There are not enough superlatives to sum up how much I enjoyed this audiobook.
The premise is simple, James sends a text to all his phone contacts. He is going to end his life. He takes the night train to Edinburgh and turns his phone to flight mode so nobody can contact him.
He relives his life’s highs and lows during the journey, and the whole story of James’ troubles are gradually revealed to the reader, whilst his contacts scramble around trying to stop his impending death. The characters are so well depicted, their motives, actions and thoughts are so well written, it adds to the depth and drama of James’ situation and his unhappiness.
The reality of his past events, how he got to where he is, and why he feels so lost ring so true. I really enjoyed this on my commute, spending extra time in my car at the end of my journeys in order to hear just. a little more. I was totally immersed in James and his life.
The audiobook is brilliantly narrated. The pace and expression convey depth of feeling.
I give this book ten stars out of five!
Thanks to #NetGalley for the chance to review this book and audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I just couldn't get into the story of this book. I listened to it and tried to read it. The idea of it was great but for me it just didn't flow - I lost track of the characters and sadly found them hard to relate to.

I found it a little slow to get going at first, but once it picked up pace I thought it was a lovely book full of lovely human interactions and it handled a delicate subject carefully and compassionately.

Wow what a book, such an emotional story bout all of the links that we build in life without even realising, and how far one life can influence and affect others, even when we dont know what we are doing

A suicide note email. Sent to all contacts.

James, a 40-year-old programmer/chauffeur has lost his job, his girlfriend and himself. He is on the sleeper to Edinburgh where he plans to kill himself. The “send to all” is not a call for attention, he has made his decision. Once he’s sent the email, he switches his phone to flight mode, so that he cannot be contacted.

What will the reaction of the 158 addressees be, if any? Some are closely connected with him, at least on the surface, some are only fleeting acquaintances.
“So their reactions would be fished out of the first-aid kit everyone had for dramas.”

A straight, simple enough plotline, you think? Think again!

This book is cleverly constructed, boxing up different threads of the storyline Babushka-style. It teases just the right amount and pulls back at the precise moment in the narrative to make you scream “Tell me! Tell me now!”.
The juxtaposition of our modern world of electronic connectivity versus personal isolation is described with painful accuracy.
The layers of the past, the reasonings, old feuds and happy memories mingle with the train’s journey, James’s thoughts and the thoughts and actions of the people in his address list.

Is this an inevitable journey from despair to oblivion or is there more at play?

PS And if you don’t have to scroll back to solve the phone mystery, you’re cleverer than me!

A good book with believable characters. Well written. I did find it a bit slow going, but it is full of heart.

A funny and honest look at suicide, mental health and what-ifs. This was a great read, I loved how the story unfolded from everyone’s point of view, James’, his ex, his sister, friend and mum. It made thinking about how James’ suicide “text” would effect all his people easy. Giving each point of view and strategy of how to save him. I thought the backstory about his Dad’s death and his relationship with Michaela were really important in showing James’ downward spiral.
I did find the ending a little rushed after such a detailed build up but I wonder if this is actually purposefully done to show the build up of mental health issues and how quickly and how final suicidal thoughts and suicide can happen.
Overall I thought this book was relevant, it was easy to read even though it deals with such strong issues and I thought the level of humour was just right.

I enjoyed this.

James is a young man, disillusioned with his life, and he sets out a plan to jump from a bridge in Edinburgh and end his life. To that effect, he boards the sleeper train from London and sends a text message to all his contacts telling them goodbye before he pops flight mode on.

The story follows the timeline of his train journey, with his contacts soon networking to work out where he might be and try to save him - from his flat-mate, his ex-girlfriend, his estranged sister in Australia, a whole cast of diverse characters with different relationships with James.

Initially I found this book quite slow to get into, but then I spent a couple of hours with it and found reading it quicker helped, it made the pace of the train journey more realistic. All in, a good read, a story which shows how even those who appear stable from the outside are inwardly fragile, and how there exists such good in humanity.

