Sunday 29 January 2017

Hold Still - Tim Adler


'I photographed the moment of my husband's death...' So begins HOLD STILL, a nerve-twisting thriller from bestselling author Tim Adler. How much do we really know about those we love? Kate is visiting Albania with her husband Paul, a much needed break from Paul's stressful website business. 'Hold still,' says Kate, taking a picture as Paul steps onto the hotel room balcony. 'We'll always be together,' Paul responds. Suddenly there is screaming below and a blaring car horn. Kate stares down from the balcony at the broken body of her husband lying lifeless in the street. Overcome with grief, Kate can't accept the truth of Paul's tragic death, and replays the incident over and over again, searching her pictures for a vital clue to what really happened. When she meets the enigmatic Priest at a grief support group, they journey together into a dangerous world of violence and secrets as Kate realises what Paul really meant when he said he would never leave her......

What did I think?

Why oh why did it take me so long to read this book?  It was such a fast-paced rollercoaster of a read that I could hardly bear to put it down.  It may be my first Tim Adler book but it certainly won't be my last.

Paul and his wife, Kate, are visiting Albania in order to attend his uncle's funeral.  I had read the blurb but I still let out an involuntary gasp of shock as Paul jumped off the hotel balcony.  Seconds before this happened his wife, Kate, had taken a photo of him and Paul had promised that they'd always be together.  Why would he say that then commit suicide?  When Kate examines the photo more carefully, she notices a face in the background on her hotel balcony.  Who is he and what does he have to do with Paul's death?

Kate starts to ask questions about Paul's death and has an even closer look at her photographs where she notices one of her neighbours.  What on earth is her neighbour doing in Albania?  When she confronts him, her neighbour confirms that he was in Albania and he did see someone jump from the 6th floor balcony of the hotel that Kate and Paul were staying in.  Kate and Paul, however, were staying on the 7th floor...

Understandably, Kate is struggling to cope with Paul's desk so she turns to grief counselling and meets a man called John Priest - a man whose face also appeared in her Albanian photographs.  Who is he?  What's going on?  My mind was in a complete whirl as I tried to work out what was going on but nothing could have prepared me for the journey that this book took me on.

A real page-turner of a read, Hold Still will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.  

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:




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