The Survivors - Caroline Mitchell

A fatal car crash with only one witness—but is she telling the truth?

On a winding cliff edge on the wild Irish coast, two cars collide. In one is Maura Claffey’s niece, Finn, and her baby daughter. In the other, Kathryn with her own newborn—and her own secrets. Both women survive, but one of the girls does not.

In the aftermath, bruised and heavily medicated, both women struggle to come to terms with what happened that day. Recovering at Maura’s home, Finn’s confused thoughts continually return to her recently deceased mother, who left Ireland under mysterious circumstances, but Maura won’t be drawn into revealing anything. Meanwhile Kathryn, certain that she’s being lied to about the crash, goes in dogged pursuit of the truth.

Only Maura has the answer. Only she was watching that day. But she won’t let anyone get in the way of what she wants…

 

What did I think?

Wow Caroline Mitchell has written another absolute corker of a book!  This gripping and twisty book shocked and surprised me from start to finish and just when I thought I knew what was going on, Caroline Mitchell pulled the rug right from underneath me.

The story is told from three different point of views: Maura, Finn and Kathryn.  Finn is on the way to visit her Aunt Maura when she is involved in a road traffic accident with Kathryn.  Both Finn and Kathryn are driving with their baby daughters in the car and there is one devastating fatality.  Finn's Aunt Maura was first on the scene but she is a very unreliable witness as she is completely unhinged...and dangerous.

OMG!  I was on tenterhooks throughout the whole of this book during Finn's recovery and Kathryn's turmoil.  Honestly, Maura Claffey makes Annie Wilkes from Misery look like a sweet and caring aunty.  I just didn't know how many versions of Maura there were or which one was going to make an appearance today.  I did feel sorry for her though as growing up in the shadow of her twin left deep scars that will never heal.

It's the sign of a good psychological thriller when you feel like you have been blindfolded and spun around so you can't tell which way is up never mind what is going to happen next.  I loved that I was completely blindsided by every twist in this gripping tale and I was thrilled by every single reveal.  

Fast-paced, gripping and twisty, The Survivors is unpredictable and unputdownable.  A very highly recommended read and an easy five stars.

I received a gifted copy for the Tandem Collective readalong and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG BLITZ: Dying To Tell - Keri Beevis

As the only survivor of a horrific car crash, Lila Amberson believes she is on the road to recovery after she is released from the hospital. Her memories of the accident are blurred though and a series of unsettling incidents leave her fearing for her safety. Does she have survivor's guilt or is something more sinister at play?

Jack Foley is reeling from the shock of losing his sister in the crash and when he first meets Lila, he lashes out, blaming her for Stephanie's death. But when Lila gives him a locket that she believes belonged to his sister, it presents more questions than answers.

As Lila and Jack work together to find out what really happened on the night of the accident, they are unaware that someone is watching them closely. Someone who has much to lose if the truth comes out, and someone who is prepared to do everything necessary to ensure all loose ends are taken care of.


What did I think?

Woah!  My creep-o-meter went into total overdrive whilst reading Dying To Tell by Keri Beevis.  There are one or two characters who literally made my skin crawl and it's not that they were particularly unpleasant, but rather that they seemed to have a touch of menace and deeply buried secrets about them.  To get this feeling from an author's writing is one of the magical things I love about reading!  Keri Beevis has written a number of books but this is the first one I have read; it definitely won't be my last!

Lila is a brilliant character with an intriguing story.  We've all been on bad dates but Lila's must be the worst when she is involved in a fatal two car collision.  Lila can't remember exactly what happened in the crash but she is drawn to the funeral of the driver of the other car, Stephanie.  Sparks fly when she meets Stephanie's half-brother, Jack; sparks of anger at first but most definitely sparks of electricity as the pair are helplessly attracted to each other.  I loved this part of the story as Lila is very vulnerable and opens her heart to Jack but suffers the same insecurities as we all do in a new relationship.

There's definitely more to the crash than meets the eye and I thought I had it all worked out but I was only a teeny tiny bit right.  Bravo Keri Beevis!  I gave Keri a virtual standing ovation when I was proved mostly-wrong and my eyes raced ahead of my brain in an attempt to devour every word on the page at record speed.

Reading Dying To Tell has definitely piqued my interest in other books written by Keri Beevis.  Whereas Dying To Tell is set in Norwich, her previous books are set in America but judging by the 5 star reviews they are just as brilliant.  Keri Beevis is a new author to add to my favourites list and Dying To Tell is a book I'll be raving about for quite some time.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon




About the author:

Keri Beevis wrote her first novel at age twenty, but it was a further twenty years before she was published after entering the Rethink Press New Novels Competition 2012. Her entry, Dead Letter Day, was a winner, earning her a publishing contract, and the book proved to be a minor hit, leading to a sequel, Dead Write. However it was Keri's third novel, standalone mystery thriller The Darkness Beneath that gained her the most success, along with many new fans, both in the UK and the USA.

Born in the village of Old Catton, less than a mile from where Anna Sewell was living when she wrote Black Beauty, Keri had a passion for reading and writing from a young age, though her tastes veered more to the macabre. 

Today she still lives in Norwich, along with her two naughty kitties, Ellie and Lola, and a plentiful supply of red wine (her writing fuel), where she writes a comedic lifestyle column for a local magazine. She loves Hitchcock movies, exploring creepy places, and gets extremely competitive in local pub quizzes. She is also a self-confessed klutz.

Keri’s previous books have all been US based and she is looking forward to the release of her first UK based novel, which is set in her beautiful home county of Norfolk.

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