My 4* review:
One of my all time favourite books is Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes, it is an incredibly written psychological thriller. It was the first book that I had read by Elizabeth Haynes and set the bar very high. While I’ve enjoyed subsequent books by the author, none have come anywhere near to emulating her first book.
Never Alone tells the story of Sarah, a widow who lives alone in an isolated farmhouse in Yorkshire. An old flame comes back into her life after years of no contact, he rents a small cottage on Sarah’s land, but it is quickly clear that Aiden has secrets. When things start happening that spook Sarah the reader isn’t sure whether Aiden is responsible, or perhaps it is Will, a young man who has recently returned to the area. Or is Sarah just imagining things?
When Sarah’s best friend disappears and no one can find her things get complicated when heavy snow falls. The book becomes a tense read at this point, with the reader unsure who to trust, I really don’t want to give too much away as I’ll only ruin it for you but there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.
While Never Alone doesn’t match Into the Darkest Corner it is still a very good psychological thriller and one that I enjoyed reading very much. I’d definitely recommend it to all fans of this genre.
The book really builds the tension and I loved the characters of Sarah’s two dogs, each of them had their own characteristics and became part of the story (and if you’re a dog lover, the tension).
Overall Never Alone is a solid read with great characters and plenty of tension. Enjoy!
Never Alone is available now from Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Blurb:
Elizabeth Haynes’ new psychological thriller is a brilliantly suspenseful and shocking story in which nothing is at it seems, but everything is at stake.
Sarah Carpenter lives in an isolated farmhouse in North Yorkshire and for the first time, after the death of her husband some years ago and her children, Louis and Kitty, leaving for university, she’s living alone. But she doesn’t consider herself lonely. She has two dogs, a wide network of friends and the support of her best friend, Sophie.
When an old acquaintance, Aiden Beck, needs somewhere to stay for a while, Sarah’s cottage seems ideal; and renewing her relationship with Aiden gives her a reason to smile again. It’s supposed to be temporary, but not everyone is comfortable with the arrangement: her children are wary of his motives, and Will Brewer, an old friend of her son’s, seems to have taken it upon himself to check up on Sarah at every opportunity. Even Sophie has grown remote and distant.
After Sophie disappears, it’s clear she hasn’t been entirely honest with anyone, including Will, who seems more concerned for Sarah’s safety than anyone else. As the weather closes in, events take a dramatic turn and Kitty too goes missing. Suddenly Sarah finds herself in terrible danger, unsure of who she can still trust.
But she isn’t facing this alone; she has Aiden, and Aiden offers the protection that Sarah needs. Doesn’t he?
If only I could read faster 