The Body By The Shore by Tabish Khair (Book Review)

 It's difficult to put it into a single genre! It is of Science Fiction, Crime Mystery and Thriller genres. 

⏳ The story is told through the eyes of three central characters: a retired Danish police officer, a young Caribbean housekeeper, and a former covert operations mercenary, each of whom approaches the novel's central mystery from a different perspective. 

⏳ Switching from one narrative thread to another cleverly builds up the information available to readers, but it also disguises and hides things, much like the swirling North Sea waters around the decrepit oil rig. 

⏳ The Body By The Shore has a Scandi-noir vibe (Scandi noir, is a genre of crime fiction usually written from a police point of view) thanks to Jens Erik's Danish location and sensibilities, while the science fiction aspect felt like a Black Mirror storyline, albeit one told in much greater depth than an hour-long tv show can achieve.

⏳ The author - Khair - has a lot to say about modern racism, how our behaviours are shaped without our knowledge or consent, and how wealth disparities are fueling increased unrest around the world. His blend of murder mystery and social commentary is great in the book. I don't have the expertise to comment on the scientific aspects of The Body By The Shore, but the sociological observations felt so accurate that I was never dragged away from the novel's atmosphere by doubts about its veracity. In fact, I could easily accept the premise of The Body By The Shore as true in the real world! 

⏳ However, the first few chapters of the book were unable to bind me to the book, and I had to force myself to bind myself to the book. That could have been improved. This is not for beginners who want to try this genre; they will struggle to finish it and will conclude that this genre is not for them.