I found this extremely frustrating with the constant changing periods instead of a more linear flow. The subject matter was excrusiating hard to become involved in the plot and characters for this is one of the darkest storIes one could read..I was hoping for a satisfactory conclusion that never eventuated.
having been in lockdown for almost 18 months with the virus and I wonder if this was the wrong time to take on such a journey.
This is an independent review for NetGalley / Vintage.

I has very different expectations from The Tally Stick. I was hoping more for a police case & suspense type of book but this was a very different book. The book is quite atmospheric & the story telling was very good. However this is not a suspense or thriller although it has a few elements of the same. 25% in & I kept getting Where the crawdads sing vibes off this book. But they were only vibes. This book is unique & different with a haunting(not in a paranormal way) story. The prose right from the start to the end was flawless & ot almost transported me to NZ to where it is set. There were so many mixed emotions invoked during the reading of this book. But the most dominant was the feeling of frustration for the main characters and of the story. I could feel them getting close to something & then it would just turn out to be nothing. I enjoyed reading the book despite this feeling of frustration. It felt true - not all stories have happy endings in the real world. My only gripe was that I was thoroughly confused about how certain things could have worked out 'biologically'. I still don't understand it! I would highly recommend the book - just don't ho in expecting your general twisty suspense

Thank you, NetGalley, world editions & Carl Nixon for an arc!

While not what one would call a page turner, this story gripped my heart and will be with me for a long time. Even though it was a slow read, I couldn’t put it down until the very last page. And even then, I couldn’t let go of the emotions that ripped and gripped my innermost being.

On the surface there are the children tragically orphaned in a remote part of a strange country and rescued at the point of starvation only to be confined and abused. As the story seeps into the depth of our emotion, we see the contrast between the willing compliance of the daughter and the absolute defiance of the son both in their determination to escape.

This was a wonderful novel, and I am so very thankful to NetGalley and World Editions for an early readers’ copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I recommend this highly and will look for additional novels from Carl Nixon.

The Chamberlain family vanished without a trace one night in 1978 when their car plunged off of an isolated road. By the time another car passed, all evidence of the accident had been washed away by the heavy rain. By the time anyone would have realized that the family of six was missing, there was no hope of finding out what had happened. In 2010, the bones of their oldest son are found, along with a piece of scored wood. Forensics show that he didn't die until four years after the family's disappearance.

The Tally Stick is a black, fascinating story of survival in remote New Zealand. The plot moves between the time of the accident, what happens after the bones are discovered, and the years in between. You don't know what's going to happen, but you know what didn't happen and that's where the suspense comes in. The author also has an amazing way of capturing things like the impact of the car crash. I physically tensed up when I read that passage.

On April 4th 1978 the Chamberlain family disappeared. Vanished into thin air. They were headed to a new home in New Zealand where their father was to start a new job.

Told from two time periods, 1978 and 1910. From the children's prospective and from their Aunts. Very well written. The descriptions leave you picturing it all. You will feel yourself falling into the waters as this family did. You will feel all the emotions that are going on. It's a very well developed story.

This is a very deep book. Filled with a lot of beautiful descriptions. A lot of sadness also. It explains in detail what happened to this family. It explains what happened to the three remaining children. What became of them. You won't be left hanging. Any question you may have will be answered. To me it is a very sad story but also filled with hope. It has a few, very few, funny parts. Overall it's absolutely a wonderful, yet sensitive, story of three children just surviving. One who wants desperately to get back home. He only wants to see him house again.

When the Chamberlain family started out it was pouring rain. Of course the father would not listen to his wife about getting a room for the night and possibly doing a bit of sightseeing the next day. He was in a hurry. If only... What happens next will leave you turning the pages to find out exactly what happened to this family. What happened to the children. Where the boy's body came into play all those years later. Julia's sister, Suzanne, did not give up easy. She searched for a while for clues to what happened to her sister and her family. After many dead ends though she had to admit that all was lost. They were gone. Forever. She had to move on and live her life. But she never forgot. It was her sister after all.

Many years later when Suzanne gets the phone call about bones being found she at least gets a little positive closure. The oldest boy, Maurice, was found at the bottom of a cliff. I found that quite ironic considering how they ended up in the first place. Also quite sad. While reading of his plight to freedom I have to admit to shedding a lot of tears. What this young man went through was truly horrible. What him and his siblings went through was horrible. But they did have a roof over their heads and food to eat. That much was good. The rest was just sad.

When you reach the end of this very compelling story you will be in awe of Katherine. At least I was. I felt for her too. She was the sister of Maurice. They also had a smaller brother, Tommy. These three children will pull at your heartstrings. Many times. I felt for Maurice so so much. He knew they were being lied too. He knew. But what could he do? And what eventually became of these children? You read early on what happened to Maurice but what of Kathrine and Tommy? What became of them? Did they survive and if so how. Three children left after a horrendous wreck that took away their parents and baby sister. What became of them?

Thank you to #NetGalley, #CarlNixon, #WorldEditions for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

5/5 HUGE stars. I highly recommend this one. Just be prepared. It's quite the ride and quite sad. A bit dark in places and a whole lot going on.

