Book Review: Tubing by K.A. McKeagney

I was on holidays in Athens for a week this month and I read 3 books! How did I have time to do that and still see so much of the wonderful Greek capital? Well, things are a lot easier when you make good book choices. One of those choices I am going to discuss now. I opened the first page waiting in the departures hall and closed the finished book before I went to sleep that night. That is how good my next review was.

Tubing by K.A. McKeagney is set in London and focuses on Polly, a 28-year-old woman who is bored with her life. Her “perfect” boyfriend irritates her and she is stuck in a dead-end job so when a chance encounter with a stranger on the Tube sets sparks flying, Polly is obsessed with finding this exciting person again. Soon, Polly can’t separate her everyday life from “tubing” and a downward spiral soon begins.

I’m going to start off by saying that this book fits into the erotica genre. When I first read the blurb, I would have considered it a thriller and only a thriller, although it is actually a mix of both genres. Then, I started reading reviews with people labelling it erotica and I started to worry that I wouldn’t enjoy Tubing. Luckily, I was wrong. Like everybody else, I’ve read the Fifty Shades trilogy but other than that I would very, very rarely reach for something labelled as erotica. I guess I’m a bit of a prude. If you think of yourself the same way but are intrigued by Tubing, don’t worry. The erotic elements do not dominate the story. The balance between erotica and thriller is well scaled, meaning the book is not too out there for those not normally a fan of the genre.

Now that is clarified, I am glad you decided to read on because this is a book you don’t want to miss out on! Tubing delves right into the premise of the book in chapter one and doesn’t look back. It is an amazingly original story which is fast paced and gritty. I haven’t read a psychological thriller like it before and it will probably be a long time before I do again.

There are two things I absolutely loved about Tubing. One was the setting, London, or where the darkness really occurs, the London Underground. Maybe it is a result of other books based in London I’ve read before but I couldn’t think of another place that would have worked as well with the dark themes of this book. Plus, the author has a great way of creating an ambience. So much so that I could picture each station and feel the mood of each scene clearly.

However, my favourite element of the book is Polly. Don’t get me wrong, Polly is an extremely unlikable character. She is ungrateful towards her boyfriend, seems to have no real friends and is lazy in the workplace. These are all characteristics which fit the storyline well and I don’t think Tubing would have been as gripping if Polly was a “good girl”. She is also a very intriguing character. We learn very early on in the book that she has an eating disorder, a vicious relationship with her mother and is totally lacking in confidence. Many of the other characters who appear in this book are equally unlikable but I believe that it is Polly who paves the way for a story about personal relationships, power, destructive behaviour and revenge.

Overall, I enjoyed Tubing so much. I loathe to repeat myself but I can’t stress enough how original and dark this book is and, of course, how much you are going to enjoy it.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.