Jane Jesmond – On The Edge

This is a crime debut novel that blew me away from the first chapter! On The Edge was a book that I am sure I can’t do justice to with this review. I automatically connected with the main character, ‘Jen’ and from there I was hooked.

Jen Shaw is a high adrenaline junkie, she adores climbing and taking risks, usually the riskier the better. That is until a tragedy makes her put the brakes on her risk-taking and climbing. She promises her brother she will stop climbing. This has her veering right off the rails and dabbling into drugs. She has put herself into rehab in the hope that she will be able to press the reset button. Until the day she receives a message from her brother, she packs up and makes her way home back to Cornwall.

She checks into a hotel and gets in her room only to wake up dangling from a lighthouse in the dark and stormy weather. She has no idea how she got there and can only assume she was drugged. She manages to escape, just and she questions whether someone else has done this and why…or has she relapsed?

As I said I loved this book. The dramatic landscape and the drama, twists and turns of the story had me tense most of the way through. I have read great books lately but something about Jen and this story just had me glued to the book.

I always love Cornwall and Jane Jesmond brings it to life superbly. The dramatic coastline and the cute villages all sprung clearly to mind as I read. The fact that the author has used everything about this County to full effect is the Cherry on the top, so to speak. Even the tunnels of an abandoned mine are used, as is, of course, the lighthouse.

As I have said I connected with Jen. I found her to be a strong character who is loyal with a streak of recklessness in her personality. I was cheering her on all the way. As the story develops we do get to learn more about her which explains exactly why and how she became the woman she is.

A debut that I found an addictive and enthralling story. I would love to read more books with Jen Shaw and catch up with her life after ‘On The Edge’.

Thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Verve Books for my copy of the book to bring my thoughts today.