Really enjoyed how much suspense this book had. I didn't want to put it down and was always waiting to see when it happened. You will have to read it to figure out just what "it" is. I'll see if she's written other books.

Wow! This is a page turner from the first page. There are some parts I found myself holding my breath!

This is a solid, tense thriller from Elizabeth Haynes.

Haynes gives us alternating first-person accounts from Cathy Bailey on two sides of a horrifying domestic attack from her boyfriend, Lee. One side of the story begins in 2003, when Cathy first meets Lee and they begin to date. It becomes increasingly tense and violent and ends with Lee beating Cathy within an inch of her life and leaving her for dead.

The other side of the narrative takes up Cathy's story about three years later: Lee has been in prison, Cathy has moved to London to disappear, and she has been dealing with the mental trauma--PTSD and OCD--of surviving such an attack.

What Haynes does so beautifully is give us pieces from the "past" of Cathy's story, as it move forward in time and the reader is more and more terrified along with our protagonist, alternated with pieces from the "present" of Cathy's story, as she works on the skills to help her cope with the past and feel more in control. As the reader is on the edge of her seat leading up to the "past" climax, the current Cathy is getting better and better, which turns out to be necessary for Lee's final attack.

The story isn't so much about an abusive man as it is about a strong woman who is abandoned by her friends but continues to trust people and get the help she needs. It is a book written by a woman and never makes Cathy out to be pathetic for staying with Lee; she is never an idiot, nor is she unbelievable. She is a normal, smart, independent woman; she could be any of us, and that's what makes it even scarier.

On a side note, I love Karen Cass as the narrator and will make a point to listen to more books read by her. She does a variety of male and female characters, English and Scottish, from different regions, and they're all distinct and well done.

Seriously one of the best thrillers I read in a long time. Typically I don't like time jumping back and forth in a story, but this was employed well and wasn't distracting. In fact, it was necessary to convey the back story and her current behavior. Cathy was a great heroine and found the inner strength to face her demons one by one.

I DNFd this book. First of all, the writing was abysmal and slow as heck. Also, the characters were flat and unfeeling. I understand that a mental disorder CAN be a defining characteristic of someone, but it is not the only characteristic that makes someone a purpose and I do not like that the author presented OCD like that. She over simplified mental disorders and made them look like they are something you can ignore if you just try really really hard. Overall, I was unimpressed and I do not plan on reading anything else by her.

I'm in two minds about this book - it was a really quick read, but only because I totally skimmed and skipped through half the chapters. Doing so didn't even make me miss much of the story because in the end, it was a pretty simple story without a crazy unforeseen twist at the end or anything. Though it definitely succeeded in making me feel creeped out on more than one occasion, that was it. As a plotline, it fell flat at the end, with a ton of buildup for no apparent reason.

Wouldn't be my #1 recommendation to anyone.

I could NOT put this book down. it gets a bit intense so I wouldn't recommend it to happy-happy people but, socially, it's an important book in its exploration of domestic violence and the aftermath.