Spannend, aber auch irgendwie beklemmender Psyhothriller. ( )

4.5 stars.

Precious Thing by debut author Colette McBeth is a riveting psychological drama about a missing woman and the subsequent investigation into her disappearance. This intriguing mystery has plenty of dark secrets but it is the exciting twists and turns that make it such a brilliant read.

Rachel Walsh and Clara O'Connor formed a tight friendship as teenagers but lost touch following a traumatic loss. Now in their late twenties, they have begun to pick up the pieces of their tattered relationship, but the closeness from their childhood eludes them. After making plans to meet Rachel and a couple other friends, Clara fails to show up and the next thing Rachel knows, Clara has gone missing. The ensuing investigation reveals very disquieting information and Rachel uncovers several shocking secrets about her friend.

Told in first person from Rachel's point of view in the form of a letter to Clara, it quickly becomes apparent that Rachel might not be the most reliable narrator. Rachel has achieved a measure of success as a TV reporter and she lives with her boyfriend Jonny, but she holds back vital information right from the beginning of the investigation. Her tangled past with Clara is revealed through flashbacks and shows that what began as a close friendship quickly turned to obsession. Rachel recounts the events leading up to Clara's disappearance, but can her account be trusted?

In the beginning, it is easy to view Rachel as a sympathetic and likable character. She has overcome a dysfunctional past and she has an enviable life with a successful career and a wonderful man. She has tried very hard to recapture the tight friendship she once shared with Clara and Rachel paints a very compelling portrait as the injured party in their fractured relationship. But as the story progresses, disturbing events begin to show a pattern of manipulation that certainly raises doubts about both women. By the story's end, it is almost impossible to discern whose version of events can be believed or if either character is deserving of the reader's pity.

In Precious Thing Colette McBeth weaves a twisted tale of betrayal and revenge that is quite compelling. Surprising plot twists make the story impossible to predict and the ending is satisfying but there is just enough ambiguity to leave readers wondering what really happened between Rachel and Clara. ( )

File under ARCs I should have left on the break room table.

It was a quick read, but just a typical, plotty, ho hum kind of mystery. Ok if you're just looking to pass some time while you're at the laundromat or something, but not really recommendable.

Book Review for Precious Thing by Colette McBeth
(Netgalley, Amazon, GoodReads)

This book has been compared to Gone Girl in many reviews I have read. For reasons I won’t go in to here I didn’t enjoy the aforementioned book but I certainly did enjoy this one.
I don’t think there’s one character in this book that I didn’t suspect of something bad at some point or other. I really couldn’t work out who had done what to who and when. In the end I sat back and let the story of Rachel and Clara take me on a rollercoaster ride from their first meeting as schoolgirls to the final denouement which I have no intention of ruining for you here!
There were so many aspects of their relationship that I could recognise from my own experience. That ‘best friend for ever’ feeling when you’re young, the subtle yet just definable ways in which teenage girls put each other down and hurt each other. However the strand that bought this book together and made it such a good read for me was having Rachel as the narrator. To begin with I took everything at face value but gradually I started thinking things sounded slightly odd, things didn’t quite add up and slowly began to wonder whether I could believe anything she was saying. I thought I’d worked out the ending ahead of time but should have known that this story would have one last sting in the tale for me.
Altogether a cracking read I would recommend to anyone.
( )

Precious Thing by Colette McBeth is a psychological thriller that is highly recommended.

It is September 2007 and Rachel Walsh begins writing a letter to her very best friend, Clara O'Connor, in the opening of Precious Thing by Colette McBeth. Then the narrative jumps back in time to January 21st, the day Rachel, a news reporter living in London, travels to Brighton to cover the disappearance of a 28-year-old woman. Unbeknownst to Rachel, the missing woman turns out to be Clara, her childhood best friend. What on earth could have happened to Clara? It's true that the young women haven't done a lot together recently, but a friendship as strong as theirs is can survive anything, can't it?

Rachel writes: "SEPTEMBER 2007 Officially, I don’t think of you anymore. I am one hundred percent focused on the future. When anyone asks how I’m doing—and they do regularly—I’m fond of using the terminology of war—it adds drama don’t you think? I am conquering my demons; I am battling the dark thoughts that have been twisting inside me. Sometimes, if the situation lends itself to it, I’ll lean forward, fix them with a steely look and say with as much reverence as I can muster: I am a survivor, I will beat the past. In return I get a sympathetic nod, a concerned smile. I can almost hear the whissh of relief blowing through them. I can see the checklist of worries being ticked off in their minds. She’s making progress." Location 20

As Rachel clearly states for the reader the whole novel is a letter from her to Clara, telling their story, from her point of view. Rachel not only covers what is happening currently, but also tells us what has happened in the past and her perception of events. Rachel and Clara met in 1993 when they were 14 and 15. Rachel was the new girl at school and she and Clara immediately hit it off. They were fast friends until Clara was hospitalized in a psychiatric institution seven years ago. After that she traveled before returning home. Even through Rachel and Clara have gone their separate ways, their friendship is the kind that endures forever. Clara's disappearance is mind boggling.

Rachel writes: "I don’t blame you for thinking otherwise. I blame the people who’ve poisoned you with their lies. But listen to your heart. Trust your instincts. Think of the beautiful, precious thing that we have shared. Know that something so pure could never be bad. That’s why I’m writing to you. So you’ll understand. I don’t know how it will reach you, but I’ll find a way. No one knows about the letter; its content doesn’t fit with my “moving on” narrative. So if you do read it, let it be our secret. Just imagine me close to you, whispering it in your ear—our story, in my words. And maybe at the end we will work out how we lost each other and how we can find each other once more." Location 42

Clearly most readers will recognize that the narrow point of view can make for an unreliable narrator. As details of the girl's past emerge in Rachel's letters, astute readers will likely guess many of the secrets long before they are revealed. Certainly the tone of the novel gets darker as it progresses. McBeth does a nice job building tension as more information is disclosed and more suspicions about the truth arise.



Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for review purposes. ( )