I was intrigued to see how the difficult topic of suicide would be handled in this book and hoped it wouldn’t be lightly skipped over in some emotionally manipulative way.
I needn’t have worried - Mark Watson handles the subject with humour, certainly, but also with a deft sympathy for all the characters.
The basic premise is that James Chiltern gets on a train to Edinburgh, sends a Goodbye message to all his contacts in his phone, then switches it to Flight Mode so he can’t be swayed by the responses. His friends and family are spread all over the world, so they are all doing different things when they get the message. For some, it has little impact, but the story hones in on the few who do react. How they react is, in some cases, not as you would expect. There are those for whom it sparks off more of a self-centred and helpless reaction than you (or James, if he wasn’t so deep in his suicidal depression) might wish. Others, perhaps more tangentially linked to James’ life really step up to find him and stop him killing himself, using the same power of social media that he has used for his final missive.
I found James the least interesting character. He’s on the night train, with his snacks and his own thoughts, determined that this journey will be his final one. His sister finds it hard to snap out of the life she has built thousands of miles away, his ex girlfriend justifiably feels dragged back into the life she walked out of. His best friend isn’t being entirely honest until the end of the book. His flatmate is pulling out all the stops to find him - maybe she can do this because there is little history between them and so she is able to be more focused.
I wasn’t sure about the ending, to be honest, but I won’t get into Spoiler territory. It didn’t seem as realistic as the rest of the book, but then again, maybe the point is that we can never know what other people are going through.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC of this book.

I have an enormous amount of good will towards Mark Watson. He is one of my favourite comedians and he has a nervous, vulnerable energy which makes him difficult to criticise. His books always have intelligent concepts and he writes in an understated, observational, wry manner. He brings clear elements of his own personality into his books. For example, this book is about a man who is planning to commit suicide, was written following a period of mental struggle for Watson when he had struggled with alcohol use following the break up of his marriage. It feels very personal, even though the character’s struggles are different to Watson’s own experience. I feel somewhat protective towards Watson, knowing that he has been going through a difficult time and he chose to write about suicide as a result,

The book starts with the lead character, James, texting his entire phone contacts list to tell them he is planning suicide. It then follows several of the people who receive this text and their reactions as they try to find a way to prevent his suicide. It’s an interesting premise, although makes the book harder to get into as each new chapter from a new person’s perspective feels a bit like starting the book afresh.

The book is a study of how important human contacts are, how our actions affect each other, how important it is to stay in contact with each other and how mobile phones and social media, which have the potential to make us more in contact with our loved ones than ever before can somehow have the opposite result.

It is an intelligent look at what might make a person suicidal, how the build up of small things can affect our mental health so that from the outside something which seems trivial may be the tipping point too another person’s mental well-being.

It is not particularly exciting to read and the ending is fairly predictable apart from an event involving a train conductor which I felt was jarring and required more explanation, although I think that’s probably the point of its inclusion. However, if you like Mark Watson’s voice and his frustrated, witty observations you will also like this book. I struggle to say enjoy as it is hard to enjoy a book with suicide as once of its central themes.

The audiobook is read by Mark Watson himself. I think this is probably a mistake, he has a slightly odd way off speaking, so that, even though he wrote the words, it sometimes sounds like he is putting the emphasis on the wrong part of the sentence. He doesn’t really make much of an attempt to do the accents required, so it probably would have been better to get a professional, experienced narrator to read the book. His narration doesn’t impair the enjoyment of the book but I feel a professional may have been able to breathe a bit more life into the narration.

Touching and wryly amusing.

James has reached the zenith of what crap he can take. He's lost his girlfriend, sister, best friend, his job and self respect. So he's decided it's the end and sends a message to all his contacts to tell them. As he switches off his phone he realises he's dropped a bomb but he doesn't realise it's a nuclear one thats shockwaves will be felt across continents. Suicide as the main subject of a novel doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs and let's face it needs to be handled with extreme care. Luckily it's in safe hands with Mark Watson. The story is of a man who has no one and how he got there. James is possibly one of the loveliest characters I've ever read. From start to finish I rooted for him, and got through the last chapters peeping from behind my hands as I really wanted him to change his mind! I may have got too invested but I couldn't help it. The way the story evolved and revealed itself was excellent.

