A butterfly flaps its wings in America and a storm breaks over China: the essence of the butterfly effect where one small change in our chaotic world can have massive consequences. In Mortal Chaos Dickinson takes this theory and builds a thrilling story around it.
Dickinson charts the chain of events from a literal butterfly emerging into the world from it's chrysalis into the world in rural Wiltshire. As it startles a young rabbit it sets in motion a chain of consequences for a host of seemingly unrelated people: a Japanese girl attempting to be the youngest solo climber of Everest; her father on his way to do business in the UK; a airline pilot racing against time to reach her flight at Heathrow; a pair of teenage boys playing truant from school with a shotgun; a jockey exercising a thoroughbred in readiness for the Newbury races; a father with his family on a birthday treat to a local theme park; a NASA pilot transferring at Heathrow on his way to Space City in Russia; a young boy in Malawi struggling with famine; a thief working the crowds at Heathrow, and a psychotically paranoid man in Washington DC hellbent on revenge.
The plot is great and fast paced, each event dovetails well into the chain of events and the story is well constructed, however, at times the writing itself falters. Still, great adrenaline ride of a book.
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