The Promise is a well written novel, but lacks that all encompassing fear of the unknown that makes a psychological thriller really stand out.

I enjoyed this tale quite a bit, but found there wasn’t a great deal of surprise in the way things played out and each characters roles.

There’s a main event that happens early on that I’m struggling to come to terms with. There’s just a touch of unanswered questions that are heavy on my brain. You don’t get the full details until the end of the book, but I’m still missing a few pieces of info that would help complete the book.

At the end of the day I would recommend this book, it’s a good read and entertaining.

Beth, Sally, and Carol became best friends when they met in boarding school. Their friendship was tested one fateful night when something horrible happened. Something that they vowed never to speak of again.

Thirty years later, the boarding school is being demolished. Terrified that their secret will be exposed, Beth and Sally try to contact Carol. Instead, Beth is warned to leave it alone. She is finally ready to face the past. But someone doesn’t want the past brought up. Someone is prepared to kill to keep the secret. But who is it? And what lengths will they go to ensure Sally and Beth stay quiet?

The plotline of The Promise did take some time getting going. Like I said in my WWW Wednesday post, I wasn’t a fan of the book at first. There was so much going on that I had an issue keeping storylines/characters straight. The author merged everything down to two main storylines. What happened to the girls at boarding school in the past and what was happening to them in the present. She was able to merge the two at the end of the book.

My dislike of Beth didn’t turn to like immediately. But, she acknowledged that she needed help. She also knew that telling people about the secret would be a weight lifted off her shoulders. I didn’t like how she handled what Carol told her. I thought that she could have handled it better. But when push came to shove, she was there for Carol.

Carol sideswiped me. I was with the majority of people in the book. I thought that Carol was being a snot. Talk about something that came out of left field. I also was taken aback by her confession to Beth in the hotel room. Again, out of left field.

I liked Sally. The secret she had to keep affected her more than she let on. Her home life when she was younger was awful. The tidbits that she told Matthew and what I read in Beth’s flashback, she didn’t have it good. I did have a good cry about her news at the end of the book. All I have to say about that is that she deserved it.

The Promise fit right in with the mystery/thriller/suspense genre. The author was a master at throwing out red herrings and false leads. I would have never of guessed at who was sending the messages to Beth and who ran Adam off the road. Never would have guessed at all. And what happened at the end of the book. That all came out of the blue for me.

The end of The Promise was one of the more intense ones that I have read to date. The author had a couple of huge plot twists thrown in there that made me go “WTH.” Like I mentioned above, I didn’t see them coming. I also liked that the author was able to wrap up all the storylines. Everyone got what they deserved and then some. Loved it!!

I would give The Promise an Adult rating. There is language. There is violence. There are mentions of sexual acts but no graphic sex.

I would reread The Promise. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Promise.

All opinions stated in this review of The Promise are mine.

Have you read The Promise?

What were your thoughts on it?

I found this an easy book to get into, although I did feel it was a very drawn out story.
The "mystery" part of it took forever to unravel and I started getting a bit bored halfway through that I still wasn't getting any hints. I also feel like the characters were a little two dimensional. The most engaging, interesting character was Carol and she's very much a secondary character in the story. Beth and Sally felt more like plot devices than real people.

Three girls in boarding school together. Sally, Carol and Beth, closer than sisters. They share a deep, dark secret that promised to take what happened to the grave. Many years later, something is going to happen and they are afraid the secret will come and destroy all their lives. Sally and Beth have lost contact with Carol. They need to find her before the truth comes out. They hire Matthew, a former police officer to help find her so they can make a plan on what to do. In the meanwhile, there's someone who is out to make sure this secret is never found out. I really liked this book. The characters were interesting. There's more than one secret in this story and some intertwine with the others. Who is the villian in this story or is there more than one. It's a great psychological thriller. I recommend it. I received this book from Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing for a honest review. I voluntarily read this book.

I read Teresa Driscoll’ s I’m Watching You book and I just couldn’t follow along. I felt the same way about this one. Sometimes I felt like the characters were jumping around and it was hard to keep track of who was who. The story line seemed very interesting, I just couldn’t stay engaged.

When Beth, Sally and Carole meet at a Convent boarding school they become the best of friends, although something bad happens, they keep this secret between themselves for years to come. This will affect the rest of their lives in different ways and will forever haunt them.

