Take Me In by Sabine Durrant
| Take Me In by Sabine Durrant | |
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| Category: Thrillers | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Morris
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| Summary: A thriller that makes you shudder and squirm, this book hooks you in and spits you out | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 352 | Date: June 2018 |
| Publisher: Mulholland Books | |
| ISBN: 978-1473608351 | |
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It's not pleasant, the first time Marcus and Tessa meet Dave. They've taken their toddler, Josh, to Greece on holiday and in the blink of an eye something awful happens. Tessa isn't there, Marcus isn't looking, but Dave steps in and disaster is averted. Just. They're grateful to him, of course they are, but after the usual hand shakes and weeping hugs and the offer to buy lunch for everyone, they're a little relieved to return to their villa and live out the rest of their week in peace. Just a tight little 3-person family unit. Because although Dave is a nice chap, and although of course they owe him a great deal, he is a little, well, intense.
Back home in England, Marcus is back at work, Josh is back in nursery, and Tessa is trying to pretend the nightmare never happened. It's not that easy, though. The events of the island haunt the family, they can't forget what happened that morning and what's more, they can't forget the person who was there with them. Dave Jepsom. Tessa feels his presence everywhere – at home, on the street, on the Tube. And it's a little frightening.
Much like Lie with Me, this book is a thoughtfully crafted everyday drama. By that I mean we're not talking murders and abductions and high speed car chases, we're talking ordinary people whose lives used to be plain and boring and now, well, now something has happened. And nothing will ever be the same. What happened on the beach happened weeks ago, Dave Jepsom is long gone, but the consequences keep coming and Tessa and Marcus's lives are unravelling. Also like Lie with Me we have some stunning Greek countryside (albeit short-lived this time around) and characters who have some quite trendy jobs – author, crisis manager and so on. The London lifestyle of both books won me over. We're talking grown ups with families, jobs and houses, and disposable income, who therefore get to enjoy more of the capital than the 20-something heroines still living in flat shares, whom I also often come across in these books.
I enjoyed following Tessa and Marcus as they took turns to narrate, but I didn't love either of them quite how I loved the naughty Mr Paul from the previous title. The secrets that came out made me start to blame them, not for what happened in Greece, but for the way things fell when they returned, and I couldn't help but feel that in some ways they had it coming. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned. The story was written in such a clever way that my disdain grew gradually, the way it would do with real friends where it's only after a while you begin to realise just what they've become.
This was a read that kept me guessing about what was real and what was imagined, who was there and who wasn't, and what different people's motives were. Now I'm done, I think I'll read it again because I'm sure knowing how it ends will mean I spot a few more hidden clues along the way.
I'd like to thank the publishers for supplying this book. If this is your sort of style, you might also enjoy Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Take Me In by Sabine Durrant at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Take Me In by Sabine Durrant at Amazon.com.
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