A Voice in the Night by Sarah Hawthorn has a premise that immediately hooked me in. In 2001, Lucie was an intern at a New York law firm having an affair with a married man. Martin was planning on leaving his wife to be with Lucie but after heading off to the World Trade Centre on the morning of the 9/11 attacks, she never saw him again and grieved his loss deeply.
Twenty years later, Lucie is working at a prestigious law firm in London when she receives a note:
"At last I've found you. A shock I'm sure. But in time I'll explain. Martin"Woah! That was it, I was completely hooked and had to read this book. In January this year, I read The World of PostSecret by Frank Warren and was haunted by this secret: "Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I'm dead."
I've since learned that people have been known to use a natural disaster or major incident as an opportunity to disappear, essentially faking their own deaths in order to start a new life somewhere else. This still fascinates me, so how timely to come across this debut novel exploring the possibility of just that. Does Lucie have a stalker or is Martin really back from the dead after faking his own disappearance?
Set in London, New York and Sydney, Lucie's career situation, friendships and her casual love interests propel the story along making it very readable.
A Voice in the Night is a domestic thriller with a few twists and turns that I definitely didn't see coming. Ultimately, I wanted the story to go a certain way and it didn't, so for that reason, it wasn't a full five star read for me. A Voice in the Night by Australian author Sarah Hawthorn is a solid debut for domestic thriller fans.
You can seize this book at Booktopia.
I loved this book too ! Great review!
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DeleteThanks so much Diane-Lyn, I enjoyed your review of this one too.
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