Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Forty-seven-year-old Christine Lucas awakens each morning believing she is still in her twenties and single. She suffered a terrible accident that has severely impaired her memory. She doesn't recognize Ben, the man who tells her he is her husband; she doesn't remember that she had a son; and, worst of all, she does not feel comfortable in her own skin, appalled by her wrinkled face and old-lady clothes. But it turns out she has been getting some help with her memory problem. Dr. Nash calls her every day after Ben leaves for work to tell her where to retrieve her journal, which contains key details about her previous life and work. The most upsetting thing she learns from her journal, however, is that certain facts don't match the story Ben has been telling her. But how can she be sure he is deceiving her when she can barely hold on to the threads of her own life? This mesmerizing, skillfully written debut novel from a British author works on multiple levels. It is both an affecting portrait of the profound impact of a debilitating illness and a pulse-pounding thriller whose outcome no one could predict. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Prepub buzz, including raves from Dennis Lehane and Tess Gerritsen, will combine with a no-holds-barred marketing campaign to ensure that this stellar debut receives the attention it deserves.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Memories-real, false, and a bit of both-are at the heart of British author Watson's haunting, twisted debut. Christine Lucas awakens each morning in London with no idea who she is or why she's in bed with a strange man, until he tells her that his name is Ben and they've been married for 22 years. Slowly, Christine learns that she has amnesia and is unable to remember her past or retain new memories: every night when she falls asleep, the slate is wiped clean. Dr. Nash, her therapist, has encouraged her to write in a journal that she keeps secret from Ben. Christine realizes how truly tangled-and dangerous-her life is after she sees the words "don't trust Ben" written in her journal, whose contents reveal that the only person she can trust is herself. Watson handles what could have turned into a cheap narrative gimmick brilliantly, building to a chillingly unexpected climax. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Christine is another woman trying to reclaim a life gone to pieces. After a mysterious accident, she wakes up each morning with no memory. Her husband Ben repeatedly explains the details of their life together, but the next morning all is lost once again. One day Christine discovers that she has been keeping a journal and the terrifying words she has written there, "Don't trust Ben," throw everything into question. VERDICT Relentless pacing in Watson's intriguing debut psychological thriller draws the reader into Christine's race to figure out who to trust and how to recover her life. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Based upon a deceptively simple premise, Watson's debut novel unwinds as a story that is both complicated and compellingly hypnotic.Every single morning of Christine's life is exactly the same as every other morning: She awakens next to a total stranger in a room she does not recognize, surrounded by objects she has never before seen. Christine remembers nothing of the day before and not much of the life she lived prior to these mornings. She remembers being a lithe 20-something, but awakens day after day in the body of a woman who is nearly 50, with sagging breasts and wrinkles. Most disturbing, though, is the older man she does not recognize beside her in bed. The man, who patiently explains that he is her husband, Ben, tells her how she has come to this terrible place. Christine, he says, was struck by an automobile and injured. Now she suffers from a type of amnesia that once she sleeps for the night wipes the slate from the previous day clean. When she awakens, she cannot recall her life or the people in it. Ben anticipates her questions, though, and has placed photos of himself and Christine around the bathroom mirror so that when she awakens in a panic, with a body and face that she cannot recognize, she will find the photos and begin once again to adjust to a world where she remembers nothing. But Christine is seeing a doctor behind Ben's back. His name is Dr. Nash, and he encourages her to keep a journal. It is through this journal that she begins to pick up the pieces of her life and who she was before she was injured. Watson writes in the first person, from the perspective of a woman, and the voice is surprisingly spot-on. The angst is unimaginable but palpable in this suspenseful story of a woman who can take nothing for granted.Watson's pitch-perfect writing propels the story to a frenzied climax that will haunt readers long after they've closed the cover on this remarkable book.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
