Every Little Breath by Keri Beevis
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Read: 20th April 2021
Amazon - UK
Amazon - US
Published: 28th April 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
How much could one phone call change your life?
‘Only you can save her. If she dies, it is your fault.’
When radio presenter, Casey Fallon, answers a call she assumes it is a prank. But then a woman’s body is discovered, and she finds herself up against a cruel and calculating killer who wants her to find his victims before they take their last breath.
Fifteen years ago, Casey was a key witness in the trial of serial killer, Steve Noakes, and her evidence helped put him behind bars for the murders of five women.
Someone remembers what happened that summer. Someone who is desperate for revenge. Someone who won’t stop until Casey has been punished.
‘You saved a life once. Can you do it again?’
The game is just beginning…
Number one bestselling author Keri Beevis is back with a breathtaking new psychological thriller which is simply too good to miss. It's the perfect read for fans of authors like Clare Mackintosh, Cara Hunter, Paula Hawkins.
MY REVIEW:
I'm excited to be taking part in the #BlogTour for Keri Beevis' addictive new thriller EVERY LITTLE BREATH.
OMG! What have I just read?? Keri Beevis is a new-to-me author and if her other books are as exciting as this one then I must get my hands on them! EVERY LITTLE BREATH is the perfect example of a "just one more chapter" type of book. I simply could not put it down. From the chilling prologue to the jaw-dropping breathtaking epilogue and everything in between, EVERY LITTLE BREATH had me completely absorbed until the very end. I cannot begin to get all my thoughts in order and put into words as to just how bloody brilliant this book is!!
The prologue is so chilling and dark it immediately pulls you in as you are given a glimpse into the world of a prolific serial killer. The use of the first person narrative gives you the feeling that he is talking directly to you as he pulls you into his world. It is simply...chilling.
The story begins with nineteen year old Casey Fallon, having just returned to Norwich from university during break, and she is rehearsing the words in her mind that she intends to say to her boyfriend of four years, Gareth Noakes. She feels his attention is suffocating, texting her constantly and always wanting to know where she is, who she's with and how long she'll be. Despite being her first in many aspects, Casey knows the time has come to end their relationship. Wanting to get it over with, she stops by his house and rings the doorbell...but there is no answer. And then she remembers the house his father, Steve, had bought and the two of them were renovating together, so she drives there. The van is in the drive. She knocks. No answer. She walks into the house, calling for Steve and Gareth. No reply. Seeing the outbuildings she makes her way out the back yard but they too are empty.
And then she hears something. A sort of moaning. Maybe one of them is hurt. She sees an open door and steps leading underground and she enters tentatively whilst calling their names. But what she sees when she walks into the room chills her to the very core. A woman, naked, laying on a table. Her mouth taped, her hands and feet bound with cuts and bruises over her body. What the hell is this?? Casey rushes to free the ties that bind her, telling her she will get her out of here. And then...she hears whistling. Steve. She puts everything back in place, assures the woman she will get her out and then runs to hide. When his back is turned, Casey stealthily makes her escape back outside and runs to her car. But the trauma of what she has just witnessed has left her shaken. She manages to start her car but in her panic to leave she crashes into a tree before she could leave the property.
Breathe, Casey, breathe. And then she calls 999.
The police arrive and take Casey away for questioning. But the whole time she is worried about the woman in the bunker. A young PC, not much older than her, assures her that the woman is safe, that Steve Noakes has been arrested and the team are now investigating. Steve, mild mannered fun loving Steve. She would never have thought it of him. But when the police dig up the property and find a further three bodies and two more in the woods, Casey knows she helped save that woman's life.
When Gareth returns home to find his house cordoned off as well as the one he and his dad had been renovating and that his dad has been arrested for murder, his first instinct is to call Casey. But she isn't answering her phone. He texts her but she doesn't respond. Where is she? He needs her. He goes to her house but her brother refuses him entry. He knows then that Casey knows...and she's avoiding him. He tries her friends but no one will tell her where she is. By now, Gareth is raging. How dare she do this to him when he needs her now? When he does find her, he will make her listen to him. He just wants to talk to her. But Casey doesn't want to talk to him. It all becomes clear when she is the star witness against her father at his trial. As she testifies, his eyes never leave her. He will make her pay for this.
But two years later, after his mother divorced his father and married his half brother and moved away, Gareth strips off and walks into the ocean...never to be seen again.
