An interesting storyline

Jenny, a fourteen-year-old teenager, had been found on a road by a passer-by in a catatonic state. The clinicians call in the garda after they discover that she has been raped, is covered in bruises, some fresh and many healing and she’s also suffered from several broken bones. Laura and Niamh are trained SVI officers.

Laura’s mother and brother had been discovered some distance from where Jenny was found. Her stepfather is missing, and Laura and Niamh are tasked with finding out if Jenny knows where he is.

This is a relentless book. There is no break from the stress – whether it’s related to Jenny or Laura. I found the subject deeply distressing. I also felt that although I desperately wanted Jenny to get all the support and love that she could, it wasn’t Laura who should be interviewing her. She is plagued by so many of her problems and far too arrogant to admit it or ask for help. Yes, of course, this heightens the atmosphere of the storyline, but I wonder how realistic it is that someone in that position is allowed to work with people when they’re showing their vulnerabilities? If this is based on fact. My other concern is how can a childlike Jenny slip through the cracks and never be identified by teachers or friends? This book has given me nightmares trying to piece together whether this is happening in real life and whether society is to blame for not noticing these very vulnerable individuals.

My reason for deducting two stars is that I couldn’t agree with the reality of the novel.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

A 14 year old girl, Jenny, found covered in blood leads to her being hospitalised but also kept secure while police try to uncover what happened to her family and why her stepfather missing. One of the officers, Laura, knows what Jenny is going through as her own experience of abuse is shared with us and slowly through the rambling thoughts of Jenny we begin to uncover the horrors of her family life with her stepfather.
This novel is a stunningly good synopsis but it maybe some of the story could have been at a faster pace as it seemed to tread water at times with very little new information coming forward.
Stick with it though as it reaches a faster pace through the last chapters when the full truth of events in both Jenny's and Laura's lives are exposed. I look forward to this author's next book.

This book was great, it was very disturbing at times. and also very sad but has amazing detail in it

Omg wow this book is amazing it's full of twists and turns it will keep you up all night I really enjoyed this book

Gill Perdue, The Interview

Gill Perdue’s The Interview immerses readers in the tense, nightmarish collision of two traumas. Fourteen-year old Jenny is found wandering, injured, bloody and refusing to communicate; Laura, a Specialist Victim Interviewer, is desperately trying to unlock her memories of what has happened.

It becomes apparent, however, that Laura’s own high level of competence is being undermined by the fact that she herself is suffering from the re-emergence of past trauma. As the process of interviewing goes on, memories of an act of violence in her own past become increasingly intrusive: “It’s as if something’s been asleep inside her for a very long time – something that was always there. And now it’s woken up.”

Jenny has blood on her clothing that isn’t her own, so there is urgent pressure to find answers, but the truth is elusive. When she occasionally breaks her silence, she communicates through fragments of memory, often interlaced with elements of myth and folktale. Unable to look directly at the traumas she has endured, she summons Irish tales, Greek legends and Bible stories that are darkly entwined with her efforts to remember what has taken place.

As Laura ultimately pursues the truth of what happened beyond the confines of the interview room, she stumbles on through wet branches and entangling roots, feeling that it is as though she herself is under attack: “It’s like being in a Brothers Grimm forest – the type that grew for a hundred years while the whole palace slumbered. And I don’t know why this is, but I feel Jenny’s presence. I feel that she’s here – close by. I feel like, finally, I’m inside her story.”

The Interview is a taut, deeply unsettling narrative, the tension heightened by Laura’s sense that she’s confronting not only the anguish of a damaged, vulnerable young girl but memories of her own disintegration. We’re held in suspense throughout by the question of whether she will be able to understand what has happened before she herself unravels completely.

This book was recommended to me by a good friend of mine as they knew I was a big big fan of Irish crime fiction
They were not wrong
I have seen some mixed book reviews about this one, but I really enjoyed this one.
The book was a slow burner at first, with the author setting the scene for the reader to piece together what has happened. The author introduces us to the three main characters, Jenny, Laura and Niamh, each with their own story.
We firstly meet Jenny, a 14 year old being held in a psychiatric unit. Laura and Niamh are the Garda responsible for interviewing her. The interview takes place over a few days. At first the only thing that Jenny is willing to disclose is the fact that her stepfather has physically and sexually abused her. Her mother and brother are in the hospital, seriously injured. The stepfather is missing. Has Jenny killed him?
The clock is ticking for the Garda to find our where he is and who is the Victim??!

