The Child Across the Street
by Kerry Wilkinson
Wheeling my suitcase down the familiar, hedge-lined street, I smile at the sound of children playing in the park nearby. Suddenly, there’s a screech of car brakes. I rush over to see a bent bike wheel sticking out of the ditch, and underneath, a little boy…
As I turn the rusty key in the lock of the house I grew up in, memories flood back. None of them happy. I never told anyone why I left home twenty years ago, and all I want is to sort out Dad’s funeral as quickly as possible.
Now I’m trapped here, the only witness to a terrible incident that has left an eight-year-old boy fighting for his life. But after a lifetime trying to forget my past, I don’t know if I can trust my memory, or be totally sure of what I saw today.
Sorting through Dad’s things one night – shopping lists in his curly handwriting, piles of old newspapers, dusty sports trophies – I think I hear the back door handle rattle. I tiptoe downstairs, past an open window I’m sure I locked. And a figure darts across the overgrown garden.
Someone is watching me. Someone who knows I’m the only one who saw what happened to little Ethan… or could they know the real reason why I left? Either way, I’m certain that coming back was my biggest mistake. I can’t leave, but the longer I stay, the more danger I’m in…
An utterly addictive psychological thriller that will have you glued to the pages until the early hours. Fans of The Girl on the Train and I Am Watching You won’t be able to put down the next mind-blowing read from bestselling author Kerry Wilkinson.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
Damien speaks in constant hushed tones, as if there’s a militant librarian on our tail.
He’s utterly unremarkable, neither short nor tall; fat or thin; attractive or not. If I wasn’t looking at him, I’m not sure I’d be able to describe him.
it’s hard to say no to anything she asks. There’s also the not small matter that, when Diane says something, it very much feels like that thing should be done immediately… If Diane was after world domination instead of daytime television ratings, she’d be dangerous.
Kirsty is silently fuming, like she accidentally shredded a winning lottery ticket.
There’s a somewhat childish instinct of it not being my mess to begin with –but there’s also the fact that I simply don’t want to do it. It’s one of the great underrated benefits of being an adult that, if you don’t want to do something, you can simply say no.
It makes me ache for those friendships of youth. The ones that feel like they’ll last forever before things like marriage, kids, houses and everything else gets in the way. As an adult, there’s nothing quite like it.
My Review:
This was a slowly developing, gradually unfolding, and curiously tantalizing tale laced together with heartbreaking revelations and dangerously damaged characters who were oddly compelling while largely unlikable. My inquisitive nature was prodded and poked with this new to me wily author’s maddeningly paced disclosures, and insightful yet terse observations and profound insights. While I was often impatient with the main character of Abi while assuming she was just a self-indulgent alcoholic, I later realized Mr.Wilkinson’s character development was rather elegant and clever as only after her history was revealed did I piece together and understood the cause and nature of her memory loss and mental dysfunction. I thought I had the culprit sussed early – silly me, I was so very wrong and never saw this ending coming. I could do with more of Mr. Wilkinson’s clever scheming and interesting turns of phrase in my future.
About the Author
Kerry Wilkinson has had No.1 bestsellers in the UK, Canada, South Africa, and Singapore, as well as top-five books in Australia. He has also written two top-20 thrillers in the United States.
As well as his million-selling Jessica Daniel series, Kerry has written the Silver Blackthorn trilogy – a fantasy-adventure serial for young adults – a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter, plus numerous standalone novels. He has been published around the world in more than a dozen languages.
Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry has spent far too long living in the north of England, picking up words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’.
When he’s short of ideas, he rides his bike or bakes cakes. When he’s not, he writes it all down.
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