The Critical Path
by D.J. Johnson
270 pages· 2012
About
A dark, disturbing story of a man's life torn apart, and what he must do to rebuild it.
Travelling home on the Underground, Matt, a twenty-nine-year-old Londoner, is beaten up and raped. As he struggles to come to terms with his ordeal, he is forced to examine the changing relationships with his partner Laura, his friends, family and Oliver, the benevolent stranger who took him to hospital.
Chased by nightmarish memories and beset by doubts regarding identity, masculinity and how to live when long-cherished planning has failed and certainty vanished, he withdraws into paranoia, deceit and the need to ensure he is never a victim again. He questions the beliefs and politics that shaped him, their origins and whether they are still valid.
Increasingly distant from the people around him and the compassionate individual he was, Matt realises that if he is to retain his humanity, he must forge a fresh outlook and a new way of living.
Travelling home on the Underground, Matt, a twenty-nine-year-old Londoner, is beaten up and raped. As he struggles to come to terms with his ordeal, he is forced to examine the changing relationships with his partner Laura, his friends, family and Oliver, the benevolent stranger who took him to hospital.
Chased by nightmarish memories and beset by doubts regarding identity, masculinity and how to live when long-cherished planning has failed and certainty vanished, he withdraws into paranoia, deceit and the need to ensure he is never a victim again. He questions the beliefs and politics that shaped him, their origins and whether they are still valid.
Increasingly distant from the people around him and the compassionate individual he was, Matt realises that if he is to retain his humanity, he must forge a fresh outlook and a new way of living.
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