A deeply compelling novel. The subject of this book is one that so many of us have been affected by, especially in the last eighteen months. I was a little apprehensive of reading it initially because of this but the subject of suicide and mental health was dealt with sensitivity and respectfully. There was a humour that I wasn't expecting and I found that I couldn't put it down.

Contacts is a funny, frank, and moving novel that touches on issues such as suicide, in an honest, serious but funny way, which makes the message of the story hit hard. An original and touching read.

James, who is fat and forty, has decided to kill himself. He's in a dead end job, with no partner and no real friends. He sends out a text message to all of the contacts in his phone book telling them of his intentions before switching his phone to flight mode and settling down to his last supper of two pork pies, six cans of beer and a packet of chocolate digestives. He's on his way to Edinburgh on the overnight train to Edinburgh where he spent lots of happy times with his late father. We follow him on the train as he reflects on his life and why he has decided to end it. In between we find out what some of the recipients do to try to help him and what their thoughts are about James.

This is a very moving book. Suicide is such a difficult subject and Watson covers it well. I both laughed and cried at the observations in this novel. The ending was perhaps a little abrupt and didn't quite make sense to me but I think I understand why it ended in this way although I can't say more without bringing in spoilers, Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Intense. Overwhelming. Grounding. Uplifting?

I expected a lot from this book just from the blurb. The concept is incredibly potent for the current focus on mental health, and the impact that technology has on it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but enjoyed seems the wrong word to use when it detailed so many difficult mental situations that it may as well have been a true reflection on life. This is a book that gives pause for thought, but not even so much on the mental health aspect as I had expected, now as I sit here pondering it I’m questioning my use of technology and how it has been used for good, as well as for bad. Colour my intrigued.

This a novel which has really stayed with me and I have thought of often since finishing it. Our main character James sends a text message to everyone in his contacts that he is going to kill himself and then puts his phone on airplane mode. What follows is many different disparate people reflecting on how their actions led James to this point and how they could have behaved differently while also being part of a large group trying to find and save James. This a very difficult topic dealt with in a sensitive, responsible but still hard htting way.

Mark Watson is a talented writer, comedian, all rounder. And I loved the concept of this audiobook, however, although I enjoyed listening to this, I wasn't quite captivated enough by the characters to completely finish it. I'm not sure whether it was just a touch too long because after a while with the back and forth, I started to lose interest. It's a great concept, and I wonder if I'd read the novel whether I'd have a more positive experience, but after a while, I just lost interest.

A heart breaking insight into how easily one man's life collapses to a point where he is about to commit suicide. The subject matter is not the easiest which may make this a difficult recommendation. But it's important to realise that we are not alone, and that people really do care. Unfortunately so many people don't think that they deserve help, as it's often an amalgam of many little things that make life unbearable.
Be kind, listen and don't trivialise people's problems when they open up to you.

I really wanted to like this book, as the idea was brilliant and quite original. But it never really sucked me in and I struggled to finish it.

Contacts by Mark Watson.

Wow – I wasn't expecting what I just read!
This is one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished reading, and for that reason it gets the full five stars from me.

Increadibly sad, moving, yet also uplifting and humorous at the same time.

James Chiltern is on the sleeper train from London to Edinburgh and like most of us, the first thing he does is get out his phone. He sends the same message to all of the contacts in his phone, that he is going to end his life.
This isn't a cry for help where James is expecting his contacts to try and dissuade him, he turns off his phone (eventually dumping it completely) and heads towards his end. There is no drama, he just wants to opt out of life.

The book covers the period while James is on the train and how the most important contacts in his phone react to the message.
The book was very powerful in showing that we might not have many meaningful contacts in our life at any one time, but even just a few contacts are supremely important and you mean more than you realise to people.

* Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the ARC.

James sends one text to all of his contacts to say a final goodbye. And from this unlikely premise comes a surprisingly posititive and life-affirming story that has you rooting for the right outcome. The ending has an unexpected twist but which adds to the realism of an incitefully told tale from which we can all learn something.

