When even the safety of your home and work just aren’t anymore…

Synopsis

Since that fateful night I have always kept myself to myself. Reserved. Private. Alone.

Some people think I am too quiet. That life is passing me by. But I know there is safety in my own company. That no one can hurt me if I don’t let them get too close.

Until the day I meet him. A handsome, charming stranger. A chance for me to take a risk…finally?

Or a man who threatens everything I’ve worked so hard for?

You’ll be sorry…

And that’s when my whole life begins to fall apart….

Don’t miss the brand new thriller by Valerie Keogh! Perfect for fans of Sue Watson, Shalini Boland and K.L. Slater.

My review

Since an incident ten years ago, Ava Warrington has kept a low profile, even on the verge of her being a bit paranoid.
Her job at the Tate Museum is the job of her dreams, but at the same time it also gives her comfort and peace she needs.
But then things start to happen around her that take her peace away. After rejecting a persistent man at the bistro while dining with her best friend, Ava starts to think that that man is somehow responsible for the incident at the museum. And more things start to happen, making Ava wonder if she is just losing her mind, or is someone truly after her? And why? 

If you are looking for a story to give you goosebumps and makes you paranoid too, this book is just perfect!  

From the start, it’s clear that something happened to Ava ten years ago, and she is still carrying that burden. And even if we will only know what towards the end of it, I could sense it was something serious. Even without the details, I could comprehend why Ava wanted a low – key life, having the safety of what she knows to protect her. 

When she rejected the man in the bistro, I knew it was the right thing for her to do. Not only do you always have to do what feels right for you, or makes you feel the safest, but also seeing his persistence and his behaviour, well, I thought Ava got a lucky escape! 

But while from there things start to go bad for Ava, I couldn’t completely agree with her that it was that same man who was after her. Because let’s be honest, why would a rejection lead to such extreme actions? 

This story for sure made me question the intention of people in general. Are they being genuinely nice, or are they being nice for their own agenda? And what about friends who start ghosting you out of the blue?
Ava has to face each of the above, and starts to question her own mental condition somehow. Is she seeing things? Is she being too paranoid? What is real and what isn’t anymore? 

For anyone who hasn’t been through a traumatic event in the past, it’s already creepy enough. But what with happened ten years ago to Ava, it made things even more worse as she kept in mind that somehow the past was coming back for her, that karma would get her. 

I have to admit, the revelation of what happened ten years ago, didn’t truly come as a real shock, yet the extension of it did. It made me understand Ava better, and I could see where her guilt was coming from. Although I wouldn’t have minded if there wouldn’t have been that last ounce of doubt of what really happened..   

The author manages perfectly to keep us on toes, making us guess what was going on. Only to shou w that we were on the wrong track!
There were many twists in this book, some more gruesome than others, which made me want to put the book away, yet at the same time I wanted to keep on reading.