Forget Me Not by Claire Allan
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Read: 8th May 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 30th May 2019)
★★★★ 4.5 stars
A tense psychological thriller that keeps you guessing, FORGET ME NOT by Claire Allan is the first I have read by this author - and it won't be my last. It is tight, it is twisted, it is heart-stopping! I would often fall asleep late into the night reading it, I didn't want to put it down!
Elizabeth O'Loughlin is on a morning walk with her dog Izzy (and throughout the whole book I hoped and prayed nothing untoward would happen to Izzy. Thank you Allan for not taking the story in that direction) when she discovers the lifeless body of a woman, barely alive, the victim of a vicious attack. A nurse in her former life, Elizabeth immediately springs into action, dialling 999 for emergency services, and then cradles the woman urging her to hang on. Her injuries however are too severe and she succumbs to them but not before whispering urgently in Elizabeth's ear the words "Warn them!"
Rachel Walker is a troubled woman. Dissatisfied with her marriage, her husband growing ever more distant, Rachel embarks on an affair of sorts Michael, a student from her creative writing class. A schoolteacher, Rachel is in a class of students when best friend Julie rings her in tears, claiming "It's her, Rach! Clare's dead!" Best friends since school, now one third of their group/friendship was gone. But instead of going home, Rachel seeks the arms of Michael (her bit on the side) to soothe her pain. When she does venture home and tells her husband Paul, he is shocked but it is her teenage daughter Beth that is devastated by the news. Only their 3 year old is not privy to the news however little Molly is not completely oblivious. Kids know when something isn't right.
The loss of Clare is felt deeply by the two friends, Rachel and Julie, though both cope with it differently. When Rachel decides to visit the site of Clare's death, she notices a strange bouquet of flowers - forget me nots - tied with black ribbon and a very cryptic message. Then Julie receives a similar bouquet with an equally cryptic message as does Rachel. What does this mean? Both women are oblivious to the fact that on the gates of her isolated farmhouse, Elizabeth has also received a bouquet with its own message. But unlike the others, Elizabeth knows the significance of the flowers - FORGET ME NOTS. They were her daughter's favourite flower.
After receiving similar bouquets of forget me nots, it is revealed that Rachel and Julie could now be in danger. Particularly when a photo of the trio is left at Rachel's house with Clare's face angrily scrubbed out and a circle around her own stating "You're next!" Turning the photo over the teenage scrawl identified Julie, Rachel, Clare and me. Me? Rachel turned the photo back over and looked closer. In the background on the periphery was a face from the past. A shadow of a smile on her face. Laura O'Loughlin.
Elizabeth's daughter Laura had taken her own life two years before after a lifetime of never fitting in. Laura grew up with no friends and lived a very lonely existence, belittled and laughed at by her peers. Cruel pranks were played on her - one of which resonated with me deeply as having had similar things happen to me as a teenager. One such occasion saw Laura excited at being asked by one of the popular girls, to accompany them to the school dance. She was over the moon and her family had never seen her so thrilled and bursting with excitement. But when Laura asked this girl should they go shopping together for a dress, she turned and laughed at her and said she must be joking and that they wouldn't be seen with the likes of her! Laura was devastated! As anyone in that situation would be. The girl who had taunted Laura...her name was Clare.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that there is a definite connection between Rachel, Clare and Elizabeth's daughter, Laura. The three best friends were at school with Laura though she wasn't part of their circle of friends, Rachel had vague recollections of a quiet girl on the periphery just listening, waiting and wanting to be a part of their group. We are given snippets of memories from both the perspectives of Rachel and Elizabeth of Laura during their school years. It paints a rather sad picture...one to which I can relate from my own "crool" years.
Throughout the story we are introduced to a cast of characters that aid the plot development. The police investigating Clare's death, DI Bradley and PC King; the media, including the devious Ingrid Devine (I think that was her name) who hounds poor Elizabeth until she gives in; Michael, Rachel's bit on the side, who begins as understanding only to end up giving ultimatums. I didn't like him. And Rachel was a fool to throw her marriage away without even trying to work things out on the selfish need to feel good. What about her children? Her marriage? Maybe I'm old school but I believe in marriage; you don't give up and toss it out just because things gets too hard. As one of the narrators, I guess it was this that made it difficult for me to connect with Rachel. I rather enjoyed Elizabeth's narration more who also had some secrets to hide.
Then someone approaches young Molly at nursery, who she refers to as "the bad man", reducing her to tears with the threat of taking her mammy away because she is bad. And when she can't reach Beth at home the police are dispatched, finding Beth locked in the bathroom in tears because someone had tried breaking in, Rachel knows she has become the killer's next target. A fact highlighted by the photo left on her doorstep stating "You're next!"
When Rachel disappears on a supermarket run, the race is on to find her before she becomes the killer's next victim.
FORGET ME NOT is a tense and twisted thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. The story did take a little for me to get into (probably due to Rachel to-ing and fro-ing between Paul and Michael) but it soon became addictive as I watched the rest of the story unfold. I did guess who was really behind it all despite being given a misdirection that was incredibly clever, that I had to wonder was I wrong in my suspicions when being lead in that direction?
I was saddened for Elizabeth who had no one left and had lost so much. Particularly after suffering the stroke on top of everything else. It just made me want to wrap her in a giant hug.
There are the occasional clumsy sentences and wording, with extra words thrown in to make no sense whatsoever. I put this down to being an advanced readers copy and hoping these will all be editted out in the final version.
FORGET ME NOT is clever, compelling and intriguing. An addictive read that I could not put down.
I would like to thank #ClaireAllan, #NetGalley and #AvonUK for an ARC of #ForgetMeNot in exchange for an honest review.
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