Our Little Secret - A Review.
So something you might learn about me is that I am not a big reader. I can read and I do enjoy reading at times but I can go for months or maybe years without reading a book. It's just one of those things. I struggle to find something that can grip me and hold my attention because to me reading is a lot of work. It's more so than say watching a film or playing PlayStation.
Saying this I am always proud as punch when I do find a book that I genuinely can't put down and this post is about one of them books.
Our Little Secret is a short thriller from the mind of debut adult author Darren O'Sullivan (no relation - that we know of). A gripping story told from the point of view of several of its main characters. This is how the blurb sells it to us:
"A deserted train station: A man waits. A woman watches.
Chris is ready to join his wife. He’s planned this moment for nearly a year. The date. The time. The train. But he hadn’t factored in Sarah.
So when Sarah walks on to the platform and sees a man swaying at the edge she assumes he’s just had too much to drink. What she doesn’t expect is to stop a suicide.
As Sarah becomes obsessed with discovering the secrets that Chris is clearly hiding, he becomes obsessed with stopping her, protecting her.
But there are some secrets that are meant to stay buried…"
This sold it, I thought - why not, let's take this for a spin and I was not disappointed at all. Without it sounding cliché I couldn't put it down - any chance I had I would read a couple of pages. Going to bed, bored at work, whilst eating breakfast and heck even when I was on the loo, I was captivated and hooked.
The story follows Chris a troubled man who is ready to end it all, as we dive deeper into his world his reasoning and motives both shock and surprise the audience. Constantly questioning what he is doing, what the next move is and how will it end.
Pair that with the dynamic and inquisitive Sarah - to me she drives the story along as a relatable character that discovers the truth as we do, which I also like in a story I prefer to learn with a lead character than to be talked at and expected to pick it up when they tell me to.
Her character was so deep and well thought out that it genuinely felt like I knew her or at least people like her, which again helped keep the story engaging for me.
Like any classic thriller this keeps you guessing, suggesting one thing and convincing you that you know what is going on before taking one sharp handbrake turn in the opposite direction, but not before knocking your socks off and making you question your own ability to make judgement calls.
Right up to the bitter end the story had me glued and all I can say - or even urge - is buy a copy, give it a read and just be in awe. The finale is one amazingly scripted act - the reveal is somewhat haunting and makes the whole book fall into place and ends with a bitter sweet stunned silence.
A final touch that I loved with this story is the locations. This is set in Peterborough and March which are places I know oh so well and just something as simple as that helped make the story more real to me rather than the generic London setting, this idea to keep the setting localised and more at home just made the story even better in my eyes.
It's currently only available on iBooks or Kindle but for a short story on the iPad it has cleared up several proud accolades and gained some supportive reviews and feedback that has made Darren the author one proud little bunny. So much so that he is already well into book two, which I for one can not wait to read.
Finally once more let me just say how much I really enjoyed this story and can not recommend it enough. Check it out.
Below are the all the links and things you will need.
Full disclosure I am not on the take or being paid by either Amazon, HQ Digital UK or Darren O'Sullivan. I am just a guy who read a book (finally), wanted to tell you all about it and also I just want to help this talented author out - if I can generate one new reader then I have done my job.
The image of the book cover has been taken from the Amazon Page and I have no ownership of it.
