I haven't posted for a while, but I do have an excuse; I've been reading, a LOT. Lasting Damage is the most recent book I've finished and I have to say, it's the worst book I've read in a while. I felt quite irritated that I'd invested so much time in it by the time I came to the end.
Don't get me wrong, the premise had me gripped from the start:
Connie Bowskill is looking at a virtual tour on a property website in the middle of the night. When it pans round to the lounge, she sees the body of a woman, face down and surrounded by blood, on the cream carpet. But, when she wakes up her husband Kit to take a look, everything appears as it should; immaculate carpet, no dead woman.
I was gripped - how could this resolve itself? I'm not going to give too much away here, but for me, the plot relied too heavily on coincidences to be believable. And I just didn't understand the main motive - there are surely far easier ways to achieve what they set out to do?
By about halfway I realised that the main problem was that I just didn't care about the characters at all. I just wanted to see it through to the end because surely, there was a huge twist coming up that was going to knock me for six. There is, kind of, but to me it just didn't make any sense.
Sophie Hannah has, however, crafted the character of Connie very well. You feel her descent into paranoia and madness as thought it's actually you feeling those emotions. Is she blurring fantasy and reality, or is it all a conspiracy? She makes several silly decisions which make you want to shake her, but at the same time you understand what's driving her to them.
Needless to say, although well-crafted and well written, I found the plot laughable and I don't think I'll be reading any books by this author again.
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