Robert lives in North East England. He works in Recruitment by day, and is usually to be found knee deep in a pile of books as a reader and reviewer by night. He has recently signed with The Blair Partnership, and his debut crime novel, What Falls Between the Cracks was released in Spring 2018.
Most parents think they know their kids pretty well. Jackie Reed is no different. She used to be able to spot a lie a mile off, but now she’s not so sure.
Wade & Connor aren’t babies any more. They’re well on the way to becoming young men, with secrets that Jackie can’t quite fathom. One of Wade’s class-mates is tragically killed in a car-jacking involving a former music starlet. As the town mourns the victim, questions are whispered that Jackie can only ignore for so long. Was it really a car-jacking? What was the young boy doing out on the road at 3 a.m.? Why won’t Wade say where he was that night? She needs answers to these questions (no matter how much the truth might hurt her and her family).
Alison Gaylin taps into every parent’s fears with this one, asking what we would do and how far we would go to protect our kids. There are a few elements that provide a great foundation for the story; the small-town microcosm, where everyone lives in each other’s pockets, but still with the sense that so much is going on just beneath the surface. Then there’s the teenage conundrum, how much freedom do you give them before you risk letting them get out of control? Alongside Jackie and her kids we have a very real & gritty police presence, in Officer Pearl Maze (as part of the strong supporting cast).
Although the premise is great, and the situations very relatable, but a minor quibble: it did fall a little short of hitting the top notes of tension I'd hoped for; having said that Alison Gaylin is a talented writer, and the novel does not disappoint so I’ll definitely go back to for a second helping.
