The perfect gripping, twisty suspense for fans of Netflix's You and Lisa Jewell's Watching You
A gripping new psychological thriller
You and Me is a gripping psychological thriller by Nicola Rayner (author of 2019's popular The Girl Before You), exploring themes of obsession, guilt, family relationships and the far-reaching effects of past trauma. One night, Francesca Knight witnesses the shocking death of Dickie Graham, who bullied Fran mercilessly at school and was guilty of some as-yet unnamed crime against her younger sister, Ellie. For Fran, Dickie's death has a silver lining - it legitimises her getting back in touch with Charles, the high school crush who she still obsesses over and stalks. He's now married with children, but Fran is convinced that they are meant to be together. She also develops a friendship with Dickie's widow, Caroline, and together they set out to uncover the truth, while Fran becomes increasingly frustrated in her efforts to heal her relationship with Ellie, who is only contactable sporadically via social media. You and Me employs the trope, perhaps over-used of late, of a psychologically fragile middle-aged single woman as an unreliable narrator. Fran is a pretty delusional and pitiable figure, clinging onto misinterpreted tidbits of body language as signs of Charles's hidden love for her. The plot is a slow burn, as the events of the past, or at least Fran's perception of them, are gradually revealed, Fran encounters her past classmates and the fog around current events rises. The dramatic ending is fitting but shocking. This is a well-written and compulsively readable thriller, which I would recommend highly to other readers. My thanks to the author, the publisher Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication.
Sarah, 03/10/2020
