Book #24 Come a Little Closer

Come a Little Closer by Karen Perry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A plot of few characters. Anton, Mark, Leah, Jake, Hilary and Greg. And not one of them to root for. I thoroughly enjoyed Karen Perry's Your Closest Friend. I cannot say the same for Come a Little Closer. It was far too slow for me.

Anton is released from prison where he has been incarcerated for nineteen years, for murdering his wife. He returns to the family home to find that his son Mark has found new tenants for the basement flat - Leah and Jake. Jake has a seven-year-old son, Matthew, who lives with his mother, Jenna. It's a tangled mess. Anton has always claimed that he did not murder Charlotte. Hilary and Greg are teachers who had occupied the apartment all those years ago, waiting for their house over the road to have renovations completed. Hilary it seems, was obsessed with Anton...

So, if Anton didn't - who did? With so few possible culprits I had it figured out all too soon, which made completing the book a chore; although the final fifteen minutes had some redeeming qualities of suspense. It just did not grip me...

My thanks to Penguin UK-Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my ARC.

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Book #41 Your Closest Friend

Your Closest Friend by Karen Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Whoa! Hold on a minute - let me catch my breath. Your Closest Friend sizzles with tension and menace. I thought I had already read my best book of 2018. Wrong. This is it!
Starts at breakneck pace as Cara finds herself caught up in a terrifying terrorist attack on the streets of London - her certain death prevented by Amy, who drags her into a doorway and up a flight of stairs to a storeroom above Pret. In the darkness and desperate to survive Cara divulges to Amy her darkest secrets about her marriage, her husband, her affair…

Days after the attack Cara is back home, back at work as a radio producer, when her life starts to spiral out of control. She starts to receive anonymous threats. And when Amy reappears as if by coincidence Cara turns to her for support - her closest friend? Or her worst nightmare… She invites Amy into her home to help with her family.

This is a psychological thriller that will shred your nerves with its relentless pace. Your Closest Friend is a real page turner. It never lets go. It grabs you from the get go - feel your pulse racing. The effect is hypnotic as you read on knowing that dreadful events are inevitable to a final twist that really had me holding my breath.

A stunning read, better than Gone Girl with a whiff of Single White Female. I doubt that I will read anything better this year.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK-Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read this e-book.

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