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Saturday, April 18, 2020

The Split Review



Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date:  Apr. 28, 2020
Purchase Link:  Amazon

My Rating: 4.5 Icy Hearts

*Many thanks to Minotaur Books for an arc of this book. #MinotaurInfluencers

Tense, gripping and with a twist you won't see coming, Sharon Bolton is back in an explosive new standalone thriller about a woman on the run in The Split.

Synopsis:
No matter how far you run, some secrets will always catch up with you...

The remote Antarctic island of South Georgia is about to send off its last boat of the summer – which signifies safety to resident glaciologist Felicity Lloyd.

Felicity lives in fear – fear that her ex-husband Freddie will find her, even out here. She took a job on this isolated island to hide from him, but now that he's out of prison, having served a term for murder, she knows he won’t give up until he finds her.

But a doctor delving into the background of Felicity and Freddie's relationship, back in Cambridge, learns that Felicity has been on the edge for a long time. Heading to South Georgia himself to try and get to her first is the only way he can think of to help her.

Review:
Glaciologist Felicity Lloyd is a woman living on the edge.  She's running from a past that includes an abusive ex-husband and shards of memory lost to her.  Nightmares haunt her, voices taunt her, and her ex-husband is coming for her.  Felicity has run as far as she can - to the remote Antarctic island of South Georgia. On one hand, she's living her dream as a member of a research team studying glaciers.  On the other hand, she lives in fear of her ex and her secrets - especially the ones she herself doesn't understand.  When the story begins, we're with Felicity in present time on the beautiful but deadly island of South Georgia.  Bolton exploits the deadly, icy, isolated setting as a unique character, driving the danger and suspense to a volatile level that emits a creepy vibe of impending doom. The last boat of the season is docking. If Felicity's ex isn't on it, she's free . . . and if he is, she's prepared to run.  But where?  Stakes are raised even more and tensions drawn tauter when the middle chapters of The Split revert back nine months in time serving to begin filling in the missing links of Felicity's past.  In doing so, several seemingly unrelated plot lines come into play - a serial killer of homeless people, domestic abuse, mental illness.  But in her brilliance, Bolton manipulates these plot lines and characters (and readers) until finally . . . finally, she returns to present time for the explosive epic scene that weaves it all together in the end.

The Split is a smartly written, highly atmospheric story that kept me slightly off-balance throughout as my brain worked overtime trying to solve the mystery.  I figured out one important element by midway, but that in no way decreased the intense, compelling need I had to finish this book.  The tone is dark, edgy, high in creep value and often driven by the deadly setting that steals your breath in more ways than one. Bolton's ability to create unique, dark, secretive characters toting a load of baggage has never been more evident.  I'm purposely not mentioning specifics about these characters because their introduction and purpose in the story need to be discovered by readers who go into this story blind.  Twisted, cunning, unsettling, The Split is intense suspense at its best!  Fans of mystery, suspense, and psychological thrillers are going to love this one!  Highly Recommended.

My Rating:  4.5 Icy Hearts
Cross My Heart . . . xxx
Sandra

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