-progress and leave his fingerprints all over it. Instea...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Jayne Charles rated it 5 of 5 stars

This reminded me of lots of different authors, none of which was William Boyd. It has a different feel to his other work – shorter chapters, less reliance on the public school/Scotland/Africa connection, and more commercial and gritty. It reads a bit like Ben Elton, Jeffrey Archer, Dean Koontz and Irvine Welsh all whizzed up in a blender and then strained through one of James Patterson’s socks. But like pretty much all of Boyd’s novels, I loved it – a fast read that gets down to business straigh...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 24, 2011 Palmyrah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Did William Boyd decide to write a novel about popular hysterias that turned into something else along the way? The protagonist of this story is a climatologist (not that it matters) who finds himself accidentally caught up in the toils of a wicked conspiracy that has something to do with medical research, another favourite arena for conspiracy theories. Pursued, our hero goes underground – something experience has ill prepared him for – and pretty soon finds himself living an entirely new life...more

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May 27, 2011 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Ordinary Thunderstorms” by William Boyd is a fictional book with many themes. The book takes place in London and follows a man whose life turned upside down.

Adam Kndred, a divorced, unremarkable academic weatherman is in London applying for a job. By chance he meets Philip Wang, a researchers for big-pharma who accidentally leaves a piece of paper behind. Adam tries to return the document only to find Wang punctured with a bread knife. Stupidly, Adam removes the knifeand h...more “Ordinary Thunderstorms” by William Boyd is a fictional book with many themes. The book takes place in London and follows a man whose life turned upside down.

Adam Kndred, a divorced, unremarkable academic weatherman is in London applying for a job. By chance he meets Philip Wang, a researchers for big-pharma who accidentally leaves a piece of paper behind. Adam tries to return the document only to find Wang punctured with a bread knife. Stupidly, Adam removes the knifeand hence causes Wang’s death and leaves his fingerprints behind.

Adam, who is not a dumb man, makes his second mistake and goes on the run pursued by Wang’s murderer and the police. As he hides and thinks of his next move he settles into a life of vagrancy and poverty living off the grid.

“Ordinary Thunderstorms” by William Boyd is an exploration of identity as well as a excursion into the not so touristic spots in London. This is an ambitious and well crafted novel where the quirkiness might not be necessary, but is welcomed.

The narrative flows smoothly and the characters are engaging, one can’t help but notice that Boyd has some affection towards loveable, bumbling fools. This is an intelligent, competent thriller which, surprisingly, moves at a leisurely pace between characters interweaving their stories in a cat-and-mouse game.

There are many sub-plots which are all very interesting yet underdeveloped. There are houseboat residents, the lawless – inside, outside and above the law, underground subculture, the wealthy subculture and an interesting takeoff of Christianity. All are amusing and thoughtful which I would have loved to read more about – but this would most likely have tripled the size of the book.

Mr. Boyd tells of human drama, fools, criminals, patsies and losers living on the edges of society. For every loser there is a person who is above and below them in the hierarchy of life, but it seems that the hierarchy is circular and never-ending. Mr. Boyd writes the most complex and humane character as someone the reader never expected. Ingram Fryzer, the president of the evil big-pharma conglomerate comes off as an almost pathetic figure. Fryzer, a successful multi-billionaire who wields powerful entities is not a happy man, cannot get the love he so wishes for from his sons and father and ultimately has no more power than the protagonist, Adam Kindred has over his own life.

What I appreciate about novels like this one is that they make you think well after you finished reading them. In this book there is a running joke, a theme which is returned to over and over again – the question of identity.

The hunted Kindred as well as many of the other characters in the book, seem to be running away from their civilized identity, creating someone new who might not be as successful, but it will be someone who leaves behind the old baggage and start anew – even if they will be considered failures in the eyes of their old selves.

Amazingly, Kindred come to realize that maybe all his trials and tribulations were a blessing in disguise. He meets a girl, letting go of his old life and realize that anonymity in the big city might be frightening, but the thrill of personal reinvention is almost addicting.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit http://www.ManOfLaBook.com (less)

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Apr 13, 2011 David Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had been slightly disappointed by the last William Boyd novel I read, 'Any Human Heart', largely because of its lack of focus and its sprawling nature. I expected this one, in the thriller genre, to be much tighter, and it was, though Boyd still manages to cram a lot of characters in (rather too many - a few are mere caricatures) and takes us on quite a journey round London, from corporate jungle to sink estates, with the river literally and metaphorically at the heart of the story.

