Thank you to @netgalley and @michaeljbooks for my arc of this suspense family drama, I really enjoyed it! Synopsis: When his younger brother Nick is sexually assaulted by a man in a bar, Tony wants to do anything in his power to protect him, to avenge this horrible crime. Julia, Tony's wife and defence attorney, is alarmed by her husband's behaviour and Detective Rice tries to piece together, a few years on, everything that actually happened after the case. This is a story about the damage one horrifyingly traumatic experience can cause a whole family. Review: I really enjoyed this dark book about family and trauma. The characters were padded out enough that I believed in them, believed in their motives and actions and I wanted justice myself for that terrible crime at the beginning. It says a lot about relationships between siblings and spouses, this idea that you can feel like a father to a younger brother, that you would do anything, even commit a crime and risk affecting other people that you love, for one act of justice. I liked how it went between different points of view and the dual timeline is used very well to create suspense. I didn't see the end coming, an interesting twist! Definitely worth a read!

A sensitively written book about the sexual assault of a young man and the aftermath of how he and his family try and deal with it afterwards. This deeply explores family loyalties and the lengths that people will go to to protect their own and the complex relationships and interdependencies. The premise of this book was excellent and very well executed, I did, however, find it a little slow in places but you could argue that was allowing time to build up the familiarity and understanding of the various characters. The ending was (slightly) surprising and definitely memorable and the story was very thought provoking. Recommend.

A great plot in this, at times, difficult read. Offences of this sort will also affect those who are nearest and dearest to the victim, shown here as the tension builds when Tony becomes more and more obsessed with what has happened to his younger brother, Nick, but does he know when to stop? This is a really good story which leaves you wondering how you would react if an act of extreme sexual violence were to be carried out on someone you love. The characters are developed well as the story unfolds, with little twists along the way. A recommended read. Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the read.

This is quite a gritty psychological thriller. A young man wakes up in a hotel room, discovering that he has been assaulted by the man he willingly went to the room with the night before. An interesting spin on the standard rape story. However, the story isn't so much about the rape and the victim, but the repercussions of the case as his protective step-brother and his wife try to cope with what has happened, and is happening, to the victim. The story is told well, although it does jump back and forth in time as we follow the case in the past, but then the detective is talking to the sister in law in the present, with hints of what has happened. And who do we believe? Is Nick telling all the truth, is Tony on a course of self-destruction in his determination to protect and avenge his brother? It explores the lengths we will go to help those we love, as well as how much self-preservation will kick in, regardless of who else it may hurt. The story develops quite slowly, but that gives the reader time to absorb all the nuances and understand what is happening, and how the characters are damaged by one shocking night out. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent debut novel. A difficult subject dealt with sensitively and with realism. Believable characters whose actions are plausible. Following a night out and a one night stand Nick returns and accuses “Josh” of rape. His family rally round to support his decision to prosecute, his brother Tony is over protective at times and there is some friction that has to be worked out. The story jumps back an forth spanning a few years but I liked that. Highly recommend