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harlowjulia's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
McAllister certainly knows how to do suspense!! Another great novel, making me question everything and everyone.
debtat2's review against another edition
5.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This for me is her best book so far! Compelling, hard hitting and an emotional rollercoaster from the first to the very last page! Worthy of every 5 star review it receives as I know my 5 star rating won’t be the first and it certainly won’t be the last.
After witnessing the murder of a local homeless man by two teenagers, little did 14 year old Zara, or her parents, know that from that moment on their entire lives would never be the same again. Their blended family will be ripped apart, all contact severed from everyone in their lives, even their adored family pet Bill, a golden retriever, will never see either Lauren or Zara ever again.
As the two young lads, footballers, one on his way to the big leagues, the Premiership, stand trial for the murder, Zara is called to give evidence being the only witness to the attack. Due to the fact of Zara’s young age, her identity is concealed from everyone, especially the media, she is only known as Girl A.
Girl A, Zara, when cross examined in the court proceedings, her statement begins to unravel and under pressure she cracks and admits that Jamie, the homeless man had in fact attacked the two young lads first! The results of this confession – both boys walk out of the courtroom scot-free!
Luke, the boy who actually stabbed Jamie to death, had had a promising football carer ahead of him before he was held in prison on remand awaiting trial for murder. Now his carer as a professional footballer is over, and with two of their teams rising stars both going on trial for murder, it has effected the entire Holloway FC, and people are not happy! Some of the die hard fans hold Girl A entirely responsible, and they want her to pay.
A facebook group pops up called Find Girl A and thus begins the search for Girl A’s real identity, then from there, her location, then after that? With several death threats being posted, who knows what they are capable of once they find her.
It doesn’t take them long at all to discover Girl A’s real identity and the threat to Zara’s life is genuine, so much so that their only option if they want to keep her alive and safe, is going into witness protection. As Zara’s mum, she will do whatever it takes to keep her daughter safe, but for her husband to enter witness protection with them he would have to leave behind his daughter, Polly, forever and never contact her every again, because once you are in, your in. All your past history, all your family members erased as if they never existed.
They both know that Lauren has no choice but to leave, has to make sure Zara is safe, and they both know Aidan can’t leave his daughter Poppy and has to stay, has to watch his wife and his step-daughter walk out of his life forever.
Given new names, new identities and whole new fictitious lives, Lauren and Zara are driven miles away from London and set up in a new house, and a new set of rules to follow. Their only hope of staying safe and not being found is to embrace the new names and lives they have been given, stick to the rules and never contact anyone from their past, no matter what.
But is it truly that easy? To just up and leave your entire life, your entire family without ever looking back? If they thought that leaving was hard, they soon discover staying away, the lack of contact is harder than ever imagined.
This story is told by Before, Days gone and Days in and is told via Lauren, Zara, Aidan and Poppy’s points of view as we watch the whole thing play out across the pages.
It was never going to be easy, but no one, not even the reader knows what is about to happen next!
And it was the not knowing that kept me up all night, reading right through until morning to reach the final pages, watching the fates of these characters unfold across the pages, my heart cracking for Aidan whilst cursing the author for doing that to me (and undoubtedly most readers!)
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This for me is her best book so far! Compelling, hard hitting and an emotional rollercoaster from the first to the very last page! Worthy of every 5 star review it receives as I know my 5 star rating won’t be the first and it certainly won’t be the last.
After witnessing the murder of a local homeless man by two teenagers, little did 14 year old Zara, or her parents, know that from that moment on their entire lives would never be the same again. Their blended family will be ripped apart, all contact severed from everyone in their lives, even their adored family pet Bill, a golden retriever, will never see either Lauren or Zara ever again.
As the two young lads, footballers, one on his way to the big leagues, the Premiership, stand trial for the murder, Zara is called to give evidence being the only witness to the attack. Due to the fact of Zara’s young age, her identity is concealed from everyone, especially the media, she is only known as Girl A.
Girl A, Zara, when cross examined in the court proceedings, her statement begins to unravel and under pressure she cracks and admits that Jamie, the homeless man had in fact attacked the two young lads first! The results of this confession – both boys walk out of the courtroom scot-free!
