The novel begins on remote South Georgia Island where Felicity Lloyd, a
glaciologist, goes into hiding when a man named Freddie, recently released from
prison, arrives on the last cruise ship of the season. Then the novel flashes back to Cambridge nine
months earlier. Prior to her departure
for South Georgia, Felicity attends therapy sessions with Dr. Joe Grant and it
soon becomes obvious that she has mental health issues.
My issue with the book is that it is so easy to figure out what is
happening with Felicity. The title
itself is a giveaway and then the repeated references to recurring episodes of
amnesia make a diagnosis so easy for anyone with even a limited knowledge of
psychology and for any experienced reader of psychological thrillers. Felicity is terrified of Freddie, but a
careful reading of the initial chapters focusing on him make it obvious that he
is not the person Felicity thinks he is.
Throughout the book, the reader is manipulated. It is understandable that a writer may choose
to be vague in order to create suspense, but it is very annoying when there’s a
big information dump towards the end.
The police in Cambridge make soooooo many discoveries at a very
convenient time. They seem so inept (as
to presume someone is dead after being missing for only four months), but then
their discoveries pile up?
I could not connect with Felicity.
She comes across as so tepid that it is difficult to understand why
people are attracted to her. In many
ways, she is chilly - like the environment in which she chooses to work. A more problematic character, however, is
Joe. He is incompetent: he has difficulty diagnosing Felicity when
there’s really no secret to the nature of her illness. He knows Felicity has major mental health
issues but he does nothing to forestall her going to South Georgia? He breaks so many ethics rules when it comes
to confidentiality and he certainly doesn’t understand doctor/patient
boundaries. He himself thinks, “Three
times now, he has allowed himself to be compromised by vulnerable and – might
as well face it – attractive young women.
His judgement has been seriously at fault.” No kidding!
He, like Felicity, is such a temptation to the opposite sex?
After all that has happened, Felicity is allowed to stay at South
Georgia. The only excuse given is that
she cannot be forced to seek treatment?
What about the incidents with Bamber in Part I? Bamber cuts a man from a cruise ship and “She
needs the blood”? The reader is supposed
to forget about the attack and this behaviour?
All is not well!
The short chapters make this an easy, quick read, but I found it less
suspenseful than a book described as a psychological thriller should be. It is predictable, and its manipulation of
the reader is offensive.
Note: I received a digital
galley from the publisher via NetGalley.
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