Dr Maria Martinez finds herself incarcerated for a crime she can’t remember committing. So why does everyone keep telling her she did and if she didn’t why does she keep having flashbacks from the murder scene?
When her cell mate reveals some hidden truths, Maria realises all is not as it seems and becomes determined to prove she’s innocent.
But is she?
It took me a little while to get into this book, about 30%, as it really wasn’t gripping me. However, as soon as I managed to dedicate longer than 20 minutes to it I was hooked! This is not a light read you can dip in and out of, as I had been doing, this is a complex and intriguing thriller.
The story is told across two timelines, the first when Maria is sent to prison and the second when she is undergoing therapy sessions sometime in the future. These narrative strands change from one paragraph to the next, and often back again within the same chapter. This disjointed style is what had me feeling indifferent initially but then kept me enthralled throughout the rest of the book.
Maria suffers with Asperger Syndrome, something I know very little about so I took how Owen wrote the character at face value and found it to be believable. On doing some research into the subject after finishing this book, I feel the author did great justice in presenting a person with this disorder. The fragmented structure also really helped to convey the confusion and disorientation that the main protagonist was feeling.
On first meeting each character I found the majority to be instantly likeable, especially Maria. However, as the story continues and the plot slowly unravels I was left with mistrust for almost everyone and was second guessing all of their motives. As an avid reader of the crime thriller genre I can usually ascertain quite early on the conclusion of the novel, so this truly was a treat!
If you want suspense, mystery and betrayal at every turn, you need to read this book…NOW!
* Many thanks to Harlequin (UK) Limited, via NetGalley, for this ARC *