Published By: Corvus
Pages: 480
Released On: 06/03/2025
If you hurt me, I’ll hurt you. Not right away of course, because where’s the fun in that?
When an empty passenger plane crashes in the Lake District, Carly Atherton’s hopes of getting back together with the man she loves vanish – Luke Emery was one of the two pilots on board.
Investigating the story behind the doomed flight might just be the chance disgraced journalist Carly needs to rescue her career, as well as giving her the answers about Luke’s death that she desperately wants.
But when she contacts the family of the other pilot, Daniel Taylor, she finds the two women he was closest to – his devoted sister and his loving wife – have very different memories to share.
As Carly delves into the dynamics of a seemingly ordinary family, she uncovers a far darker story than she could possibly have imagined. A story she risks becoming part of even as she tries to piece together the truth.
Because the bonds that shape us can also tear us apart. And sometimes there are monsters living among us, hiding in plain sight…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Corvus for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I started this one night during a bout of insomnia and I’ve never been so glad to not be able to sleep; it was so captivating. It was compelling instantly. I don’t know what I was expecting but it blew any expectations I did have out of the water, it was so good.
It’s written in the form of…well, it looks like a plain prose, narrative book, but it also contains pieces of articles, transcripts, a book within a book. I reads as a standard novel would and so any formatting is not obvious as to put you off and so you’re lost in it. And then you get a bit that reminds you what you’re actually reading and that gives it another layer.
At 480 pages we’re definitely pushing my general dislike for long books. 300-400 tends to be my favourite, and I have only read a handful of 500+ books worthy of that page length, and so I was concerned this would be similar. But I read it so quickly, like a shorter book, because it was so addictive.
It’s a thriller but a quiet thriller. It’s more about what people can do, what they think, how they trust, how they lie, how they love and lose. It’s a really good character study too because you’re not 100% sure about anyone. You almost forget that this plane crash has happened, so absorbed you are by the characters. For me, this isn’t even about the plane crash, that’s incidental. This is a character study and a bloody good one at that.
Carly is our struggling journalist who has a personal connection to the plane crash and sets out to find out what really happened. But she’s really just there to tell the other characters’ stories.
Danny is the main pilot in question, Grace is his wife, and Izzy his sister. We don’t get to know Danny much, only through the accounts of the two women and they have differing memories. I felt a bit sorry for Grace. She’s painted as this villain by Izzy, but I don’t think she is. She’s a bit of a wet weekend and I wish she would stand up for herself a bit more. And Izzy…well there’s definitely something of a psychopath about her. I hated her so much (thanks to good writing), to the point that I’d get angry when it was her turn to talk. I won’t spoil it and say why, but she got under my skin and I really didn’t like it.
I read a lot of books. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who have read my other reviews. We’re talking 300-350 a year. Some of which are not good, others middling, and others fabulous, and this definitely goes into the latter category. It is just phenomenal writing. I can’t quite explain why exactly. It’s moving, it’s so clever, so detailed, so rich. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I think it could be studied in classes on how to write intelligent psychological thrillers.
I have got a copy of Carole’s previous book – The Silence Project – but for whatever reason I haven’t read it yet – it does look pretty on my shelf though. But after reading this, I’ll definitely be moving it up my tbr list.
Books By Your Bedside 