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Format: Kindle
Publishers: Simon & Schuster
Published: 12th February 2015
Pages: 320
Genre: YA, Contemporary Romance, Thriller
Main Characters: Nic, Finn
Date Read: 20th January - 25th January 2015
Date Read: 20th January - 25th January 2015
Rating Given:
Synopsis:
Everybody knows about the Cooper Killings – the Bel Air home invasion that rocked the nation.There was only one survivor - a sixteen year-old girl.And though the killers were caught they walked free.
Now eighteen, Nic Preston - the girl who survived - is trying hard to rebuild her life. She’s security conscious to the point of paranoia and her only friend is a French Mastiff bulldog, but she’s making progress. She’s started college in New York and has even begun dating.
But then one night her apartment is broken into and the life Nic’s worked so hard to create is shattered in an instant.
Finn Carter - hacker, rule breaker, player – is the last person Nic ever wants to see again. He’s the reason her mother’s killers walked free from court. But as the people hunting her close in, Nic has to accept that her best and possibly only chance of staying alive is by keeping close to Finn and learning to trust the person she’s sworn to hate.
Fleeing across a snowbound New England, frantically trying to uncover the motive behind the murders, Nic and Finn come to realize the conspiracy is bigger than they could ever have suspected. But the closer they get to the truth and the closer they get to each other, the greater the danger becomes.
To survive she has to stay close to him.To keep her safe he has to keep his distance.
I was offered a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I do love this cover as its bright but it's also dark which is very fitting for this book although there was a lot more dark moments but I don't think that would have worked with only a bit of brightness.
As soon as I started this book I was hooked as it was thrilling from the get go keeping me on the edge of my seat. I loved that I never quite knew what was going to happen next as usually the books I read I can guess what the outcome is but with this book I didn't. There was a few similarities between this book and Sarah's other book Out of Control but I did prefer this book to Out of Control just because the ending was way better. I have a feeling that this book was in the same world as Out of Control as I'm sure a couple of characters from that book was mentioned in this book and if that's the case I think it makes both books feel more realistic. Even though there was a lot of dark moments in this book there was a little bit of light relief with the humour of certain characters and some of the interaction between certain characters gave the lightness that was much needed. The romance side of the story was a nice slow burner and took a bit of a back seat but with all the action added to the story made for a perfect blend. I'm not sure what is holding me back from giving it the full five out five as there was not one thing wrong with this book it's just that I prefer some of Sarah's other books more than this one. I absolutely loved the ending as everything was cleared up and I got the ending that I craved for throughout the book.
The main characters in this book where great there where a few other characters that I was never sure about as I never knew if they where the ones doing this to Nic. Nic was an amazing character in the way that even though she went through so many traumatic things she never gave up, to even have a little bit of fight left in her after everything is surprising but she had more than a little fight in her. I loved Finn he had had quite a traumatic past as well and like Nic he didn't let it beat him. He was really sweet at times and so smart but he was also this strong guy that Nic could lean on.
Overall I loved this story as there was never a dull moment.
Giveaway is International and four prizes are up for grabs!
1 prize of 1 x signed copy of Out of Control, 1 x signed CG, 1 x signed The Sound, signed bookmarks
2 prizes of signed copies of CG, signed bookmarks
1 prize of having a character named after you in next book
Author Bio:
Sarah is the author of Hunting Lila (winner of the Kingston Book Award), Losing Lila, Fated, The Sound, Out of Control and Conspiracy Girl (all Simon & Schuster).
Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home (a journey that was documented on this blog and which is shortly to be turned into a book).
After almost a year spent travelling the world, they settled in Bali where they lived for five beautiful years before the vagabonding urge became too great and they decided to embark on Can We Live Here part two. They are currently located somewhere between India, London, Canada and the US.
As well as writing young adult novels and screenplays, Sarah also writes adult fiction for Pan Macmillan (Simon & Schuster in the US) under the name Mila Gray.
Her first adult novel, Come Back To Me, was published in June 2014. The second, This One Moment, will be out in August 2015.
Sarah has co-written the Hunting Lila screenplay, which is currently in the early stages of production, and continues to blog about her life and travels.
Author links:
Extract
For a few seconds I think I must have imagined it, but then it comes again, the wooden floorboards creaking under the weight of a footstep.
Someone is inside my apartment.
It takes me several seconds to process that fact. And once I do, my brain stalls and paralysis takes over, despite the adrenaline that’s making my heart smash into my ribs like fists against a door.
Finally, my legs unglue themselves and I dart for the front, panic fuelling me. At the very last
moment I catch sight of the three bolts drawn across it and veer in blind towards my bedroom.
‘Goz!’ I shout hoarsely as I sprint towards it. ‘Get over here!’
Goz glances at me, then back at the door, and I see him hesitate before his training kicks in and he turns and races after me. I slam my bedroom door shut and draw the bolt, scrambling towards the panic button that’s built inside to the bedside table and ramming the heel of my hand down on it. Collapsing to my knees, I stare wide eyed at the door. Three minutes, I tell myself. The armed response unit will be here in three minutes.
The door is reinforced with steel. Nothing , no one, can get through it. The security guy told me my apartment was safe as the President’s nuclear bunker. Even so, my whole body is locked rigid and a sob is blocking my throat. The room is starting to close in on me.
Glass shatters somewhere in the apartment and I shrink back against the bed with a whimper, drawing my knees to my chest. Oh God. Not again. Footsteps make their way slowly across the living room. Where is the armed response team? How long has it been? It feels like hours but it must only have been a few seconds.
I bury my head in my arms and cover my ears but it doesn’t matter because the voices are inside my head and I can’t get away from them. I hear my mum pleading, begging for her life. I hear Taylor - her screams echoing in my skull. Their voices drown out Goz, who is working himself into a wild frenzy, bashing against the door.
I want to call him over to me, but my voice won’t work. Get it together, I order myself furiously. Come on! Forcing my eyes open, I struggle to my knees and grab my phone. I dial 911. Nothing happens. There’s no dial tone. I shake the phone desperately. What the hell is going on? I dial again, terror now taking hold of my breathing, making me almost hyperventilate. Still nothing. The phone won’t connect. All of a sudden my attention flies back to the door. Goz has stopped barking and is edging silently backwards away from it.
We watch the door handle twist slowly one way and then the other. Goz hunkers down and lets out a low growl. The door handle stops moving. I keep staring, holding my breath, half expecting the door to burst open.
But then, from the living room, comes a scraping sound as the bolts on the front door are drawn back. My head flies up. Are they leaving? I strain to listen.
An explosion - what sounds like a gunshot – makes me jolt backwards. A second later I heard the front door smash against the concrete wall of the landing and footsteps careering down the stairs and then, as I huddle unmoving, unsure what is happening, desperately hoping it’s the armed response unit, I hear something else.
The faint sound of someone begging for help.