Fifteen years after the event that changed Casey's life forever, she is now thirty four and has just bought an apartment on the top floor of an old Georgian building outside of Norwich that is closer to where she volunteers at East Coast Radio with her late night radio show. Her friends Zoe and Ricky are helping her move in as is her her brother Liam, who has driven up from Cornwall to help. But as Casey looks up at the building to her top floor apartment, she sees a face at the window. Someone is in her flat. But when Zoe looks up, the face has gone. Did she just imagine it? Was it a trick of the light? Or had someone really been there?
Over the coming days, she meets a few of the residents. Mrs Fletcher from downstairs who loves a gossip and the creepy Rupert from Number 7. But it's who occupies the other ground floor apartment that has her shaken. It's Finn Murphy, the kindly young PC who had looked after her 15 years ago throughout the investigation and trial of Steve Noakes. It would be something of a reassurance to have a copper in the building...if she hadn't made a fool of herself with him just after the trial and practically threw herself at him with a drunken kiss. The fact he'd rejected her left her feeling self-conscious and an idiot. And despite her unresolved feelings, she didn't particularly wish to see him again. Especially as a resident in her building!
But Finn was not to be swayed. Now a Detective Constable in CID, he mentally kicked himself for rejecting Casey all those years ago...though he knew it was the right thing to do at the time. Now he endeavours to make it up to her and intends on winning her around to the idea...no matter how much she fights him. And despite her attempts to push him away, Casey knows she needs Finn when the past comes back to bite her with a vengeance.
Late one night while hosting her radio show, she receives an email from someone who calls himself Steve (which alone spooks her) asking for a request and a mention on her show. She thinks nothing more of it...until she receives another email from him as she is locking up with a disturbing reference to her sleeping naked or with the very top she is wearing at the moment. It spooks her. But she puts it to the back of her mind...until she receives a phone call in the request half hour the following week with a riddle he wants her to solve. He has taken a woman and she has until 2.30am to solve it and save her. No police. No friends. Just her. Or the woman dies.
Of course Casey does what anyone would do in such a situation. She calls the police. The next day she receives a call telling her she broke the rules and that it was her fault the woman died. But his torments were not over. He called her at the end of the week with yet another riddle to solve and another woman's life to save. But how could Casey solve the unsolvable? She is never meant to solve them. He just wants to taunt her. But why? What has she done to warrant such attention? All she wants is to live her life quietly with her little beagle Phoebe.
As much as she doesn't want his help or attention, Finn becomes her self-appointed protector. Fighting her attraction to him is hard enough without him being with her all the time. But will he be enough to protect Casey from he who has his sights set firmly on her? Will they solve his ridiculous riddles and find out who is behind the tormenting calls? Why is his sights set firmly on Casey? Is he a deluded fan of her show? Or is he somehow tied to the past? Will he be able to lure Casey into his trap or will she realise the danger before it's too late?
OMG! Seriously OMG! You think you know what's happening but you don't. You think you know who is behind it but you don't. Although there were plenty of clues laid out in plain sight, I had a list of suspects of my own that I had to eliminate. I was half right and I was half way off the mark! EVERY LITTLE BREATH sets a neat little trap for us readers as well as for Casey that we easily fall into without even trying. We are roped in as an accomplice in the beginning to becoming a hero and before we know it, we are then set up to become the victim! And we cannot put it down until we have unravelled every little piece and solved the unsolvable riddle.
My only complaint is that Finn seemed like a completely different guy from the gentle kind PC he was who helped Casey in the beginning to the self-confident muscled "Detective Dishy" DC he became. It just didn't seem like the same person to me. But maybe the years made him more confident and he grew into himself more as a person and a police detective. Either way, it's just a small issue when you compare to how bloody good the entire book was. No contest!!
EVERY LITTLE BREATH is so bloody good. It is tight, tense, taut and electrifying. Every moment of this book is heart-stopping...but nothing will prepare you for the shocking and surprising twists that are to come! You may think you know what's going on but you don't...and when all is revealed, you will be left reeling. And then there is the epilogue...which is twisted on a whole other level.
A riveting and addictive read, EVERY LITTLE BREATH will twist every little breath out of you. The book is a trap. And we are the helpless victims. Enter if you dare...
EVERY LITTLE BREATH is a fast paced adrenaline rush that I highly recommend for anyone who loves a good psychological thriller.
I would like to thank #KeriBeevis and #RachelsRandomResources and #BloodhoundBooks for an ARC of #EveryLittleBreath in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Keri lives in Norfolk, England, with her two naughty kitties, Ellie and Lola, and a plentiful supply of red wine (her writing fuel). She loves Hitchcock movies, exploring creepy places, and gets extremely competitive in local pub quizzes. She is also a self-confessed klutz.
Social Media links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads
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