It's the moment we all fear: losing our phone, leaving us cut off from family and friends. But, for Louise, losing hers in a local café takes her somewhere much darker.
After many hours of panic, Louise is relieved when someone gets in touch offering to return the phone. From then on she is impatient to get back to normal life.
But when they meet on the beach, Louise realises you should be careful what you wish for...
If you enjoyed Cut Off, try Love Like Blood, the latest novel in the series starring Mark Billingham's detective hero, DI Tom Thorne.***
[Mid-morning on a Sunday, and, as usual the cafe was packed]***
(Sphere, 1 February 2018, 112 pages, ebook from @AmazonKindle)
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I've read a few of Billingham's books and have been impressed for the most part. Unfortunately, Cut Off never reaches its potential. I liked the premise of this novella. Louise's panic when she realises she's lost her phone is realistic. I have a phone but don't use it as much as most people but if I left behind my Kindle I would react the same way as Louise. Unfortunately, this is where the book starts to unravel. Louise is an idiot to meet the woman somewhere isolated. When Louise's friends don't hear from her their behaviour and the fact they don't seem the slightest bit concerned is ridiculous. Especially when they view Louise's films and suspect a woman is stalking her. Even worse, one of them sees the woman by mistake when he tries to FaceTime Louise, registers there's something odd about it and does nothing. WTF! Nice friends you've got Louise.