This book is highly recommended. It is a huge change from my usual crime books. The book is tense and you can feel the urgency to find the victim

The book has been criticised for not having a flow to it. But anyone who has ever suffered with mental health will know that things are disjointed when you are anxious and worried and stressed and things don’t flow. So I think the author has nailed the mental health aspect

Highly recommend

This book was recommended to me by a good friend of mine as they knew I was a big big fan of Irish crime fiction
They were not wrong
I have seen some mixed book reviews about this one, but I really enjoyed this one.
The book was a slow burner at first, with the author setting the scene for the reader to piece together what has happened. The author introduces us to the three main characters, Jenny, Laura and Niamh, each with their own story.
We firstly meet Jenny, a 14 year old being held in a psychiatric unit. Laura and Niamh are the Garda responsible for interviewing her. The interview takes place over a few days. At first the only thing that Jenny is willing to disclose is the fact that her stepfather has physically and sexually abused her. Her mother and brother are in the hospital, seriously injured. The stepfather is missing. Has Jenny killed him?
The clock is ticking for the Garda to find our where he is and who is the Victim??!

This book is highly recommended. It is a huge change from my usual crime books. The book is tense and you can feel the urgency to find the victim

The book has been criticised for not having a flow to it. But anyone who has ever suffered with mental health will know that things are disjointed when you are anxious and worried and stressed and things don’t flow. So I think the author has nailed the mental health aspect

Highly recommend

An intriguing character-driven mystery that reminded me of a one-act play. The story will come out eventually, but can you guess how it will end?

The Interview by Gill Perdue flips sides between an extremely disturbed and unreliable narrator, Jenny, a 14-year-old girl who's been picked up by police covered in blood and refusing to talk, and seasoned victim interviewer Laura, who has her own demons to fight.

Jenny's narration is all over the place, she has an awful lot going on internally and berates herself frequently as a "dumb bitch." Particularly when she finds herself almost answering detective Laura even though she can see through her sneaky interview techniques. Jenny is not dumb at all. She's just coping.

The Interview explores some quite dark themes and does it well and effectively. As the pieces come together, your understanding of Jenny's internal monologue will start to crystalise, but fair warning, it's not a pretty picture.

Although I was absorbed when actively reading The Interview, it's not the type of book that makes you desperate to get back to it after putting it down, its pace was a little slower than that. It's more of a patience game. A slow jigsaw, if you will, but enjoyable nonetheless.

If you like the Netflix show Criminal, you will likely enjoy this book.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review ★★★

This is the first book I have read by this author.

I enjoyed this book.

It was a dark story that wasn’t fast paced but enjoyable and easy to read.

Many thanks to the author publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This is a excellent book that I highly recommend. It is a dark, demanding read, slow in places but well worth the effort. It touches on difficult subjects such as domestic abuse, child.abuse and metal health issues. It's not a book for those who maybe triggered by these subjects.
I would be very keen to read more of this authors work.

This was a very dark, but very interesting read. Not exactly what I was expecting and a little slow in places, but ultimately a good book that I’d recommend. Thank you for the ARC

I struggled with the subject matter of this novel - it deals with violence, domestic abuse and sexual abuse - nothing graphic but the descriptions of its repercussions makes it a hard read. Worthwhile but certainly not a switch off story. I wanted to keep reading as I was not at all sure what the outcome would be - fascinated and repulsed in equal measure.

Jenny - the victim - is found covered in blood and in shock. She can only recount her story through fairy tales with no one sure what is truth and what is make believe. It is up to Laura and Niamh to find out the truth and video her testimony. To add to the difficulty in doing so Laura is struggling to cope with secrets of her own which could jeopardise the whole investigation.

Well written but traumatic - not for the faint hearted.

I really enjoyed this book, although it is a very dark story. Detective Laura Shaw is an expert at interviewing, being very good at getting people to open up. When 14 year old Jenny is found covered in blood and her step father is missing, Laura isn't sure whether Jenny is a victim or if she has committed a criminal offence. Jenny is determined not to talk. It soon becomes apparent that Laura herself is suffering with her mental health, dating back to a serious assault when she was 18. This is a real page turner that will keep you guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Thanks to #netgalley for arc
I loved this book from very first word I was hooked I could feel the connection between the girl and Niamh and Laura how they built the building blocks of the framework of their interview
Then you begin to realise that one of them has more invested than the other and the balance shifts slightly but then then both take themselves for a quiet conversation and pull it back together
But do they ?? Niamh has her coaching to keep her occupied outside of work but Laura where time is consumed with Katie her almost 2 year old daughter who she has major anxiety over leaving. She has been seeing a great therapist called Sam but upon trying to contact him this time finds out he has died, so she tries to follow what he taught her although she finds this harder and harder.
Laura is hiding a traumatic secret of her own and her thoughts and Jenny -the girl - thoughts are getting muddled up until eventually something is going to have to give
Will it be her marriage to her super supportive husband whose parents always looked down on her, or will it be this secret that is strangling her or will it be the line she is prepared to take in her job to get Jenny to talk openly?
It can’t be all only one? But which one ?

