This was not what I was expecting by any means. Its a really dark and disturbing story and possibly needs more trigger warnings? It is really well written and pretty heartbreaking to be honest. I found it quite hard to get through. There are a few twists and turns and it does keep a good pace and it just have a really suspenseful and really ominous feel to it the whole way through.

This seemed to me to be a tragic story, focusing on a predator within a family and the dreadful things that were accepted as the norm for the targeted child.
Additionally, an adult now working within the police is seriously impacted by a single incident in her own childhood which she has not been able to work through.
Is another story required to discuss the long term impact on the child in the present?
The awful experiences described by this child over many years, ending in a devastating accident has a dreadful effect on her ability to cope.
I felt that the actions of the police interviewer were unlikely and unrealistic.
This spoilt the story for me.

The Interview is a dark and disturbing story of two garda detectives who are interviewing a teenager girl to uncover the truth behind her recent attack.
Guards Laura and Niamh are trained at working with victims of trauma and encouraging them to reveal the truth about what has happened to them. However, as this deeply atmospheric story unfolds, we learn that Laura has secrets of her own and these secrets threaten to derail the entire investigation.
There are moments throughout this story that I struggled to read and I do think that other readers may have similar concerns. However, this remains a pacy, twisty and exciting read.

This book sucked me right in and the concept intrigued me-being based around a victim/potential suspect interview by specially trained officers.

I really liked this book to start with and I was expecting to blow me away but I felt the sections about Laura’s mental health became slightly overblown and I found myself skimming towards the end.

Ultimately the ending redeemed it but I was slightly disappointed with the flow.

This book is tough reading at times, certainly for anyone who has experienced trauma. But it delivers a great story in a powerful way.

It is the story of Laura, the detective, and Jenny, the victim. But who is leading whom here? Niamh, Laura’s partner, helps illuminate the scene as the psychology of the characters emerges.

Jenny delivers her story through fairytales and the reader is presented with a complex puzzle. She is an especially good character, by turns vulnerable and manipulative. She is the ideal centrepiece for a dark tale.

The ending is emotionally satisfying and in keeping with the tone of the story. Overall, an excellent debut.

Thanks to NetGalley for making an advance copy of this book available to me in return for an honest review.

This book was absolutely superb. It is extremely well written and gives an excellent account into the incredible work the SVI team do. I cannot recommend the book enough and highly recommend it.

An engaging thriller with some great characters: had a Line of Duty-like intensity to the interviews, and the relationship between the two main police characters was complex and believable. Very strong descriptions of the immense damage that sexual assault does to the whole of a victim's life -- and there are some buildings in south Dublin that I will never think of in the same way again! Hard to put down, even if what I was reading was horrifying.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. I thought this was quite different to many of the psychological thrillers I've read before. I struggled with the subject matter but do think the Author dealt with it sympathetically and it seemed very well researched. I liked it was set in Dublin too! Good characterisation and clear distinct voices from the 3 narrators. I liked the ending a lot too!

The Interview - Gill Perdue

Jenny is a traumatised teenage witness, with her mum and brother hospitalised and her stepdad missing.

Told from the perspectives of Jenny and specialist trauma detectives Laura and Niamh, this is a deep, dark and harrowing psychological mystery.

Laura and Niamh are trying to help Jenny, who appears to be in an amnesiac shock, Silent for long periods, and rambling through fairytales and Greek myth.

The three voices, Jenny, Laura and Niamh are very distinct, and the characterisation is superb.

It is quite slow and at times seems rambling, this is book to commit to and immerse yourself in, the reward is a compelling and deeply involving psychological mystery. It takes the reader deep into the characters' minds and memories, which at times can be dark, disturbing and feeling drugged, confused and sedated.

A brave and brilliant book which definitely won't appeal to everyone.

Wow this was a really good book, I didn’t know what to expect but it was excellent, it’s set in Dublin and is fast moving and just so good….

