Psychological Thriller4*s
This psychological thriller is centred round one of my favorite premises, memory loss and psychotherapist, A.J. Waines, has enough knowledge about the subject to ensure that this tale rings true.
Rosie was in a terrible accident. So awful that she is the only survivor of the crash that saw the van she was traveling in plunge into a lake. Rosie was lucky, grabbing her viola she swam to shore but she needs to know what happened to the other members of the string quartet, and as of yet, no one can tell her. Rosie and the rest of the quartet had been offered pay over the odds to play at an anniversary party a decade after they’d first played for the couple, the difference is that then they were playing together regularly but these days they are all leading very different lives.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, although this is the second book in the Dr Samantha Willerby series, and it is the good doctor that Rosie turns to in a bid to recover the memories she knows are missing. It is clear that the author’s background has leant a real air of truth to the engagement between the good doctor and her patient. With Rosie convinced that if she can recover her memories all will be well, the doctor agrees to help her with the latest research methods which later include traveling to the scene of the crash.
From this synopsis it may appear that this is a straightforward piece of crime fiction albeit one with a clinical psychologist at the heart of the investigation rather than the story being told from the police’s viewpoint, but the dynamic between Rosie and Sam really adds a totally different dimension to the story.
With the chapters alternating between the two women with an overlap of part of their experiences I was both dumbstruck and totally involved in both women’s stories. Trying to sift through Rosie’s memories and her recall of the first party they played certainly gives the reader plenty to ponder over; exactly my kind of crime fiction.
I am pleased to confirm that I didn’t feel that my enjoyment was at all hampered by not reading the first book in the series as the author provided enough of the back story to fill in any gaps but cleverly despite hints, not enough to put me off going back to discover Inside the Whispers.
My favorite type of psychological thriller is those books that truly explore the crevices of the mind and it is brilliant that it isn’t only the patient in this book that gets that treatment; the doctor is unveiled not only as someone who cares greatly about her patients but one who doesn’t necessarily like them all, and in common with the vast majority of humanity, she can still be unnerved by unexpected behavior. Isn’t it wonderful when the characters are both intriguing and yet completely believable? All this resulted in a fascinating as well as thrilling read with enough twists and turns to keep this reader firmly on her toes.
I’d like to thank the author for providing me with an advance copy of Lost in the Lake ahead of publication today, 7 September 2017. This review is my unbiased thank you for a wonderful journey into the mind.
First Published UK: 7 September 2017
Publisher: CreateSpace
No. of Pages: 388
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
Amazon US
