Tell Tale by Samantha Hayes
From Goodreads:
What do you do when there's no way out and nowhere left to hide? A woman stands on a bridge, the water rushing below, the wind catching her skirt. In a few seconds she will jump, plunging more than 200 feet to the bottom. Who is she? And why is she desperate to take her own life? Nina Kennedy is afraid. A man is following her, threatening her family, toying with her sanity. What does he want? And how long will it be before he strikes? Eight-year-old Ava sits waiting for her daddy. But, like the others in the children's home, she knows her father will never come. The home is a place of whispers and shadows. But no one dare tell the truth. Until now ...
I believe I first learned about this book from Tea Time with Marce. I may even have won this copy from her Horror Week? I finally got a chance to read this, and it did not disappoint.
The story alternated from three perspectives. Some were told in first person, and some in third. It sometimes took a bit of getting used to whose narrative it was since they were not labeled. I usually do like books told from different narrators so it didn't bother me.
What bothered me though was that, sometimes within a chapter, the timeline may jump back and forth without warning, so it wasn't until you read further in the paragraph to know something had happened in the past. Also, each narrator talked to herself a lot it seemed! I supposed sometimes I do talk to myself, but a times it just seemed a bit unnatural. Those dialogs seemed to be more suitable as thoughts, than saying out loud.
One of the narrators also seemed to sound younger than her age [spoiler - highlight to read] which I understand why the author chose to do so to deceive the readers a little bit, so we wouldn't have guessed who Frankie was actually Nina [/spoiler] and I don't know if it sounded plausible.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it and how the storyline weaved together. I wouldn't mind reading more from this author.
3.5 Stars
Note - I won a personalized signed copy.
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Yaaaaaaay, I remember loving this one, will have to go read my read also. I have read more and haven't been disappointed yet.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the characters enough to understand the spoiler but I know I was shocked on who he was. Glad you read it.
SPOILER - I thought when she was playing the aide / assistant at the girl school dorm, that she sounded younger than she is as Nina (the wife and the mum)? Or at least that's the impression I got. I am thinking the author deliberately did so, so that we don't think Frankie and Nina are the same person? I also liked that the real killer was not someone you expected.
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