The Escape by C. L. Taylor

Book Description

The Sunday Times bestseller and No.1 Kindle bestseller returns…

“Look after your daughter’s things. And your daughter…”

When a stranger asks Jo Blackmore for a lift she says yes, then swiftly wishes she hadn’t. The stranger knows Jo’s name, she knows her husband Max and she’s got a glove belonging to Jo’s two year old daughter Elise.

What begins with a subtle threat swiftly turns into a nightmare as the police, social services and even Jo’s own husband turn against her. No one believes that Elise is in danger.

But Jo knows there’s only one way to keep her child safe – RUN.

Review

The Escape by C. L Taylor had an eerie atmosphere right from the start. A stranger gets into Jo’s car and starts telling her about herself and her family. She even has Jo daughter’s glove. There is something really creepy about this stranger. Well apart from this encounter. This is not the kind of person who fits the usual villain’s profile. However, you need to read this book to know  what I mean. The uniqueness of the creepy stranger added to the spookiness of the encounter. After the weird incident, things start happening around Jo and they get creepier with each chapter.

Jo is an unreliable narrator. I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t as far as she was concerned. There were certain things that made me doubt her but I still  liked her as a character. She was portrayed as a bit weak at first but her love for her daughter proved that she was stronger than she appeared. Her issues with agoraphobia made me sympathize with her and its part of the reason  why I was so drawn to her. She was brilliant despite everything.  I can’t say much about the other characters without spoiling the book. However, I’ll just mention that the characterization is one of the best aspects of this book.

The story is narrated through alternating perspectives. Jo is the main narrator. Other narrators include Max and another character who readers meet later on in the story and whose identity I won’t reveal for now. In addition, there are shorter narrations by the villain throughout the book. As I have mentioned before, I have always liked the darker narrations in thrillers and this wasn’t any different. It was scary yet fascinating at the same time. The pacing of the story remains the same from the first to the last page hence mystery and eeriness is maintained throughout.

The ending of the story was satisfactory. The last chapters were very tense but in the end I was happy with the conflict resolution. This story had everything that I like in thrillers. It has secrets and lies, dark narrations, twists and memorable characters.. I also like how the author builtin the main story-line with other little connected story-line hence making it a complex yet addictive narrative. And I like the cover, I don’t know if it’s the ghostly, cloudy vibe going on with the deserted boat and the birds but I really like it. I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys fast-paced, suspenseful thrillers.