Book Review: The Escape by C. L. Taylor

Book Review: The Escape by C. L. Taylor

Sunday, 16 April 2017

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C.L. Taylor is probably one of my favourite new additions to the psychological fiction/crime fiction genre. I’ve read 3 of her books prior to the one (and reviewed The Lie, here) I’m about to unveil and loved each and every one of them and I’m pleased to say that her newest book, The Escape, is no exception to the rule. The Escape was a bit of a spontaneous buy whilst I was perusing the shelves in my parents’ local Tesco- it was on offer and I had a train journey ahead of me, so I whacked it in my basket and it wasn’t long before I was 100% stuck in and a million percent addicted.

Our protagonist, Jo, finds herself instantly transported into what is arguably every parent’s nightmare: a woman approaches her, threatens her daughter’s safety, and disappears without a moments thought. Having lost her first child whilst pregnant, naturally Jo is incredibly protective over her daughter Elise, practically wrapping her up in cotton wool, and struggles to put herself in difficult situations because of the agoraphobia she suffers from. This woman, who we learn is called Paula, knows a lot about Jo and her life: her husbands name, her daughters name, where they live… all terrifying stuff. She also has in her possession a glove belonging to little Elise – all of this more than enough to scare Jo to her wits end and report back to her husband, Max. Before long, Paula seems to be affecting the happenings of her life on a detrimental scale and it’s all Jo can do not to run away from the terror to a safe haven. Things take an even bigger turn for the worse when her husband, worried about the safety of their daughter, files for sole custody. When no one seems to believe that Elise’s life is in danger, Jo makes the decision to run to the only place where she has ever truly felt safe, her motherland Ireland, averting police and the course of justice as she does so.

I absolutely loved Jo as a character- she was hearty and gutsy when she needed to be, putting her daughter before anything and everything that stood in her way. I sympathised with her immediately and everything that went against her irritated me to no end- how could they be so cruel to a woman who clearly cares for her daughter so dearly? On the other hand, Paula is the standard villain: terrorising and unnerving, she made even me feel uncomfortable and cautious.

This book was incredibly good. It was one of those books where I knew from the offset that I wasn’t going to put it down until I’d devoured the very last page. I found myself telling my customers all about it when I was at work, I’ve recommended it to pretty much all of my friends and I’ll likely ship a copy over to my mum to read at some point too. If I could shout from the rooftops about it without being assumed insane, I probably would. Psychological fiction is the genre that I turn to when I’m relying on something consistent and satisfying, so finding a book that exceeds even my own expectations is remarkable. Every little hint towards what was going to happen made me want to read even more: the book was quick paced and extraordinarily exciting, every page that turned unravelling a new twist in the tale. I am notorious at guessing what’s going to happen and while I got the “twist” pretty early on, that didn’t make it any less exciting when all the pieces of the jigsaw came together. I liked the flip between different perspectives – it definitely added a completely different dimension to the novel and gave you a small break from all the drama.

An excellent, exciting novel which will satisfy every thriller loving reader immensely.

4.5/5

Book Review: The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin

Book Review: The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin

Saturday, 5 November 2016

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For my birthday, my work colleagues treated me to a book called The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin. I’d never heard of it before, but the colleague who chose it for me bought it under the recommendation of Jodi Picoult, an author we both enjoy.

I am pleased to say that The Forgetting Time was exactly what I wanted to read but for ways I definitely didn’t expect. I am very much a lover of psychological thrillers and crime fiction, coupled with the odd YA and contemporary fiction. I couldn’t seem to fit this book into any particular genre, but arguably that made it all the more approachable. I was a bit sceptical about the book having read a few reviews before getting stuck into it, but it was thoughtful and intriguing and definitely kept me hooked until the very end. I read it over the course of a return train journey to where my parents live- a five-hour return stint which normally would have found me staring into space and tapping away on twitter. This book entertained me for the entire five hours.