The news that the old Convent is going to be demolished and the land built on, panics Beth and Sally. Carole has distanced herself from her friends who are desperate to tell her the news about their old school.

The timeline jumps from when the girls were friends at the school to the present time, where Beth hires a P.I. to find her friend Carole before the school is demolished.

I really enjoyed the friendship side of this book and how a secret shared as a child can seem harmless, but when the lies escalate to keep this secret, it can worm away inside you until it is out in the open!!

There are some unexpected twists that will keep you in suspense and fully absorbed in this story. A must read book that will have you looking for other’s that Teresa Driscoll has written!!

A really dark, slowly unravelling thriller. This kept me guessing and was a bit creepy! It gets under your skin and keeps you wondering. Driscoll writes in such a way as to keep you hooked, to lure you in to her world. A brilliant writer.

Three friends Carol , Beth and Sally went through something horrible at boarding school and they promised each other to never talk about it again.

Twenty years later Beth and Sally are still close friends but Carol has disappeared. When they hear their old boarding school is being demolished, they fear that the secret from their past, will come out so they use a PI (Matthew - who has his own demons) to help find her.

The Promise by Teresa Driscoll is a slow paced psychological thriller. The "big secret" although I am sure would have been horryifying and deeply disturbing for 3 young girls, was made to feel so obvious I think it took away from the impact it had on the girls.
I feel if the author hadn't tried to maintain suspense by drip feeding the "secret" to be a big plot twist (which in the end it was so obvious it really can't be classed as a twist) it would have made for a much better novel.

The chapters alternate between the past and present with different POV’s. This is a similare style to her last thriller - I am Watching You, which I must admit I musch preferred to the The Promise. The Promise is relatively slow paced, although does ramp up toward the end but by the time some mild action happens I was thoroughly bored of the book as I didn't empathaise or connect much with the characters at all.

Overall it is a solid book but certainly not going to set anyones world on fire.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This was a mystery following three school time friends - Beth, Sally and Carol. They have a secret from their childhood that they promised to never, ever tell. When the school they attended is closing and being bulldozed, they have a chance to reunite on the premises one last time, and have a decision to make - to tell, or not to tell?
This was a good read, slow to build, but I found myself getting more and move involved as it went along. About 3/4 of the way through the book, the promise made becomes transparent, which kind of made me shrug and say, hmmm do I need to keep going now? I did, as I was invested in the characters at that point, but I am not sure if all readers will do the same. I would have liked more detail hinting at their backgrounds and why keeping this secret into adulthood was so so important if they didn't even really keep in touch anymore. However, it was still an enjoyable mystery!

A brilliant book, with a tale that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Powerful writing. With secrets and regrets to be exposed.

Rating:
I-am-still-undecided-confused-3 stars

Trigger:
where do I begin?
child mortality (multiple)
rape (minor)
abuse

All of above, not easy to read and repeated multiple times.

Short review:
Two words - too messy

Thrilling, suspenseful drama with twists and turns throughout! The secret is kept until it can't be kept any longer but the girl's fears throughout yield a final secret in itself.....someone else KNEW!!! Highly recommend this exciting read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader's copy in return for an honest review.

Pretty Little Liars turned deep, dark, and twisty! The Promise was such a great read in between my normal genre read, fantasy. Sworn into secrecy, 3 girls make a pact never to talk about what happened between them ever again, until 30 years later when their school sends word of tearing down and rebuilding they fear their secret may no longer stay buried.

Beth, Carol, and Sally all have very different lives and all are vastly changed from burying a secret for so long. With the story mostly in Beth's perspective we see how even her home life is strained and hides something deeper. I didn't understand why Matthew's character needed to play a role in the storyline. I think less of him and more moments of the girls would have made this story more gripping for me.

I was always on the edge of my seat and blown away by every hard left or right Driscoll would take us on! This was my first read by her and it certainly won't be my last!

Lots of twists and turns in this book....You knew something had happened in the girls past during their stay at boarding school. It was a huge secret and the secret. The storey is centered around them being very afraid of being found out. Which in the grand scheme of things, it would have been very difficult to actually pin it on the 3 of them. It could have been any of the pupils that attended. Did I like it? Devided really on this, I felt all of a sudden at the end it was very rushed and as if suddenly all the ends had to be tidied up.

