Originally published: 6 September 2018

Author: Sam Carrington

Published by: Avon Books

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Page count: 367

Reading dates: 2-5 September 2018

Star Rating: 4/5

“It took approximately eight hours for Sean Taylor to die.”
“The stab wound to the back of his neck entered between cervical C5 and C6, causing complete severance of the spinal cord.  Not immediately fatal, but it would’ve paralysed him.”
“He lay, unable to move, in his own blood for hours. It wasn’t until the tide came in fully that his life was finally taken.”

What a great opening!  Deborah’s son was murdered 4 years ago. Alice’s son is in prison for the crime. Driven by a need for redemption she has started a support group for parents with troubled children. She is also convinced that meeting Deborah will help both of them come to terms with what has happened.

The story is told from the point of view of Deborah whose grief is threatening her work and marriage; Alice who feels strong guilt for her son’s actions and Connie Summers, a psychologist.

Alice is one of Connie’s clients and talks about the factors that caused her son to commit murder – a troubled home life, am obsession with online gaming. Then Connie is asked to go to the prison to do some freelance work and finds herself face to face with Alice’s son.

This is a book that you need to be able to concentrate on as it twists and turns all over the place. I found it easy to keep track of who each character was and really felt for Deborah on the loss of her son. The relationship between mothers and their son’s is a major theme as is the price of love. It made me think about how I would feel if one of my children committed such a terrible act. Sam Carrington was once a psychologist and worked in a prison as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator and I think her insider knowledge gave this book its edge. It’s no great surprise, given the title that there are plenty of lies told in this book and a fair few read herrings but the chapters are short and snappy and it is an entertaining read.

Thank you to Avon Books for sending me a copy.

About the author:

Sam Carrington lives in Devon with her husband and three children. She worked for the NHS for 15 years, during which time she qualified as a nurse. Following the completion of a Psychology degree she went to work for the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator. Her experiences within this field inspired her writing. She left the service to spend time with her family and to follow her dream of being a novelist. Saving Sophie was her debut psychological thriller novel and became a #1 ebook bestseller and her second, Bad Sister also features the character Connie Summers.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sam_carrington1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samcarringtonauthor/