Close Your Eyes By Rachel Abbott

‘Close Your Eyes’ is the latest book by Rachel Abbott and is a DI Tom Douglas thriller.

Don’t fight him. He’ll win. Run. Never let him find you. I thought I was safe here, but I’m not. I’ve stayed too long. Now Genevieve is dead, and the police are on their way. It’s time for me to go. I must stick to the plan – the one I made the day I arrived in this city. My bag is packed. It always is. I will destroy every shred of evidence of my existence. The police must never find me. If they do, so will he. I made a mistake, and someone had to die. But I’m the one who has truly lost her life. I need to make a choice. If I keep running, I’ll never stop. If I go back, he will make me suffer. How many lives can one person ruin?

I started this book last night and all my intentions to have an early night went out the window, as I got so absorbed in the story.

The story is the latest book in the DI Tom Douglas series and sees him and his partner investigating the murder of the wife of a successful businessman. The main suspect in the case, is a woman called Martha Porter, a quiet and reserved character, who disappears leaving no trace and the police puzzled. Meanwhile, there’s another sub story, seen from the narrative of a young girl called India, who’s family after winning the lottery move to a fancy new house and hoping for a better life. Instead they become sucked in by a man called Aram Forakis, with his brainwashing theories and followers and turns their lives upside down.

The story is written in the present tense through Martha’s eyes as she and her little boy flee from the police and past tense is seen through the narrative of India, who experiences first hand what it feels like to lose family, confidence and hope to a cult.

This book was such a fascinating but frustrating story. On one hand, I wholeheartedly sympathised with India and her family being taken in by Aram who brainwashed them with his ideals and leeched off them and I was so frustrated that he was getting away with it. He was a horrible, horrible man that women fawned over and I don’t think I’ve ever had such a reactive reaction to a character before, which really shows great writing from Rachel. I was fascinating by Martha and her back story and was just as keen as DI Douglas to get to the root of the murder.

This story is an incredibly well written and crafted book that really pulls the reader. Intense and claustrophobic, this thriller shows how easily people can be preyed on and how the vulnerable can be taken advantage off. Fast paced, dramatic with fascinating characters, ‘Close Your Eyes’ is a thriller that you won’t be able to put down.

You can buy ‘Close Your Eyes’ from Amazon