This was an intense book, both disturbing and captivating. I hoped for rescue for the kids, and was horrified that they weren't. Could this scenario really happen? There are places I suspect the answer is yes. Very thought provoking.

This was a hard one for me to get into! It wasn't really my speed and felt a little too slow for me to get engaged the way I normally do. That being said, I loved the idea of the story.

This is a read that is both intense and compelling I found it almost impossible to put down. It’s a disturbing story set in New Zealand and a difficult one to describe as it’s more about the feelings and atmosphere of the book that it conveys that makes it such a wonderful read.
The writing is excellent and the two storylines and timelines work really well, the characters are what stood out for me each in their own very different ways were brilliant. The ending left me feeling sad but I don’t think I would have wanted it any other way and I think the author got it just right.
So I would say please give this book a go it’s a short read and it’s an incredible story and one that I’m so glad I didn’t miss.
My thanks to NetGalley and World Editions for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A brilliantly written piece of fiction. I could not read it quck enough. It was captivating, scary and thrilling. A family starting a new life in New Zealand are on a road trip before the father starts his new job. A terrible accident occurs and the family vanish. Thirty years later a child's bones are found and there is realisation that the child survived for four years after the accident. So where is the rest of the family?
This story was believable, frightening and so descriptive that it made me feel I was living the story with them. It is a sad tale of lost love, family left behind, betrayal, abuse and fear. A highly recommended read.

Perplexed as to what genre to assign this story. It's a fictional, mystical drama set in the late 70's  New Zealand. However, it is also about death, family bonds, relationships, sorrow, heartbreak, the human spirit, culture, indigenous people and so much more. The story weaves between the years, but is not difficult to follow.
There is a horrific car accident which leaves very young children injured and lost. The Chamberlain family disappears without a trace. The years that follow, the experiences and lives are poignantly captured in the forests, rivers, and mountains of New Zealand, not a tourist beachside.
Many other reviewers have given enough of the story details that I won't repeat unnessasarily. I'd rather relate how it lingers after you read. If it doesn't touch you deeply, then you've not felt pain or tasted life. It is an emotional, sometimes heart-aching story of survival. It was an exceptional literary read.
I learned so much about a place I had no knowledge of. Didn't necessarily "enjoy" the outcome and the story resolution, life is rarely fair, and I don't regret reading. I had no prior knowledge of this author. The research and depth of this story was commendable. I will watch for his future books.
Thank so much to Netgalley, Carl Nixon, and World Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Tally Stick. These are my opinions and thoughts, given voluntarily.
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An enthralling look at life in the "boondocks" of New Zealand in the 1970's.
I found the beginning a bit difficult to get through - the accident, loss of family and the plight of the three orphans.
The rapid switching back and forth across characters and timelines also took some getting used to. However, the finale was unexpected and the ending bitter-sweet. I was left with questions of what one does to survive and how our choices shape our world.
Which of the children do I identify with? What is the significance of Katherine's change of name to Kat by the end... There's a lot to read into this story.
A very good experience.

The novel starts with a terrible car crash; the writing is all-encompassing. I felt like I was in the car with the characters and felt their fear and dread. From that point on, it--in turns--is a survival story and a story of endurance. There is tension established in multiple ways: will the survivors ever be found? What happened to the one child whose remains are found in the beginning of the novel? Will the remaining family in England get any closure?

If you are looking for a very intriguing book, The Tally Stick is it. I really enjoyed the multiple point of views that the author gave us. I loved following the story of the abducted children and how each learned how to deal with the trauma that they had suffered. This story has quite a few triggers that the reader needs to be aware of. I really appreciated the point of view of the Aunt of the missing children. The fact that her whole life she is trying to find out what happened to her sisters family is very moving. Thank you for the opportunity to read a e-arc of this book.

The Tally Stick by Carl Nixon

The Chamberlain’s have arrived in New Zealand in April 1978 from England, John Chamberlain is starting a new job in a few weeks but first they decide to go on a driving holiday around New Zealand with Julia, his wife and their four children, Maurice, Katherine, Tommy and Emma the baby. Disaster strikes when John loses control of his car and they slip off the highway plunge into a ravine. The three elder children somehow survive the crash. Thirty years later the bones of Maurice are found, what happened to the other children?

I enjoyed this book very much. It is beautifully written and I could not put it down until I found out what happened to the three surviving children.

I would like to thank Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Tally Stick is the first book I've read by New Zealand author Carl Nixon and I'm very impressed.
In 1978 the Chamberlain family, John, Julia and their 4 children,emigrate to New Zealand , where John is due to start a high-flying job with BP. With a few days to spare before John starts his new job in Wellington the family decide to hop on a ferry and explore the beautiful South Island of New Zealand. Then,.....they disappear.
30 years later the remains of the eldest child, Maurice,are found in a remote coastal area along with his Dad's watch and a strange notched stick.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book but certainly not what it turned out to be. It shows a side of New Zealand you'll never read about in the tourist guides, the virtual ghost towns left when the coal mines closed and the disparate characters dropping off the radar and living in the bush anywhere they can find with a roof.
Into this environment comes Julia's sister Suzanne, determined to discover the family's fate.and making several visits over the years,first with her husband,then on her own.

