I loved this book! Very readable and engaging! I live in Dublin & didn't realize the book was set here until Niamh's culchie-isms hit me - so good! Great suspense, great story, and a great ending!

They say writing should break boundaries but for me this book was disturbing. An awareness of mental health issues in the story of an assault just were too traumatic to read on. I found it hard to follow a flow but again if you've experienced mental health issues this is the reality of how your thought processes are disjointed and randomly processed. I might go back to it when I don't feel so exposed to the rawness of the novel.

The Interview is a very difficult book to read .A story of trauma ,child abuse and domestic abuse which I found quite disturbing .The story is very slow paced and the characters are hard to like but it was an interesting insight into how trauma survivors are dealt with by the Professionals .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my free copy in return for an honest review .

A harrowing story of abuse.
The story is well written but it is very slow going and not easy to read.

Detective story set in Dublin - effective but far from uplifting!

Laura is a Specialist Victim Interviewer in the Garda, assisted by Niamh, and trying to interview Jenny, a fourteen-yesr-old, found covered in blood. The story takes the whole book to unwind as nearly everybody makes unwise decisions as the main protagonists suffer in various ways. There's little to find uplifting until the very end and reading this novel is a bit of a trial at times as progress is slow. There's a lot of character development which is the main point as there's not a lot of action. It's interesting and will suit some readers. I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Psychological thriller however, slightly predictable. A harrowing read with some triggers undertones such as domestic violence, postpartum depression and mental health issues. There was a lot of detail within the plot and plenty of explanatory working.

I found this really hard to get in to, about half way through and I still can’t warm to either character nor do I particularly have any interest as to either back story. A did not finish for me.

I really enjoyed this book. The themes are quite dark but it is very well written and relatable. Even though the subject matter is so serious, there are glimmers of hope throughout and it wraps up in a positive way. Themes of abuse, violence and gaslighting are written really well and the interview itself is fascinating. Is the person being interviewed a victim or is she dangerous?

An excellent read. With so much violence against women in society, this book is very timely and I found it uplifting too.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Uk for a copy of “ The Interview “ for an honest review.

When I started reading this I wasn’t sure about the style of writing,, but once I got further into it I was hooked..
Because of the subject matter this was an uneasy read, but thought provoking.
A very good debut novel and Gill Perdue a name to look out for in the future .

Unfortunately this is the first book through #NetGalley that I haven't been able to finish. Initially I found it hard to get into but I kept at it, once I reached just over a third of the way through I just couldn't carry on. I realise that these topics need to be talked about but maybe a bit like the character Laura, I struggle to get such awful images etc out of my head and it gives me terrible anxiety. I'm not sure whether animal abuse was going to happen further along in the story but I feared that could have been coming too which is something else I also avoid.
I'm sure this book is well written and will appeal to many but just not for me and I do wish that book had trigger warnings on them so readers knew what to avoid.
My warning to others are potential triggers for domestic abuse, child abuse, ptsd and other mental health issues.

The Interview is, for the most part, hugely compelling and beautifully done- the subject matter is dark and realistic and handled really well plus it is a real page turner.

A girl found in shock, covered in blood. A missing man who could be dying. Two specially trained interviewers trying to get to the truth. That's the set up, what follows is a twisty tale that slowly but surely leads to an emotional conclusion.

I read this fast, it is one of those books you don't want to put down once you start and the writing is cleverly insightful. If I had one bugbear it was that one character had personal issues that became somewhat irritating and threatened to overwhelm the narrative- maybe that could have been pared back slightly - but overall this was am excellent read that managed to be both entertaining and socially relevant.

A 14-year-old assault victim Jenny who is initially selectively mute and will only communicate by fairytales is the challenge set for Detective Laura Shaw who is an SVI (specialist victim interviewer). Laura seems to have it all, a good career, a much loved two-year-old daughter and a supportive husband. However, right from the start of the interview Laura‘s questions strike a discordant note which becomes increasingly worrying. Her partner Niamh becomes more and more concerned. What is going on with Jenny and Laura becomes increasingly apparent in this tense and gripping psychological thriller.

I’m not going to pretend that in places this is anything other than a difficult read but what I can say with certainty is the quality of the writing is outstanding. The portrayal of the characters has done exceptionally well. Jenny has constructed walls and her means of conveying her truth is absolutely riveting.She is smart, dark, elusive and damaged but very clever and you wonder at times who is interviewing who. Laura seems confident but as you witness her behaviour it’s clear she’s far from that especially as it continues to change as if something dormant has awoken. Niamh, frankly, is brilliant light relief but she’s also totally on the ball in the interview and her reactions are very illuminating.