In summary a great story that will stay in my mind for a long time.

The subject of this book is a difficult one: suicide. The main character, James Chiltern has sent out a message to all his contacts on his phone, saying he is going to commit suicide, whilst he travels on a sleeper train to Edinburgh. I hasn't to add, this is something he's planned.
Some of his closest 'contacts' react to this overnight; trying to find him and stop him. The cleverly written story shares his moving backstory and how he's come to this time of despair.
This was a very powerful novel and I came away reminding myself to keep in touch with others; particularly those who are quieter. It is too easy for people to say "I'm okay' even when they are suffering inside. At this time of the lockdown, and financial uncertainty, this book is a prompt to reach out and be kind.
I highly recommend it. I haven't read any of Mark Watson's books before but will look out for them.
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair unbiased review.

Funny but frank, moving (you’ll need tissue before long) and tender, this is the story of James Chiltern who plans to end his life. He gets on a train from London to Edinburgh with some snacks, and sends a message to everyone in his contacts – 158, if you’re inquisitive – telling him what he plans to do. Importantly, he turns his phone to flight mode, not wishing to be disturbed. Across the world, people are waking up to the news, or being alerted at work, or at play and each wonder what they can do to help. His mum worries, his sister wants to organise, his housemate is on a mission, his ex girlfriend feels helpless. James’s back story is beautifully woven throughout and I was surprised to feel the depth of emotion while reading it. It doesn’t feel gratuitous in any way, it’s calm, clear and really cleverly written.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book as the main topic of suicide is often a difficult one to write about, however was dealt with well.
I also thought that the some of the other topics around weight issues, job loss and relationship problems were all written about with compassion and understanding.
It’s a unique book that will stay with me for a while.
My only negative is the ending; it finished abruptly and didn’t bring together all the topics and storylines that were so well developed throughout the book.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this, I'm aware of Mark Watson's comedy but hadn't read anything by him. He handles a very difficult subject well but the ending felt rushed and underthought.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a copy of “Contacts” for an honest review.

I hadn’t read anything by Mark Watson before and was only aware of his work as a comedian, which is why I chose to read this . It took me a little while to get into this book , but I’m glad I persevered.
What could have been a bleak tale of loneliness and an impending suicide was told with humour and well written characters, that made you care about the outcome and how they would all react to James’s text .
A thought provoking read.

A story about human interactions, their outcomes, their past stories, and that unites them, with the protagonist, when their cell phones light up and show a message, the story begins, you do not know how it will end, you are on the edge of the story with the character, becomes one with the story and we unravel with the story until its end.
It was a great read, I loved the focus and the way it was written.

A book about suicide a book on an emotional heart wrenching subject.James texts to say he is going to commit suicide.From that moment we are woven into his life we hear his friends feelings about James his issues and I read through hoping he would be saved .A book I will be recommending,#netgalley#harpercollinsuk

I really enjoyed reading this book, the storyline kept me guessing on how it would end - would James take his own life or would the collective support that had gathered virtually, reach him in time.

The story had varying perspectives from his friends and family and how each are/were woven into James' life. The text message they received from James shone a spotlight on them in and forced them to look at their own role in how James ended up where he did. This was all done without any finger pointing or blaming, just an introspection on their part which was very refreshing.

I would have liked an epilogue to tie up some some loose ends because I did end the book wanting to know what happens next but overall, it was a good story that held my attention to the very end.

Contacts is such an interesting concept. The whole idea of sending a ‘ Suicide note‘ to everyone on your contact list is so thought provoking. A cry for help or a last goodbye - in times of crisis people do strange things. The impact of this message on everyone was the real gift in this book- a little message to say you are loved, Or a request to reach out and get help. I found this book fascinating- little bits of humour wound around a very serious topic. If you learn one thing from this book, it would have to be- people do care about you, even if you’ve not heard from them in years.