In the last two years I've read three books on Kindle and listened to two books (including this one) on Audible.
What I love about the writing is that there is always this sense of an underlying unease dripping through the book. Everyday occurrences are written about with a poetic edge which makes you feel that something sinister is about to happen, even if it doesn't play out like that.
This book, beautifully read by Richard Armitage, isn't my favourite book by Logan, it's predictable in places, longwinded in others, but it still kept me hooked until the end.
“I should have known something
was wrong. I should have sensed it. Felt it in the air, like the build-up of
pressure before a thunderstorm, that heavy, loaded calm.
The curfew
Andy and Laura are good parents. They tell their son Connor that he can go out
with friends to celebrate completing his exams, but he must be home by
midnight.
The lie
When Connor misses his curfew, it sets off a series of events that will change
the lives of five families forever.
The truth?
Because five teenagers went into the woods that night, but only four came out.
And telling the truth might mean losing everything...
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?.”
16-year-old Conor has just finished his GCSE's; it's now time to celebrate with his . As always, he must be home by midnight, and he's never missed his curfew before. Or has he? How do his parents know that he's always home by midnight if they're already asleep in bed? When Connor's dad wakes in the night, he notices the porch light is still lit. Connor is supposed to switch it off when he gets in, so Andy gives a cursory check on his son's room and sees a sleeping form in the bed. Because it is dark and Andy isn't wearing his glasses, he assumes it's Connor. Next morning it transpires it wasn't Conor in bed, it was his cousin Zac.
Do you know where your kids are? How far would you go to protect them? I wasn't given the same freedoms as a child as my elder brothers were given. I suppose because there were two of them, it made things easier for them to go out on their bikes or fishing etc. As I turned into a teenager it became better. I'd go to my friend Sarah's house (she would meet me by the sweet shop in the village square, and the pair of us would walk through Castle Park to her house.) If the weather was nice we'd then head out through the woods to Frodsham Hill, my dad, blissfully unaware that her parents were happy to let us ramble off where we wanted, even if he didn't. I was always taken home by Sarah's parents and back home by ten pm. These days you can download an app onto your kids 'phone so you can keep track of them. I'm not sure what I think of that. I enjoyed those moments of freedom. I wasn't getting into trouble, and my dad didn't need to worry unnecessarily about where the pair of us had trekked off to.
Now first and foremost, my initial gripe with this novel is
giving a 16 year old a regular curfew of midnight. What are they doing out at
that time of night? Wouldn't parents stay up to check their children have
arrived home safely ...or in the case of a party, wouldn’t they go and pick
them up? Connor's parents are supposed to be doting family types, so I
couldn’t buy into this element of the story. Even if they thought midnight a
suitable hour, I know many parents of 18 year olds (or older) who stay awake
until they know their offspring have made it through the front door in one
piece.
We're then informed that Connor and five other teenagers
left the party and headed to the local woods. The next morning they realise one
of the teenagers, Emily, is missing and so the story starts to take on a
darker tone. Connor has been arrested and he seems very reluctant to tell
the police what he knows.
The story is told from the perspective of several people,
but the principal narrator is the father, Andy, who for most of the book is in
as much of the dark about what went on that night as the reader. As the story
moves on, you do have some empathy for Andy. It is easy to make mistakes when
parenting, and with those mistakes people often over compensate to try to make
things better. People will do anything for their children and this book
questions just how far as a parent you'd be prepared to go.
I can't say that I liked Andy as a character and as the
main protagonist it was hard to shake off the feeling that as a GP he should be
less naïve and more intelligent! I found he grated on my nerves and I wanted to
shake him about some of his decisions, but there were times I could identify
with his feelings as the secrets and lies that surrounded him were
uncovered.
Connor's younger sister is a fabulous character, I really
loved her, she seemed so much older than her years. Unlike the adults who
surrounded her, Harriet, at 12-years-old, had this ability to understand things
quickly, especially as most things she noticed were fairly obvious. She was computer
literate unlike her parents and had the common sense that her mother in
particular lacked. I would have been pleased if she had had a stronger role in
the book as she was a well-constructed but underused character.
The book is a slow starter, and I think I might have been
put off were it not for Richard Armitage's dulcet tones lulling me into the
story! I've enjoyed the other books I've read by T M Logan, but this one
struggled to really get started. Despite the short chapters, there was far too
much explanation required to kick off the mystery. From there on, the story
sort of peaks and troughs for a little bit until it finds its footing and it
becomes a pacy, suspense filled novel. Once the book finds its rhythm, the pool
of suspects starts to grow and numerous plot twists evolve which could end in
any direction. As I discovered more about the relationships between the
characters, I found myself totally immersed in the story and surprised by
the unexpected ending.
As with all of the previous novels, the writing style is
good, but I thought the story became repetitive and the characters needed
further development. There were things that didn't make sense, and there were
also the inevitable cliches; the police who just won't listen and being very
judgemental, the dark creepy woods with gnarly tree roots to stumble over,
and a spooky cottage to be explored. The book felt rushed and with that,
sacrificed the attention to detail it needed. I think the characters could have
been developed more, and some of the repetition removed. A few tweaks and this
book could be up there with his other novels.
Despite my grievances with the book, I did enjoy it. I thought it interesting that we were looking at how a father views his children and what he thinks is the best way to protect them, rather than from the usual perspective of the mother. In terms of a family finding themselves in such an awful situation, the plot was plausible, children do go missing unfortunately, and so having a normal suburban family being put into this situation was an interesting scenario for the book. I also thought there were a lot of interesting topics discussed, especially social media and how that can lead to bullying and toxic friendships, particularly with school children. The more familiar types of conversations children might have about relationships, either with their parents or with their peers was interesting, and also looking at their behaviour, why seemingly intelligent children go down the route of drug use, and what coping strategies they use to help with loss and grief. All in all, there was a lot of good things about this book, I just wish it was less convoluted, and the characters had been developed better.
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery,
Crime, Psychological Thriller.
Release Date: 17th March
2022
Publisher: Zaffre
Listening Time: 12h 15m
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