#BlogTour – #BookReview of #SharpGlass by Sarah Hilary @sarah_hilary @panmacmillan @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours

By calturner on July 25, 2024

I'm delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for Sharp Glass, the new standalone thriller by the always fabulous Sarah Hilary. Thank you to Anne Cater and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to read and review this exceptional novel.

About the book:

Trapped in a house by a man who believes she is someone she isn't, one woman must find a way to escape her captor.

The last thing she remembers is standing outside the empty house. One she was employed to pack, ready for removal. Her job is her life. It is her compulsion to take care of an owner's precious possessions, to do whatever it takes to help them move on. Now she is cold, dirty, damp, trapped in its cellar with no chance of escape, miles from anywhere. His prisoner.

And then he returns.

Her captor believes she holds the answers to why a young girl was murdered a year ago. He refuses to let her go until she reveals her secrets. But he doesn't know she has hidden depths, and an anger she works hard to control.

The battle lines are drawn. They are the only two people who can solve the mystery of the dead girl, but when the truth is revealed whose life will shatter…?

About the author:

Sarah Hilary's debut, Someone Else's Skin, won the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year Award and was also a World Book Night selection, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and a finalist for both the Silver Falchion and the Macavity Awards in the US.

No Other Darkness, the second in her DI Marnie Rome series, was shortlisted for a Barry Award. The series continued with Tastes Like Fear, Quieter Than Killing, Come and Find Me and Never Be Broken.

Sharp Glass is her third standalone novel, following Black Thorn and Fragile.

Find Sarah on twitter @Sarah_Hilary.

My Review:

Sharp Glass is the third standalone novel by critically acclaimed author Sarah Hilary. A very different kind of read to her fabulous DI Marnie Rome crime thriller series of books, it has a dark, intense and claustrophobic feel to it that draws you in from the very first page, hooking its claws into you and never letting go as it delves deep within the psyche of two, what appear to be, very damaged individuals. A powerful and thought provoking read, this is a book that I haven't been able to stop thinking about since I turned the final page.

With two characters who you're never quite sure are telling the truth, this is a book unlike any other I've ever read before. All we know to begin with is that Gwen is a packer, employed to empty the homes of people ready to move on to pastures new. But this time, for reasons yet unknown, she finds herself knocked out and locked in the cellar by a young man named Dan. He believes that Gwen holds the answers of why a young girl was murdered a year ago. But does she? Or is there so much more to this mystery and to these two damaged souls than at first meets the eye?

I don't want to go into too much detail about the plot as this is a book you need to read and experience for yourself, but I will say it is a deeply unnerving read that had me on the edge of my seat as the claustrophobic feel of the setting began to stretch my nerves to almost breaking point.

Sarah Hilary's writing is as superb as ever, her ability to go deep beneath the surface of the human mind taking her gift of storytelling to a whole new level. There is an authenticity to her writing that brings these characters vividly to life, my heart aching for them as the layers are carefully peeled away in what is a complex and uncomfortable psychological thriller that really does reveal its secrets slowly

Sarah Hilary is an author who just keeps on going from strength to strength and I can't wait to see what brilliance she is going to come up with next. Sharp Glass is a stunning standalone thriller that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. A dark, intense and unsettling read that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Outstanding!

Sharp Glass by Sarah Hilary is available to purchase now:

Check out what these other fantastic bloggers have to say about this book: