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Someone is watching her. She just doesn't know it yet.

Nell Sweeney has led an ordinary life. Every day she walks to and from the hospital where she works as a nurse, believing that no harm can befall her.

Until one day she is taken.

Because someone out there has a secret. Someone out there has been watching Nell – and they've been watching others like her too.

Nell is the unlucky one – she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And if she isn't found soon, someone will make sure that she isn't the last woman to disappear…

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My Review

This was a dark and chilling thriller based around missing nurse, Nell Sweeney.  It's told from the perspectives of Nell herself, her mother Marian and an unknown man, only identified as "Him".  When it's discovered Nell has gone missing, Marian is obviously desperate to find her.  The storyline twists and turns and I connected with Marian throughout, although I must admit, not so much with Nell's father who I struggled to like.  Marian's storyline was heart-breaking and I couldn't begin to understand how she must have been feeling, waiting to hear from Nell.

The storyline is very topical, but I have to admit the term "Incel" was fairly new to me.  Incel is an abbreviated term for Involuntary celibate and is used to define people who can't get a sex life, despite wanting one.  The theme of men believing that women should be made to fear and respect them is scarily realistic and even as I read, I could sense the fear coming not just from the women in the book, but from myself.  The characters were equally split into ones which were likeable and ones you literally wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.  I loved how the author keeps you in suspense as to what happened to Nell, ensuring you keep turning those pages, not matter how comfortable it makes you feel.

The story is disturbing, but the author has done a great job in making it a compulsive read and despite feeling on edge during Nell's storyline, I couldn't put the book down.  The story flows along at a good pace, building up the tension as it does.  I didn't see the twist coming and was surprised with it, but again it's a topical part of the storyline with recent events in the news.  The whole book is shocking and very intense but definitely one which should be read.  Would recommend.

The Author

Claire Allan is an International Bestselling Author from Derry in Northern Ireland.
Her debut psychological thriller, Her Name Was Rose, was published in June 2018. It hit the bestseller charts in the UK, Australia, Canada and is a USA Today bestseller. Her next novel, Apple of My Eye, was published in January 2019 and hit the bestseller charts internationally. Allan's third psychological thriller, Forget Me Not, is to be released 30th May 2019.