Synopsis
A mother’s job is to keep her children safe.
Tess has always tried to be a good mother. Of course, there are things she wishes she’d done differently, but doesn’t everyone feel that way?
Then Emma, her youngest, is attacked on her way home from a party, plunging them into a living nightmare which only gets worse when the man responsible is set free.
But what if she fails?
So when Tess sees the attacker in the street near their home, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. But blinded by her need to protect her daughter at any cost, might she end up putting her family in greater danger?
There’s nothing she wouldn’t do to make it right…
My Review
I was looking forward to reading this book after reading the synopsis it sounded perfect. unfortunately I did find it fairly slow going but continued on and I am glad I did as the story picked up. It did take me longer to read than normal I found it to be one of those books that you put down and pick up at intervals.
Tessa is a woman with a lot going on in her life, her husband had left her for another woman 2 years earlier, she was going through the menopause, her eldest daughter isn’t talking to her and is living with the father that reveal comes later in the book, she had been made redundant from her job at a magazine publishing business having worked long hours that has now gone. So she now freelances. Most of her friends have dropped her after she had had a total meltdown in public which under all these circumstances is easy to understand why. She has a webcam set up in her parents house as her mum has Alzheimers/dementia and her dad is getting old and is his wife’s main carer. She checks the webcam frequently to check they are both ok and that its not too much for her father.
However, the story begins when her younger daughter Emma is attacked when walking home one evening by some man, she is punched in the head and he is trying to drag her off. Until a driver passing by rescues her this is when we are introduced to Frances. Both Emma and Frances are invited to go to the police station to do a video lineup. Tess is watching her daughters face to see if there are any signs that she recognises the person responsible. She is convinced her daughter had picked the person number 8 who she later finds out his name is Stephen. But Emma says afterwards she couldn’t be sure and when Frances comes out she also says she wasn’t sure but she thought it was leaning towards number 8. Tessa wants to see the man punished for what he has done to her daughter. But her initial concern is her daughter who is struggling with the aftermath of the attack. A few days later Emma sees the same man coming out of a building near the tube station Tessa was with her and saw her reaction to him and took his picture on her phone. From then on she becomes obsessed with getting this man even if it could put herself and her family in danger. Frances has managed to involve herself in Tessa’s life almost taking over she turns up at many places Tessa does and feeds her information about the guy who Tessa believes was the attacker. Frances has also become very friendly with Emma which initially Tessa understands but then begins to resent a little. But is Frances as good as she seems? Is there more to her story?
As the story progresses the pressure mounts up and strange things start happening. There is someone else in the story which I found confusing as I couldn’t work out who it was or where it fit you just knew when it was that person as the writing went to italics. All is revealed later in the story.
I was a little bit disappointed with the way the book finished. As it seemed to be a little open ended it could possibly lead to another book or you could just be left to wonder. But that is probably just me I like things tied up neatly at the end.
This is a very well written story showing how far a mother is prepared to go for her children and I think most mothers would feel the same. Not sure whether I would rather rely on the police route though instead of going after someone who could or could not be the perpetrator. But that could be something you never know unless you are in that situation.
I would recommend this book if you like psychological thrillers if you find it a little slow stick with it as the pace goes a little faster later. Obviously this is just my opinion many people like a slower paced book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tammy Cohen (who previously wrote under her formal name Tamar Cohen) has written several acclaimed novels about family fall-out: The Mistress’s Revenge, The War of the Wives, and Someone Else’s Wedding. The Broken was her first psychological thriller, followed by Dying for Christmas.
She lives in North London with her partner and three (nearly) grown children, plus one badly behaved dog.
Chat with her on Twitter @Ms TamarCohen
RELEASE DATE
This novel is available to preorder now on Amazon and is due for release on the 18 July 2019
Publisher Random House Uk, Transworld Digital
ISBN 9781473542655
Thank you #netgalley #RandomHouseUk,TransworldDigital #Stop at Nothing
Jackie’s Reading Corner 