The Dare By Lesley Kara

‘The Dare’ is the latest book by Lesley Kara.

When teenage friends Lizzie and Alice decide to head off for a walk in the countryside, they are blissfully unaware that this will be their final day together – and that only Lizzie will come back alive. Lizzie has no memory of what happened in the moments before Alice died, she only knows that it must have been a tragic accident. But as she tries to cope with her grief, she is shocked to find herself alienated from Alice’s friends and relatives. They are convinced she somehow had a part to play in her friend’s death. Twelve years later, unpacking boxes in the new home she shares with her fiancé, Lizzie is horrified to find long-buried memories suddenly surfacing. Is the trauma of the accident finally catching up with her, or could someone be trying to threaten her new-found happiness?

‘The Dare’ is a thrilling story of lies and betrayal in this suspenseful story.

It’s primarily seen through the narrative of Lizzie in past and present tense when she was present at the death of her best friend and now as an adult when her dead best friend’s sister reenters her life bringing back bad memories.

Lizzie was present at Alice’s death and at the moment of her death when she was hit by a train, Lizzie had an elliptic seizure remembering nothing and making her a suspect in the death even though it was ruled as accidental. But Lizzie’s classmates and friends maintain that she was killed Alice and Lizzie spends the remainder of her teenage years tormented by her peers. Now, many years later Lizzie is content in her new life with her fiancée Ross and looking forward to becoming a new mum.

I loved this book and it was the perfect psychological thriller that really engaged with the reader. The different time periods really sets the tone for the story. Alice and Lizzie have a great friendship, best friends friends from children, they have a stereotypical relationship where they confide in teenage crushes and share clothes and compete for boy’s attention. Alice’s family is troubled with her mum who suffers from depression, an alcoholic father and an older sister who doesn’t like Lizzie. Because of Lizzie’s epilepsy, she’s the target of bullying especially when it comes to the school disco and they can’t put the disco light on due to the flashing lights.

The story is primarily seen through Lizzie’s narrative as she’s confronted from her past with Catherine reappearing in her life. Catherine wasn’t nice to Lizzie blaming her for Alice’s death so Lizzie finds it hard to get past the nastiness and become friends. Ross works with Catherine in the same surgery and wants both Lizzie and Ross get on together and Lizzie to move on from her past. There is also the inclusion of another narrative in the story that really keeps the reader on their toes and guessing throughout.

This story is a fast paced thriller, that is cleverly written with characters that are unreliable, so the reader is unsure if the protagonist is friend or foe. The further I delved into the story, the more gripping it became with twists and dramatic reveals. A cunningly crafted psychological story that spans decades, ‘The Dare’ is the perfect twisty story to settle into.

You can buy ‘The Dare’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.