The Choice by Alex Lake
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 6th March 2022
Published: 20th August 2020
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
An incredible new psychological crime thriller from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author.
A kidnap…
Matt Westbrook only turned his back for a moment. But when he looks around, his car – with his three young children inside – has vanished.
A ransom…
Panicked, Matt assumes a car thief has got more than he bargained for, but then he starts to receive text messages: This is a ransom. If you want to see your children again, you will exchange them for your wife.
A choice…
Matt and his wife Annabelle are horrified. They can’t involve the police, or their children will be killed. Which means they have to choose: Annabelle, or their children. Either option is unthinkable. But one is inevitable. And they have only hours to make their decision…
The gripping new thriller you won’t be able to put down!
MY REVIEW:
Having thoroughly enjoyed Alex Lake's previous thriller "Seven Days" as well as his debut "After Anna", I was excited to delve into this author's unique style once again. I say he has a unique style and yet I can't actually put my finger on exactly what makes his books stand out from the rest...but they do. Well, for me anyway. Even if I have missed a few others along the way.
What would you do if, on your way home, you stop a corner shop and, as it's only for a few quick minutes, leave your kids in the car and then come out just mere minutes later to discover your car, along with your children, were gone? You'd call the police, right? Right. But what if you then got a text message spookily at that very moment telling you not to? Ignore it and call them anyway? Maybe. But then what if another text message follows informing you that if you did you would never see your children again? Hesitation...then nope. Your children's lives are at stake. Would you, really? Personally, I'd probably call the kidnapper's bluff and call them anyway since they have the resources and the manpower to track them down that we don't. But...then we wouldn't have an exciting fast paced thriller that such a fun read...would we?
And that's the conundrum Matt Westbrook and his author wife Annabelle face when Matt stopped to buy groceries and left their three children in the car for a few moments. He had thought they were safe. He was only gone for a few moments and the child locks were activated so there was no way they could have gotten out of the car without climbing into the front seat. So where did they go?
And then the text messages began.
"Do not call the police. If you do, you will never see your children again."
That's it...plead to the parent in them. They would never deny their children nor their safety so of course they would do what the kidnapper had anticipated they would do...they wouldn't call the police, thus waiting for further demands. And when it comes...it is nothing like they expect it to be. The kidnapper doesn't want money. So what do they want?
The ultimatum...your kids for your wife. The kidnapper wants Annabelle.
And so the rollercoaster begins as Matt and Annabelle at first try to work out who is behind this. Is it someone they know? A crazed fan? Or something they have yet to consider? And why, if they had wanted Annabelle, did they not take her in the first place? But time is running out as they work to meet the kidnapper's demands with a little plan of their own at play. They only have a few hours to decide. But more to the point, will it work?
Addictive from start to finish, THE CHOICE really is about an ultimate choice that threatens to change their lives forever. Could you do it? I don't know if I could...but then the kidnapper is relying on something primal that will speak to the heart of the parent - your children or yourself? The concept is incredibly unique, as is the plot that is both complex and imaginative. What the reader discovers is that there is so much more to this twisted tale than meets the eye.
Told over two timelines, THE CHOICE begins with the main event - the kidnap - and the hours that follow. Then it rewinds to 2004 and Matt's university days and things begin to get interesting. We are given key events from Matt and Annabelle's past - from when they met, married and had their first child to Annabelle's rise as an accomplished author. We are even given a whole bunch of crazy characters from an obsessed ex, a weird fan who is just that little bit creepy enough to get your spidey senses tingling and a sister with a warped sense of loyalty. And from this we need to really pay attention or we could miss a vital clue.
When the reveal came, which is about three quarters of the way through, I wasn't at all shocked because I had learnt to expect the unexpected; to not go for the blindingly obvious; to delve a little deeper and peel back the layers to piece together my own hypothesis. I'd not only worked out who the kidnapper was but also why...which is a lot harder to figure out because it seriously is so far fetched it certainly wouldn't occur to most people. It is a whole bunch of crazy put together as one deranged and twisted thrill-ride.
I loved the various viewpoints we are given, most prominently Matt, Annabelle and the kidnapper to begin with, before we move onto Detective Inspector Wynne's interspersed narrative of the investigation, and even a random witness and police constable towards the end. Even COVID gets a mention, as events take place just weeks before the first lockdown.
I admit that it's the beginning of the book that grabs the reader by the throat initially, dragging them into this fast paced read from the first moment. It doesn't let up as the reader questions everyone and everything. When the reveal came, things tend to slow down a little as we know who it is, right? But this is Alex Lake...and we know it doesn't end there. Don't get too comfortable. Expect the unexpected.
An addictive read, THE CHOICE plays out like a movie thriller which I can easily see on the big screen...without going all Hollywood. The British landscape and setting is far more atmospheric and chilling...and nothing can match that ending.
Enjoyable and fast-paced, THE CHOICE is fast, fun and oh so far fetched. But who cares? It's fresh and fun and the past is wild. The plot may be complex, the kidnapper delusional but it was bloody addictive reading.
A gripping thriller perfect for fans of John Marrs, Nicola Marsh, Kerry Wilkinson, Valerie Keogh and Sheryl Browne.
I would like to thank #TheChoice, #Netgalley, #HarperCollinsUK for an ARC of #TheChoice in exchange for an honest review.
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