‘The Boy In The Well’ by Dan Clarke is a debut book with a synopsis that just screamed at me. A dark psychological thriller that has a fabulous plot.
Carolyn is staying with her mum in a rural small town after her husband and son are killed in a car accident. She decides to go for a walk and comes across a well. To her horror, there is a boys body at the bottom of it. Carolyn arrives back at the well with the police to discover the body has gone! She finds that nobody believes she actually saw a body, including the police. The community goes against her too. She discovers two boys have gone missing previously and decides to dig deeper. She has one person who believes her, and, as they begin to uncover the lies the danger moves ever closer. Someone doesn’t want the truth out there, but who?
This story is set in a small town and Carolyn discovers that the community is a deep-seated one and the prejudices are as deep. She finds she has to be really careful so her mother’s friend, Father Joseph the most well-respected man in town, isn’t upset by anything she is doing or saying. The fact that everybody is thinking she is losing her sanity creates a great sense of intrigue which is the groundwork for this story. Her saving grace was getting one single person to believe her. At least she has a bit of back up and can actually think she isn’t losing it!
A mystery with many goosebump moments, Dan Clark didn’t just bring the crazy he brought the creepy and the eerie with this book. A Halloween party with stalkers in masks, break-ins to try to discover evidence. These are all jumpy moments. My heart was in my mouth at one point!
For a debut, this book is an excellent read, the pace is just right and the tension and suspense ramps up as the story develops. I won’t tell you everything, I shall let you read it.
Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and Dan Clark for the copy of the book and my place on this tour.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 