The Friendship Pact by Alison James
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 4th July 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 3rd July 2019)
★★★ 3 stars
So I kept confusing Alison James with Amanda James, thinking this was the same author as the one who penned "Another Mother". I thought it must be coincidence that she has called her main character Lucinda yet again, this time shortening to Lucy rather than Lu in "Another Mother". I also began to think her style in THE FRIENDSHIP PACT was so different to what I thought was her other thriller. But silly me got the two confused and they turned out to be different authors entirely!
Lucy and Adele were friends from different sides of the track who share a secret. When something tragic happens, they make a pact not to tell anyone what really happened at the reservoir. The two girls go their separate ways knowing they would never see each other again.
Now Lucy is married to a successful cardiac surgeon with a beautiful house in an affluent area of London and anything she could ever want. She has the perfect life. Or at least that's how it seems. What no one suspects is that her husband Marcus is an arrogant, dominating and abusive man who controls her every move. He monitors her online activity, her phone use, who she sees and where she's going.
When Lucy decides she's had enough and seeks shelter with a concerned friend, Marcus comes banging on their door and throws a tantrum in front of their friends before being ushered out by the husband. But at 3am Lucy hears a noise outside her door and is shocked to find Marcus creeping into the room, threatening her to remain quiet and not to make a scene and scare the children. She is coming home with him now.
Lucy realises she needs to be smarter in her escape plans if she is to outwit Marcus. Using money from a bank account her parents started for her as a child, which thankfully Marcus knows nothing about, she withdraws money to purchase a pay-as-you-go mobile which Marcus won't be able to track. She then packs a large suitcase and sets off to her father's, citing "a bit of a break". She places the mobile Marcus is tracking in an old mailbox at her father's to make it seem as if she is there, and goes off in search of an old friend.
In desperation, Lucy seeks out Adele. She needs to disappear, and she needs Adele's help to do it. Fake passport, fake driver's licence, new name, new place. It takes almost all of the money Lucy has left in her account but it is worth the cost for her freedom. Adele introduces her to Denny who gets her what she needs....and 8 days in a bedsit in Brighton. After that, she's on her own.
But Marcus tracks her down yet again and drags her back home. This time she is held a complete prisoner. He locks the doors, the windows, removes the landline phones, her mobile, iPad, locks the WiFi network - she has no way of getting out or even of contacting anyone. But one day, she hears the voice "Hey Blondie" through the letterbox and is for once relieved to see Denny. Explaining the situation, he expertly picks the locks and at last she is free.
But Denny has other ideas. It seems that no matter where she goes her husband will always track her down...unless they do away with him for good. Lucy is aghast! What? Kill Marcus? She wants to escape him but she doesn't want him dead! Does she? He tells her to think about it but she doesn't have to. The door is unlocked now and she can just leave! She grabs a bag is on her way down the drive when Marcus returns home demanding how the hell she got out! But he is tired and not on his game. Lucy manages to talk him into discussing things after a good nights sleep. So he downs 3 Temazepams and climbs into bed with promises that they will talk.
But a couple of hours later, she hears him on the phone and she walks in to find him getting dressed. He is on call he says and he needs her to drive him to the hospital. She refuses citing that he has been drinking and has sleeping tablets in his system, but he is adamant. He is needed now. So elects to drive himself. Lucy follow him out the house and down the drive and into the street, where she sees him veering all over the road and into oncoming traffic, before riding up a curb and into a tree then bursting into flames.
With Marcus' death, Lucy's troubles are over. Or are they?
Now an incredibly wealthy widow, Lucy finds Adele back in her life once again. Once best friends, the two women couldn't be more different even more so than when they were children. But she had asked Adele for help to escape Marcus - she couldn't exactly turn her away now. But Lucy quickly learns the mistake she'd made in asking for Adele's help. It seems she has left one prison for another.
THE FRIENDSHIP PACT is told in three parts with flashbacks to Lucy's childhood when she first met Adele and for the year they were friends to the terrible tragedy that separated them. While they were friends for just a year, I don't really understand why Lucy would seek out Adele's help. What of her other friends she made after she left to go to a private school? Surely she made much closer friends there? What made Adele so special?
Honestly, I don't think Adele was much a friend than a bully. She bullied Lucy into a friendship which was then on her terms. I know friendships at that age can be pretty intense but looking back I found it to be just a precursor to her marriage to Marcus. From one bully to another. Lucy was a vulnerable young girl and then woman. She was an only child conditioned in loneliness, and bullies like Adele and Marcus can sense that in a person. So I fail to see why she would seek out Adele.
I also found myself questioning many of Lucy's choices. Why didn't she just go to the police in the first place? She didn't seem like the type of person who wouldn't, so why didn't she? She had friends who would have supported her, regardless of Marcus' standing in the community or as a well respected surgeon. He would have had to let her go or be seen for what he was in the end. And then there were her choices regarding Adele, which I have already covered. I wouldn't have trusted her - why did she?
THE FRIENDSHIP PACT started out fast paced and completely compelling. I couldn't put it down! But at around 75% everything changed and it just seemed a little unbelievable. I mean, really? While Lucy's life seemed to be spiraling out of control, so did the plot. Even the revelations when they came were not shocking - just "oh, ok". And then the ending. Really? That was just too far fetched and implausible.
I do, however, love the cover. But it is a little misleading as the focus of the story is not on what the cover portrays but rather Lucy's battle for escape. The third girl alluded to here is but a small part and only features as a one chapter mention. It does come up again, but I don't think it's the whole story.
Unfortunately, while THE FRIENDSHIP PACT began as a compelling psychological thriller it lacked suspense and believability at the end. Such a shame because it began with such promise.
I would like to thank #AlisonJames, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheFriendshipPact in exchange for an honest review.
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