The Book of You - Claire Kendal

[goodreads]

Title: The Book of You
Author: Claire Kendal
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 363
Date read: April, 2015


Clarissa is becoming more and more frightened of her colleague, Rafe. He won't leave her alone, and he refuses to take no for an answer. He is always there.

Being selected for jury service is a relief. The courtroom is a safe haven, a place where Rafe can't be. But as a violent tale of kidnap and abuse unfolds, Clarissa begins to see parallels between her own situation and that of the young woman on the witness stand.

Realizing that she bears the burden of proof, Clarissa unravels the twisted, macabre fairytale that Rafe has spun around them - and discovers that the ending he envisions is more terrifying than she could have imagined.


Terrifying from pretty much the very first page. I picked it up at 11pm on an evening where I was home alone, which was less than intelligent, as it got me on high alert. Perfect for a read-a-thon where I needed to stay awake though ;)

The book is about 360 pages, and I absolutely LOVED the first 330. It was at turns frustrating, intriguing, terrifying and satisfying. Totally unputdownable.

But unfortunately the last 30 pages didn't work for me. Without giving too much away, I thought I found a plothole, and the ending itself employed one of my biggest pet peeves in suspense novels, which unfortunately subtracted a couple of stars.

I still think I'd recommend it though, because for most of the book I was totally captivated. Could just have wished for a less stereotypical ending.