Sunday 15 May 2016

See You Soon - NC Marshall



What is true friendship really worth? 

When Emily receives an e-mail from her estranged childhood friend, Ali, she instantly looks forward to reading what it has to say. She hasn’t seen or heard from Ali in a very long time and hopes that they can begin to rekindle the perfect friendship they once had. 

But when Emily opens the e-mail, she finds it isn’t the friendly message she had hoped for. Instead, it is a desperate plea for help from Ali to tell Emily she could be in danger. 

Growing increasingly concerned for Ali’s safety, Emily is forced to return to the seaside town where she and Ali had grown up. The same town that she had fled from over fifteen years ago, when she had sworn she would never return. 

Once back there, Emily is quickly thrown into a game of cat and mouse, where she must follow the clues to help her old friend. But time is against her and she is constantly looking over her shoulder. 

It appears Emily isn’t alone, and must hurry before her past finally tracks her down... 

What did I think?

I absolutely loved NC Marshall's debut, Sleep Peacefully, and named it in my top 20 reads of 2015.  So when I was absolutely delighted to be offered the chance to read this new book.

See You Soon starts with a tantalising prologue that whipped the wind right out of my sails, leaving me with the question 'who is the 'me' in the prologue?'.  NC Marshall very cleverly waits to the end to reveal the answer to that question, ensuring that I raced through See You Soon like Usain Bolt in the 100m sprint.  

Emily moved away to the North East from the little seaside town of Sandbroke, losing touch with her schoolfriends.  Out of the blue, she receives an email from Ali, an old friend, saying that she's in trouble and begs Emily to help her.  When Emily receives no response from Ali, she calls the police and her worst nightmare begins - she must return to Sandbroke, the town that holds difficult memories and the key to her secrets.  When Ali checks into the local Holiday Park, she is relieved that Rose, the owner, doesn't recognise her despite them going to the same school.  Then Rose hands Emily a note that was left for her...a note from Ali with a key to her house.  As Emily follows the trail and receives more notes from Ali, you could feel her moving closer and closer to danger and I couldn't remove my eyes from the page for even a second.

Emily's fear of returning to her hometown was written so vividly that it was palpable, but she must have been really good friends with Ali at school to push through her fear and return.   What a lovely thought that is; time and distance can't break friendships forged in your early years. Emily is very guarded and doesn't want to get too close to the past she ran away from, but secrets don't stay buried for ever.  

See You Soon is a really gripping, suspenseful read.  I felt like I was holding my breath in anticipation throughout the whole book, so thankfully it's not a long book!  I would never have guessed the final twist and I had a wee tear in my eye reading the epilogue.  NC Marshall is a very talented author; her writing is so vibrant and suspenseful with sublime twists.  I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from her, and I certainly can't wait.

I received this e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:




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