Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsA solid British psychological thriller
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2021
This book has 69 main chapters, and a total of about 319 pages, not including the Notes. Driscoll is a British author and former BBC television anchor, and this book uses British spelling and cultural references; such as the British police rank of Detective Investigator (DI) for example.
This story is told from multiple perspectives, as chapters switch between the the points of view of the daughter Gemma, her mother Rachel, her father Ed, and PI Matthew Hill. All of the chapters are written in the third person except for the mother Rachel, whose chapters are written in the first person. This difference makes the book feel like it is centered on the mother and daughter, and the connection that they share. There are also some chapters that jump back to a different time period, like Gemma's writings from before she was shot.
Gemma is shot during her graduation in the first chapter, and she remains in a coma as the other characters need to unravel the mystery of who the attempted murderer is, and what their motivation might be. Along the way we learn about some secrets that certain family members have kept from others, and the mystery deepens as characters start to wonder if these old secrets are connected to the current attack on Gemma. There are some red herrings, and suspicious actions from multiple characters, before the mystery is solved. The story is wrapped up with a fairly satisfying, if somewhat unlikely seeming explanation. The lose ends are tied up, and the motivations are explained.
Overall I liked this book. The author does a good job of gradually revealing the plot as the story is told from different perspectives, and the first person perspective of Rachel really connects the reader to that character. The pacing was good, as there was constantly enough action or plot twists to keep me interested in what was going to happen next. The ultimate resolution and explanation seemed to me to be a bit unrealistic, but at least it was unexpected. So I wouldn't say that this is perfect, but generally a pretty solid psychological thriller.