The style of the book reminded me very much of Carl Nixon's compatriot, J P Pomare, both authors use the New Zealand landscape almost as a major character in their books, if you've ever been there you'll know that the land is seen as very much more than "scenery" or "just a place" and that connection features in both author's books..

This is definitely something a bit different, I loved it and will read more of Carl Nixon's work.

I would like to thank Netgalley and World Editions for an advance copy of The Tally Stick, a stand-alone novel set in the West Coast, New Zealand in 1978 and London in 2010.

In 1978 the Chamberlain family disappears while touring New Zealand. In 2010 Mrs Chamberlain’s sister, Suzanne, is notified that Maurice Chamberlain’s bones have been found and indicate that he survived for four years after his disappearance.

I have rated this novel at 4* for the powerful writing and evocation of place and situation. I did not like the content as it is too far out of my comfort zone. This is not really a crime novel, more a story of survival, how to cope with it and the choices people make to survive. I couldn’t identify with these children (their parents died in a car crash) and thus found it hard to swallow what happened to them. I did like the 2010 scenes with Suzanne as she confronts the mystery of what happened to her family and looks back over the years to her search for her family. This seems real and natural.

The novel is compulsive in its storytelling. It is dark from the start so there is a sense of impending doom hanging over it, reinforced by the discovery of Maurice’s bones, the fact that he survived for four years and the artefacts found with him. This is not a pleasant read so it was as fast as I could finish it.

At the same time the author paints a strong picture of the wild (in more than one sense), rural landscape. Its forbidding, inaccessible description adds to the dark cruelty of the novel.

The Tally Stick is a powerful piece of writing, whose content simply didn’t appeal to me.

As distressing as the opening chapter of The Tally Stick was, I was unable to tear myself away from it, such was the intensity of the storyline.

The date is 4th April 1978, and the Chamberlain family ( Mum, Dad, and four kids) had only been in New Zealand for five days. They’d left behind their lives in London after the father John was offered a job in Wellington. On the day in question, they set off on a road trip to explore South Island before John’s start date, and, according to the local press, simply vanished into thin air.

Fast forward to 2010, and the remains of the eldest child Maurice were discovered, with forensics showing that he’d lived for around another four years after their disappearance! Where had he been, and where were the others? Had they survived?

It would be too easy to give away some snippet of the storyline that would spoil it for those intending to read The Tally Stick, so I deliberately aren’t saying much about it. However, I simply had to find out what had happened to the Chamberlain’s, and this wonderfully atmospheric and beautifully written novel took me on a journey to do just that, a journey to the West Coast of New Zealand, a journey that was full of mystery and intrigue, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

One of my favourite stories. Really unusual, not like anything I’ve ever read before. It keeps you interested right to the very end. Really well written and really well told.

It begins with a bang, literally. It's 1978 and you're in the car on an uncharted New Zealand adventure that goes horribly awry when the Dad at the wheel misjudges, and the family of 6 is forever changed. This is no spoiler since it takes place within the opening pages. How the survivors manage forms the basis of this truly original novel that is not really a mystery, but an examination of survival, love and debt. In fact, the title references the obligation. Back in London in 2010, the mother's sister had never really given up hope that there was a chance there were survivors, and her trips back to the rough unsettled South Island where the final sighting of the doomed family occurred, cost her dearly. There is so much more to this book than I am willing to share, since Carl Nixon did such a wonderful job of setting up and spooling out the proceedings. This is the first of his books I've read, but definitely not the last.

Thanks to NetGalley and World Editions for The Tally Stick ARC in return for an honest review. This was an intense literary novel. The author, Carl Nixon, grabs the reader emotionally from the first page with feelings of apprehension and dread. The writing is descriptive and chilling with an ominous, foreboding atmosphere. This sad, powerful story conveys the damp forests and cliffs along the west coast of New Zealand, the mud, rain, cliffs, cold rivers, little sunshine, and less hope. I admire the author's skill in establishing a mood of unease and despair, but reading this was an uncomfortable experience. The characters were well-developed and memorable.

It is a story of trauma, endurance, child abuse and neglect, denial, the killing of animals, harsh punishments, and lack of essential medical care. It centers around the plight of three children, two boys and a girl, who survived with injuries after their parents and baby sister were killed in a terrible car accident in 1978. The car went over a cliff and into a river in an isolated wooded area. The family had only arrived in New Zealand five days earlier, and the father was to be employed in Wellington. They were on an automobile tour of their new country. The fate of the family was unknown.

An aunt came to New Zealand several times over the years trying to find out the family's fate and whether any of the children survived. About 30 years later, the older boy's body was discovered, and forensic evidence showed that he had survived for four years after the crash. Where had he been, and what was the fate of his brother and sister? What was the meaning of the tally stick found with his body?

We learn that the two boys and the girl were found and taken in by a sleazy couple who treated them as captives and servants. They lived off-the-grid in a remote area. What was their life like?

There was little joy or resolution here, just an overwhelming feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. New Zealand is one of the most scenic, beautiful countries on earth, and I wish some of that had been mentioned for contrast.