Published By: Hemlock Press
Pages: 400
Released On: 10/04/2025
It’s the story everyone wants to hear.
That spring night in South London, when Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart. The night Isabel learned that the worst things wait, just outside the door. The night Edward learned that he was powerless to stop them.
The night they never talk about.
When their attacker is caught, it’s finally time to tell the story of that night. Not to the world. Or to the man who did it. But to each other.
This is a story of murder. This is a story of survival. But most of all, this is a story of love.
*****
Thanks to Jo at HarperCollins for my gifted proof of this title in return for an honest review.
I mean, who doesn’t love Abigail Dean’s work?! Her books aren’t easy reads. They are harsh and hard and violent and sad and scary – but they are not horror books. Nor fantasy. They are real. And that’s what makes them so frightening and powerful.
It’s first and second person, I suppose. It’s all “I” but from multiple POVs, and it’s talking to “you”. Which took me a while to get my head round as I much prefer third person.
It is mainly set in the present time, revolving around the crime, the criminal and the aftermath. But we also get flashback scenes from when Isabel and Edward first met, their young adult years, and their marriage and subsequent years, leading up to today, which gives us everything we need to know without using clunky, stumbling explanations.
I love all of Abigail’s books but this one felt different. From what I remember, Girl A, and Day One are very action heavy. You’re reading the goings-on as they are going on. Whereas this one is less about the crime itself, it’s more about the world around the attacks. The people before and after them, thinking about them, rather than us seeing it as “live” (although the flashback scenes do help fill in those blanks). This is less about the actual thing and more about the after.
This was less harrowing for me than her previous ones. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still thrilling and traumatic and horrific, but I think because the first two involved children, that instantly upped the harrowing level. By making this one about adults, whilst it is still tough, it is slightly more palatable to read.
Another thing I noticed about this compared to her other books, is that in the previous two we read about what has happened and how they live with it directly afterwards. Whereas this one, we meet them as adults, and we get to read about them from young to middle-aged, which was an interesting deviation, but it’s given Abigail a chance to show her ability to write a variety of characters in a variety of life stages.
It has lovely short chapters, which I am a big fan of. They make the story race, and adds to the tension that longer drawn-out chapters don’t.
It’s not necessarily the book to choose when you want to curl up with a light-hearted story and lose yourself for a few hours. This deserves concentration and isn’t an overly happy book, but it is a very good book.
Yes there is a plot and it’s a good one, but for me this is a character study. Of Isabel and Edward. They are what makes this book as standout and spectacular as it is.
I already knew she was good and that I loved her books, but this has cemented the fact that Abigail is one of the most talented thriller writers around currently.
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