The characters were intensely unlikeable - that’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed stories with easy to dislike characters before, but this title was not one of those. The plot is so far-fetched that it’s not at all realistic.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find much enjoyment within this book. If you’re new to the author, I’d suggest starting with another title.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an eARC of this title. Opinions shared are influenced by nothing other than my reading experience.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

The book took a few twists I really wasn’t expecting, which took it up from 3 to 3.5 rounded up. The writing and the character development is not amazing but you keep turning pages to find out what will happen next.

I hate giving bad feedback because I can only imagine how hard everyone has worked on this project but the most constructive thing I can share is that there was just too much going on. The marriage and the terrorist attacks and possibly the revenge on Michael Kelly would have been enough but the amnesia, affair with the uncle, the sexual abuse, and Caroline’ s mom and history in Australia were all over the place and didn’t seem realistic at all. The 18 year old pool boy was a random character and there was also no resolve with Alec. The pier and it’s significance also came so late in the book I wasn’t sure if I missed it. Overall this wasn’t the book for me but that you for allowing me to read it.

Trigger warning - terrorist attacks

My second book by this author did not disappoint, with a twisty tale that unfolded throughout the pages and told in real time and flashback by some key narrators from the story. Caroline is trapped in a unhappy marriage that has been struck by tragedy and left broken in pieces. Whilst searching for answers, Caroline thinks she has a lead and starts to try to find them. Trying not to give too much away but I wasn't aware from the blurb that the story mentions a number of fictional terrorist attacks and I found this quite hard to deal with, appearing unexpectedly.

The story did keep me guessing and even when I thought I had I had some of the plot line sussed, I enjoyed the latest twists of the story.

Thank you NetGalley.

I think I gave the blurb a cursory glance when I selected it to read through Netgalley. From the cover one would expect a somewhat different story. After reading the book and looking at other reviews I was amazed at the vast difference in the ratings, particularly the less favourable ones.

Caroline a successful writer is married to Alex a somewhat less successful person. Their daughter Jessica is killed in a terrorist attack in London when she is supposed to be many miles away. Unknown to her parents, she had arranged to meet a boy that she had been in contact through social media but he failed to arrive.

The action is split into roughly two halves – the first focusing on Caroline and her faltering relationship with her detestable husband, her need to find out what happened to Jessica and her need for revenge.

The second half is more focused on the boy Jessica was supposed to meet, is circumstances and situation; and Caroline’s need to meet with him and her plans.

This book is amazing. The characterisation was superb. I hated Alex, stunned by Caroline at times and then heart-broken for her and as for the brothers – OMG, tragic, tragic, tragic! Sometimes I was shocked at Caroline’s plans and horrified at the reality of the brothers’ situation. As for the content, so much distilled into this story.

Don’t read the blurb, do read the reviews but ignore the negative ones. Clearly they have relevance as it someone else’s opinion, but trust me, BP Paris has, I hope, a winner.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

The dinner guest has been one of my favourite reads this year so i was excited to see what B P Walter did next. The women on the pier did not disappoint. An engrossing, well plotted and pacey read, i demolished this, i couldn't stop turning pages. A tale of revenge, Caroline the main character lost her daughter in a terrorist attack and seeks to find her own form of justice. There are twists and turn aplenty in this and I thought that grief was dealt with in a compassionate if heartbreaking way, no sensationalised or minimised. Highly recommend.

2.75 not the feel-good story of the year

I’m guilty of going into this one blind. Now I realize it is better not to read the book blurb, it gives too much away! I’m not sure I would categorize this one as a dark thriller. It was dark and depressing, but it didn’t have the usual trademark twists I would expect with a thriller.

Caroline is a screenwriter, struggling in her marriage and grieving her daughter. She’s desperate to figure out why her daughter lied and why she was in Stratford at all when terrorists attacked.

This one had different timelines that often overlapped, and I admit I was confused a few times. The characters were overwhelmingly unlikeable, I’m on the fence about if they will be memorable. Caroline makes some irrational choices in her grief, but I just didn’t find myself rooting for her.

This one has lots of dark elements: drugs, terrorists, mental health issues, pedophilia, child abuse. Probably too many subplots going on as well. I wish I would have liked this one more.

Thank You to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the early copy of this one. Scheduled to release on November 11, 2021.

Having loved the dinner guest I was really excited to start reading this. It didn’t grab me immediately however once I got into it I was hooked. The book was incredibly well with written with likable and unlikable characters. I didn’t enjoy the part in Australia as much but it was an important part of the story and needed to be included. Some parts of the book are tough to read and it may not appeal to everybody but I enjoyed it. Thanks to net galley and HarperCollins for an early copy.

