4 Stars from me
Right from the start there is an immediate sense that something’s not quite right with the information that being provided. Then it cuts to Callum, who’s dealing with grief and confusion, trying to make sense of what he’s just been told. At this point you can already sense there’s more going on beneath the surface, and I already had hunches and many questions.
The book jumps between Callum in the present, frantically trying to figure out what’s real, and Lea’s side of things from the past, starting from when they first met. He thinks he married a safe and steady office worker, and yet he is now hearing she is an edgy motorbike riding MI6 agent – surely there is a mistake? The contrast between their worlds makes the whole thing more interesting. Callum is just a regular blue collar guy who meets Lea while he’s on a rugby tour with the lads. He’s completely oblivious to the fact that he nearly blows her operation, and he has absolutely no idea who she really is or what she actually does. That disconnect between his normal, everyday life and the world she operates in adds another layer to the story. It makes you wonder how someone so ordinary got pulled into something so far beyond his understanding.
Her chapters slowly fill in the blanks, but never too much, never too easily. It’s like watching two storylines inch toward each other, each one revealing just enough to keep you guessing. I enjoyed that sometimes I knew a little more than Callum, and other times I was as lost as he was. That balance kept me turning pages.
The author has balanced an emotional undercurrent alongside and high octane thriller. Callum isn’t just in danger, he’s trying to reconcile the person he loved with these bits and pieces of truth that keep surfacing. Throughout, there’s a persistent doubt, about her, about the people in his life, is he really so in the dark?
Overall, I found this to be a tense, gripping read that I didn’t want to put down. The dual timeline gave it depth, the shifting perspectives kept the mystery alive, and that constant sense of uncertainty made it all the more compelling.
My thanks to the author, Boldwood Books, Netgalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for an ARC in return for an honest review on this blog tour.
Blurb: But when police show up at Callum’s work site, informing him of his wife Lea’s death – his world starts to crumble. And it turns out, her death was just the beginning…
Within a few hours, Callum is told that Lea was, in fact, an MI6 agent who was killed because of intelligence only she had, strangers with guns break into his home and he’s forced to run for his life. Thrust into a terrifying chase across Europe, Callum has to dodge British police and shadowy MI6 operatives who believe he knows more than he’s letting on. All the while trying to piece together the truth about his wife’s final mission.
But the deeper he digs, the more dangerous his situation becomes, forcing him to ask the ultimate question: Who did he marry, and can he trust anything she ever said to him?
Read and Rated 