Detectives Laura and Niamh are interviewing fourteen year old Jenny. Her mother and brother are both hospitalised and her step father is missing. Jenny isn't saying much, in fact hardly speaking so the two detectives are doing what they do best with vulnerable victims and trying to coax her to tell her story. Laura has her own demons and occasional words trigger her. This is at times a tense, rather dark tale where sometimes you wonder who is the victim and who is the cleverest with answers or questions. Jenny is vulnerable but knows how to play the game- whatever game is set before her. Laura is the specialist victim interviewer (along with Niamh) but as the interview goes on roles become grey areas. This is brilliantly written and well researched. It's one where your brain has to be in gear- which I enjoy- and try to decide certain things as I went along. There are flashback mentions of both domestic violence and rape (# trigger warning) however nothing more than in many crime books. A quite intense read but one I couldn't put down.
(rest of links on publication)

When Detective Laura Shaw and her partner Niamh are called to interview a young girl Jenny, Laura gets more than she bargained for having to deal with her own emotions as well as trying to discover the truth about Jenny.

Jenny is 14 years old, and was found outside and alone with no ID, money or phone by a passer by and taken to hospital. She doesn’t say a word to anyone but it’s clear that something has happened to her. Her step father is missing, and she was covered in blood. It’s up to Laura and Niamh to find out what happened and where the stepfather has gone.

As Laura tries to use her skills as Gardai interviewer specially trained in situations such as this, she finds herself questioning her own past - can she help Jenny and piece together what has happened as well as dealing with her own issues?

I really enjoyed this book, it was emotional and sad hearing Jenny’s story in her own words as well as seeing the story from Laura and Niamh’s perspective which gives the story a really good balance. It’s always evident who is speaking as each chapter states the name of the person, and you get a really good insight in to all sides of the story.

The conclusion comes together beautifully at the end too!

Thank you for letting me read and review this book!

Written around the interview of a trauma victim (a teenage girl) told form the points of view of an interviewer and interviewee.

When I first started reading this I wasn't too sure of the writing style and felt like it wasn't going nowhere but as the story progressed the more I got invested and was concerned with the outcome.

The subject matter of this book is disturbing and dark but has been dealt with sympathy and sensitivity.

A great debut novel I will defiantly be looking out for future releases.

I loved this book! Very readable and engaging! I live in Dublin & didn't realize the book was set here until Niamh's culchie-isms hit me - so good! Great suspense, great story, and a great ending!

They say writing should break boundaries but for me this book was disturbing. An awareness of mental health issues in the story of an assault just were too traumatic to read on. I found it hard to follow a flow but again if you've experienced mental health issues this is the reality of how your thought processes are disjointed and randomly processed. I might go back to it when I don't feel so exposed to the rawness of the novel.

The Interview is a very difficult book to read .A story of trauma ,child abuse and domestic abuse which I found quite disturbing .The story is very slow paced and the characters are hard to like but it was an interesting insight into how trauma survivors are dealt with by the Professionals .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my free copy in return for an honest review .

A harrowing story of abuse.
The story is well written but it is very slow going and not easy to read.

Detective story set in Dublin - effective but far from uplifting!

Laura is a Specialist Victim Interviewer in the Garda, assisted by Niamh, and trying to interview Jenny, a fourteen-yesr-old, found covered in blood. The story takes the whole book to unwind as nearly everybody makes unwise decisions as the main protagonists suffer in various ways. There's little to find uplifting until the very end and reading this novel is a bit of a trial at times as progress is slow. There's a lot of character development which is the main point as there's not a lot of action. It's interesting and will suit some readers. I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Psychological thriller however, slightly predictable. A harrowing read with some triggers undertones such as domestic violence, postpartum depression and mental health issues. There was a lot of detail within the plot and plenty of explanatory working.

I found this really hard to get in to, about half way through and I still can’t warm to either character nor do I particularly have any interest as to either back story. A did not finish for me.