The Girl with no Past by Kathryn Croft

This psychological thriller holds your concentration throughout the novel, and keeps you guessing who and why with each twist and turn.

Leah Mills is haunted by a tragic event that happened in her past. Determined that she never allow herself happiness for her part in the deed, she lives a quiet and boring life with no friends, no partner, meagre worldly possessions and a job that barely keeps her afloat. Just before the current year's anniversary of the event she receives an anonymous card-one that proves someone else knows what she did. As the stalker becomes more and more intense, Leah must move out of her comfort zone and elicit help from others. But why as she is finally reaching out, does her world seem to be turning against her?

The story starts with a bang which immediately has you asking questions. When the chapters start jumping from present to past it's a little confusing until you understand whose point of view it is, and how those characters are involved in the story. Figuring out who the stalker is becomes a mind mix early on as you bounce ideas around in your mind. That being said, once you reach a certain point in the book it becomes obvious who it is, which is quite a shame. The build up to find the stalker however is very well written, as the characters and their personalities seem to turn in 180 degree angles and the reader is stymied as to why. The end was a bit neatly packaged but I loved the tie in of the last and first chapter, as a new perspective was presented to the reader.

Leah is quite a strange character and in the beginning you immerse yourself in her hopelessness and solitude and feel elation at her triumphs. Then for a while her character loses her backbone and you just want to shake her and tell her to grow up. The kids from school were awful-wanted to slap each and every one of them; especially Adam. Not too much is probed into the other dynamics of relationships in the story, but enough is covered to understand each character's place in the book and the effect on each other.

The storyline is skilfully woven to keep you entertained throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review the book.