I do not know what I was expecting when I picked this up, but I definitely was not right. I do not check up on the blurb before the actual reading once I have added a book to my TBR. This helps keep the experience novel.
It took me a chapter or two to figure out the context of what was happening. The deeper we venture into the book, the author reveals information more openly, and the character's past becomes more evident than with just the hints in the first few chapters. These are a collection of musings, one-sided conversations and the innermost speculation of a man in grief. He continues to work as a diplomat orchestrating talks between warring parties while marvelling at the futility and the charade of it all. There are some places at the beginning that my mind wandered, but later on, I had to know what the actual facts were and read faster. The man in our story is neither a good one nor a bad one by his own admission; he just is. There is a lot to unpack in the revelations that he provides. Especially when he contemplates what other people are thinking.
I almost gave up in the beginning, thinking it wasn't a book for me, but towards the end, I started to feel with Edvard and his sorrow. From start to finish, the entire book is only 200 pages, but it is a heavy volume where sometimes the slimmest of chapters can draw you out and start a discussion. Human and society's foibles are discussed at length here in a sort of futile exercise where no one can really do anything. It is not a very action-oriented book, and if a man directing his talks to someone who isn't there does not sound appealing, I do not recommend trying it. If someone is on the lookout for something different, a little darker and realistic, I would recommend giving this a shot.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I loved this book, chose it as my favourite for the month on our bookstore's newsletter
https://benmcnallybooks.com/staff-suggestions-october-29-2020/

I was given a free copy of Peace Talks by Tim Finch -- Author, Europa Press – Publisher, and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Peace Talks is the first book I have by Tim Finch. I would characterize this novel as literary fiction is told in the first-person and appears to be a stream-of-conscious.

This review will not contain any spoilers.

My reading preferences slant towards genre fiction, and not literary fiction. This literary novel is the first of this type of fiction that I have read in several years.

When I started reading this novel, I thought the story would be a dramatization or a fictional account of peace negotiation process. The main character was the head of a group of facilitators who were trying to broker peace between two unidentified countries located in the Middle East. The story, then, shifted away from the negotiations and into the personal life of the main character. The shifting seemed to be very organic and Mr. Finch does a commendable job of showcasing what the main character does as a facilitator for peace negotiations and how he has a very difficult time in his personal life due to loneliness and heavily drinking.

As I continued to read this novel, I grieved for the main character and the reason why he was lonely and may have caused the drinking. This story was a solid combination of story about the peace negotiation process and gut punch due to the main character’s personal story.

Mr. Finch wrote a compelling, emotional, and thought-provoking novel.

Peace Talks is a very solid work of fiction.

I will rate Peace Talks by Tim Finch 4.5 stars.

I would like to thank Tim Finch, Europa Press, and Net Galley for the free ARC.

Nicely done. This is a smart, thoughtfully written story. It is literature so it can be very slow going at times but that is also it's strength. I enjoyed this. Recommended.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!