All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 22nd July 2023
Published: 20th July 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The electrifying new crime novel from the award winning author, Fiona Cummins, author of Into the Dark and Rattle.
It’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted.
When DC Saul Anguish is called to investigate the shooting of an ex-police officer in Midtown-on-Sea, Essex, he quickly discovers that this is the first in a string of killings by Missy and Fox, a damaged young couple hell-bent on infamy, their love story etched in blood. In pursuit, Saul follows their trail north.
The paths of the Hardwickes' and the deadly couple are about to collide. When Saul and his forensic linguist partner, Blue, arrive on the scene, they witness the unthinkable: a mother forced to make an impossible choice.
Saul must uncover the truth about the couple. But can he find the strength to lay the ghosts of his past to rest before they break him?
MY THOUGHTS:
"All of us are broken...but it's how we put ourselves back together again that matters most of all."
Let me just catch my breath...ALL OF US ARE BROKEN is everything you want in a thriller. Fast paced, filled with shocks, twists, unpredictable and totally and utterly crazy. Everyone in this story has baggage - and I mean filled-to-the-brim-and-bursting baggage - that they don't even bother unpacking. And that includes the police! Those are some of the darkest of all!
The prologue starts things off with a bang (in more ways than one) that leaves plenty dead and a mother with an impossible choice - which child to choose? Of course, it leaves us wondering also as the it all goes back to thirteen hours before when this journey was just beginning.
It's 7.30am when Christine Hardwicke wakes her two children Galen (13) and Tom (8) and they leave their Essex home making their way to Chanonry Point in Scotland to fulfill one of Galen's greatest wishes - to see the dolphins. Unfortunately, they walk headlong into a nightmare killing spree by a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.
Missy was, until that morning, a primary school teacher...but maybe not a very good one. While her students ran riot she left them to their own devices after one of them was injured and fled the school in search of something more. Having been deprived of the love of her father and believing he had abandoned her, she fell into the arms (and under his spell) of Fox, a petty crim turned nasty who doesn't want to return to prison. And so together, they head north to Scotland leaving a bloodbath behind in their wake. Nothing and no one will get in their way as they both know how it will inevitably end.
DC Saul Anguish is busy battling his own demons. Anguish by name and anguish by nature, he is ruminating on why his love Blue ghosted him last night when she was expected at his place. He has messaged but she has not called. Lost in the turmoil of his thoughts, he is called to the scene of a brutal death that was at first suspected as suicide. But on closer inspection, Saul discovers discrepancies. And then he gets another call. Another slaying with the perpetrators on the run leaving a trail of blood behind them, including the crime scene in which he now stands. His superior tasks him, Blue and two others with heading north to stop them in their tracks...if they can. But he also has a special task just for Saul.
Christine, Galen and Tom had no idea what they were walking into when they stepped into the hotel and were greeted with silence. No concierge. No receptionist. Not even any guests. Where was everyone? Even the distant pop-pop-pop sounded like fireworks...until they saw nothing light up the sky. And then faced with a choice that no mother should have to make, Christine is reminded of the letter that was discovered in her husband's bedside drawer. And her choice is made. But at what cost? And to who?
This is a hard book to review without giving anything away. It is seriously messed up in more ways than one. It is very dark and a little disturbing. Even more so when it comes to the detectives hunting down the deadly duo. They have a few skeletons rattling around in their own closets that are not about to see the light of day either. It is also a tough one to rate. It's such a clever tale that is multilayered as well as chilling.
I can say no more except I do recommend this read! Fiona Cummins thrills and chills readers in this page-turner that is addictive and compelling to its bitter end.
I would like to thank #FionaCummins, #Netgalley and #PanMacmillan for an ARC of #AllOfUsAreBroken in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Rattle, her debut, has been translated into several languages and Marcel Berlins wrote in The Times: 'Amid the outpouring of crime novels, Rattle is up there with the best of them.' Fiona was selected for McDermid's prestigious New Blood panel at the 2017 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, where her novel was nominated for a Dead Good Reader Award for Most Exceptional Debut. A sequel, The Collector, was published in February 2018 and David Baldacci described it as 'A crime novel of the very first order'.
Her third novel - standalone thriller The Neighbour - was published in April 2019. Ian Rankin called it 'creepy as hell'. Her fourth novel When I Was Ten, an Irish Times bestseller, was published in April 2021. Into The Dark, Fiona's fifth novel, was published in April 2022 and was described by Sarah Vaughan, author of Netflix smash-hit Anatomy of A Scandal, as 'Complex. Inventive. Twisty. Unsettling.' Her sixth All Of Us Are Broken was published July 2023.
When Fiona is not writing, she can be found on Twitter, eating biscuits or walking her dogs. She lives in Essex with her family.
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