Everything but the truth Gillian McAllister
This is one of those books that has you shouting at the main protagonist, Rachel, at the top of your voice.
Just like watching a film when the young girl enters the dark lodge, in the middle of the woods, then decides to explore the basement, without a torch.
It’s been a long time since I got so immersed in a story that I shouted out loud, but I did, more than once, in this one.
Rachel is an ex-doctor who is now working as a researcher. She is pregnant and living with the man of her dreams, Jack, the big, bearded, Rugby player from the wilds of Scotland.
She hasn’t known Jack that long but moved in with him after becoming pregnant.
Is Jack too god to be true, Hmmm.
Rachel also suffers from memories, not quite the dreaded flashbacks of many recent books, about a young lad who she diagnosed and treated for cancer. The memories haunt her and she suffers silently as this part of the story unfolds whilst it intertwines with the main thread.
The main thread is one for the psychological thriller fan.
Rachel and Jack are living in Newcastle, where Jack is a journalist. All is going well until one morning Jacks IPad lights up in the middle of the night. Rachel picks it up and reads the message as its displayed on the lock screen. That’s when things begin to change.
Rachel has never visited Jacks Scottish home till this point, but she’s about to.
When she arrives, she realises that she doesn’t really know that much about Jack.
Why do his friends appear to be keeping a secret?
Why does Jack seem to have a nickname which occasionally slips out, but then everybody denies or makes up a bad excuse for?
As Rachel spends more time in the Scottish village the more warry she becomes, what is the secret, or is it just Baby-brain paranoia, because it wouldn’t be the first-time Rachel has fixated on a boyfriend and become paranoid about his behaviour and fidelity.
When in Scotland Rachel and Jack stay with his family, and they’re strange. In fact, everything about Jacks life in Scotland starts to look strange to Rachel.
Starting this book I was looking for reasons as to why Rachel would behave like she does, could she really be that naïve.
Then I went through a stage when I thought, it’s everybody else that’s normal and Rachel is just being paranoid and it’s her with something to hide.
These swings went on all the way to the end. Are we reading through the eyes of a victim, listening to her legitimate worries, or are we reading through the eyes of a paranoid young lady who is being protected from herself by people who care for her?
Is it Jack with the secret, or is it Rachel, or could it be both?
You’ll have to read this book to find out.
Some books can be a bit of bubble-gum for the brain. Some can take your brain for a ride in a tumble drier.
This one will take you for a spin.
If you work out the finish before you get there, well done, I didn’t
nigeladamsbookworm 