I was emailed by the publisher to ask if I’d like to read this new thriller.  I’ve not read anything by Claire Douglas before, but the blurb appealed – so I said ‘yes please’!

Here is the aforementioned blurb:

“THE ONLY THING MORE SHOCKING THAN THE FIRST CHAPTER . . . IS THE LAST. .
Everything changed the night Flora Powell disappeared
Heather and Jess were best friends – until the night Heather’s sister vanished.
Jess has never forgiven herself for the lie she told that night.
Nor has Heather.
But now Heather is accused of an awful crime. And Jess is forced to return to the sleepy seaside town where they grew up, to ask the question she’s avoided for so long:
What really happened the night Flora disappeared?”

The book is set in the present day (well, actually 2012 – but it feels like the present day) and then back in the mid 90s.  It flicks between the two time periods really well – and totally evokes the feeling of that time.  I was a similar age to the characters in the 90s and the references – particularly to music and clothing were spot on!

The chapters are told from different characters perspectives which also keeps the momentum up.

It was one of those books that you want to read quickly to see how it all develops.  The twists and turns are so exciting.  Just when you think you’ve sussed what’s going on – another curved ball is thrown!  I can’t tell you too much about the plot without giving it away – and you need to be shocked as a reader as it unfolds!

The literary style is not high brow – but that didn’t matter to me – I just enjoyed the storyline and it’s fast pace.

The characters all had flaws – and sometimes you wanted to give some of them a good shake – but I was still interested to see what happened to them all – and the relationships between them.

The blurb had said the only thing more shocking than the first chapter is the last – and I have to say that because of that I’d kind of guessed what was going to happen – but only right near the end of the book.

Overall a great read and I would recommend downloading it when it comes out on Kindle next week.  I’ll also be checking out the authors back catalogue in the future.

A massive thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my advanced review copy in return for a review.