Member Reviews
I enjoyed reading this book and the dual storyline. Quite a gritty read. Thanks, Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book early. I will look out for the author's other books.
Adam is at University where he meets Clio as they appear in a production of Dr. Faustus, he obviously has feelings for her and takes her for a day out in Cambridge. Things take a sinister turn when a friend of Clio,Louis an aspiring film maker asks to make a film of Adam going about his daily business at University. Adam is warned that Louis is "evil " but agrees to the filming anyway.
At a drug fuelled party at Louis's house after filming a student is pestering Clio so Adam takes it on his self to force him upstairs and lock him in the bathroom.Shortly afterwards the student leaps from the window and dies. Louis has been secretly filming and has doctored the film to show that Adam was involved in the death.Louis agrees not to show the film to anybody if Adam agrees to be filmed again in 24 years, which he does.
Forward 24 years when Adam is a hospital doctor, with a wife Tania and 2 young children and Clio reappears in a park where the family is spending some time ,holding the son's hand and saying that she has found him wandering away from his family, Tania is so grateful and invites Clio back to the house and appears to like her.
Tania and the children go to visit her parents leaving Adam at home and Clio turns up unannounced. Adam is not impressed but as she is wet through with the rain,lets her in and they drink Champagne.She removes her dress to dry it out and somehow a picture of her in her underwear at the family home is sent to Tania.
Adam starts to wonder how these things are happening and calls his old University pal Ji , a tech geek who discovers everything is being streamed live on the Dark Web and people are bidding for various things to happen to Adam and his family . Cameras are everywhere and it appears that Louis is behind it all doing the filming as agreed 24 years earlier. Lots of things happen from here on in leading to an exciting ending at The Minnack Theatre on the cliffs in Cornwall.
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4.5 rounded up to 5
Based on a very unique premise, this book had me hooked from the first page to the last! I read a lot of thrillers and I often find myself bored/guessing all the twists because of the similar plots they have, but this didn't appen with this book. What a fresh breath of air!
The characters were not particularly likeable, but this is also the point of the book so I didn't mind much. Everyone has secrets, and sooner or later they will come back to bite you.
I also loved the parallels with Dr Faustus, which added a clever and eerie dimention to the plot.
A book I recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
A growing suspense runs through the book with an unavoidable feeling that things are only going to get worse. The suspense is enhanced by the clever parallels with the story of Dr Faustus which resonates with the characters. Clever ending with no sure way of second-guessing it.
This book is published on 13th April. Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an advance copy to review.
The story centres around Adam, now a successful Consultant Paediatrician, seemingly living a perfect family life. His young son runs off in the park one day, and the woman who brings him back is an old flame from Adam’s Uni days. He suspects a far more sinister reason for her return. When it becomes apparent someone is trying to destroy Adam’s life, he has to reveal long buried truths and risk losing his family.
The story is set in the present day and also flashes back to Adam’s time at Cambridge Uni in the late 90s. Adam has a fear of being filmed and watched on camera which seems a bit irrational at first. Slowly the two timelines weave together and Adam’s fear makes more sense. It’s a shame it takes more than half the book for this to happen.
I really didn’t like the characters in the story at all. I found them so two dimensional and couldn’t connect to or get behind any of them. I think this made the book feel like a bit of a slog which was unfortunate.
After initial curiosity and wondering where the story would go, it tailed off a bit and didn’t pick up again until well after halfway through. I appreciate the author was trying something different with the plot but it ended up feeling too far-fetched and the story didn’t come together for me.
I was surprised that Adam even went to court, I thought his statement would have been inadmissible as he was drunk.
This book wasn’t for me and I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I had hoped.
2.5 stars rounded to 3.
An intriguing suspenseful mystery with dual timelines to keep you hooked. I found tis really interesting and loved having the secrets slowly unravel as more of the past is revealed. I also thought the characters were well written and I liked having the suspense of cameras constantly leering over the story. The only downside for me was the Dr Faustus elements, I found them confusing and a bit strange it made it hard to understand parts of the book and I think it wasn't really needed as it took away from the actual plot and ruined it slightly for me.
Loved this, was hooked!
Your past will find a way to catch up to you.
Adam hoped he had left his past behind, but a surprise encounter with someone from uni leaves him worried. His life starts to unravel and he has to figure out how to stop a pact made 24 years ago. Who can he trust?
