BOOK DESCRIPTION
Seven friends gather at a castle in the Scottish Borders. One last girls' weekend before Georgina's wedding. Near the castle, through a path in the woods, is a loch. After a few drinks, they head down to the water to take photos. The loch is wild, lonely, and stunningly beautiful. They set their camera to self-timer and take some group shots. Later, looking back at the pictures, they see something impossible.
Behind them, eyes wide, a small, drenched boy emerges from the water.
But none of them saw him, and nobody knows where he went. They're miles from the nearest town. How did he get there? Where did he go?
As the weekend unravels and terrible secrets come to light, it soon becomes clear that their perfect weekend is turning into a perfect nightmare. They're desperate to leave - but someone won't let them
This seriously intense and suspenseful thriller centres around seven women
Tessa, Bea, Harriet, Georgie, Rachael, Melissa and Alice and the events that occur over Georgie's hen weekend. They find themselves staying in a old castle that looks like a building from a Disney film and is situated near a loch in the Scottish Highlands. They plan to have a weekend of drinking, getting high, stupid party games, reminiscing about their pasts and catching up on what has been going on in their lives since they were all together as a group. But even before they arrive at their destination, it becomes glaringly apparent that there is a toxic atmosphere amongst the group and that some of the friends are not as close as they pretend to be. Things take a strange turn when not long after they arrive at the castle, the image of a drenched young boy emerging from the loch is captured in the background of one of their photographs, then their supplies start mysteriously disappearing. Their perfect weekend is turning into a living nightmare but when some of them decide that they want to leave, they are informed by the estate manager Tom that one of the roads is blocked by a fallen tree. So they find themselves stranded, in the middle of nowhere with no wi-fi, no phone signal and at the mercy of a unknown enemy who had their own personal reasons for luring the friends to that particular location.
You sometimes find in large groups of friends that their is usually someone who is the most popular member of the group and someone who always seems to be a bit of a outsider. In this story, Tessa saw herself as the outsider whilst Georgie was the one that the rest of the group were constantly worried about keeping happy and believe me, keeping her happy wasn't a easy task. My personal favourite from the group was Bea, the other six women I thought were quite irritating and unlikable for various reasons especially Georgie although I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit of admiration for Alice after she revealed what her mysterious occupation was. There was times when the atmosphere amongst the women was more toxic that a nest of rattlesnakes, some of the comments that were being bandied about had more sting in them that a snake bite.
Interspersed throughout the main story was chapters where we followed Bea as she found ways to escape the other members of the group and immerse herself in the pages of a diary that she had found. She found herself captivated by the heart breaking story of a teenage girl who developed feelings for a boy named Jack and found herself manipulated, betrayed, abused and then basically abandoned by everyone she should have been able to rely on for support. But who was this person and how did her story fit into events that were unfolding in the present day?
Omg, I thought this books was absolutely bloody incredible, a beautifully written, atmospheric,intense, suspense packed thriller that contained all the elements that I wish to find in a thriller. The isolated setting, the castle, the forest and the loch were intricately described with enough detail that you could close your eyes and place yourself there in your head. As with some human beings, mother nature can also be so beautiful and yet she also has a destructive side, a hidden darkness that can cause life changing devastation. The women were a diverse group of realistic individuals,each with their own unique personalities and character traits. I would love to watch a film or tv adaptation of this unputdownable, addictive read that is worthy of all the stars and more and very very highly recommended. I loved this book and it's definitely going to be one of my favourite reads of this year.
AUTHOR BIO
Elle Connel studied English at the University of St Andrews, and later Shakespearean Studies at Kings College London and Shakespeare's Globe. She has worked as a researcher for Al Jazeera television, a freelance writer while living in Spain, and later as the Cruise Coordinator for the National Trust for Scotland (where she worked onboard a ship, swam amongst icebergs, set foot on St Kilda, and finally learned how to ceilidh dance). She’s now a fulltime writer, based in Edinburgh with her husband and twin sons.
PUBLICATION DATE: 3rd June 2021
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