John Parker is a Graduate-qualified English/Spanish Teacher, owner and director of CHAT ENGLISH, an English Language Centre in Avilés on the north coast of Spain . A voracious reader, he has particularly loved horror fiction for many years.
This is a story about a husband and wife who have a baby that the husband, Leo, knows is not his, and Hannah, a vulnerable young victim of grooming who has to face up to bringing up her child by herself.
Jenny, Leo’s wife, is delighted to have given birth but she has no idea that her deception is about to contribute to a horrifying scenario. As Leo knows this baby girl can't be his, he's never felt so betrayed. He hides his anger well but his very nature is self-centred. He has always been the pampered one, looked after by his well-off wife who even owns a cottage in the countryside. Leo is a writer who has had moderate success but is yet to receive the accolades he so desperately wants. Surely a baby (not his!) would get in the way?
Tragedy strikes one night as Hannah, wakes to find her new-born child lying lifeless beside her in bed. Inevitably she is crazed with grief. Then something happens that throws her into Leo’s path. Taking advantage of the situation, Hannah is able to manipulate Leo and put into motion a plan that will have shattering consequences for everyone involved. All this happens in 1989 and so we are transported to a point in time 16 years later when a sixteen-year-old girl reads a certain article in a newspaper, causing her to embark on a journey to uncover the truth about herself, her mother and her true past. But what she learns will put everything she has ever known - and her own life - in grave danger. Because some people will go to desperate lengths to protect the secrets their lives are built on.
Emma Curtis has written a gripping thriller that, despite some seemingly far-fetched incidents, never fails to keep the reader intrigued. The two mothers, Jenny and Hannah, are in their own way manipulative human beings that you can sympathise with. They are not of the same magnitude as Leo, a loathsome character despite his ability to charm people. You can neither like nor sympathise with him. As the book rushes to its climax, a feeling of dread overcomes you and while you fear the worst, the twist comes out of the blue and leaves you reeling. The ending is thoroughly satisfying and I want you to experience it yourself.
I really enjoyed it and you will too.
