Published by Zaffre (8 March 2018)
Available in ebook and paperback
319 pages
Source: Review copy
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of posting on paperback publication day, a guest post by T M Logan (which you can see here) as part of the publisher blog tour for 29 Seconds. At the time I hadn’t quite finished the book so rather belatedly, here’s my review!
Give me one name. One person. And I will make them disappear . . .
When Sarah rescues a young girl in trouble, she expects nothing in return. But her act of bravery puts a powerful and dangerous man in her debt. He lives by his own brutal code, and all debts must be repaid – in the only way he knows how.
He offers Sarah a way to solve a desperate situation with her intolerable boss. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that will make all her problems disappear.
No consequences. No comeback. No chance of being found out.
All it takes is a 29 second phone call.
BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS A NAME TO GIVE. DON’T THEY?
| My Thoughts |
Having really enjoyed Lies, the author’s debut novel, I was super keen to read this. 29 Seconds is a very timely and topical novel featuring an odious sexual predator who makes women’s lives a misery.
Our main protagonist, Sarah, is a busy mum with a flaky husband, who is currently out of the picture. She has a job as an academic that she loves and is keen to proceed further with her career however her boss, Professor Alan Lovelock is the only fly in the ointment. Complaints have been made against him previously by other women but have got nowhere. Unfortunately he seems to be Teflon coated and is protected by all senior management. His reputation is such that her female university colleagues have devised a set of ‘Rules’ for dealing with him – don’t be alone with him if you can avoid it, don’t do or say anything to encourage him, don’t get into a car or a lift with him – and never do any of these things when he was drunk! Break any of these rules at your peril.
Whilst driving one day, Sarah bravely intervenes during a rather bizarre incident. This is where all the cloak and dagger stuff then comes in – by way of repayment of a debt, she is given once in a lifetime opportunity to give a name and that person will disappear – forever. However once she gives a name, there is no going back.
“You give me one name. One person. And I will make them disappear. For you”
Well, here’s the thing. Whose name would you give in her situation? I love stories that have a moral dilemma element to them. You don’t have to be a genius to work out what Sarah will do but her decision brings her a whole load of problems which she didn’t foresee.
I started off feeling huge sympathy for Sarah having to cope with veiled threats and unwanted advances from her awful boss and I hate to say this as it feels very unsisterly and unsupportive but as the story went on she began to irritate me and I found myself shouting at the pages in frustration (silently of course – not out loud, that would be weird!). I wanted her to stand up to him and to tell the vile creep exactly where to go. And yes, I know that her career was at stake but no-one should have put up with what she did. It’s a sad indictment of our times that this happens at all.
29 Seconds has those addictive short chapters that leave you hanging, just to make sure you keep reading on. So, perhaps the plot was a little far-fetched at times – but I just went along with the story and enjoyed it for the suspenseful read that ensued. My only slight disappointment was with the denouement. Just my personal opinion but I felt the way that it was structured meant that it was all over too quickly and I felt slightly cheated.
29 Seconds is another entertaining and tense read from T M Logan with a thought provoking premise. Would you do something if you thought you could get away with it and with no repercussions? I’m looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next and would definitely recommend 29 Seconds to anyone who enjoys a fast paced and twisted thriller.
My thanks to the publisher for the ARC copy.
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At the time of this post, 29 Seconds can be downloaded from Amazon UK for 98p
Related Posts:
Lies – Review & Author Guest Post
29 Seconds – Author Guest Post