Review
Quite simply - this is one thriller you simply HAVE to read.

Filled with twists and turns - it keeps you guessing (mostly wrongly!) until the gripping conclusion.
I adored this book - I gobbled it up in a couple of sittings - reading into the night and getting up early to finish it, desperate to know what becomes of the two leading characters Quincy and Sam.
This is a quickly paced psychological thriller, combined with some slasher type horror that very quickly escalates into a on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.
I most certainly do not want to spoil any of it - but I'd confidently say this is the strongest book in this highly competitive genre that I have read this year.
For a debut author, Riley Sager has pulled off something really remarkable - and I foresee great things ahead for this author and this book. It begs to be adapted into a film - but as with all adaptations, make sure to read the book first.
Breathtaking.

Final Girls will be published by Ebury on July 13.
I received a preview copy of this book for review from the publishers, via Netgalley

Review:
This book had come under my attention through Social Media - the striking cover lured me in, as did the book title. The blurb promised even more - So I was delighted to get my hands on a review copy.

I started reading this book on a bumpy flight to Glasgow - and very soon found it to be one of the most unputdownable reads of the year. 
Raw, dark, twisty and unpredictable it followed the stories of two couples whose lives are thrown off track by one simple question.
"If you could have anyone else, who would it be?"

Men and women of the world - do yourselves a favour. Never answer this question if asked by your partner. Or if you do, pick a celeb you wouldn't have a hope in hell's chance of getting with,
No good can come of any other answer - as Amanda Robson's skilled debut shows.

We're used now to having books show unreliable narrators - in Obsessed there are four unreliable voices and the reader's loyalties, beliefs and sympathies will change many times during the course of the read. 
Is there one person to blame for the chain of events that follows this seemingly innocent question or is everyone a little guilty? Once the can of worms is opened in this book, it is impossible to close it again.

In turns the characters switch from being likeable to thoroughly unpleasant and back again - and it's not until the final, devastating twist that the full truth emerges starkly, leaving the reader reeling.

For a debut this is remarkably accomplished. There is a gritty honesty about Robson's writing that makes the book an uncomfortable but all encompassing read.

It's one of those great books that, when you turn the last page, you just have to let the events you have just lived through vicariously  rest for a bit as you come to terms with what you've read.

Highly recommended.

Obsession is available now and is published by Avon.
I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley.
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My test of a good book is whether or not I find myself sneaking away from my family to read "just another few pages" - The One had me sneaking away - a lot.
With short, sharp chapters the story twisted and turned through the lives of four different couples, apparently matched by the Match DNA dating agency (a brilliant premise).
Nothing is ever quite as it seems for any of our characters - and the book makes the reader question nature over nurture and the power of suggestion.
Although some of the themes in this book are quite dark, it never strays into too serious or depressing a read.
In fact it is hugely entertaining and hugely enjoyable and you find yourself invested in the characters - even the seemingly deeply unpleasant ones!
This is one to watch in 2017.

The One will be released by Ebury on May 4.
I received an early review copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley.

As a tiny, pre-review disclaimer I should say that I have known CL Taylor  for about 10 years - having been a part of the same online writing community as her. We've met but once - when she shouted my name across a crowded book shop - but we are acquainted and when she wanted some help on the journalism-y side of things for The Escape, I offered my advice., PS She's lovely.

I kind of hate reading books by friends - for a number of reasons.
1) If it is rubbish it feels really awkward to either say nothing or faff your way through a positive review.
2) Sometimes my friends give me all the jealous rages and I don't want to be friends with them anymore.

Cally Taylor would give me the jealous rage with The Escape - except that she really is kind of lovely. But that does not take away from the fact she is at the top of her game with The Escape -a grippy, claustrophobic, roller-coaster ride of a thriller which swerves in directions you didn't think possible just when you think it's all done and dusted.

The book plays on that most basic of instinct - a mother's need to protect her child. And we mothers - we would do everything we can - including risk our own safety, if we think our children are in danger.

From the opening chapter of The Escape the scene is set. The threat looms large in the life of Jo and little Elise - until things spiral into any parent's worst nightmare and Jo is forced to take some pretty shocking risks.

It's hard to review books like this because there is a danger of giving away spoilers. But I will say as this book picks up speed, and moves towards the very dramatic conclusion it is almost suffocating to read. I gobbled up the last few chapters - reading them at a breathless pace, right there in the moment wth Jo - feeling her panic and fear.

Part of this novel is set in Ireland - and Cally perfectly captures the Ireland of the past and the characteristics of the present without descending in plastic paddy territory - something many readers will be deeply grateful for.

On a personal level it has been a joy to see Cally emerge as one of the UK's premiere thriller writers - but it is hard earned and deserved. Her books, including The Escape, pull the reader into an uncomfortable, shocking world where they don't know who, or what reality, to trust.

This is another cracking read - and proof that with each book she just goes from strength to strength.

The Escape is published by Avon.
I received a copy of this book as a gift from the author.