The basic p...more I had been slightly disappointed by the last William Boyd novel I read, 'Any Human Heart', largely because of its lack of focus and its sprawling nature. I expected this one, in the thriller genre, to be much tighter, and it was, though Boyd still manages to cram a lot of characters in (rather too many - a few are mere caricatures) and takes us on quite a journey round London, from corporate jungle to sink estates, with the river literally and metaphorically at the heart of the story.

The basic plot and devices borrow heavily from both John Buchan ('The 39 Steps') and Alfred Hitchcock ('North by North West') in that an innocent man finds himself suspected of murder and tries to evade capture from both the police and the real culprits, who have their own reasons for wanting to kill him. The hero, Adam Kindred, manages to make himself anonymous by throwing away all the trappings of modern life and identity - mobile phone, credit cards, an address. His stratagems for evasion, and the adventures and relationships that come along in the pursuit of some kind of freedom are the most interesting parts of the book. The actual 'crime' elements, while engaging, are built on such absurd premises that you have to stop yourself constantly asking, 'but why would they do that?', 'why does he make that choice?' 'why didn't the police just...?' If you don't ask, it's because you are swept along by the action and by the empathy Boyd makes you feel for Adam.

On the basis that the book is a page turner, and on the whole elegantly written, I am giving it a three-star rating, but to be honest I could equally have given it a scathing review, and gone into detail about its inadequacies, its implausibilties, and its occasional lapses into cliche. Maybe I expected more because of Boyd's reputation and because I have enjoyed some of his work in the past - 'Brazzaville Beach' for example. He is a frustrating writer. Somewhere there is a great book in him. This certainly isn't it, but at its best it's 'a good read'.

Reviewer David Williams has a regular writer's blog http://writerinthenorth.blogspot.com (less)

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Apr 09, 2011 Iain Rowan rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm not quite sure what Boyd was going for here: a straight thriller, or a playful pastiche. Neither worked, for me, and it left the book as an uncomfortable amalgam of the two. I'm a sucker for stories about identity, and about missing people, but part of the reason this disappointed was that the protagonist was rather flat, and I never felt as if I got inside his skin. Some of the secondary characters were the same, from the ex-SAS coldhearted killer to the prostitute with a heart of gold, spe...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Ian Mapp rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: lit-fict

What's not to like in this. Wiliiam Boyd - author of the peerless Relentless and epic Any Human Heart - writing a dense book about the greatest city of them all, London.

Unfortunately its not a great story that doesn't ring true on any level. Its as if Boyd has spent too much time being clever and referring to other works of literature and london and fogotton that his story is basically a load of old codswallop.

Adam Kindred is a climatologist who has a chance meeting with medic who has a cure for...more

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Feb 07, 2011 Mekerei rated it 4 of 5 stars

Adam, a climatologist is in London for a job interview. A sexual indiscretion has thrown a spanner into his marriage and his academic career. After the interview he meets Philip Wang while dining alone. Wang leaves his briefcase in the restaurant. When Adam tries to return it to him, he finds Wang alive but with a bread knife in him. Adam does what everyone should know what not to do – remove the knife. Wang then dies and Adam’s finger prints are on the knife.

Things go from bad to worse for Adam...more

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Jan 21, 2011 Rod rated it 3 of 5 stars

A climatologist, Adam Kindred, meets by chance a man who leaves behind his briefcase. When Adam tries to return it he arrives just after the man has been murdered and is immediately implicated by accident. Meanwhile the murderer, who is working to contract, realises he should remove Adam as a possible witness, tries to do so, and fails. From this point on, Adam goes underground to the extent of acquiring a new identity.

Since the inside front cover is full of praise for this book, I shall go on t...more A climatologist, Adam Kindred, meets by chance a man who leaves behind his briefcase. When Adam tries to return it he arrives just after the man has been murdered and is immediately implicated by accident. Meanwhile the murderer, who is working to contract, realises he should remove Adam as a possible witness, tries to do so, and fails. From this point on, Adam goes underground to the extent of acquiring a new identity.

Since the inside front cover is full of praise for this book, I shall go on the assumption that it must be remarkably good and consider a related question. Why would an author who is not in the habit of writing crime novels turn to this genre? The answer may be simple: he felt like it at the time. But it may be that, as a mainstream writer, he had nothing more to say. Which way of putting it assumes he had something to say in the first place. It may be that his interest lay simple in telling stories.

Until recently, William Boyd’s novels have been good reads. Settings have often been interesting (A Good Man in Africa, The Blue Afternoon, An Ice-cream War, Brazzaville Beach) and some of the characters have been interesting too. His plotting is usually excellent and this is an ability which stands him in good stead when he turns his hand to novels where crime is involved (Armadillo, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms).

