Lead Me Home by C.S. Savage
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Read: 30th September 2018
Purchase: Amazon
★★★★★ 5 stars
It's hard to believe that LEAD ME HOME is the author's debut novel. It is disturbing, psychological and completely intriguing.
Clancy is an overworked psychiatrist, in a thankless job with an even more thankless boss. Rowan is her 18 year old daughter with an abusive boyfriend but who doesn't want to be alone. Beth is a psychiatric nurse recently diagnosed with Bipolar who doesn't feel "normal" on her medication and when she stops taking it, begins to feel that she is being followed.
Three women whose lives intersect with one another as they each try to find some meaning in their lives. Who are unaware of the sinister consequences that lay in store for each of them.
Whilst Clancy is a hardworking single mum doing her best for her daughter and her patients, it seems she can do nothing right. Both in the eyes of her boss and her daughter. She tends to want to go the extra mile for her clients which gets her into trouble with her boss and leaving her daughter feeling as though she doesn't matter as much as her clients. It is how they come to meet Beth, a psychiatric nurse but also a patient, who doesn't feel safe in her own home...so Clancy takes her home where she can feel safe. And she does. Rowan isn't thrilled to begin with, as while her mum is always bringing work home, THIS gives new meaning to the concept. But it is also against the rules.
Rowan is your typical teenager you just want to slap half the time. Stuck in an abusive relationship with boyfriend Vic, she remains so because she doesn't want to be alone. But then she meets a handsome guy online, and despite being years older, Rowan isn't swayed by warnings from her best friend Amy or Beth, whom she also confides in. We initially learn just his first name, but I had a hunch as to who he was which turned out to be right. But having dumped Vic once and for all, Rowan threw herself headlong into this new relationship without heeding her friends' warnings. But what was this guy really up to? What did he really want with a girl almost half his age?
Beth is someone I really liked. She is incredibly troubled who wants only to feel safe and loved. As a psychiatric nurse she is familiar with mental illness but despite being diagnosed with Bipolar herself, she feels her medication numbs her too much and that now feeling much better, decides to stop taking it. It isn't long before she starts to feel as though she is being followed, that someone is watching her and feeling unsafe in her own home. She tries calling her best friend Suze but having been through it all before even Suze is quick to judge and soon Beth feels evenmore alone. When Clancy offers to bring her back to her house, Beth jumps at the chance despite not wanting to put her out or cause any trouble. Clancy had one condition - Beth MUST take her medication, which she agrees. It isn't long before Beth begins to feel safe and even loved in Clancy's home, and she fears the time when she must return to her own.
But in the midst of these three women's is a stalker. Who is he watching? And why?
Told from four different perspectives, without losing any sense of the story, each chapter is clearly titled as such making it easy to follow. Clancy, Rowan and Beth each have their voices in the story with the fourth being that of an unknown subject - the stalker - giving it a creepy and incredibly sinister feel.
Whilst I guessed the identity of both Rowan's new boyfriend and the stalker, I wasn't sure exactly who the stalker was after. And it certainly didn't spoil the read for me at all. I thoroughly enjoyed every sinister moment of it!!
LEAD ME HOME is a compelling read from the start. The fact that it surrounds mental health is both intriguing and impressive, making it a stand out read in this genre. Highly recommended!
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