This sounded so good and thrilling based on the premise so I can’t help but feel misled. The titular woman on the pure portion of the book is a very very small part and the book mainly focuses on relationships so it reads more as a contemporary fiction and almost romance rather than a thriller.

I loved this book, I was completely hooked from the beginning and not just because some of it was based in Essex!

I immediately felt for Caroline and all she experienced, I didn’t warm to Alex tho, felt he was very self-centred and down right nasty.

This book shows the lengths that a grieving parent will go to whilst grieving.

Finding out the truth around Jessica was heartbreaking, especially around the brothers and their own experiences. The parts in Australia wasn’t as enjoyable to me, but it didn’t spoil my reading experience

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely loved the Dinner Guest, (if you haven’t read it, check it out) so when I saw BP Walter had a new book coming, I jumped at the chance to read it!

I enjoyed this book. It was gripping and compelling. The characters are incredibly well written, some incredibly unlikeable and others heartbreakingly vulnerable. Either way, it was an evocative read. It’s also quite a daaaaark read - there are two topics that are covered that could prove difficult for some readers (but I don’t want to elaborate for fear of providing spoilers). It wasn’t a twisty thriller, but more a slow and writhing unleashing of the evil lurking underneath - kind of like trying to untie a knot of deviousness. There are a few big twists in the book - one about half way through that made me stop and actually say out loud “what??!” I honestly flicked back through the chapters as I didn’t believe it. That was a good one! There was another at the end too.

This felt more of a psychological delve into Caroline, as a person, and just what she will do for revenge, rather than a thriller. As a parent, I ask myself, how would I respond in her situation…? Walter writes Caroline’s (and other character’s) emotions incredibly well - it’s a heartbreaking read in places. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it will absolutely resonate with me for some time. Would absolutely recommend.

You should always tell the truth.. you should always say where you are going. And whatever you do don’t upset a mother! Just great.

I loved The Dinner Guest and expected this to be another murder mystery. It is , in fact, the story of. Grieving unhinged mother whose daughter is killed in a terrorist attack. Well written, yes but I don’t want to delve into that mind. I struggled through this really not wanting to pick it up.

3.5 stars

The mother on the pier at Southend is Caroline Byrne, she’s a successful TV script writer but currently utterly weighed down with grief following the death of her sixteen year old daughter Jessica, murdered in a shocking terrorist attack at Stratford Station in London. Why was Jessica at the station? Was she meeting someone? Her parents thought she was in Somerset, so why did she lie? Caroline’s marriage to Alec is rock bottom, to describe their relationship as tense and toxic is an understatement and Jessica’s death drives a bigger wedge between them. The other person on the pier is a teenage boy. Who is this boy who tells the other part of the story? How does he connect to Caroline or Jessica? Why are they on the pier together??

I think the first half of the book is quite strong. It conveys a destroyed relationship extremely well as they seem to bring out the absolute worst in each other. Alec is not a likeable character by any means and you do want to be sympathetic to their situation but their behaviour makes it hard to be so. Jessica glues them together and once she’s gone their relationship shatters into a million pieces. Caroline’s complex emotions, her difficult past and current behaviour is effectively done though some of her actions are excruciating. Her grief is raw and the author uses some strong and emotive symbolism to convey the pathos and horror of the terrorist attacks. The tragedy of the aftermath of terrorism which is combined with the boys story clearly demonstrates a messed up world and households with a tenuous grip on normality. The author uses stormy, turbulent weather which perfectly matches what’s happening in the mothers and boys life and how it rises in ferocity to the meeting on the pier.

The boys story is a tough read and this is introduced in the second half and I think from this point on it all becomes a bit too much. Two major themes which are intensely dark which escalate in enormity is very unsettling and disturbing as I’m sure the author intends. It’s very shocking, incredibly heart wrenching, heartbreaking and unbearably sad. It also becomes pretty clear how the boy fits into the story and so there isn’t much of a surprise there. After all the build up the end is speedy and abrupt and leaves me feeling a bit let down.

Overall though, the book does grip me although it is far from an easy read. I’d have preferred the second half to have been more pared down as it’s hard to absorb two dark themes although the warning signs are there in the first half of the book.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, One More Chapter for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Misery.

This book falls into the ‘What did I just read?’ category.

And not in a good way.

Maybe my hopes were pinned on the cheerful looking nautical cover.

Maybe I thought the writer’s engaging style would bring forth a complementary story.

It was not to be as I disliked both the plot and characters. Intensely.

Characters don’t have to be likable for me to love a book and I’ve labeled books containing the most vile characters as Favorites.

However, reading about sniping, sniveling Alec and obnoxious Caroline became a chore. These two were nothing short of nasty individuals. None of the others (save one) were much better.

