Cooee Baby

Today is the second day of Cooee Baby’s Blog Book Tour. Thanks to Coffee and Thorn Book Tours for allowing me to participate in Mr. Moberly’s tour!

Book Information

• Purchase link
• Goodreads link
• Genre: Psychological thriller
• Print length: 209 pages
• Age range: This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers
• Formats available for the Tour: all standard electronic formats
• Trigger warnings: disfiguring accidental injury; death and injury through tribal war; neurodivergence/Aspergers syndrome
• Amazon Rating: 5*

Blurb

Why can’t anyone say what they mean? Why is my mother a Tyrannosaurus? Why did she give me such a stupid name?

Awhina doesn’t know when to stop.She’sa brilliant young scientist at Cambridge University with a good sense of humour but the social skills of a rhinoceros. She lambasts her professor because he’s a dickhead. Whoops. But he is risking the survival of humanity.

A hideous accident on the other side of the world changes everything. Captured and terrified, she displays her usual tactless defiance. If she could escape, a glamorous new career would open up for her. But does she want it?

Cooee Baby is a psychological novel with elements of a thriller. Welcome to the world of Asperger’s, remote tribes, movies, and astrophysics.’

PRAISE FOR COOEE BABY

Cooee Baby has so far won four literary awards:

• IndieBRAG citation: “Fabulous, absolutely fabulous.Kinky and adorable and fun. Only one thing wrong: too short! I could have gone on and on. A totally delightful read”.
• Literary Global Book Awards. Finalist, 2024 cross-genre category. “! Your work has been recognized for its outstanding contribution to literature, and we are thrilled to celebrate your success.”
• Literary Titan Gold Book Award. “Cooee Baby is a fascinating exploration of the life of a young woman caught between the demands of her intellect and the challenges of her emotions. Moberly has crafted a thought-provoking and entertaining narrative with a protagonist who is as endearing as she is exasperating.”
• Book Nerdection Excellent Read. “The style of writing will captivate readers from start to finish and stimulate their curiosity regarding what lies ahead. A beautifully drawn environment, interesting characters, and Moberly’s skilful writing create a fascinating reading experience.” Book Nerdection, Excellent Read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Charles definitely has the ability to put pictures in a reader’s mind, sometimes shocking or horrific or beautiful and frequently with humour. He especially paints the emotions of his characters so you feel you know them. I couldn’t put this book down. Amazon review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I fully admit – I loved this one! It’s quirky, it’s funny in places, it’s also sad and a little traumatic – completely echoing the heroine’s (Awhina’s) personality. Amazon review

Author’s Awards for other work

• The Scrotum Toad – A Chill with a Book Reader Award
• The Corncrake – A Chill with a Book Premier Award
• Try the Leopard’s Mouth, Highly Recommended Award by The Historical Fiction Company, and A Chill with a Book Reader Award

My Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In “Cooee Baby,” Charles Moberly’s masterful world-building shines through, once again, delivering a psychological thriller that expertly balances character study with adventure. At its heart is Awhina Fernandez (who prefers “Athena”), a brilliantly crafted protagonist whose complexity drives the narrative. A Cambridge astrophysics student with Asperger syndrome, Awhina navigates life with brutal honesty, intellectual prowess, and an endearing inability to engage in small talk—unless the topic turns to her beloved physics.

While comfortable commanding audiences of hundreds during academic presentations, Awhina struggles with social interactions and maintains a contentious relationship with her mother, whom she’s dubbed “the Tyrannosaurus” or “T-Rex.” Her journey of self-discovery encompasses not only her emerging understanding of her sexuality—finding herself attracted to both men and women—but also a growing awareness of how others perceive her physical beauty, a realization that both intrigues and disturbs her.

The narrative takes a dramatic turn when Awhina embarks on a five-week cruise with her mother. A tragic accident in the Straits of Sundabang leaves her disfigured and stranded, until a Papuan fisherman rescues her and brings her to the Walukek tribe. As her family believes her lost at sea, Awhina finds herself immersed in an entirely new world, learning the ways of her rescuers while grappling with her transformed appearance.

Her story takes another unexpected turn when she’s captured by the rival Suamu tribe, who mistake her for Golgola, a prophesied spiritual figure. Moberly brilliantly portrays how Awhina’s analytical mind becomes her greatest asset as she walks a precarious line between a revered deity and a discovered impostor. The arrival of a British anthropologist offers hope for escape. But Awhina must risk everything to seize this chance at freedom.

Moberly effectively illustrates how catastrophe can spur personal growth without altering our core identity. Throughout her journey—marked by disfigurement and tribal captivity—Awhina remains true to herself while uncovering new depths of resilience. Her eventual return home and rise to fame raise intriguing questions about identity and authenticity.

“Cooee Baby” transcends the conventional thriller format, offering a profound exploration of survival, identity, and the power of intellect. Moberly has created an unforgettable protagonist whose journey from the halls of Cambridge to the remote tribes of Papua showcases both the vulnerability and resilience of the human spirit. I highly recommend this compelling narrative to readers who appreciate psychological depth alongside adventure.

About The Author

Charles Moberly’s novels are different from one another in style and genre. He likes to push boundaries, and to address subjects rarely covered by other writers. If there is a common theme, it is tension arising from misunderstandings.

Moberly has written four novels to date: The Scrotum Toad, a satirical comedy; The Corncrake, a historical novel set in 1909-10 and 1914-15; Try the Leopard’s Mouth, a romantic thriller with a firm historical base, and Cooee Baby. All are available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon.

Moberly lived and worked in Africa for two years. Two of his novels are set in Africa.

Website: https://charlesmoberlyauthor.blogspot.com

Happy Reading!