When She Fell by Karen Cole
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 12th February 2023
Published: 10th November 2022
★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
A twisty, addictive psychological thriller about family, lies and the secrets we keep from those we love most.
Avery is an obscure author whose recent disappearance is eerily similar to the death of a character in her latest thriller. Last seen walking the cliffs at Bosigran, it is suspected she fell, although her body has still not been found.
When Alex, an ambitious young journalist, receives a copy of Avery's book in the post, she becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her.
Alex travels to Cornwall to research Avery's death for an article and discovers that the writer's life mirrored her book in more ways than one. She increasingly suspects that all is not as it seems. One question in particular keeps playing on her mind, did Avery jump was she pushed?
MY THOUGHTS:
Did she jump? Or was she pushed?
Alex Georgiou is a young and ambitious journalist who fears her job is on the line. But when she comes up with an idea for an article with a sort of "life imitating art" concept, she has no idea just what a can of worms she is opening.
As a blogger in her spare time, publishers often send Alex books to review for publicity purposes. So when she finds a copy of "Falling" by author Avery Lewis on her doormat one morning, Alex is intrigued by this latest offering which she assumes to be "another run of the mill thriller". As soon as she begins the book she finds herself drawn into the story of a woman found dead at the bottom of a Cornish cliff and the mystery surrounding her demise. But when the story takes a dip into the past introducing a couple who have made the journey from London to Cornwall to begin a new chapter of their lives, it isn't long before all isn't as it seems and Alex finds herself all the more intrigued.
Arriving late to work and thus late for the morning briefing, Alex finds herself in the crosshairs under the watchful eye of her boss. There was an interview and article she was meant to have already handed in but she has been unable to garner the interview, hashing out a lame article in its place. She's no sooner sent it off to her boss when she decides to look into who this Avery Lewis author is and she uncovers a startling piece of information. Ten months ago, Avery fell to her death from the very same cliffs as her character in her latest thriller and her body has yet to be found. Alex is speechless. Coincidence, surely? Or surely not?
After pitching an idea to her boss, who reluctantly agrees it may be a good story, Alex packs herself and her sister Athena off to Cornwall for a week chasing answers which will hopefully see her write the article that will be the making of her career. The sisters stay at the farm on which Avery and her husband Joe lived that seemingly inspired the author.
Throughout the book, Alex finds many similarities between the character Rebecca and Avery's situations...right down to the move from London to Cornwall, the farm and guesthouse and the cliff from which both women fell. Both women had attentive husbands but Rebecca's became abusive when the money began to run out. Avery's husband Joe is nothing like that and appears to be heartbroken at the disappearance and possible death of his wife. But the more she reads of "Falling" and learns about Avery, the more Alex begins to think that this is more than a coincidence. Did Avery have a premonition of her own death and use it as a basis for a story? Or did someone take her story and make it reality?
What an interesting concept for a thriller! A story within a story. I found the premise fascinating and the story fast paced and atmospheric. Admittedly, Cornwall is always a drawcard for me in thrillers. There is something so atmospheric about it that if I see a book is set there I'm drawn to it.
This is the third Karen Cole thriller I've read and I always enjoy them, each of them including that Cypriot touch. WHEN SHE FELL wasn't really what I had expected but it was still a compelling and intriguing quick read that I read in one sitting. I liked Alex and adored Athena, but I really had to question some of Alex's choices and decisions. I mean, one of the key paths she took in the story screamed warnings at me - even Athena tried reasoning with her but Alex's mind was made up. However, had the story not taken that turn then it wouldn't have ended up the way it did I guess. There was a method to Cole's madness in the plot...
Overall, WHEN SHE FELL is an intriguing tale of two stories that are inadvertently entangled together and would appeal to psychological thriller fans. Certainly a compelling read if you like a quick thriller!
I would like to thank #KarenCole, #Netgalley and #QuercusBooks for an ARC of #WhenSheFell in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Karen Cole grew up in the Cotswolds and got a degree in psychology at Newcastle University. She spent several years teaching English around the world before settling in Cyprus with her husband and two sons, where she works at a British army base as a primary school teacher. She recently completed the Curtis Brown writing course where she found her love of writing psychological thrillers.
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