This is a psychological thriller aimed at adults and is the
debut novel for the author.
Penelope Sheppard, who is on a scholarship, is off to
University - on the back of reinventing herself after a tragic accident that occurred
when she was 15 which left her best friend Tracey in jail. She is back in the
psychologist's chair for a formal report and is advised to keep her thoughts
and deeds in a diary. We soon realise Pen is more of an anti-hero as she shares
only the info which makes her look good. Cut to Uni and she has met a plethora
of characters: Michael, the loner; Joad, the bully; Rogan, her crush; Toby, the
RA and Rachael, a 2nd-year interfering busybody. A murder occurs near the
campus prompting the females to call for more stringent security measures as
the "Screwdriver Man" finds more victims. Add to the mix her mom's
money grabbing boyfriend and a headmaster who seems to have a secret agenda,
Pen is sure to "cook the book" a little. Time will tell if the past
and future collide and truths make themselves known.
I'm rather ambivalent about this one. I liked the way the
author fed you titbits about many aspects of the story and led you in a
completely different direction only to catch up with the previous storyline
later. The story with Tracey is constantly alluded to and each time you think
you know what happened you find out you were wrong. Pen is extremely flawed and
you never know if you should be rooting for her or not - she manipulates for
her own gain and you can feel as others get sucked into the web only to find
out that it was not her web in the first place. The ending was a bit predictable
and yet when it happened I felt it needed a bit more substance. There was so
much info into leading characters to the ending and then *poof* it was over.
Still, an impressive debut and interesting read.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
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