Luke, the boy who actually stabbed Jamie to death, had had a promising football carer ahead of him before he was held in prison on remand awaiting trial for murder. Now his carer as a professional footballer is over, and with two of their teams rising stars both going on trial for murder, it has effected the entire Holloway FC, and people are not happy! Some of the die hard fans hold Girl A entirely responsible, and they want her to pay.
A facebook group pops up called Find Girl A and thus begins the search for Girl A’s real identity, then from there, her location, then after that? With several death threats being posted, who knows what they are capable of once they find her.
It doesn’t take them long at all to discover Girl A’s real identity and the threat to Zara’s life is genuine, so much so that their only option if they want to keep her alive and safe, is going into witness protection. As Zara’s mum, she will do whatever it takes to keep her daughter safe, but for her husband to enter witness protection with them he would have to leave behind his daughter, Polly, forever and never contact her every again, because once you are in, your in. All your past history, all your family members erased as if they never existed.
They both know that Lauren has no choice but to leave, has to make sure Zara is safe, and they both know Aidan can’t leave his daughter Poppy and has to stay, has to watch his wife and his step-daughter walk out of his life forever.
Given new names, new identities and whole new fictitious lives, Lauren and Zara are driven miles away from London and set up in a new house, and a new set of rules to follow. Their only hope of staying safe and not being found is to embrace the new names and lives they have been given, stick to the rules and never contact anyone from their past, no matter what.
But is it truly that easy? To just up and leave your entire life, your entire family without ever looking back? If they thought that leaving was hard, they soon discover staying away, the lack of contact is harder than ever imagined.
This story is told by Before, Days gone and Days in and is told via Lauren, Zara, Aidan and Poppy’s points of view as we watch the whole thing play out across the pages.
It was never going to be easy, but no one, not even the reader knows what is about to happen next!
And it was the not knowing that kept me up all night, reading right through until morning to reach the final pages, watching the fates of these characters unfold across the pages, my heart cracking for Aidan whilst cursing the author for doing that to me (and undoubtedly most readers!)
ordinarypickle's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
what_rachael_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jayneyh314's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Zara was a witness to a terrible crime and despite being a very anxious child, she stepped up to do the right thing and give evidence. She was promised anonymity at the Trial but her identity has been leaked and now her and her family are in danger. Zara and her Mum, Lauren, agree to enter witness protection but Zara’s Stepdad, Adrian, has another child who he can’t leave so he stays behind. Can they really disappear and have no contact with anyone from their old lives? Will they ever really be safe?
I’ve read one of Gillian McAllister’s books before so when I see this on the 99p kindle deals back in October it was a definite need.
It started really strong and I was absolutely gripped but, I’m not gonna lie, Lauren and Zara’s behaviour once they entered witness protection was so frustrating! I get that you can’t say how you would act when you’ve never been in that situation but I feel like they just didn’t take it seriously at all. They were breaking the rules left, right and centre from the minute they left!
The book is told from 4 different viewpoints; Zara, Lauren, Adrian and Poppy (Adrian’s daughter), so you really get a sense of all the angles and how everyone is affected by this massive decision.
McAllister’s writing style generally works well for this type of book but the ending felt a little rushed. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but one of the explanations at the end for certain events just felt a little far fetched.
There were a lot of twists, which I love from these types of book and I did race through it because overall I did enjoy it. McAllister’s writing really immersed me in the story and I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next.
Overall, it’s an interesting thriller with some twists along the way that keep you guessing to the end.
beaj86's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Amazing, read in 24hours. What an ending!!!
zakiya's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hereiskimmy's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mmsg's review against another edition
4.0
(Audiobook version) Nicola Walker is as wonderful to listen to as she is to watch on screen and stage. Such an incredibly sensitive and nuanced performance, making each line uttered so full of humanity, without getting in the way of the twists and turns of the plot of this well written thriller. McAllister writes really believable characters, and it's impressive how well she inhabits both young and adult voices, finding their individual tone. The story did get a little bit long winded and slightly unbalanced between the points of view. I assume it has this dramaturgy in order to obscure what is going on in one of the storylines - but unfortunately the reveal and the twist at the end did not come as a complete surprise for me. Still an entertaining, and often moving, listen.