by Rachel Abbott

Audiobook Link: And So It Begins

Overview

This is the first story that I have read by Rachel Abbott and I had to start it over twice because I couldn’t get interested. Prior to writing this review, I needed a refresher so I went ahead and started the audiobook over. (Third time’s a charm 🙂 ? ) Within two minutes of listening though, I instantly was reminded of what happened. Yes, despite finding it hard to get into, I did enjoy the story.

Story

Stephanie King, a policewoman comes across a potential crime scene in a home, and this wasn’t the first time she had been to this house. It was the house of Mr. North’s and knew something must have happened in this house again.

Something happened here, something bad. As the story continues, the reader is taken back into the past, to learn about what events lead up to the scene Stephanie found herself viewing.  Even though we are taken back to the past, it was not until the end that everything fully made sense to me and as with many other psychological thrillers I was left saying WOW! 

The main character throughout the past is a woman named Evie Clarke. Marcus North is a photographer and Evie wants him to take some photos of her. Evie goes to Marcus’s studio, and finds his sister Cleo working. It is very clear early on that Cleo cares a lot about her brother, and Evie needs to convince Cleo to let Evie meet her. Cleo seems a bit defensive but that’s to be expected considering the tragedy that happened to Marcus right? Right at the beginning the reader is left pondering quite a few questions… If a tragedy already happened to Marcus North then what could Stephanie possibly have been at the scene of three months later? Why does Evie Clarke want to have her photos taken by Marcus North? How does Evie Clarke know Marcus North? Why does Evie Clarke seem to know something about Cleo North? Something is certainly off but what is it?

Audiobook

The audiobook is narrated by Olivia Vinall and it is 9 hours and 47 minutes long. I found the narrator easy to listen to but also easy to ignore. I think she did an OK job with different ways of speaking between the characters but I still found myself having to wait for her to say who said certain things, when I had not been paying full attention. There are a few female characters so i’m sure it was not the easiest to voice. I look forward to hearing her narrate the next book in the series though. (It isn’t out yet)

Recommended For

Adults interested in psychological thrillers that are not easily bothered by potential self injury or potential physical abuse.