Firstly, we are introduced to Janie. We are told of her taking a trip abroad, to get away from everything and everyone. Whilst there, she meets a man and they divulge in a one-night affair. The result of this affair is her son, Noah, an intriguing little boy who has more than enough mystique about him for a four-year-old. Noah repeats, time after time, that he wants to go home. Janie cannot understand this, as he IS home. She is his home. She is his mother. Not this other woman, her identity unbeknownst to her, that Noah cries out for night after night.

We are also introduced to Jerry, an old psychiatrist who has recently been diagnosed with a degenerative disease. His research falls in the supernatural, for lack of a better word, and the cases of children who believe themselves to be “reborn” in the bodies of passed beings. After discussing with Janie, Jerry comes to the conclusion that the same phenomenon has happened to Noah and the couple set off to discover who exactly Noah used to be.

The story was beautifully warming and very, very intriguing. I didn’t expect it to progress in the direction it did, but once you knew what was coming then it was pretty easy to guess the whole “point” of the tale.  This isn’t to say it’s predictable but I definitely didn’t think that at any point through reading but it was nice to follow the story and have a general idea over what was happening and why. I absolutely loved the little character relationship that formed between Janie and Jerry throughout the story and I definitely think that having likeable, approachable characters helps a plot on its way and makes it all the more successful and enjoyable. I’d definitely recommend this one to someone who’s looking for a light, easy going read to get themselves stuck back into reading.

4/5

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Book Review: Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington

Book Review: Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington

Saturday, 20 August 2016

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So far in August, I’ve been incredibly good and stuck to my promise of only reading ARCs sent to me by publishing houses, and this review is no exception to that rule. In July, I received an e-galley of Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington from the lovely team at Avon Books. As a self-proclaimed lover of all things psychological and thrilling, I was looking forward to getting well and truly stuck into this one as soon as it hit my inbox.

I’m pleased (and pretty relieved!) to say that it didn’t disappoint in the slightest. The storyline is pretty easy to follow and keeps you guessing right until the very end, which is exactly what I look for when I choose a psychological thriller. It follows a group of young girls who are best friends and the consequences that follow when one of them is murdered. The story begins with Sophie, a 17-year old girl, being driven home by a pair of police officers after what appears to be a drunken night out. The only issues? It’s only 10:30pm and she can’t remember a thing. Sophie greets her parents with incomprehensible mutterings before running up to bed to sleep off the alcohol she’s consumed. She awakes the next morning to find that a friend of hers has failed to return home after the night out, and the plots develops and deepens further and further as the story goes on.

As an author, Carrington does the psychological novel perfectly. She leaves absolutely no gaps in her story and all my questions were answered by the end. Everything seemed to fit together perfectly and made absolute sense in my mind. I enjoyed the flipping perspectives of Sophie and her mother, Karen, as I believe that that added a whole new element to the story. I love to try and figure out who the perpetrator is from the beginning and I’m quite chuffed to reveal that I was absolutely nowhere near with this one; it honestly left me completely by surprise and I’m very, very pleased with how the story ended.

The characterisation was amazing and I found myself getting attached to the characters- I empathised with both Sophie and Karen, felt irritated by some of their actions and found myself hoping for a positive outcome when things got a little creepy. I definitely doubted the integrity of every blooming character out there, even the ones who had given me no reason to doubt them! All signs of an amazing book.

I enjoyed Sam’s inclusion of agoraphobia in the tale- it was very informative and helped me start to develop my understanding of a phobia which I really don’t know a lot about. I found myself feeling incredibly sorry for Karen and I honestly can’t begin to understand how it feels to feel like a prisoner in your own home. I was hooked on the story from the word go and have already recommended it to a few people. I know for a fact that my work colleague downloaded the eBook from Amazon on my recommendation, so I’m hoping that she loves it as much as I did.

Thanks to Avon Books for my copy of the book!

4.5/5. 

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