“She’s safe from him, a thousand miles from harm. Or so she thought.
Charlotte and Sam were partners. In life, and in crime, but that’s all behind her.
Until now, years later, it comes rushing back when her estranged ex-husband Sam suddenly goes missing. And someone threatens to expose what she did.
Desperate to escape her mysterious tormentor, Charlotte boards a luxurious superyacht in the Caribbean. But it soon becomes clear that the open ocean isn’t the haven she thought it was.
Because they are onboard too. And now there’s nowhere left to run.”
Karen Hamilton is a new author for me. It is so tempting to stick within the safe comforting confines of known authors, and with a few favourites that regularly release new books, it is possible to stay within their realms – this is something I have tended to do in the past, but this year I also want to branch out and try different authors as well. I am glad I did.
I loved this book. It is on offer for 99p on e-reader at the moment as well which is always a bonus. I felt like I would have loved to read this on a cruise or a sun lounger on holiday somewhere for added reading ambience. I wasn’t hooked immediately, this one definitely took a few chapters to pique my interest, but I was soon gripped.
I probably wouldn’t have bought this if I read the back properly before. The cover was great, but the blurb implies to me that there is an abusive husband who is coming to try and kill her. There are so many domestic abuse thrillers and series at the moment – I do not in any way want to diminish the seriousness of the issue, but from a fiction point of view, It is a becoming an over saturating tale, in my opinion. For this reason, I was delighted that it was another one of those!
The Characters
This book tells the tales of a variety of interesting characters. There are some that could definitely have their own spin off if the writer chose to go that way. I wanted to know everything about them, they were interesting and easy to picture. The author described them so well, I could imagine having met them. The characters were not confusing and I found it easy to get to know them without getting muddled.
The Ending
The last few chapters of this book made me unable to put it down! Gripped until the very last word, turning the page to the acknowledgements to soak up every last bit. I loved the ending! There are two parts to the end, one part I had guessed about part way through, and the other part I was not expecting at all and loved it. The book is one that you put down with a satisfied smile, and a slight smirk at the ending. There could easily be a follow up, but it also works as a standalone.
I have no doubt that this author will feature again on my book shelf.
The Westcountry Bumpkin Bookworm 