- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Avon (16 April 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0008309647
- ISBN-13: 978-0008309640
Synopsis
Kitty Marchland has always known that her family aren’t like others. But when her father uproots them to a remote cottage in the woods, she realises that her parents are keeping secrets from her – secrets that could unravel everything.
Years later, Kitty starts to question what really happened out in the forest. When the police revisit a suspicious death, she must examine her most painful memories – and this time, there’s nowhere to hide…
Review
Last year I reviewed B.P Watler’s debut thriller A Version of the Truth so was excited to see he had his second novel, Hold Your Breath out this month. In 1987 Kitty’s mother is suffering with mental health problems, which is having a damaging effect on the family. One day her father packs up the car and drives to Northumberland, to a cottage in the woods for a family holiday. In reality, this is her father’s last ditch attempt to get care for his wife so she won’t have to go into hospital. Kitty is left to her own devices, to roam the woods and the house where she sees and hears things that she will never forget. In the present day Katherine has written a book based on those few weeks in the woods and is forced to confront what really happened when she was ten years old. A real slow burner, that goes to some very dark places, this is a thriller that will make you hold your breath in suspense.
The plot has a split time line, 1987 and the present and Kitty/Katherine is the narrator in both. In 1987 Kitty, as she prefers to be called, is only ten years old but seems to have an older head on her shoulders. She has a confidence about herself, and is very defensive about herself and her family. Home life has been difficult with her mother being unwell and she feels sidelined and neglected. Like any child, her response to this is to know what buttons to press, how to get a reaction adding to the tension in the cottage. In the present day Katherine is very much changed, she has a lot less confidence, has little or no contact with her family and also has a history of mental health problems brought on by the events in 1987. The two timelines work well together, ten year old Kitty shows us events as they happened, what she saw and heard, how she felt. In present day, forced to confront her past, we see the lasting damage and how maybe a ten year old may not see everything clearly.
Hold Your Breath is like a jigsaw, slowly all the random pieces begin to fit together, and when in the right place complete a picture of those three weeks in the forest. The characters are compelling, all flawed, but they draw you into the book and their roles in events. B.P Water goes to some very dark places in this book but does so with understanding and consideration which keeps it real, and not just for dramatic effect. The disturbing and feeling of unease bring fear to the forefront of this book, so as the reader I felt I was constantly on edge, waiting for the next dark turn. More on the plot I won’t say, this is a book you have to experience first hand, and I recommend you do.
Hold Your Breath is a tense, thrilling and creepy read. It is Kitty’s narrative that draws you in, an innocent child witness to some distressing scenes, the reader experiencing them with her. Well written, a pressure pot of suspense, this is a deliciously dark and sinister thriller and one I highly recommend.
I would like to thank Avon Books for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
