Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake

• Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin; Reprint edition (9 Jan. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1250167205
• ISBN-13: 978-1250167200
• Product Dimensions: 14.1 x 2.6 x 21 cm

Synopsis

Alison, Julie, Sarah, Heather. Four friends living the suburban ideal. Their jobs are steady, their kids are healthy. They’re as beautiful as their houses. But each of them has a dirty little secret, and hidden behind the veneer of their perfect lives is a crime and a mystery that will consume them all.

Everything starts to unravel when Alison spots a nasty bruise on Heather’s wrist. She shares her suspicions with Julie and Sarah, compelling all three to investigate what looks like an increasingly violent marriage. As mysterious injuries and erratic behavior mount, Heather can no longer deny the abuse, but she refuses to leave her husband. Desperate to save her, Alison and the others dread the phone call telling them that she’s been killed. But when that call finally comes, it’s not Heather who’s dead. In a moment they’ll come to regret, the women must decide what lengths they’ll go to in order to help a friend.

Just Between Us is a thrilling glimpse into the underbelly of suburbia, where not all neighbors can be trusted, and even the closest friends keep dangerous secrets. You never really know what goes on in another person’s mind, or in their marriage.

Review

Just Between Us is an intelligent domestic thriller, that looks at how far you would go to protect a friend, and how that then ripples out to effect your daily life. The story is narrated mainly by three of the friends; Alison, Julie and Sarah, with the occasional chapter by Heather, the main protagonist. The three different observations and take on events adds layers and depth to the narrative, and give a more rounded version of events. I enjoyed Rebecca Drake’s writing style, her writing flowed seamlessly and she kept up the fast pace of the plot.

All four of her female protagonists were flawed in character and had troubled pasts that they hadn’t necessarily shared with each other, but do have an influence on events in the book. All four characters were very familiar, in that they could be someone you know from the school play ground; the tall blonde, the fun bubbly one, the quiet reader who stays in the background and the dark haired smart one. Their interaction and friendship is very natural as well and as in most groups of friends there are some closer than others, Sarah and Julie being friends the longest and Alison confiding some of her past in Heather. They reminded me in a way of the characters in Desperate Housewives. All are tied together in their decision to help Heather, and it is their slow unravelling, the paranoia, stress, turning to drink and their ultimate distrust of each other  that adds suspense and a sense of uncertainty to this fast paced thriller, just how well do any of us know our friends and what goes on behind closed doors.

Just Between Us is a compelling domestic thriller with lots of twists and turns along the way. It is a tale of friendships, obsession, lies, secrets and ultimately murder; an erudite and enthralling read.