As this book doesn't make sense without reading another book I think it's one 'for disposal' I usually light the fire with those books

Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 was longlisted for the Booker, and appeared on several “end of year” lists as one of “the books of 2017”. It deals with the disappearance of a teenager holidaying in a fictional village in the Peak District and its chapters spread over the 13 years following the incident. Following the novel’s success, BBC Radio 4 commissioned a set of fifteen short stories which are currently being broadcast and will be published in one volume. “The Reservoir Tapes” has been described as a “prequel” to the novel since it is set in the same community, with each of the chapters introducing us to a particular character with some link to the events described in the main novel.

Most of the reviews I read seem to be written by readers who enjoyed Reservoir 13 and were eager to revisit the world of the novel. Generally, the comments seem to be positive but raise doubts as to whether this collection of stories can be fully appreciated as a free-standing work. In my case, I have yet to read the novel but, in the meantime, I have greatly enjoyed this collection. Perhaps, rather than short stories, the pieces within The Reservoir Tapes are best considered as character vignettes – significantly, each chapter title gives us the name of the its protagonist. McGregor deftly differentiates between the characters through subtle changes in narrative voice and approach and yet, the more we read, the more we become aware of a web of connections between these disparate (and some desperate) characters.

Most of the chapters evoke a sense of danger and menace, and yet there is often also an underlying streak of dark humour. The stories are also minimalist in the best sense of the word – one gets the sense that no word is out of place, and no incident, however minor it may seem, is mere padding. In other words, this volume might be slim, but hardly slight. ( )

Really just a supplement to the novel Reservoir 13, this consisted of chapters designated to specific characters who were impacted by Rebecca Shaw's disappearance. It reveals much more about the girl's character though the people she had interacted with before she went missing - her friends, neighbours, and parents. I liked the funny story about the dubious man who tried to purchase a puppy for his wife's birthday and ended up with an alpaca. ( )

Unfortunately I wasn't aware this was a part of bigger set, in that I never read Reservoir 13, when I picked this up at at the Hershey Library. This isn't so much a sequel or a prequel or anything of the sort, its more or less a compendium to tie-in with that novel. And unfortunately, without reading that, there isn't much here to this. I don't really care for the writing style of paragraphs in loose form, written however one wants to write, with random spaces or gaps, with no indents, with no quotations or punctuation at times. Each chapter follows a character that ties in with some other character that ultimately ties into how Becky Shaw went missing.

I'm sure it is probably a lot better with Reservoir 13 first, but unfortunately, as its own, its not much of anything. ( )

More clues, mysteries and red herrings

Jon McGregor's "Reservoir 13" (2017) was an intriguing mystery about 13 years in the ongoing life in a northern English town in the Peak District after the New Year's disappearance of a 13 year-old girl named Rebecca (Becky) Shaw. Its unique leisurely observational style overseeing a cast of about 75 characters takes some getting used to, but if the style wins you over you will likely become a committed fan. It somewhat notoriously does not provide a solution to the girl's disappearance, but concerns itself more with the aftershocks to the girl's parents (who were only holidaying in the area) and to the surrounding community.

"The Reservoir Tapes" are a prequel set of 15 short stories that were originally broadcast via a weekly podcast on BBC Radio 4 from Sunday October 1, 2017 through to January 7, 2018. 15 characters (several of whom appeared named or unnamed in the first book, but most of whom are new) provide reminiscences of events prior to Becky's disappearance.

It shouldn't be a further spoiler to say that these additional stories do not necessarily solve the mystery of Becky's disappearance but add their own further mysteries and/or clues to the mix. If you are searching for a nefarious solution, there are hints of some criminal types in the area. If you are looking for a revenge motive, there is a story that paints Becky in a not-very-pleasant light. If you are looking for an accident as solution there are stories of other mishaps in the region. It is all part and parcel of the expanding mystery of "Reservoir 13".

The narrations were all well done by the voice actors and the uncredited minimalist music theme and cues add a further layer of yearning and loss to the picture.

Links
This is a review of the original audiobook podcast edition of "The Reservoir Tapes" available online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097n5h3 or via iTunes podcast for 12 months from the dates of the original broadcasts. There may be a later commercial audiobook edition released as well. The on demand audiostreams include an interview with author Jon McGregor on "How I Wrote the Reservoir Tapes" at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05lv20b

The narrators for the BBC Radio 4 audiobook edition were 1. Indira Varma (Charlotte’s Story), 2. Sian Brooke (Vicky’s Story), 3. Sacha Dhawan (Deepak’s Story), 4. Joe Armstrong (Graham’s Story), 5. Joe Dempsie (Liam’s Story), 6. __* (Claire’s Story), 7. David Schofield (Clive’s Story), 8. Paul Hilton (Martin’s Story), 9. Siobhan Finneran (Stephanie’s Story), 10. Kate O’Flynn (Donna’s Story), 11. Neil Dudgeon (Ian’s Story), 12. Jacqueline Redgewell (Irene’s Story), 13. Sara Kestelman (Ginny’s Story), 14. Tamsin Greig (Jess’s Story), 15. Bertie Carvel (Joe’s Story).

*the narrator of Episode 6. Claire's Story is unidentified due to a typo at the BBC Radio 4 website which currently (as of January 7, 2018) credits it to Joe Dempsie, the narrator of Episode 5. ( )