This book had such an interesting premise and I did find myself wanting to keep reading, but it wasn't amazing! None of the characters were very likeable and I felt the ending was a little falt for me.

I did enjoy this book but it took me a while to get into it - i found myself getting easily distracted instead of gripped and i'm unsure whether that was because the pace was slow or whether the book was just not for me. i really wanted to like this book and i thought i was going to but i was left a little disappointed as there wasn't as much suspense as i usually look for, however the plot and writing were very good. The triggers are definitely heavy - this wasn't a factor that influenced my rating as such because they weren't sensitive topics for me, however I can see how theh would be for some people. Overall I did enjoy this book but it's not one that i would pick up to read more than once. It would be a good introduction to the genre though.

I thought this was a very interesting concept for a book. Where a 14 year old girl Jenny, is a victim of assault and gets interviewed by Detective Laura and her partner Niamh. The twist here is that Jenny only speak through fairy tales. As she says "fairy tales are way more honest. Bad things happen".

Firstly, it's hard to imagine Jenny as a young girl when she comes across as a grown adult (I think this is because of all the swearing she does and how mature her inner monologue comes across). At first she's mute, but then slowly opens up through the telling of fairy tales (very dark ones). I thought the idea of communicating her situation through fairy tales was a unique one, but unfortunately, this just took wayyy too long!

The book is very very slow paced... Practically nothing happens in this book other than Niamh and Laura trying to pry information from Jenny and Jenny swearing and refusing to give any information. Whenever we do get any information about Jenny and her case, we get very little and then the story drags again until we get more. The plot never seems to truly progess?

Also important to mention that there are some dark and difficult moments to read in this book as well.

However, I do like how this book is written in terms of chapters. The chapters aren't that long and the book is written in multiple POVs which makes the story interesting as we get insights to every character's thoughts.

I think this book would have been more enjoyable if it weren't so slow in progession.

I had trouble liking this book. For starters, the pace is too slow, almost no action, especially in the first part of the book, and no tension or much suspense. Also, i really didn’t like the characters, especially Laura who I found the most annoying of all. The themes are intense and strong (abuse, trauma, neglect) which are described in details so it is not a read for everyone. I kept reading to see how the story and the characters would develop, but I am sorry to say it is not a book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Interview.

Laura has had a rough young life, but now she is well established as a respected member of the Gardai, trained in interviewing young people after crimes have been discovered. But when she meets Jenny, Everything changes. Jenny’s circumstances effect Laura in ways she can’t imagine, making her job even more difficult. Will Jenny ever tell the full story? Or will Laura never discover the truth?

This was an interesting premise for a book, but I felt it dragged a little in the middle section. Or maybe could have been wrapped up sooner. There was also some Irish dialect and terms which I could not understand, but it was easy enough to follow. 3 stars.

A girl covered in blood. A missing man. A cryptic fairy tale.

Detective Laura Shaw seems to have it all: a supportive husband, a happy two-year-old and a great career. She is her team's top interviewer, brilliant at coaxing victims to open up.

Then, she meets Jenny - a 14-year-old assault victim - and the façade crumbles. Jenny's stepfather is missing, the blood on her clothes is not her own and Laura can't interpret the fairy tale she keeps repeating.

But Jenny isn't the only one with secrets. With every hour that passes, Laura loses more of her grip, grappling with the biggest question of all:

Is every life worth saving?

‘The Interview’ by Gill Perdue is an exceptionally gripping debut novel. A slow burn start but the author has a wonderful way with words and before long the tension is ratcheting up. The interviewing detective is almost as damaged as the 14 year old victim who has the answers but communicates by creating a sinister fairy tale - and time is running out for the victim. The psychology is fascinating and the detective is forced to take risks to get to the answers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope it’s the first of many from this author. I mean, who needs sleep anyway?

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an unbiased review.