Published By: Michael Joseph
Pages: 416
Released On: 30/01/2025
It’s Camilla’s first day back at work, her daughter’s first day at nursery.
But husband Luke is nowhere to be seen. The only trace of him is an unfinished note. Camilla tries to put it out of her mind; there must be a rational explanation.
At work, there are welcomes back, and too many distractions. Then it starts.
Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive: Luke is caught up in it. But he isn’t a hostage. Luke – doting father, successful writer, enthusiastic runner and eternal optimist – is the gunman.
What Camilla does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind says, and the clues it might hold . . .
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I’ve been staring at social media recently, feeling very jealous of people who were receiving early copies of this book, and so was thrilled when I was sent a digital copy. Technically I should have left it closer to publication day to read and review, because I had so many others to do beforehand, but I couldn’t resist.
It is always a good day when there’s a new Gillian McAllister book out, and it is another firecracker, a tour-de-force of a book.
There’s not much preamble with this. We get a few pages introducing out characters and the environment we find them in and then bam – we’re in!
Looking back at my reading history, I would say thriller is one of my most – if not the most – read genre, and generally I like what I read. But if I’m being completely honest, there are only a certain amount of plot devices and stories and tense situations. And when handled well, they feel completely new and fresh, but when handled badly they can feel repetitive. But with this, Gillian has given us something completely different, at least it is for me. I don’t think I’ve come across stories like this one. It’s not a murder-mystery as such as like most thrillers, which made it refresh and that then helps rejuvenate the genre.
I am someone who likes her bed. I don’t always get as much sleep as I would like though, not for lack of trying. But I like my bed and my peace. So it takes a special kind of book to steal me away and this definitely did. It broke my main two rules (although at this stage I’m thinking I break them more than I stick to them) of not reading my kindle in bed, and only reading uplifting stories in bed. This broke both! But I had to really tear myself away form it. I was about 3/4 of the way through before I had to put it down because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. But I then finished it for breakfast the following morning.
It’s split into rough sections: firstly the incident and direct aftermath. And then after 7 years, and years after that. Which I thought was great because all of these things, trauma etc. it lingers, but no-one really focusses on it after the immediate event. And so that was an interesting addition.
I think I’ve read 5 of her books now and with each one, I think it can’t possibly be any better than the one before it, and lo and behold, it is! I don’t know how she keeps doing it, it’s amazing.
This sounded like it could make a great TV show, providing cliff-hangers at the end of each episode. It would be completely binge-able. It is full of twists and turns and surprises and shocks, and is expertly done. I already can’t wait for her next book!
Books By Your Bedside 