Final Cut by S.J Watson

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1133 KB
• Print Length: 374 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0857523066
• Publisher: Transworld Digital (6 Aug. 2020)
• Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B084WPF15C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Blackwood Bay. An ordinary place, home to ordinary people.

It used to be a buzzing seaside destination. But now, ravaged by the effects of dwindling tourism and economic downturn, it’s a ghost town – and the perfect place for film-maker Alex to shoot her new documentary.

But the community is deeply suspicious of her intentions. After all, nothing exciting ever happens in Blackwood Bay – or does it?

 

Review

I was a huge fan of S.J Watson’s Before I Go To Sleep, so I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour for his new book Final Cut. Alex is just starting out as a film maker and has an idea for a documentary filmed in a small town, telling the story of life there. But she isn’t prepared for is that the tv company sends her to Blackwood Bay in Yorkshire, a place where three teenage girls have gone missing and somewhere she has been before. As the local people upload films, and Alex looks into the community there is an underlying tension and suspicion, and mistrust of the newcomer. They always say the camera never lies, and maybe Alex has stumbled across more than she bargained for.

Reading Final Cut is like getting on a runaway train that gradually gains speed until you are hurtling towards an unknown, but frightening ending. From the opening chapter  I was hooked as the plot split between ‘Then’ and ‘Now’. Now is narrated by Alex, who has gone to Blackwood Bay to get background for her film, but finds hostility from some of the locals, especially as she wants to find out more about the missing girls. ‘Then’ follows the story of a young girl, a runaway, frightened and scared who has lost her memory. I love the way this plot gathered pace whilst at the same time building layers gradually, leading the reader into a false sense of security then blowing it completely up in the air. The blurred lines between reality and memory, then and now, add to the mystery of the plot; what is true and what is not, which left me reeling with the tension. Add to this the underlying menacing atmosphere, that increased the sense of fear and you have one amazingly brilliant thriller.

Alex is a fascinating and complex character, and the perfect protagonist in that she is damaged, and her memories of the past blur those of the present. She has so many layers, both hidden and obvious, that mean she continuously developing and changing right until the very end. Her time in Blackwood Bay sees her re-evaluate her life and face her past head on. I admired her strength in the face of adversity and her drive to improve her life, after a difficult start, and a past that continues to haunt her.

S.J Watson explores so many different themes in this book, from a small town mentality, with mistrust of outsiders, addiction, prostitution, and suicide, all dealt with sensitively and with honesty.  He explores how the past effcects the present, and how memory can’t always be trusted. His writing drew me in with a plot that twisted and turned, was thrilling and menacing and utterly compelling. I almost wanted to read the last few chapters from behind my fingers such was the building sense of fear and malevolence, and there are very few writers who have that effect on me.

Final Cut is a phenomenal psychological thriller. Atmospheric, dark and full of suspense with a flawed narrator, this book blew me away.  S.J Watson is a masterful author, bringing all the pieces to the table and some extra just for good measure; delectably dark and disturbing, I loved it!

I would like to thank Doubleday Books amd Anne Cater for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.