They feared the machines.
They should have feared the people…
London, Christmas 1999. The world is on edge. With the new millennium just days away, fears of the Millennium Bug are spiralling – warnings of computer failures, market crashes, even global catastrophe. But fifty miles east, on the frozen Blackwater Island, a different kind of mystery unfolds. A child’s body is discovered on the bracken, untouched by footprints, with no sign of how he died. And no one has come forward to claim him.
At the International Tribune, reporter Jonny Murphy senses something is off. Police are appealing for relatives, not suspects. An anonymous call led officers to the scene, but no one knows who made it. While the world fixates on a digital apocalypse, Jonny sees the real disaster unfolding closer to home. With just twenty-hour hours before the century turns, he heads to Blackwater – driven by curiosity, desperation, and the sting of rejection from his colleague Paloma.
But Blackwater has secrets buried deep in the frozen ground. More victims – some dead, others still paying for past sins. And when Paloma catches up to him, they stumble onto something far bigger than either of them imagined. Something that could change everything. The millennium is coming. The clock is ticking. Can Jonny stop it? Should he?
And what if Y2K wasn’t a hoax, but a warning…?
Blackwater by Sarah Sultoon was published on 4 December 2025 by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this blog tour.
Blackwater is the third book from Sarah Sultoon featuring journalist reporter Jonny Murphy. This author draws on her own extensive personal experience of reporting from conflict zones whilst working on the frontline in Syria, Afghanistan and others. Her writing is slick and combines unflinching realism with pace and tension.
London, December 1999 and the world is on edge, fearing the ‘Millennium Bug’. However when a small child’s body is discovered some miles from London on Blackwater Island, Jonny Murphy knows that there is something far deeper to this tragedy. Accompanied by his colleague Paloma, they embark on a dangerous mission, determined to unravel buried secrets.
The author contrasts the looming global dread with the hidden local horror and the tension as the countdown to midnight ticks by only increases the dread. The novel is perfectly paced and the cold, unsettling landscape of the bleak island adds such depth to the story.
Jonny is a flawed, haunted but compelling lead character and Paloma supports him perfectly, with her own demons to deal with. Sultoon treats her readers to snippets of personal history that make the characters appear more realistic, easy to relate and totally human.
Blackwater is a thrilling, chilling read. Readers who love mysteries, bleak landscapes and a lingering sense of dread will enjoy this, and the author’s notes may haunt you!
It’s audacious, confident and bold in its ambitions. I finished it late at night, holding my breath, turning pages well past bedtime!
This review was first published in The Mature Times - December 2025 issue
Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan.
She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe's migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs.
As passionate about fiction as nonfiction, she recently completed a Masters of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, adding to an undergraduate language degree in French and Spanish, and Masters of Philosophy in History, Film and Television.
When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if ...
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