Compassion may be humanity’s deadliest weapon…
The threat of nuclear war is no longer scary. This is much worse. It’s invisible. It works quickly.
And it’s coming.
The scourge has already infected and killed half the population in China and it is heading towards the UK. There is no time to escape. The British government sees no way out other than to distribute ‘Dignity Pills’ to its citizens: One last night with family or loved ones before going to sleep forever … together. Because the contagion will kill you and the horrifying news footage shows that it will be better to go quietly.
Dr Haruto Ikeda, a Japanese scientist working at a Chinese research facility, wants to save the world. He has discovered a way to mutate a virus. Instead of making people sick, instead of causing death, it’s going to make them... nice. Instead of attacking the lungs, it will work into the brain and increase the host’s ability to feel and show compassion. It will make people kind.
Ikeda’s quest is thoughtful and noble, and it just might work. Maybe humanity can be saved. Maybe it doesn’t have to be the end.
But kindness may also be the biggest killer of all…
Kill Them With Kindness by Will Carver was published on 26 June 2025 by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this blog tour.
I have been reviewing books for around twenty years. I have read every book by Will Carver that has been published by Orenda. Every single time I read one of his novels, I then sit for days wondering just what the hell I'm going to say about it. Nothing has changed. Kill Them With Kindness is another spectacular work of wonder by one of the cleverest and funniest authors currently writing. However, that doesn't make it easy to review ..... no, it just gets harder and harder.
Basically, Carver has taken events from our recent past that we have all lived through, events that changed our world, changed the way that we look at those in charge and often changed the way that we saw our friends and our families, and created his own story around them.
Basically, Carver has taken events from our recent past that we have all lived through, events that changed our world, changed the way that we look at those in charge and often changed the way that we saw our friends and our families, and created his own story around them.
This is a story of a pandemic, it's not Covid, but the circumstances are similar. Carver has created a cast of mainly white, powerful males who are intent on controlling the world be releasing certain death on the people. It's purely speculative fiction ..... but it is? As you meet these fictional characters who will find yourself recognising some of them .... I'll leave that detecting up to you.
Dr Haruto Ikeda is a decent man who just wants to make a difference and whilst he has created the deathly virus, he has also worked on another - a virus that when unleashed, will make people kinder and nicer. It will improve the world and its population ..... things often don't work the way that the good people think though.
I could go on for a long time about the issues in this novel. There are plenty of people who don't believe in the virus - another familiar trope taken from real life.
Oh, and I almost forgot about the deadly poison! Yes, just to make things a million times worse, there's that to contend with too. This brings us to the 'Dignity Pills' issue - a whole new thing to contemplate and discuss.
Everything in this novel is finely tuned and excellently woven together. Carver's trademark dark satire is there in abundance, his cleverly created and colourful characters will not disappoint and that sense of WTAF will pounce on you as soon as you close the final page. Recommended by me.
I could go on for a long time about the issues in this novel. There are plenty of people who don't believe in the virus - another familiar trope taken from real life.
Oh, and I almost forgot about the deadly poison! Yes, just to make things a million times worse, there's that to contend with too. This brings us to the 'Dignity Pills' issue - a whole new thing to contemplate and discuss.
Everything in this novel is finely tuned and excellently woven together. Carver's trademark dark satire is there in abundance, his cleverly created and colourful characters will not disappoint and that sense of WTAF will pounce on you as soon as you close the final page. Recommended by me.
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