Alice has everything she wants. A great husband, two kids and a job that she loves. But when she receives a frightened call from her daughter one evening, everything changes.
Alice can’t reach her husband. And when she does, nothing is ever the same again.
Faced with choices she never expected with consequences she can’t comprehend, everything Alice knew has been turned on its head.
She must decide how far she is willing to go to protect those she loves. But how can she decide when she is no longer aware of what is the truth.
The choice is hers.
Author: T.A Cotterell
Title: What Alice Knew
Publisher: Black Swan
Date: 2016 (e-book) / 2017 (paperback)
Rating: 4/5
What Alice Knew might be the hardest review I have written in regards to keeping it spoiler free. There are so many twists that I’m tripping over myself staying quiet.
This book is unpredictable!
It set up as the standard thriller that have been popular this year. But every other thriller I have been able to predict. With What Alice Knew, I thought I could, then was proven wrong.
The plot moves at a steady pace throughout and I remained engaged the entire time. I read this book in a few sittings. I didn’t realise I was gripped until I noticed how intrigued I was about finding out what had happened, and I just kept going.
Alice was a good main character: she had her flaws, and had them brutally pointed out to her on more than one occasion. She had an inner strength though, a conviction to stick by what she had decided and see it through, no matter what. Her creativity also made me like her as a character – it provided a connection.
Ed – the husband – felt weak throughout. His speech made me dislike him – too many “my darling” throughout to make me empathise with him. He came across as patronising despite being a leading doctor. Then again, were we ever supposed to empathise with him?
I love the originality of What Alice Knew. I started it believing I would be able to predict it after reading both The Couple Next Door and The Widow over the last year, amongst others.
As the book progressed, however, it twists in ways that I didn’t see coming. I gaped at the ending – and it will be interesting to see what others make of that final twist. I believe it could be interpreted in different ways depending on how you feel about the characters.
Anything that makes me question what just happened shows powerful writing indeed.
Even if you are sick of these sorts of thrillers, I would definitely recommend giving What Alice Knew a try – I surprised myself with how much I enjoy it.
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A Rambling Reviewer 
I agree with you when you say that there is powerful writingnthis book’s pro.
I haven’t read The Widow, but I read The Couple Next Door and I liked that one.
I don’t read THAT many thrillers, so I think I’m in a place when many things that people find predictable are not in my case, but this book was really unpredictable, and yes, totally agree that it can be interpreted in differen ways.
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Thank you! I keep ending up reading thrillers almost by accident – it just seems to be what there is a lot of around, hopefully next year will be something different. It’s always nice when you don’t see what is coming, isn’t it? Thanks for the comment!
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