It could be argued that when an author turns to crime the importance of the plot increases considerably and Ordinary Thunderstorms is (of the books I have read) the one which lies most squarely within the crime genre. So I have to wonder why, despite the quoted praise, it was so uninvolving. Is it because the wider social dimension is lacking? No, since the original contract killing is at the behest of a pharmaceutical company and we are told what sharp practices this company is trying to cover up. I think it comes down to the characters, who are artfully designed to enable the plot, and also to the location. He has a square hole in his plot so he creates a square character to fill it.

The book is set in London and the assumption is that London must be interesting, but too often London boils down to ‘the attenuated triangle of waste ground to the west side of Chelsea Bridge, formed by the bridge itself, the water’s edge and the four lanes of the Embankment.’ (page 2, Bloomsbury edition). This is where Adam lives rough until he is forced by events to move on.

Kate Atkinson has turned to crime and she is also accomplished when it comes to plot, more so than Boyd. Boyd’s plot in this book is reasonably clever. Atkinson’s plots are not only clever but witty in the turns they take. But in her case, too, it is worth wondering why she has made this move from the mainstream into crime. Is it possible than when it comes to content both these writers are running out of steam?

In the book which the author recently chose to dramatise for television (Any Human Heart) the 'hero' is a writer - but it is his friend who makes the big time as a crime writer. A clue, perhaps?

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Sep 08, 2010 Mark Gromko rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

I became skeptical within the first few pages, as I considered the premise of this novel; my skepticism grew as the characters “developed” in ways that did not hang together well; and finally I was disappointed as the novel ended with a fizzle and a weird lack of resolution. And yet, I enjoyed reading it, perhaps because of the portrayal of the seamiest side of a great city, London.

The premise is set within the first few pages of the book: a young scientist goes to London for a job interview; fo...more I became skeptical within the first few pages, as I considered the premise of this novel; my skepticism grew as the characters “developed” in ways that did not hang together well; and finally I was disappointed as the novel ended with a fizzle and a weird lack of resolution. And yet, I enjoyed reading it, perhaps because of the portrayal of the seamiest side of a great city, London.

The premise is set within the first few pages of the book: a young scientist goes to London for a job interview; following his interview, he strikes up a conversation with a young medical researcher at a restaurant; he finds a document left behind by the medical researcher; in his attempt to return the document, he interrupts a murder, finding the medical researcher beaten and stabbed but still alive; in response to the stabbed man’s pleas, the protagonist removes the knife from the victim, who immediately dies; and then our protagonist – his fingerprints on the murder weapon – decides to flee, to go underground, and to abandon his old life.

It is not that decisions made at time of crisis might be faulty – that is believable. In contrast, this decision was made over the course of days, with full consideration. And then, this unfortunate character pursues the initial bad decision with others: he abandons not only his connections with his family, his past, his financial and real assets, and his career, he also abandons the foundations of his personality and character. He lives at first by scrounging and begging; he steals a blind man’s white cane; he develops an approach to affecting blindness and helplessness to scam generous passers-by; he takes up with (falls in love with?) a prostitute, who earlier had beaten him with a shovel and stolen his worldly goods; he disposes of a body of a friend; he kills a blackmailer (without emotion and without remorse); and then he falls in love (again) with an attractive, intelligent policewoman (whose motives and decision-making are also inconsistent and suspect).

I think I continued to read this book expecting the main character to become a good man again; to somehow make amends for his failures and bad decisions. Instead, the man’s character spiraled into decline, a process not mitigated (in my view) by his concern for the welfare of the young son of the prostitute. Apparently, the policewoman knows of his deceit, but does not seem to be worried about it. Love conquers all: sheesh.
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Jul 22, 2010 Sandi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2010

Ordinary Thunderstorms is an extremely flawed novel. It's ostensibly a mystery, but it never completely solves that mystery. The protagonist makes a series of very odd choices that don't strike me as being believable. The ending is kind of a non-ending with a lot of loose threads, yet it's clearly not setting up a sequel. Yet, I give it 4 stars for the beauty of the writing. Boyd does an amazing job describing his characters and the setting. He uses an astounding vocabulary, but doesn't sound li...more

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Jul 15, 2010 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ordinary Thunderstorms is an entertaining, well-plotted summer read by author William Boyd. Boyd takes a standard noir set-up -- the ordinary innocent person caught by circumstance in a sensational murder and forced to go on the run -- and adds flesh and blood details to the underground experience. How does one find toilet facilities? How do you navigate modern life without credit cards and, eventually, without cash? How do you avoid the ever-present security cameras? Boyd creates lots of intere...more

