The Last Thing I Saw – Alex Sinclair
I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.
This story revolves around Darren and Emma Turner, along with their son Jayden – in the opening prologue, Emma is holding a gun in trembling hands, and pointing it towards her husband, wondering how things had come to this point.
The novel then segues into life ‘before’ – an idyllic life that the three shared, while Darren runs what appears to be a thriving construction business. They live in an upper middle-class home and appear to be the typical family. Then, a construction worker is hurt on the job – and files a lawsuit. Then strange things begin happening – the family feels as if they’re being stalked, presumably by a member of the injured workers family. The police offer little support.
Then, you learn about things ‘after’. Emma is in a psychiatric facility, with no idea as to why, and what might have happened to place her there. She’s puzzled and hurt by the fact that her family won’t come and visit her. As she receives psychotherapy in attempts to piece together the events that lead to her hospitalization, she struggles with the advances and hatred of a corrupt orderly in the hospital.
The novel continues in this vein, switching between ‘before’ and after in the narrative as you learn about the sequence of events that lead up to the moment described in the prologue, and you see Emma’s slow recovery as she attempts to regain her memory of the events of that horrific night, with the storylines culminating into a showdown you won’t see coming, and with a protagonist that will shock you!!
I very much enjoyed this book! Had work not gotten in the way, I would have read it in one siting, because I did not want to put it down. Each chapter reveals a bit more and pulls you in deeper, and you keep flipping those pages, wanting – no – needing to know what happens next. A great read!! I look forward to reading more from this author!!
Tropical Delusions...... 