Where the Edge Is by Grainne Murphy is both the story of a very specific incident and a glimpse into the universality of the precarity of life, both physical and emotional. While I was gripped from the beginning, I thought of this as a bit of a slow-burn type of novel. I mean that as a positive, it keeps adding to the suspense and the personal situations so that we continuously feel just a bit more involved with every page.

The basic plot itself, meaning the bus accident and the people on board, is a good story in itself. It offers a nice baseline of concern for the reader to start from as we learn about the various people involved in the larger story. What sets the book apart from just a basic suspense novel is the way we come to both understand and relate to these characters. Even if we haven't experienced some of the life events they have, we can relate to the feelings of dread and being close to, and about to go over, the edge.

We each have things that we feel and/or events that have happened to us that make us realize that we are always already close to more edges in our lives than we acknowledge or even know about. One accident, one misstep, even something relatively mundane, can propel us up to and perhaps over an edge. Financial, healthwise, mentally, careerwise, even just waking up. This book taps into these common fears through the framing story of the bus on an actual edge.

I recommend this to those who like some thought provoking ideas with their suspense stories. Even if suspense isn't your usual genre I would recommend you give this a try.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Wow... what an incredible book, thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am literally blown away by the writing: the insightfulness, the authors’s ability to stop time, hold space, reflect and prospect almost at the same time, the exquisite way complex and controversial subjects are discussed, normalised and etched into your memory for ever.

This is one of those heart stopping reads that make you stop in your tracks...

I don’t want to say much, if anything of the plot line. You need to read it, be in it, to appreciate the sheer talent of this incredible debut author. Read it slowly, re read sections and take time to digest and feel it’s impact.

I am so very excited as to what he has done here, and to see what else he can offer in the future. Incredible ( )