23 July 2018

The Last Thing I Told You - Review

The Last Thing I Told You
by Emily Arsenault




What they say: From the acclaimed author of The Evening Spider and The Broken Teaglass comes this psychological thriller about the murder of a psychologist in a quiet New England town and his former patient whose unreliable thread will keep readers guessing until the shocking end.

I hear myself whispering. Not again. Not again.

Why did I ever come back here? Surely because of you. Because I thought of something I’d always meant to tell you. Because you were the only one I ever really wanted to tell it to…

Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead—bludgeoned in his office.

But that doesn’t stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him—in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she’s crazy. And she has to admit—they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen, and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse—even to Fabian. Now that Fabian’s dead, why is she still trying?

Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian’s death, he discovers that shortly before he died, Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry’s former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen.

More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter, who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone—including Henry, who is uncomfortable with the “hero” status the tragedy afforded him—is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions. Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian’s office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again.

But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people’s hearts are rarely simple, and—even in the hidden depths of a psychologist’s files—rarely as they appear. 


Pre-order - releases 24th July

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: The Last Thing I Told You is a high-octane psychological thriller full of drama and twists. 

The story focuses on the investigation into the murder of therapist Dr Mark Fabian. As part of the murder investigation we get a spilt POV from former client Nadine who is still struggling with a large amount of guilt and confusion, plus from investigating detective Henry Peacher.

Nadine becomes fixated on things she cannot change and has a huge amount of guilt around past mistruths or half-truths. She finds a strange sort of comfort in accepting the 'guidance' from the deceased Dr Fabian and in finally accepting the belief that she is crazy.

Henry finds himself confronted with the past when the investigation seems to point him straight towards Nadine and other past crimes.

The tone is purposefully awkward and abrupt at times. This work well to add to a sense of confusion and mistrust. Whenever I thought I'd got Nadine figured out then something else would happen to throw doubt on everything that happened before. I liked this strange tone and found myself wondering who would be speaking next.

4 Stars in my Sky!
SHARE:

No comments

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Blogger Template Created by pipdig