Cold Fusion 2000

Alex Kavanagh is the best!

Problem is, he's the best at being a pedantic physics-obsessed geek. He's a teacher who hates teaching; a lover who's just been dumped (again); a writer whose articles all get rejected; an adult who still lives at home and gets bullied at the bus stop by teenagers; and he's just had the worst day of his life. So far, so bad. Things can only get better, right?

While drowning his sorrows he sees an ex from six years ago, Lucy Spiers. The point when Lucy dumped him for his best friend was the point when his life started to go nuclear. He can't help himself: he tells her exactly what he thinks of her.

So it comes as a surprise when they go on a date. He didn't expect a spark to be reignited. Couldn't foresee the power of magnetism. He hadn't realised that he still loved her.

Holy protons, he hopes she's changed.

And – oh boy! – she's changed all right. For a start, she's actually Lucy's twin sister, Jane – someone prone to misguided acts of kindness, strange visions, and keeping secrets. Someone who knows she'll leave Alex's life forever in three days. As lies pile up Jane wonders if she can avoid breaking Alex's heart like her sister did.

Cold Fusion is a story wrapped around an enigma. It's a novel about making peace with the past and moving on, set in Manchester in the year 2000. It's time for change.

My opinion: I was sent a copy of this book by the author for review as he had noticed that I had read The Rosie Project. I was keen to give this book a try as I had really enjoyed The Rosie Project earlier this year.

When I read the line "1992. The Shamen yelled "Eezer Goode, Eezer Goode". Alex listened; decided that MSc's 're good and started his postgrad in physics." I was hooked. As a 90s dance music loving geek, I knew that this was going to work out well!

The story is about a man called Alex who is trying to get on with his life following a break up that pulled his life apart. Only to have his ex return to his life and make things a whole lot more confusing for him. The book follows his journey through this and his way to resolution. I don't want to say too much about the book as I don't want to spoil it, but there are clues in the book leading up to a twist at the end. I didn't see the twist coming and only realised what the clues were after I'd read it and started thinking about how we had got there.

A great book which I think every reader will interpret slightly differently and get something different from.

My rating: 4 stars

I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.