I began with some sympathy for Caroline and feel her path could have taken a more intriguing turn instead of jumping the rails. Why are we still reading about intelligent women behaving like lunatics?

This wasn’t the thriller I’d signed up for but if you like family and marital drama, The Woman on the Pier will be published on November 11, 2021.

I would like to thank One More Chapter, NetGalley, and the author for my gifted copy. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more positive.

This is a book full of anguish and angst, dark, brooding and extremely haunting it its depiction of a mother's loss and grief.
Caroline Byrne is subsumed by the mystery of her daughter Jessica being in the wrong place at the wrong time, victim of a terrorist attack on Stratford station. She shouldn't have been there and Caroline needs to find out why she was.
In Caroline's desperate attempt to seek justice, lives unravel at an alarming rate and horrific secrets surface for all concerned.
There is so much that is not what it seems but in her journey to discover the truth Caroline triggers a chain reaction where other people's pain is revealed, and the question becomes how to deal with it.
It is raw and emotional and, like many thrillers, it is the past of the characters that leads the reader to understand more about the present circumstances, the dilemma the protagonist faces and the shocks that jolt us along the way, blasting apart preconceived ideas.
I liked the fact that I couldn't quite work out the connection to the title until almost the end. I also identified with Caroline's extreme emotions and felt her horror, her loneliness within an unhealthy marriage and the dawning realisation that she might not have thought things through.
Caroline believes she has found the truth, but has she?
In my opinion well worth a read, and whilst maybe not quite as taut as The Dinner Guest, it is because Netgalley gave me the opportunity to read The Woman on the Pier that I have now discovered two other books by the same reader I would like to read

Bait and switch!

This is not suspense thriller but rather a story about an unhinged, unhappy MOTHER who needs someone to blame for the senseless death of her daughter at the hands of terrorists.

I hated Caroline.

There-I’ve said it. And, despite the fact that she lost her daughter, she was such a RUDE, DESPICABLE character,
that I could drum up no sympathy for her-or for her husband, Alec.

The synopsis of this book says it all. Literally. It should be rewritten.
DON’T READ IT!!

The ONLY surprise was how her daughter Jessica Macleod, met Michael Kelley-the BOY she was secretly meeting in Stratford, when she was supposed to be in Somerset. And, that wasn’t enough to save this one.

The title?
Back to the drawing board with it too!!

And, there is a whole minor sub plot about a big screen, Smart TV, which should be edited out as well. 📺
Need I say more?

SORRY!

After awarding 5⭐️ to “The Dinner Guest” I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this so it pains me to say, that I cannot recommend this one at all.

Triggers: Sexual Abuse

Thank You to One More Chapter who provided a gifted copy through NetGalley and encourages honest reviews!
If you are intrigued-read this on November 11, 2021

After reading and enjoying The Dinner Guest, I was excited to get my hands on this book.
I was so letdown.

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet because I feel like this book has already taken up too much of my time.

The entire plot is absurd. Caroline's daughter died in a terrorist attack perpetrated by ISIS, however, she blames a man who stood her daughter up on a date? That doesn't make any sense at all. Grief can be a funny thing, but come on! So many of Caroline's other actions are also...questionable. This whole book was a melodramatic affair that was tedious, lacking in suspense and lacking in any realm of believability. Just a big no for me.

If you're a fan of B.P. Walter, by all means give this book a read for yourself. If you've never read his books before, I recommend starting with a different one for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading an advanced copy of “The Dinner Guest” earlier this year and becoming a fan of B.P. Walter, I was excited to see and read more. A thought the description sounded right up my alley, I soon realized there was more to the story than the mystery and possible revenge. Due to the sensitive nature of terror attacks, sexual abuse and self-harm, I was unable to enjoy the book. Had there been some trigger warnings, I may have been able to mentally prepare but I found myself mentally blocked.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins, One More Chapter for the ARC.

The Woman on the Pier by B.P. Walter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CW: Child loss and bereavement, acts of terrorism, mass fatalities, inference of Ephebophilia, discussion of pedophillia and sexual child abuse and self-harm.

From the outset, this book garnered my undivided attention. Every chance I got, I would sneak out my kindle just to catch a glimpse of a few pages. The plot was ridden with emotional trauma, met by the exasperation of a parent in turmoil. The writing was on the wall from the very first page which made the build up to this devastating event, thick with tension and unease.

I cannot emphasise enough how addictive this book was! There were times that I physically wanted to reach through and change the choices of the characters to prevent certain disasters and travesties.

Simultaneously, Walter crafted a high stakes, high reader-investment family drama, thriller in ‘The Woman on the Pier’. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter, Harper Collins UK for an eARC copy to read and review. I can safely assume now, after reading 3 of his books, that anything with B.P Walter’s name on will be an engaging masterpiece.