Lasting Damage by Sophie Hannah

"It's 1.15 a.m. and Connie Bowskill should be asleep. Instead, she's logging on to a property website in search of a particular house. Soon Connie is clicking on the 'virtual tour' icon, keen to see the inside of 11 Bentley Grove and put her mind at rest once and for all. She finds herself looking at a scene from a nightmare!"

Now that's a great blurb - not too long, and no spoilers. It makes me happy, because I hate it when they tell you most of the plot on the back of the book. I've taken to not even reading them, ever.

And in this case, it's a great summary of the book too. Connie thinks she's gone mad, because what she sees is so shocking and unbelievable, and then - well, I'm not spoiling it either.

It's a pretty convoluted plot. Lots of characters and interactions that make for fast page turning. The characters were not that likeable, most of them a little strange, with even stranger relationships - but the book's subject matter is dark and very twisty, so I didn't really expect to love everyone in it.

But somehow it did sort of work. There was a high degree of cleverness in the story and resolution that I enjoyed. 

It may have been better too if this hadn't been my first Sophie Hannah - starting at #6 - that's not like me at all. I'll have to try some of her others too.

3 stars

ISBN: 9780340980682

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