Book Review - Anything You Do Say by Gillian McAllister

Amazon UK

Title: Anything You Do Say

Author: Gillian McAllister

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied copy

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 25th January 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

'I could run, or I could stay and call him an ambulance. Now it is decision time . . .'

It's the end of the night. You're walking home on your own.

Then you hear the sound every woman dreads. Footsteps. Behind you. Getting faster.

You're sure it's him - the man from the bar who wouldn't leave you alone.

You make a snap decision. You turn. You push. Your pursuer tumbles down the steps. He lies motionless, face-down on the floor.

Now what?

Call 999

Wait for the police to arrive. For judgement, for justice, whatever that may be. You just hope your husband, family and friends, everyone you love, will stand by you.

OR:

Run

Stay silent. You didn't mean to do it. You were scared, you panicked. And no one saw. No one will ever know. If you leave now. If you keep quiet. For ever.

Which is it to be?

What would you do if you had been harassed in a bar for part of an evening, were nervy and jumpy and then expected to walk back to the station late at night by yourself? Especially if you as you are a walking hear footsteps behind you, and believe you are being followed?  

Well Joanne makes the decision to push him, and then has to make the toughest decision of her life as he lays their unmoving - to call 999 or not?

I honestly don't know what I would do in her shoes, other than potentially have called a cab and not walked back to the station.  But that is the basic premise of the book - told in alternating chapters you have two distinct time lines, two variations on what could have happened, on whether Joanne conceals or reveals the truth. 

As the chapters were titled and clearly alternated without fail it was easy enough to keep the two scenarios separate in my mind, so as not to cause confusion. I was with Joanne with every step of her life over a two year period, with the consequences of her actions. 

I found this to be a surprisingly easy book to get into, and I loved the concept of the story. I was interested in both scenarios, and found I kept returning to the book, to get more and more of it read.  I'm not really sure what I felt other than intrigue as I was reading it, but I did need to know what happened. 

It was interesting to see how the characters developed and changed in both halves of the story, and the stark realities of the impact of Joannes decisions. It is definitely a story that will make you think and one that I could fully appreciate the story and writing style of. 

Thank you to Penguin for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.  

Guest Post - Why I Write Psychological Thrillers by Gillian McAllister - Blog Tour

I started out my literary career writing women's fiction. I was signed by my agent for a women's fiction novel and I wrote another before that, which had a few near misses with agents. One was about a woman who leaves her boyfriend for another man and the second was about a woman who is childless by choice.

It took my novel getting rejected by publishers for me to take a step back and consider what it was I really wanted to write. Because, actually, since starting that novel, my reading habits had changed, and that's what got me thinking. I - along with lots of other readers! - had read Gone Girl, and The Girl on the Train, and had had my appetite whetted. The rise of the female psychological thriller has been a really interesting trend to observe, and it doesn't show any signs of dying down yet, both in books and on television. There's something eerily compelling about the 'it could happen to you' element of them, together with the grounded domesticity of the setting and the chilling but often understated crimes at their centre. I still can't get enough of them.

For some reason, I had never really thought about writing psychological thrillers even though they were what I had exclusively started reading. I thought they involved plotting that was beyond me (and they are difficult to plot) and I also still wanted to write primarily about relationships. 

So that's what got me thinking about what I could write that might combine my interests. What if I could write a book with the structure and pace of a thriller, but one that is still ultimately about people's relationships? I could think of a few authors who did such things - Liane Moriarty, Louise Doughty - but not many. But - sometimes - that's an indication that you should, not that you shouldn't. 

So I set about plotting my debut, Everything But The Truth, about a woman who catches sight of evidence on her boyfriend's iPad that he has committed a crime. And then, after that, I had the idea for my second: what if you were followed home by a man who wouldn't leave you alone in a bar? What if you pushed him, without thinking, and seriously injured him? And what - then - if the narrative split, showing both the path where you call 999 and confess, and the one where you walk away, and go on the run? 

It was with that book that I really found my groove. Sure, they're psychological thrillers, but they're also examinations of dubious legal/moral situations, explorations of relationships under stress, and character studies. My third is no different - about a woman accusing of harming her sister's baby - and my fourth won't be, either. I guess the lesson is: write what you really do want to read, even if it doesn't yet exist on the shelf. Especially if it doesn't yet exist on the shelf. 

Thank you so much for this great post Gillian. I am looking forward to reading Anything You Do Say. 

Gone Girl meets Sliding Doors in this edge-of-your-seat thriller

Joanna is an avoider. So far she has spent her adult life hiding bank statements and changing career aspirations weekly.

But then one night Joanna hears footsteps on the way home. Is she being followed? She is sure it's him; the man from the bar who wouldn't leave her alone. Hearing the steps speed up Joanna turns and pushes with all of her might, sending her pursuer tumbling down the steps and lying motionless on the floor.

Now Joanna has to do the thing she hates most - make a decision. Fight or flight? Truth or lie? Right or wrong?

Purchase from Amazon UK

Cover Reveal - Anything You Do Say by Gillian McAllister

I am delighted to be able to reveal today, the details for Gillian McAllister's brand new cover and book... Anything You Do Say

Gone Girl meets Sliding Doors in this edge-of-your-seat thriller

Joanna is an avoider. So far she has spent her adult life hiding bank statements and changing career aspirations weekly.

But then one night Joanna hears footsteps on the way home. Is she being followed? She is sure it's him; the man from the bar who wouldn't leave her alone. Hearing the steps speed up Joanna turns and pushes with all of her might, sending her pursuer tumbling down the steps and lying motionless on the floor.

Now Joanna has to do the thing she hates most - make a decision. Fight or flight? Truth or lie? Right or wrong?

Available for Pre-order now from Amazon UK

Published - Ebook - 30th November 2017 & Paperback - 25th January 2018

I don't know about you but I love the eerie nature of this cover, and the blurb sounds great. Its got my adrenalin pumping just from reading it! 

Hope you are all looking forward to this book as much as I am. Let me know your thoughts.