The Friend by Teresa Driscoll @TeresaDriscoll @AmazonPub

Author : Teresa Driscoll
Title : The Friend
Pages : 293
Publisher : Thomas & Mercer
Publication date : March 22, 2018

On a train with her husband, miles from home and their four-year-old son, Ben, Sophie receives a chilling phone call. Two boys are in hospital after a tragic accident. One of them is Ben.

She thought she could trust Emma, her new friend, to look after her little boy. After all, Emma’s a kindred spirit—someone Sophie was sure she could bare her soul to, despite the village rumours. But Sophie can’t shake the feeling that she’s made an unforgivable mistake and now her whole family is in danger.

Because how well does she know Emma, really? Should she have trusted her at all?

Time is running out. Powerless to help her child, still hours from home, Sophie is about to discover the truth. And her life will never be the same.

Well, now. If, like me, you have trust issues sometimes and don’t like meeting new people, let this story be a lesson!

Sophie is traveling on a train with her husband when she gets a phone call to say her four year old son, Ben, is in hospital. Sophie had left Ben in the care of her friend, Emma. She thought Emma could be trusted. They were kindred spirits after all. But how well does Sophie know Emma anyway? Was what happened to Ben truly an accident? Or is there something more sinister going on?

The story of The Friend is mostly told through flashbacks from before Ben’s accident. Emma and her son Theo move to a tiny village and Sophie quite quickly strikes up a friendship with her, despite the other village residents being rather wary of Emma. On top of that, the quiet village is rocked by a murder and slowly but surely, things are revealed that will make you never trust another living soul again.

After having enjoyed I Am Watching You, I was very much looking forward to this new offering by Teresa Driscoll and I was not disappointed. There were a few things I didn’t see coming and while I don’t normally mention the ending, I must just say that this one blew me away. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters although I did sympathise with Sophie throughout the story for various reasons. Not least of all, obviously being miles away and stuck on a train when you don’t have the faintest idea what’s happening to your child.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Friend. It held my attention from start to finish, even if it was maybe a tad slow in some places. A compelling tale that just goes to show you never really know someone and though sometimes the things you learn about other people can be mightily surprising, the one person who may just surprise you the most is yourself.

The Friend will be published on March 22nd.

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