The Girl With No Past by Kathryn Croft: A Bullet Train of Suspense!

From the publisher:

Twenty years running from your past. Today it catches up.

A gripping psychological thriller for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.
Leah Mills lives a life of a fugitive – kept on the run by one terrible day from her past. It is a lonely life, without a social life or friends until – longing for a connection – she meets Julian. For the first time she dares to believe she can live a normal life.
Then, on the twentieth anniversary of that day, she receives a card. Someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed the life Leah has created.
But is Leah all she seems? Or does she deserve everything she gets?
Everyone has secrets. But some are deadly.

My review:

The Girl With No Past by Kathryn Croft is a bullet train that gains momentum as it screams into the station in a thrilling conclusion.     (Nope...there's no emphasis on  trains in the book...I'm just metaphorin' here....)

Meticulously crafted, the author shows us the teen years of the protagonist, Leah, as well as chapters in the present tense. (insert Groucho eyebrows...and boy...are they tense!!) Throughout the years, I've read a LOT of  suspense/ thriller novels, and I've become pretty good at predicting the ending, who the villain is, and usually can see twists in the plot before they appear. Or at least, get a good idea as to where this is all headed. Oh. My. Goodness. The Girl With No Past was inscrutable to me. I kept pinning the villain role on different people. And the actual villain was one I just considered in passing and discarded quickly. The motivation of the novel, was, well...pretty novel. I didn't see that coming either. And although, thanks to the prologue, I knew where the book would end up, I had absolutely no idea why or how.  I actually went back after I finished the book and reread the prologue to see if I had missed any foreshadowing. Ms. Croft makes excellent use of the alternating chapters, every other chapter is a flashback, and the suspense builds throughout. Not only do we have a feeling of dread while we see where the young Leah is probably headed, but we have the same feelings with regards to the present day Leah. We know bad stuff is coming, we just aren't sure what, or who, or why. The Girl With No Past really is, as advertised on the cover....a gripping psychological thriller!

The book is available on October 15th. My advice? Head to your favorite bookstore, either cyber or brick and pick up or order a copy!!

(Review copy provided by the publisher, Bookouture via Net Galley. The opinions provided by yours truly!)

My Rating: