The One That Got Away

by Lucy Dawson

[Leah]

Would you risk your future for a night with your past? Molly Greene loves being married. Exciting adventures lie ahead for her and husband Dan that will change their lives for ever, but Molly’s not sure they’re making the right choices. While teetering on the brink of the biggest decision she’s ever faced, she sends an impulsive message to the very last person she ought to contact, someone who should have stayed forgotten, and is now coming looking for her. When he finds her, there is no turning back. One night is all it takes to threaten everything she holds dear – for good.

I’ve been a fan of Lucy Dawson for the past couple of years, ever since I read her stunning (truly stunning, I am not joking) debut novel His Other Lover. The way she managed to insert a darker side to her books reminds me very much of Emily Barr and I fell in love. I read her second novel What My Best Friend Did and I enjoyed it just as much, although the ending was a bit mind-boggling. I received a proof copy of her newest book The One That Got Away a while back, but have only just gotten around to reading it, and I can’t believe it’s taken me so long, because it was just as good as her previous two.

The One That Got Away is very similar to Dawson’s previous two novels, as the heroine of the book finds herself in a bit of a stitch, and as the book progresses as does the intensity of the situation. In this case, after Molly has a row with her husband Dan, she does something incredibly stupid and messages her ex, Leo, on Facebook. They have a bit of a thing, swapping messages and texts, before meeting at a hotel where Molly is having a conference. One thing leads to another, and Molly wakes up the next morning with tremendous guilt on her shoulders and a persistant ex-boyfriend who refuses to back off. Suddenly Molly finds herself with the very real possibility of losing everything in her life, and sets about trying to stop that happening. I thought the plot was fantastic, very pacey and I didn’t know where it was going to turn next. Dawson is a very compelling story-teller and I didn’t want to put the book down at all.

Much like her previous two books, again, The One That Got Away deals with some serious issues. Like how much power technology can have over a person and it shows us the bad side of social networking sites as that’s the catalyst for everything that happens in Molly’s life, which sets the chain of events off. Everything Dawson says is very true. Yes, it might be very easy just to send a nice ‘Hello’ message to somebody, but it never really stops there, does it? And the way in which everything happens in The One That Got Away could easily happen in real life. What Dawson does best, though, is building suspense. She is an absolute master at keeping readers on the edge of their seats throughout her novels and she’s done it again here. Because of what Molly has done, she’s nervous, constantly looking over her shoulder and her tension oozes out of the pages, and I couldn’t help wondering if Molly would reveal her secret to Dan or if Leo would follow through on his promises.

I must admit, I wasn’t sure about Molly. I liked her and all, don’t get me wrong, but what she did to her husband was horrible because Dan was a really lovely person. Dan was clearly head over heels in love with Molly and then not only does she message her ex on Facebook but she meets up with him as well. It just seemed really mean of her to do that, and he just didn’t deserve it. But on the other hand, everything Leo puts Molly through makes me sympathetic to her because nobody should go through that, nobody who they are or what they’ve done. As I’ve said, I thought Dan was lovely and I just felt really sorry for him over it all. As for Leo, he is one of the worst characters I have ever come across. There is no one fouler than him, and he made my skin crawl.

The entire novel is narrated by Molly, which is what helps keep the suspense level high and I loved getting to know Molly via her innermost thoughts. I suppose my only problem with the book is the ending. It all comes to an inevitable head, as you might expect, which I found gripping and then it all came to a close rather quickly. Too quickly for me, to be honest. I like my books open and shut without having to sit and wonder how it all panned out for the characters. An Epilogue would have sufficed, just to round up the entire novel. That was the problem I had with Lucy’s previous book, too, she obviously likes her readers to have some kind of imagination and to think for themselves how it all turned out, but I prefer to know for certain. Apart from that, I loved the book and Lucy Dawson is a huge talent with the darker side of Chick Lit and I can’t wait for her next book.