BOOK SYNOPSIS
Listen carefully.
Watch closely.
Trust nobody.
“Let me ask you. Are you worried that someone is watching you, or are you worried that you think someone is watching you?”
Sophie Portman has lost her husband, and she thinks she may be losing her mind.
She seeks the help of psychiatrist Andrew Thacker, but as she starts to open up, the truth begins to unravel and nothing is quite as it seems.
Other People's Lives is a gripping psychological thriller from bestselling author JE Rowney.
Over seven months had passed since Sophie's beloved husband Jack had gone to Arkhangelsk in Russia to take part in a important Geological mission and mysteriously disappeared. Before he left,Sophie had struggled to understand why he wanted to spend six weeks working in harsh conditions where she was certain he wouldn't be able to cope. She had done everything within her power to persuade Jack to change his mind but he had just reiterated the importance of the mission, ignored her pleas for him to stay and left to catch his flight. Sophie had been overwhelmed with a horrible feeling that this mission was going to be different to the ones that Jack had previously been on and his subsequent disappearance had proven her fears to be justified. Not having Jack in her life anymore had forced Sophie into deciding to see a psychiatrist and when Doctor Thacker is introduced into the story we learn that Sophie is due to arrive at his office for her third appointment. We also learnt that despite the police not being able to find any evidence to confirm her suspicions, Sophie kept insisting that she felt like she was being watched whilst she was out and about and even when she was within the safety of her own home. Was her mind playing tricks on her due to her understandable feelings of stress and anxiety? Was she actually being watched by her own missing husband? And what about Dr Thacker who we discover as the story unfolds was harbouring some rather unprofessional feelings towards his patient? Or was her possible antagonist another character who was hiding in plain sight within the pages of this cleverly written thriller?
The chapters of the story predominantly alternate between the perspectives of Sophie (written in the form of letters to Jack) and Dr Thacker (or so the reader is ingeniously manipulated into believing) I had conflicting feelings about Sophie, there was aspects of her character which reminded me of myself and I could fully empathise with, such as her feelings and reaction to Jack's determination to go on the mission to Russia. But, if there is one thing that causes me to dislike female characters it's the fact that every male character develops some type of attraction towards her, it's just one of my pet peeves in the world of fiction. As the story unfolded it became obvious that Sophie wasn't being entirely honest with her therapist and was harbouring secrets. Did she know more about Jack's disappearance than she was letting on? Was her insistence that she was being watched just a ploy to deflect attention away from her own guilt conscience?
Gripping and addictive with a conclusion that contains a satisfying dash of poetic justice, this is one of those books that really needs to be read more than once in order for the reader to fully appreciate the ingenuity and cleverness of the author's writing. Yes, you would already know the truth behind Jack's disappearance but, there are aspects of the story which could have been written from the perspective of a completely different character than the individual you thought you were reading about at the time. There was a point in the story where I had to go back and re-read some pages just to make sure that I hadn't inadvertently missed something. Some reviewers,like me, thought this plot twist was ingenious whilst others found it frustrating and confusing but that's what makes the reading community such a varied and interesting place,everyone has their own personal opinion on the books that they read. I thought this was a enthralling,page turner that is very highly recommended by little old me.
AUTHOR INFO
J.E. Rowney spent several years in the cold Yorkshire hills, but now lives on the south coast of England. She spent ten years working as a midwife before turning in her gloves to become an author.
She has written ten novels, and also enjoys writing short stories. In 2020 she was the winner of the Pen to Print Short Story award, the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction, and, in 2021, the Fresher Publishing Student Writing Award.
She spends lots of time writing in coffee shops, so if you see her, say hello.
Ms. Rowney says: "I always dreamed of being a writer, until I realised that I was. Then I started to write."
You can find out more about JE Rowney on her website at jerowney.com (where you can download a free book!), or follow @jerowneywriter on social media.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS....
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/jerowneywriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/jerowneywriter
PUBLICATION DATE: 22nd April 2022
PURCHASE LINKS...
Amazon UK: amazon.co.uk/Other-Peoples-Lives-J-Rowney-ebook/dp/B09GK9T7FZ/
Amazon US: amazon.com/Other-Peoples-Lives-J-Rowney-ebook/dp/B09GK9T7FZ/
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