UK Publishing Date: 7 Jan 2016 (Paperback due 5 May 2016). 384 pages.
It was a struggle remembering to exhale as I reached the climax of Holly Seddon’s debut novel Try Not to Breathe. Alex Dale is a lot of things. An ex-wife. An ex-journalist. A pretty good high functioning alcoholic. Which may or may not be related to the previous two things.
Trying to get her career on track again she is writing a health article and featuring an interview with a renowned specialist who treats patients in a vegetative state but who are able to communicate through brain waves. One of the patients in his hospital is Amy Stevenson. This is a name that Alex remembers. In 1995 Amy was abducted on her way home from school. She was found three days later in a coma, left for dead. Her attacker was never found.
As part of her interview Alex decides to sit with Amy to get a feel for the patients and this sets her on a path of trying to unravel what had happened to a vulnerable fifteen year old girl. Suspects at the time had included her boyfriend Jake and her step-father Bob. No-one had ever discovered the truth. Until now.
Told from the point of view of both Alex and Amy this is a story of two very different damaged women. Women whose “friendship” would come to change both of their lives. A classic psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end and one that ultimately proves quite thought provoking if you find yourself dwelling on the complexity of the issues covered.
Supplied by Net Galley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Categories: 5 Stars Book Review
angelnet69
Prolific reader, enthusiastic theatre and movie-goer and ex-Olivier Awards judge who spent twenty years working in the music industry in London. Sharing my house with a gorgeous cockapoo called Harry who has taken over completely.
I love sharing my favourite books with friends - nearly always spoiler-free as I hate reading a synopsis of the whole book in other reviews.
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