Some of the cleverest parts of the book centre on the use of fairytales especially grim Grimm and also Irish folk lore and through this means we see truth and reality. There is some disassociation by them but also eventually transformation. The use of music in particular the Beatles is also ingenious casting a light on the past and the present.

The quality of the writing especially as this is debut is extremely accomplished. It’s a very powerful, intense, dark novel, it’s shockingly vivid in places but utterly compelling and absorbing. The tension in parts is so taut it sends a shiver down the spine. This builds and the suspense times is so great you can scarcely breathe as truths are confronted. Yes, it’s decidedly uncomfortable but it’s mesmerising and so believable. The ending is so good you read it with baited breath as the fairytale riddles are unravelled and the spells are broken. The epilogue is exactly what you and the characters need with the last word rightly going to Minerva. A highly recommended and skilful debut.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General U.K., Sandycove for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A fascinating and compelling insight into the psychiatric profession and how they deal with trauma survivors. An interesting angle having an interviewer who is struggling under the weight of her own undealt with psychological issues, and this case is triggering those.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I received an email about this book because I had enjoyed Cara Hunter's books. Unfortunately, I do not feel this book was on par with Cara's. It was very slow in the beginning, so didn't grab my attention. I tried to ski p ahead as well, but just wasn't interested in all the talk around the therapy office etc. Just not for me. I gave up before I finished.

This is an incredibly strong debut book by Gill Perdue. I was hooked from the start and highly recommend it. Can't wait to read her future books

It’s hard to review a book like this. The story is grim but kept me interested. The writing is good. Characterisation was good. The setting was unique. Just not quite my genre but I can recognise a good book when I read it.

This book was told from a view point rarely used with the specialist interviewers being forefront of the story that ordinarily might focus wither on the victim, the perpetrator or the detectives point of view.
Switching between Laura and Niamh the story covers the interview of a young girl who is the victim of a car accident but who is soon revealed to have more worrying experiences to be helped through.
The characters are very cleverly written with Laura hiding a traumatic past that is clearly not really past at all and Niamh struggling to understand why Laura is suddenly finding the job so hard.
I thought the voice of Jenny, spoken in fairy tales, was a really well conceived way of allowing her to disclose her experiences in a way that was wholly believable of the character.
Difficult to read in parts but well worth it.

I really enjoyed this novel, it was a really refreshing format for this genre. There were plenty of twists and turns, and the author made an effort to give the characters a backstory. The characters were likable and had a realness to them which was nice. I would certainly recommend this and would be interested in reading other books by the author.

This was a unique story line centred around an interview, Detective Laura Shaw has the perfect life being the top interviewer getting people to open up about traumatic experiences. Laura's colleagues are working on a case involving young Jenny who has been through trauma involving her step father. She is completely traumatised and shut down, but when her step father goes missing and Jenny is found to have blood on her clothes, can Detective Laura Shaw get Jenny to open up to her? time is of the essence and Laura needs answers. She also wants to help this young girl deal with what has happened in her past. This is quite a sensitive subject, but I feel as though the author has done her research well, it is sensitively written, I felt upset reading about what that young girl had gone through and how she was after, I don't know how anyone could recover after that. I had to take a step back from this book, but then continued to read it. I liked Detective Laura Shaw and I hope to see her in other books, I thought she was brilliant at her job and someone you could totally trust. I liked the plot line even though parts were a bit heavy going.

To outside opinion, Detective Laura Shaw has everything she could want to be happy: a loving husband, a loving daughter and a career she loves. Her skill at getting vulnerable people to open up, even about the toughest of circumstances, means she’s a force to be reckoned with. However, the victim interviewer meet a match with teenage Jenny. The young woman speaks in fairy tales – but time is of the essence. Her stepfather is missing, the blood on her clothes is not her’s so Laura needs Jenny to reveal more of what happened, and as soon as possible. Much of the questioning feels uncomfortable to read, as it should, especially as Jenny is in an almost childlike state, but this adds to the already tense plot that will maintain your attention throughout. Importantly too, is Laura’s attitude – the much lauded interviewer is having an issue getting Jenny to speak, further confusing her colleague Niamh. What has this case triggered in Laura? And will the team uncover the truth as to what happened to Jenny’s stepfather?