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A woman is watching a report on television of the death of a mother and daughter; apparently both had died at the mother's hand. Also on the screen is the surviving member of the family, a widower described as Mark Bretherick. Watching with her husband, the woman, Sally, has to bite back the words that spring to her lips: this man is not Mark Bretherick! How does she know? Because she had enjoyed a brief sexual affair with the real possessor of that name some time before -- an affair (needless to say) she has not revealed to her husband. Sally is forced to hang on to her secret, and she anonymously informs the police that all is not as it appears to be in this case.
It is Sally's plight that so comprehensively engages the reader here, but readers of the earlier books by Sophie Hannah will be pleased to note the reappearance of her reliable copper Simon Waterhouse, who ensures that the sequences involving the investigation are quite as compelling as the those of a woman desperately trying to keep her indiscretion secret (while doing the right thing).
On the evidence of these three books, Sophie Hannah has a long career as a novelist ahead of her (perhaps to run in tandem with her alternative career as a poet). --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
'The tension is screwed ever tighter until the final shocking outcome'
(Barry Forshaw, Daily Express )'Sophie Hannah's ingenious, almost surreal mysteries are so intricately constructed that it's impossible to guess how they will end . . . A compelling and disquieting story, told with the author's usual panache.'
(Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph )'Every so often a writer comes along whose freshness and originality blows the competition out of the water.. .Genuinely gripping, full of the unseen and yet fitting twists and turns that make good quality crime fiction such a pleasure' (Yorkshire Post )
'Hannah doesn't allow the tension to slacken for a second in this addictive, brilliantly chilling thriller.' (Marie Claire Book of the Month )
'Brilliantly creepy'
(Red Magazine )'I'm surprised I had any nails left by the end of this addictive thriller.' (Eve )
'This disturbing tale is a cut above the average crime thriller, with an intelligent and inventive plot that raises questions about identity, guilt and the taboo of unfulfilling motherhood.' (Psychologies )
'A great read and an involving thriller' (She )
'Hannah's gift for creating real, three-dimensional characters and placing them in extraordinary situations results in a thriller so entertaining you might consider sharing it with everyone one you know... But I suspect, instead you'll keep it to yourself and read it again and again.'
(Daily Record )'For those who demand emotional intelligence and literary verve from their thrillers, Sophie Hannah is the writer of choice. THE POINT OF RESCUE, her third, combines a creepily irresistible page-turner with an exploration of motherhood's taboos.' (Justine Jordan, Guardian )
'Hannah is an expert in creepy scenarios and plot twists that keep you guessing until the last page. The tension doesn't slacken for a second.' (Grazia )
'Hannah has established herself as a writer of offbeat thrillers that skilfully play on contemporary anxieties about motherhood and marriage. What keeps one reading is the creepy plausibility the author brings to her portrayal of a mind unhinged by the demands of parenthood.' (Christine Koning The Times )
'Hannah constructs a thriller that twists and turns satisfyingly through a series of ever-more surprising revelations.' ( The Sunday Times )
'Tension, thy name is Sophie Hannah. In THE POINT OF RESCUE, murder, false identity and infidelity are thet tools Hannah deploys to create a plausible but edge-of-your-seat read.'
(Independent )'The new, queen-in-waiting of psychological crime.'
(Maxim Jakubowki )'Statistics show that more and more women are committing acts of "family annihilation". In THE POINT OF RESCUE Sophie Hannah tackles this distressing subject with sensitivity, while spinning a cracking story.'
(Daily Telegraph )