Today, I’m on the blog tour for A Breath After Drowning by Alice Blanchard, published by Titan Books.
About the book:
Child psychiatrist Kate Wolfe’s world comes crashing down when one of her young patients commits suicide, so when a troubled girl is left at the hospital ward, she doubts her ability to help. But the girl knows things about Kate’s past, things she shouldn’t know, forcing Kate to face the murky evidence surrounding her own sister s murder sixteen years before. A murder for which a man is about to be executed.
Unearthing secrets about her own family, and forced to face both her difficult relationship with her distant father and the possibility that her mother might also have met a violent end, the shocking final twist brings Kate face to face with her deepest fear.
Paperback: 400 pages
Published by: Titan Books
Author: Alice Blanchard
My review:
A Breath After Drowning is a tense, page-turner of a book – a psychological thriller that really packs a punch.
Kate, the central character, is complex – full of guilt, mental health struggles and intelligence. At times, she is dark, brooding and intense, so it was refreshing to see other light-hearted relationships alongside this – her boyfriend’s character added depth and a little humour to the book. This juxtaposition was very much needed amongst the grief and darkness that plagued the rest of the novel. Whilst ABAD is character-led, the author has done a great job ensuring you’re invested in the plot, making sure you want to know how every element of the story unfolds.
The book is a little slow in places, but that by no means detracts from the plot, as the pace later increases, with tension firing up on all cylinders.
I’m also a huge fan of books set over multiple time periods – Blanchard creates a rich puzzle of past and present events, overlapping wonderfully. I love discovering new authors and this has definitely intrigued me, leaving me wanting to read more by Alice Blanchard. I highly recommend ABAD – engrossing from the first page, to the last.
You can catch the other blog posts on the tour, here:
Thank you to Philippa, from Titan Books, for sending me an advanced copy of the book – this is an honest and unbiased review.
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