A review by karteabooks
The Trial by S.R. Masters

medium-paced

3.0

 

This book also has the title of The Drug Trial, but it has the same content. 

 

I was lucky enough to be on the One More Chapter readalong of this book with some other lovely bookish people. 

Would you sign up to a medical trial if you didn’t know the possible side effects?
 
 18-40? PAID CLINICAL TRIAL IN THE CANARY ISLANDS – UP TO £20,000 TAX FREE
 
 It seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. An all-inclusive luxury trip abroad, all you need to do is take a pill every day and keep a diary.
 
 Except you don’t know anything about the drug or what its side effects might be.
 
 The headaches start, a dull ache at first. Every day worse than the last.
 
 Then a body is found.
 
 You discover that a side effect is psychosis. You don’t know who has taken the placebo and who has taken the real drug. 

 

It all seems too good to be true… the main protagonist, Ellie signs up as she is desperate for a break from her life. As the trial unfolds and strange things happen, she begins to question what really matters… 

 

The premise of the book was really good and psychological thrillers are one of my favourite genres, but this just didn’t seem to work for me. To be honest, I’m not sure that what I got was what I was expecting. At the start, I was so invested in the characters, the setting and the storyline, but then from about halfway I felt that it became repetitive and at times quite unbelievable and very convenient as the story unfolded. I did finish the book as I needed to see what the trial was actually for and the outcomes of the research, although in saying that, the ending was for me, not at all as I was expecting. 

 

Thank you to Netgalley, One More Chapter and Harper Collins UK for an e copy of this book, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.