Grist Mill Road

by Christopher J Yates

[zooloo1983]

This book was very dark and shocking. From the opening pages, we are taking to the past, it is the summer of 1982, we are introduced to three children, Patrick (Patch/Tricky), Matthew and Hannah and a damn right awful event that links them all together.

Why did it happen? Why didn’t anyone do anything to stop it? Are they alive??

When you get over the first shock, you are hurtled to the future and you are instantly shown how one part has panned out. I was gobsmacked, to say the least! I was not expecting this! This outcome of their lives was a strong move by the author.

The book flits back and forth between that fateful day and the present day taking on the points of view of the characters from that day. We are given the gruesome details of what happened at the start with why it happened to be played out throughout the novel.

With most stories, things are not what they seem. And as the revelations start to ramp up, can anyone come away from it unscathed?

You really do have to go into this story blind (no pun intended!) otherwise too much information will ruin it, I have seen some reviews on this book already and they have given too much away and that will spoil it for you. All I will say is, the lines are not clear-cut as to who is redeemable and who isn’t redeemable. The secrets stack up and things ride high on the intensity level, even when the most basic of things are being done, you are waiting, anticipating when the revelations will hit the fan.

It is a slow burner, of which is very heavy on the detail side however it fleshes this trio out, making you care what actually happens to them. This is a dark, shocking but very compelling story.