Thanks to netgally for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
A chance encounter with the woman from his past who broke his heart - and his wife likes her. But was it really a chance encounter? Are the events at University coming back to haunt him? Good thriller weaving the two timelines to create the tension as events unravel.
This is one of the best suspense novels I’ve read in a long time. Based loosely on a Faustian pact, it cleverly weaves the events from the main character, Adam’s, university days in with his current life, without ever giving me whiplash as these split timelines can so often do. The twist was excellent, the conclusion satisfying, and the whole book was compelling.
It is clear that I was not the intended audience for this particular book. The way that women and minorities were written in this book made it clear that the author must not think much of them. It is difficult to sympathize with the main character, half because he’s not very likable and half because the main conflict doesn’t make much sense until the very end.
Holy smokes was this book good!!!!
Careful around cameras and who you make friends with.
I have no words to describe how fantastic this storyline was. And even though some characters are unlikeable I liked them, everything about them, the good and the evil.
I could not put this book down.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.
What a storyline!!! This had me gripped - I loved how we were reading the present day story and the story from 24 years ago and then being able to see and understand the present day happenings. Really well written and I could not read it quick enough.
When a medical student at Cambridge name Adam make the Fausty in deal with a guy named Louie 24 years seems like a very long time when you’re young. Unfortunately days turn into months and months turn into years and before Adam knows it he’s paranoid thinking cameras on the street we’re put there just to watch him and when he runs into Louie’s ex-girlfriend in his college obsession he wonders if it was accidental at all before Adam knows it his life looks like it’s going to fall apart but his biggest concern is his wife Tonya and his children. The last thing he wants to do is lose them. Just like Faustian Adam feels he is dealing with Mephistopheles all the devil himself and how can you fight a demon. This book was so smart and so intelligently written and I feel like this book was hitting on all cylinders. What an awesome awesome idea for a book and water awesome book! I loved it and highly recommend it. I didn’t say much about the story because I didn’t want to give anything away I didn’t know myself while going into the book the ending is awesome because I had no clue how he was going to work his way out of this but OMG the story is awesome! I received this book from NetGalley and a publisher but I’m leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
I really enjoyed this book. It was slow to begin with with a chapter set in the present and then switching to 24 years ago when a student doctor Adam makes a pact to save his career. Events happened in the past he would rather forget about.
The book then takes quite a sinister turn as Adam tries to track down who is trying to ruin his life and his paranoia on who he can trust. The dark web is closing in and people are apparently viewing and controlling every aspect of his life.
Once it became apparent what the book was about it became much easier to get into and I couldn’t put it down. Would read this author in the future.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I was so intrigued by this book specially by the title and cover. And it delivered. Usually with these books I’m easily disappointed once I started reading the book but this wasn’t the case. What an amazing time I had. I couldn’t put it down. I’m now a little bit paranoid, that’s how good this book is.
Really liked the premise of this publication and am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
I found the overall pace of this book a little bit slow, certainly in the first half, although it did latterly pick up.
The level of paranoia didn't really sit with me, but I was sufficiently interested to finish the book and am not disappointed I did, although at best I could only award three stars.
No Place to Hide left me feeling really conflicted because I actually really liked the premise of the initial plot but once the flashbacks to Adam’s time at university came into it, it left the first half of the book feeling really stilted to me.
It definitely picked up about half way through and was a lot more gripping but I feel like I would have preferred Adam’s paranoia and back story to have been revealed in a different way as this slowed down the pace a little too much for my liking.
That being said, I struggled to set this book down towards the end and was satisfied with the ending so although I won’t be rushing to read it again, I did enjoy it for the most part!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading No Place to Hide, it kept me on the edge of my seat. I could imagine the horror of having your life unravel. I liked the relationship between Adam and his wife, it was refreshing to have a supportive relationship amidst the struggles of becoming a new parent.
A pretty disturbing book which has the dark web at the centre. Adam is a successful doctor who's life slowly begins to disintegrate around him as he becomes convinced that someone is watching his every move and trying to destroy him. I would have enjoyed it more if had actually liked the character but he grated on me which made it hard to care about him.
This book is based around Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, updated to the present electronic age. It's a really thought provoking story that I definitely enjoyed even though it left me with some worrying 'what if' ideas.
The book covers two time periods, separated by 24 years and alternates between them throughout the book. There are good descriptions of Cornwall and Canterbury that make me want to visit.
Some incidents in the book are very graphically described, which might put some readers off, but for me they are not overdone and necessary for the story to proceed.
There are a number of twists and turns keep the reader guessing right to the end.