What they say: You let her in. You’ll wish you hadn’t.
Following a whirlwind romance, Rose and Chris’s marriage has been unshakeable for twenty years. But when teenager Katie turns up on their doorstep, blonde, wide-eyed and beautiful, their perfect life threatens to crumble to pieces. Because Katie says she’s Chris’s long-lost daughter, the product of a forgotten summer fling.
The couple is still reeling from shock when Katie tells them she has nowhere to go. The couple is her only hope. Kind-hearted Rose invites Katie to stay, despite Chris’s protests. The poor girl has only just lost her mother – they can’t leave her out on the street.
But soon after Katie moves in, strange things start happening. Someone crashes into a neighbour’s fence. An unexplained fire starts in the couple’s kitchen. And a family friend coming to visit disappears on the way to the house. Chris insists Katie has to go. But it’s Chris who won’t explain where he was at the time their friend went missing…
The couple’s dream life seems to be turning into a nightmare. With dark secrets about Chris’s history with Katie’s mother coming to light, Rose no longer knows who to trust. Soon, she isn’t sure whether she’s invited a dangerous stranger into her home, or whether she’s been living with one all along…
A chilling thriller that will make you question everything you think you know about your loved ones. Fans of The Woman in the Window, Then She Was Gone and The Perfect Childwon’t be able to put this book down.
The review: I had heard a lot of raves about this, and after seeing another such review the other day, batted myself over the head for not getting to it yet as part of my big 2020 Netgalley clear out and so off I went. At the start I was intrigued with the premise of a man worrying for his family because of a note left for him, an ‘I know what you did’ note. The difference was a name was mentioned. Put this with his place of work where samples are used to diagnose people with diseases and I was sucked in!
Saying this I’m afraid I didn’t click with this book. Normally I can give a definite answer, an unlikable character, editing issues or a holey story but here we had none of these things although the odd time I was slightly confused, but that’s not new for me!!
I read along and yes there were surprises, the characters were interesting, the descriptions, in particular their working environment very well done and yet I didn’t feel anything, which seems awful. I don’t know what it was (maybe look at the ‘look inside’ option to see?) but I just read passively. Saying that, with its twists and descriptions and shocks (some people might find it a slightly tough read) I think a lot will love it. Thanks to Bookouture for the book in return for an honest review.
Rating:3/5
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