‘Kill Them With Kindness by Will Carver:' A Book Review

Geek Dad

a day ago

Earlier this year, I reviewed All Better Now, by Neal Shusterman. It's a book about a deadly pandemic that leaves survivors feeling more empathy towards one another. This review is for Will Carver's Kill Them With Kindness, a story that centers around a virus that leaves survivors feeling more empathy towards one another. Two books predicated on the same idea, but with wildly different outcomes. Regular readers of Will Carver's books may not be surprised to learn that this novel is an altogether darker affair.
The novel opens with a deadly cloud of gas heading towards the shores of the UK. The gas has killed millions of people. It leaves nothing living in its path. The population has been given 'dignity pills.' Lethal doses that will give you a quick, painless end. Better than the flesh-stripping choking effects of the gas.
After this short prelude, time rewinds. One year earlier, The British Prime Minister, who will go on to order the distribution of the dignity pills, is up to his elbows in something far from dignified. With a shadowy international cartel, he is organising a pandemic (One gets the sense that on this version of Earth, COVID-19, was never a thing – but I could be wrong about that).
The hope is a pandemic will enable the cabal to instill fear, and by leveraging that fear, control the world's population. It's all about power and money. Reading between the lines, this created virus could have been COVID-19, but it never became a pandemic because…
…A Japanese scientist in Wuxi, China, stumbles upon the plot, realizing he's been asked to create a vaccine for a virus with a planned release date. Rather than blowing the whistle, he sets about creating his own version of the virus. A less deadly strain, with a quirk. Dr Ikeda's virus will leave sufferers feeling kinder towards one another.
There follows a string of unintended consequences, which will lead us back to the mass suicide of the whole of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.
The book is worth reading for the premise alone.
Beyond that, you should read Kill Them With Kindness because it heads in directions that you never saw coming. I hesitate to recommend it as a holiday read. It's has some dark themes for a beach read. Nevertheless, it has all the hallmarks of a quality holiday thriller. Not one you'll leave in the apartment next to a battered Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. One you'll want to bring home, reread, and share with your friends.
The book works on every level. It's a compelling techno-thriller, with a scary bio-weapon vibe. It's an excoriation of social-media culture and its use to manipulate millions of people. A polemic on the pitfalls of misinformation. It has a delicious and gossamer-thinly veiled parody of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
To avoid spoilers, I can't say much more. This is a black comedy in the truest sense. It could surely make for an episode of Black Mirror. It's skewering of the mendaciousness and venality of sections of British politics *cough-Johnson-cough* is spot on. The passages later in the book, as we return to the impending cloud of death, are sobering and brought a tear to the eye. The world is a terrifying place right now for any parent, and Carver channels this to great effect in the tense final pages of Kill Them With Kindness.
In amongst the gloom, there is hope. Carver recognizes the darkness of social media and news reporting but punctuates it with islands of hope and kindness. These parts make his novel all the greater.
If you would like to pick up a copy of Kill Them With Kindness, you can do so here in the US and here, in the UK. (Affiliate Links)
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here. I have reviewed one Will Carver book, previously – The Daves Next Door.
I received a copy of this book in order to write this review. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!