Great story!! Sophie Hannah is a gem of an author and I love all her books. This one is no exception, it kept me turning the pages well into the night and I would recommend it to everyone! Then go back and read all her others books if you haven't.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Justine thought she knew who she was, until an anonymous caller seemed to know better...
After fleeing London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine Merrison plans to spend her days doing as little as possible. But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to seem strangely withdrawn. Checking Ellen's homework one day, Justine finds herself reading a chillingly articulate story about a series of sinister murders committed at the family's new house. Can Ellen really have made all this up, as she claims? Why would she invent something so grotesque, set it in her own home and name one of the characters after herself? When Justine discovers that Ellen has probably also invented her best friend at school, who appears not to be known to any of the teachers, Justine's alarm turns to panic.
Then the anonymous phone calls start: a stranger, making accusations and threats that suggest she and Justine share a traumatic past - yet Justine doesn't recognise her voice. When the caller starts to talk about three graves - two big ones and a smaller one for a child - Justine fears for her family's safety. If the police can't help, she'll have to confront the danger herself, but first she must work out who she's supposed to be...

*2.5 stars*

Sophie Hannah has written some very impressive stories over the last decade.

This isn't one of them...

The biggest problems, for me, were the lack of likeability of the characters. Justine was a whiny, self-obsessed immature woman; her husband a single-faceted bore. And Ellen - just horrid.
The other thing was the inclusion of Ellen's "story" - I felt like it muddied the overall story and forced the author into a really terrible corner as far as the ending goes - and she didn't make that work at all.

Would I recommend it? Probably not - I could think of any number of her books that would make a better read than this...


Paul
ARH

Found this book really hard to get into. Didn't grab me from the start.