REVIEW: What my Family Saw by Daniel Hurst

What my Family Saw by Daniel Hurst

Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller

Read: 29th August 2022

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Published: 11th August 2022

★★★★ 4.5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Four family members. One incident. Several shocking twists...

When Sophie and Stuart take their children, Josh and Tilly, for a family day out, they have no idea that things will never be the same again. But after each of them witnesses a crime in the woods, their lives are turned upside down.

With the police seeking answers while the criminals hope to silence the witnesses before they can say any more, the four family members have different ways of handling things. They also have secrets, both relating to the crime they witnessed and from their lives before the incident occurred.

As things spiral out of control, the family think they have two options; either stick together or lose everything. But it might already be too late for them to even have that choice anymore...

The new psychological thriller from the author of the UK #1 bestseller The Passenger, We Used To Live Here and Til Death Do Us Part.

MY THOUGHTS:

Daniel Hurst never fails to thrill with the twists and surprise reveals throughout the course of his absorbing psychological domestic thrillers. WHAT MY FAMILY SAW is no different, though it is a little different from others I have read by him in recent times. But then he has such a vast library to his name, he is almost as prolific as James Patterson. lol And I have a number of others to get through at some point. Basically, he is Shalini Boland as a male incarnate. He cannot write a bad book and all of them are addictive page-turners.

Mum Sophie feels like doing something different together as a family one weekend afternoon and announces that they are all going out to lunch and after that, a walk in the woods. Sounds idyllic, right? Wrong! Firstly, moody teenager Josh would much rather be at home playing video games online with his friends whilst Tilly was lured on the promise of a big bowl of ice cream. And Stuart? Well, his mind is as elsewhere as some other parts of him have been lately. And he takes a few minutes to make a call filled with yet more promises that can only end in disaster. And they do. Because after this afternoon, NOTHING will ever be the same for this family again.

What should have been an innocent game of hide and seek in the woods turns their lives upside down. Josh is the first to see something isn't right from his vantage point high up in the trees. But then he hears his family approaching and knows he panics. He must warn them before it's too late and he yells at them to RUN!! But too late, he is seen, they are seen and soon they've all seen what now can never be unseen as they run for their lives through the undergrowth and back to the safety of their car in the pub carpark.

As soon as they are all safely accounted for, Sophie insists on calling the police. Her husband Stuart say no. But what just happened could happen to someone else and they must prevent that from happening. Stuart still insists no. That it's the only way to keep them all safe. Josh and Tilly listen quietly from the backseat as their parents argue like never before...and that frightens them. Why? Because what they have all just witnessed has now put each of their lives in danger and that means that they must now look over their shoulders in fear.

But it doesn't end there. Even when the family think it is all behind them, just one innocent slip puts them all in danger once again as their lives are again turned upside down. It seems what they saw will forever haunt them and to escape they must start afresh...but can they do that? And will it be enough? With more lies than they know what to do with, secrets begin to emerge as the family wonder can they ever go back to being normal and happy again? Or will what they saw follow them forever?

WHAT MY FAMILY SAW is a quick read that is fast paced and thrilling from start to finish. I love how the story unfolds through the eyes of all four members of the family as each of them sees something different and keeps their own counsel as to what they saw. None of the family are completely blameless for the positions in which they find themselves at one point or another. Each of them do something decidedly stupid to put them all at risk but how Hurst weaves it all together is really quite masterful.

I love Daniel Hurst's books and have not come across a bad one yet. I don't think he could write a bad one! They are all equally thrilling, fast paced and addictive. And I eagerly await another as soon as I finish one. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

Though I do wonder how his wife pondered his naming one of Tilly's dolls in her honour? Did she win a competition to be named in his next book? Or was that just a coincidence? lol

Overall, WHAT MY FAMILY SAW is another addictive thrill ride by this well accomplished author to watch out for. Highly recommended for fans of Shalini Boland and Kim Slater.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Daniel Hurst writes psychological thrillers and loves to tell tales about unusual things happening to normal people. He has written all his life, making the progression from handing scribbled stories to his parents as a boy to writing full length novels in his thirties. He lives in the North West of England and when he isn’t writing, he is usually watching a game of football in a pub where his wife can’t find him.

Daniel writes psychological thrillers. The New Friends will be his fourth novel published with Inkubator Books.

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