5 Stars from me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Having read and loved all of Alison Bruce’s previous books, I was delighted to receive a copy of The Moment Before Impact for Christmas!
Much like the others, this too is set in Cambridge which makes it wonderfully easy to imagine the scenes, shops, roads and houses. I completely love this – it makes it so REAL as I can visualise the area, almost hear the traffic and bustle of Mill Road and smell the delights of Hot Numbers: or the eerie quiet of a lone woman crossing Parker’s Piece at night.
I find that Alison Bruce has a straightforward way of writing that that drags you into the story, the descriptions of gruesome things, for example, are really quite superb. I felt my stomach lurch during the car crash and my heart was literally pounding when Nicci needed to leave a house in the nick of time. Moreover, the hideous brutality of the attacks on the poor captured woman were horrifyingly portrayed. It felt so so real.
The strands of the story are neatly woven and they pull tighter and tighter before the ball finally unravels and the truth of the situation comes to light. Mostly down to the dogged determination of Celia – or the nosiness of an old lady – to get to the bottom of the story.
As much as I may have missed the presence of a certain Mr Goodhew… I greatly enjoyed meeting Celia, she is a fabulous character and I wonder if she has more stories to tell…
#HappyNewYear everyone – let’s hope that 2021 is kinder to us than 2020 was x
Blurb: Death, disappearance and divorce have shaped Jack Bailey’s life. The breakdown of his marriage and the loss of his beloved daughter force him to make a new start. He reluctantly returns to Cambridge, his childhood home, but his decision means living in the shadow that still hangs over the place where he grew up.
The old house stirs memories and his reappearance causes ripples amongst the locals who still remember the night, eleven years earlier, when his stepsister vanished without a trace.
When another woman disappears, history seems to be repeating itself. The police probe Jack’s past and the only possible witness refuses to help. Tragedy is about to strike again – and Jack’s future depends on how he reacts in the moment before impact.
Read and Rated 