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May 29, 2010 Kiwiflora rated it 4 of 5 stars

I finished reading this latest William Boyd novel about a week ago and jsut have not been able to figure out what to write about it. And I can't figure out why thta is!! There is no deny it is an excellent read; I think the problem is thta is is so hard to define what type of novel it is. Is it a murder mystery, or a bourne identity theft type of thriller, or a modern day fable parable type thing? Whatever it is, it is a damn fine story, with an action-packed, intricate plot with just enough rop...more

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May 01, 2010 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-audio-books, 2010-mysteries

Ordinary Thunderstorms, by William Boyd, A-minus, narrated by Gideon Emery, produced by Harper Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Adam Kindred is a climatologist who goes to London to interview for a new job. He is a climatologist ready for a change of scene. He has the interview and it seems to go well. To reward himself, he enters a small Italian bistro. While eating he gets into conversation with another lone diner, a professor of medicine. The man seems quite upset and when he leaves the res...more

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Apr 10, 2010 Carl rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 06, 2012 Joyce rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Mystery fans and anglophiles

Shelves: fiction, mystery

William Boyd is a good writer, his books have won many awards including the Booker Prize, but as well written as Ordinary Thunderstorms is, it didn't engage me the way Restless,the first Boyd book I read,did. Restless is an espionage novel with two women at its core, a daughter and her mother, the former the narrator and the latter the protagonist. The book unfolds in a series of flashbacks that span WWII while the daughter discovers her mother's previous life as a spy. The book reveals the emot...more William Boyd is a good writer, his books have won many awards including the Booker Prize, but as well written as Ordinary Thunderstorms is, it didn't engage me the way Restless,the first Boyd book I read,did. Restless is an espionage novel with two women at its core, a daughter and her mother, the former the narrator and the latter the protagonist. The book unfolds in a series of flashbacks that span WWII while the daughter discovers her mother's previous life as a spy. The book reveals the emotional toll of a war that continues to rage in the mind long after the war itself has ended.

Ordinary Thunderstorms takes place in present-day London where we meet Adam Kindred, (really?!) a British meteorologist whose specialty is clouds. He's just flown back to his homeland from the U.S. to interview for an academic position. While dining alone his first night in the city, he exchanges a few words with another solitary diner who then neglects to put a folder back into his briefcase. Adam retrieves the folder and sets off to return it. This chance encounter soon consumes Adam's life, he finds himself accused of murder and on the run, where he's left no choice but to fend for himself in a hostile urban environment. This he does remarkably well, he's a survivor and a plucky lad is our Adam. (At one point he catches and plucks the feathers from a seagull before cooking it over an open fire and eating it.)

The Thames plays a large role in the book and in Adam's life - he finds a perfect hidden campsite along the Thames, the river supplies tires for furniture and with the captured seagull, food. We are told more than once that 50-60 bodies are pulled from the Thames every year, a prescient fact. Every time Adam leaves the Thames he becomes lost. And I guess that's the problem I had with this book, its metaphors are obvious and the plot predictable. The author is straining mightily to create "literature" but the book is a very good mystery novel with a few well thought out twists and turns. Boyd also exhibits an excellent vocabulary. However, the usual corrupt corporation behaves badly and there's a violent and evil bad guy (though he does love his dog). It is also very cinematic and the ending implies a sequel may be coming soon to a bookstore near you.

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Feb 11, 2011 Trawets rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

William Boyd tells the story of Adam Kindred, a respected climatologist, who flees from the scene of a murder and then is persued by both the police who think he is the murderer and by the paid killer who is.
Adam Kindred decides his only way of staying alive and free is to drop out of the twenty first century and becomes a beggar living on a piece of waste ground near Chelsea Bridge, London.
We follow Adam Kindred through his life as first a beggar, befriended by a prostitute and a wierd evangali...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, literary

I was introduced to William Boyd's work by a friend who sent me 'Blue Afternoon' and, based on that I just had to snatch this one up for her and myself a couple of months ago. I was not disappointed in the least, the tightly woven narrative, the characters you can empathise with and dislike, the ties that bind people's lives together and the gripping plot that seems so realistic and true to modern day ethics and economics. Its also really nice to read a book set in modern day London!

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About William Boyd

Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.

At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland an...more Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.

At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.

Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.

Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the same year, and is also an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling and Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.

Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. His wife is editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar magazine, and they currently spend about thirty to forty days a year in the US. He and his wife have a house in Chelsea, West London but spend most of the year at their chateau in Bergerac in south west France, where Boyd produces award-winning wines.
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