Loved this. Another fantastic novel from Mark. A book that pulls you in from page one and holds you there until its last word. Witty, warm and heartbreaking, one of my favourite books in a long time.

A journey that I often make, but a destination that I hope not to discover. This is a thought provoking read, about how happenstance can bring an individual to an almost irrevocable decision.

Well written, humorous, and engaging, I would recommend this as a read that is not as bleak as it's description!

This is my kind of book! Funny, beautiful and moving. What more good you want?! 😂 I loved the theme of kindness and the importance of reaching out to others. The writing is witty and engaging. One moment I was laughing and the next crying. It definitely stayed with me long after I read it.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. It was an engaging and poignant read. It was a tough storyline to get across and to be understood but it was done effortlessly. Really gets you thinking of those 'how are you' chats we all need to do and to look out for each other. Highly recommended.

A brilliant read that well deserves the 5 stars and a book that will stay with me for a while yet.

Thank you Harper Collins and Netgalley.

This is a compelling book which kept me reading right to the end. Mark Watson manages to make his lead character, a man who feels hopeless and depressed, someone you want to know more about. It's not easy to write about depression, but he does it well as we follow the protagonist on the night train from London to Edinburgh after he has composed a goodbye note and texted it to all his contacts. We then see them as they try to track him down and halt his suicide attempt.

A mix of humour and heartbreak, worth a read.

I loved this book. It was warm and presented the characters in a human warts and all but nonjudgmental way. The ending was just so honest and will ring true for anyone who has experience of the issues it tackles

A compassionate and thoughtful, as well as gently funny, book on the difficult subject of suicide. However, having got engrossed in the story and rooting for a good outcome, I found myself let down by the ending which left so many unanswered questions - one of the most important being, how did Gina the train guard find James’s phone which he had thrown out of the window? And the way that Gina killed herself, with not even James appearing to be particularly concerned, even though he watched her do it, struck me as unnecessarily callous in an otherwise sensitively written book.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
Please be warned of a suicide trigger in this book.
This book is difficult to describe as I have honestly never read anything like.it. It was complex and detailed and extremely well done. Sensitivity was used in discussion of mental health and suicide.. There is a wide cast of characters and it was interesting to see the great range of effects James had via the ripple effect.
A good read and a timely reminder to be kind.

Mental health, connections, decisions.

3.5 stars.

I'll state now that I have a slightly skewed view of the subject matter at the moment. A beloved family member committed suicide a few months ago. It's still upsetting me regularly, it hasn't left me, but it's a subject I was also wanting to read about: for insight, for general interest as a reader/reviewer into how others see the decision-making process. But please bear that in mind with some of my comments.

James sends a text message to everyone in his contact list from a train. Stating his intention to end his own life. He turns off his phone. So we see and he doesn't as people he knows all round the world read his statement and react in various ways. And we also see the guilt, the horror, the attempts made to contact him, to stop him.

The mother who feels she didn't give him the attention she gave his sister. The sister who fought with him and now lives half a world away. The ex-girlfriend who left him for another man. The best friend who fired him. The flatmate who barely talked to him.

Can anyone reach out to him, make contact, before it's too late?

James reflects on his recent life and how he came to this decision. This part was quite key for me - just what did it take to tip the balance for him? It wasn't one event, one person that causes James to make his mind up. A combination over time set him on his chosen path to the train station.

It does highlight a lot of issues for men in particular though - not only failing relationships but the fact that James is the stoic sort who keeps his feelings under wraps, who worries about body image and weight as much as anyone else, who is hurt by rudeness and slights, who slowly gives up hope and stops trying. This hit home for me, and the author brings these out. James is a lovely person - the sort who knows the answers to pub quiz questions, who likes listening to people and learning about them - he's not done anything 'wrong' in his life, it's just dealt him a bad hand in terms of circumstances. He speaks to a conductor on his train, someone who seems a little like him, Gina, who needs someone to talk to herself. Even in his own state of despair he still has the kind of nature that wants to help.

