That Night: The gripping Richard & Judy Book Club psychological thriller Paperback – 8 July 2021

We meet Cathy, Joe and Frannie who are siblings and all work at the family vet practice. They also own a villa in Verona where they go to spend quality time together. On their most recent trip, the unthinkable happens and Frannie accidently kills someone. She then puts her brother and sister in the horrendous dilemma of whether they help her or not.The story raises the question of how far you would go for a loved one. Would you break the law? I’d like to think I wouldn’t but you can see how torn Cathy and Joe are as not only is Frannie their younger sister, she is also a single mum to her young son Paul. Of course there wouldn’t be much to the story if they didn’t help her so they work together to try and cover it up.We see how the dynamics change with the three characters. The guilt, the impact of what they have done and how it affects them. The closeness that these three siblings had is threatened to be turned upside down and you feel their doubts of not only what they have done but about each other also.That Night is a seriously engrossing and tense read. As soon as I started it, I didn’t want to put it down. More so when we are hit with the first twist which totally blew my mind and puts a whole new aspect on the story. It has you putting yourself in the characters shoes and what you would do if you found yourself in the same position. There are some cracking twists that I didn’t see coming and it’s an all consuming read that had my heart racing. Gillian McAllister is a master when it comes to messing with readers minds and without a doubt this is one of her best books.

Just how far would you go to protect your family? Whilst on a family holiday in Verona, Frankie calls her sister, Cathy, and brother, Joe, late one night, frantic. She’s accidentally hit someone with her car and they’re dead. She pleads with her siblings to help her, she’s a single Mum and desperate not to have to leave her child. But the more they try to hide what she’s done the worse the situation gets and as the Police start to ask questions the siblings start to lose their trust in each other. What really did happen that night?I’m a recent convert to Gillian McAllister’s work and this one was on offer on Kindle recently and just sounded so intriguing so I had to get it and I wasn’t disappointed.The story isn’t told in a linear format. We have a “Then” and “Now” narrative style with each sibling getting to take centre stage in different chapters and in the “Now” section one of them is seeing a Solicitor and taking the stand at Court but we don’t immediately know which. This style works really well and allows for plenty of twists along the way, some of which were more obvious than others.There was an under running mention of something that had happened with the fourth sibling, Rosie, when they were children, which was slowly revealed but, to be honest, it felt unnecessary to me. Maybe it went some way to explain the reason why they were all as close as they are but I honestly just didn’t think it really added anything and it wouldn’t really have mattered if it was missing.Apart from that McAllister’s writing is so good for this style of book. It was fast paced and gripping, I read pretty much half of it in a day, and the twists were interesting and not too far fetched. It left me thinking as well. I have a brother and some friends that I’d say I’m as close to as siblings and it did make me think about what I would do if I got a call like Frannie makes from one of them.It’s another hit for me from Gillian McAllister.

I did enjoy this book - well I wanted to see how it ended so I read it all. The problem I have with it is that the story was so full of implausible situations, as well as the three main characters, the siblings, being obsessed with each other in such an unnatural way, and not likeable personalities. So if you have read this book, you may be wondering, as I am, how...SPOILER ALERT (some rhetorical questions): a) Frannie could have had a baby that neither of the two siblings had a clue about who the father was when they were so close; b) if the baby was conceived in Verona - where they always went on holiday together - wouldn't they have known something about him? And at what point did they exchange email addresses? c) Why did Frannie lie constantly to her siblings about more or less everything, d) as vets, would they not have realised that Will couldn't have been killed with 'so much blood' by just one glancing blow from a car on a track; e) Why was Will walking to her house at midnight - when she was driving out for more wine? f) Why did she even tell a 'holiday-one-night-stand' about the baby? g) What possible claim could he have had on the baby in the circumstances - was Frannie that stupid? h), Why, when the siblings lived next door to each other (weird), would they then have a big discussion/argument about their situation at work, with staff still there? i) Why so many references to Rosie - as if she was somehow the excuse for all of their behaviours. j) What did Jason 'know'? Was he supposed to have known that Frannie was the murderer, and if so, how, as we assume that Cathy must have fed him a pack of lies. And so many more unanswered questions. I'm not convinced that all the 5 star reviews on here are genuine as they all seem to just say how brilliant the book was, with no description of the actual story, except the 'love of three siblings'. Not really a thriller and hard to recommend - although it wasn't all bad and I did finish it.

Could not put this down but towards the end I didn't want it to finish so I started to force myself to read only a couple of chapters a day. A fantastic read, what a clever writer.

I found this hard work. The atmosphere between the family and the subtexts that drive their relationships need to be taken at pace, not rushed. The saving grace is that the end was the right outcome. The hard work was worth it.