Three friends, one big secret that they must keep. I really enjoyed this book, the third book I've read by this author. It's a page turner that keeps you guessing until the end.
This book is well written and easy to read, and as enjoyable as Teresa's previous books.

This was a fun book about three women who had a secret that is not revealed until the very end. It was a quick read a little better quality than a beach read

This was a good mystery with a few real surprises but it was a very slow build to the end. I did not enjoy the flashback format. I also found the ending to wrap up too quickly and to be a bit on the unbelievable side.

The Promise – Teresa Driscoll

I thoroughly enjoy Teresa Driscolls books, I usually like her quick, sharp and sometimes witty style of writing but for me this book wasn’t as good as The Friend or I Am Watching You, the pace of this story is slower than the others. This is a slow burn and that generally isn’t for me I like to be grabbed by the eyeballs and dragged along at a million miles an hour.

Beth, Carol and Sally are fourteen-year-old friends during Easter break from boarding school the Convent of St Colman, tragedy strikes one of them. They are too scared to tell their parents so they made a promise to keep quiet and never mention it again.

Fast-forward to now and the girls receive letters informing them that the school is closing down and there will be a reunion of sorts. There’s also the threatening social media message telling them to stay away. Carol left school at sixteen she distanced herself from the others, moved over to France met and married her husband. Beth and Sally both moved on and married though sadly Sally’s marriage failed following their stillborn baby. They both tried to move on and make lives for themselves but this letter could possibly throw it up in the air. Beth enlisted the services of Matthew a private investigator who we met previously to help them find Carol as they need her opinion and to tell them what to do


Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer

The Promise starts with us meeting Beth and Carol two women that have known each other since boarding school. When we are first introduced to them they are learning of the impending closure and demolition of said school for redevelopment. Which then cause them to try and locate and old classmate to see how she wants to proceed with things pertaining to some terrible thing that they did while attending school there. It's very vague on what actually happened and they have trouble getting in touch with her on there own so they hire a private investigator with issues of his own. When they finally reach Carol she behaves as if she wants nothing to do with them. Things really start to getting interesting after that and as we go back and fourth between the past and present we discover a lot about what happened to the girls at boarding school and the promise they made to keep it all a secret.


It took me a little while to get into this with a slow start. When things really picked up I couldn't have predicted any of the twists that happened and I truly enjoyed reading this. After finishing I have already downloaded another of the the authors other teo thrillers and can't wait to pick because I am sure it will be great.


Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beth is eleven when she is sent away to the Convent of St Colman's boarding school on a grant. During assigned sleeping quarters, she meets Sally, who is sent to the school on an armed forces grant too, and Carol, who is there because her mother won the lottery. Beth is a little embarrassed about her blankets, and confides in Carol, who whips off one of hers to exchange for one of Beth's. It becomes evident that the three will become close friends.

This story goes from present to past and opens with Beth being called by Sally's husband to come that Sally has lost her baby and locked herself in the bathroom.

Then a letter is sent to all the girls that attended the boarding school about it being torn down and a farewell party. This letter stirs up bad emotions with Sally and Beth, wondering what to do, and if Carol, whom they've lost touch with has seen it. It also conjures up a memory that over the course of the story the reader gets bits and pieces of about the promise made by the three. Something terrible that happened, that the three were never to tell anyone, but the closure of the Convent has opened up guilt and brought it to light a Pandora box.

Beth decides to hire a private investigator to help locate Carol, but Matthew Hill, a former police officer who left the force. Beth, remaining loyal, doesn't fill Matthew in entirely, just that she's lost track of a friend and is trying to locate her. Matthew follows a lead and finds Carol's mother, where Beth drags Sally along, only to discover that Carol's mom goes into a state of shock upon seeing the girls.

The encounter doesn't go as planned, but more unusual there is a strange message warning them followed by a scare concerning Beth's children. When Beth's husband, Adam gets badly injured, she decides she no longer wants to hide the truth, even if it means jail time.

Great story, and I really enjoyed how it went from present to past in retelling with a lot of twists and turns that kept the reader guessing how just what kind of promise was made and for what.

I received an ARC in from NetGalley via Thomas & Mercer General Fiction in exchange from my honest opinion.