I liked the two perspectives: that of the person preparing to end his life and also those all suddenly reflecting on their own mistakes and errors in letting it get to this stage, realising they could have acted differently, realising they may have played a role in James' decision. It will resonate with many, that we all let contact slide, let mistakes fester, could do more to stay in touch and check on our friends.

This was all great. It was the denouement that riled me, heavily. Even without a personal connection to this story, the ending felt wrong, rushed and out of place with what had gone on before.

*SPOILER ALERT - SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH*
The suicide scene arrives of course, and with it someone who tries to stop James. Now is this either realistic, or what the reader would want to see - someone who stops a suicide attempt by doing the deed themselves? I couldn't believe what I was reading. It just felt like both a cop-out and not justified. His own prospects being better than hers, the incentive to help him, does one attempt to save someone else but then do the same thing?? It almost cheapened the efforts he'd gone to in justifying his own thought process, and cheapened the life of the new victim that we hadn't been able to see much of.
*END OF SPOILER*

Now surely you'd want the 'happy' ending of one of James' friends or family to mount a rescue and reach him in time? And there were certainly plenty of candidates and ways for them to connect with each other, work out where James was, and reach him. But does Watson give us that closure and pleasure, of regret, forgiveness, redemption and hope? I'll not say more, but I was NOT happy with his chosen conclusion.

While the subject brought out into the open is a good thing, in the current climate of rising mental health issues and my own personal experiences of similar situations, seeing personal feelings reflected in the characters was a positive, but the ending Watson gives us did not satisfy or soothe.

Great premise, brave subject matter, at times very funny and moving. Rushed, unexpected and a cheat of an ending.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

I’m a huge fan of Mark Watson, with his geeky, awkward, slightly manic comedy and his apparent inability to navigate 21st century life. However, I’d never read any of his novels so I was intrigued when Contacts popped up on Netgalley. The premise is quite unusual - a YOUNG man (I refuse to say middle aged - he’s about the same age as me) called James decides to take his own life and sends out a text to all of his contacts telling them what he is about to do - but then puts his phone on aeroplane mode. While his family and friends are desperately trying to reach him, James quietly sits on the sleeper train to Edinburgh with two pork pies, some biscuits and a six-pack, preparing himself for his last 24 hours on earth.

DUM DUM DUMMMMM! (Drama ensues). I can’t really say much more without ruining the ending but obviously the storyline follows the desperate quest to stop James from doing what he’s about to do, whilst he obliviously sits on a train moving further away from everyone who loves him. What I can say though is that I was completely hooked and didn’t want to put the book down.

Obviously, writing a book where the main character spends the whole time wanting to die is incredibly… brave? risky? difficult? all of the above? but Waton handles the whole thing with incredible sensitivity. It’s hard to read the novel without reflecting on where his knowledge of suicidal thoughts came from (Watson has been quite open in the past about his struggles with his own mental health) but I thought this made the writing feel completely authentic. I did worry that as the novel progressed I would be dragged into a pit of despair but thankfully there’s lots of moments of levity that lighten the overall tone.

I originally thought that the book’s premise was pretty straightforward but I loved how much depth was added through the exploration of relationships with other characters and in turn, the way that we maintain them through the use of technology. In particular, I really felt for James’ mum, who didn’t really use a mobile or social media and so was completely cut off from her son in all sorts of different ways and had to rely on others to ascertain where he might be. Her helplessness was palpable and I found her parts of the story the most difficult to read.

Overall, I thought that Contacts was quite a unique book. It was highly emotional but difficult topics were tackled very sensitively and some well placed funny moments helped to keep the tone far lighter than expected. I ended up sitting in a cold bath until 1:30am because I couldn’t wait to see how it ended, which is perhaps all you needed to know (I should probably have put that sentence first).