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Frozen
When his childhood friend Verity is found at the foot of Beachy Head, barely alive, Harry's life is thrown into turmoil. He can't accept that the happy go lucky girl he grew up with would try to kill herself. He should know. He was closer to her than anyone – wasn't he?
As Verity lies suspended in a coma, damaged beyond repair, Harry tries to uncover what went so horribly wrong in her life. Haunted by memories of their childhood, and by the knowledge that what they shared is lost forever, Harry begins piecing together the last few weeks of Verity's life. He enlists the help of another childhood friend, Adam, and Verity's business partner Sam. Sam is as baffled as Harry, but Adam thinks Verity's suicide attempt was the inevitable consequence of a life which was clearly spiraling out of control.
The deeper Harry gets, the more questions remain unanswered. Why was Verity's flat burgled? Why was she secretly seeing a psychiatrist? And, for Harry, the most haunting question of all: why did Verity kiss him, all those years ago, and then banish him from her life? If Harry can't find the answers, he may have to face the fact that perhaps he never really knew Verity at all...
As Verity lies suspended in a coma, damaged beyond repair, Harry tries to uncover what went so horribly wrong in her life. Haunted by memories of their childhood, and by the knowledge that what they shared is lost forever, Harry begins piecing together the last few weeks of Verity's life. He enlists the help of another childhood friend, Adam, and Verity's business partner Sam. Sam is as baffled as Harry, but Adam thinks Verity's suicide attempt was the inevitable consequence of a life which was clearly spiraling out of control.
The deeper Harry gets, the more questions remain unanswered. Why was Verity's flat burgled? Why was she secretly seeing a psychiatrist? And, for Harry, the most haunting question of all: why did Verity kiss him, all those years ago, and then banish him from her life? If Harry can't find the answers, he may have to face the fact that perhaps he never really knew Verity at all...
280 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 2015
369 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 1, 2024
I started this book over a month ago, and it’s taken me some time to get back to.
I wish l’d made time for it sooner.
I guess the reason I left it so long was, well, to took a while for me to get “ into” at the start after reading the sample on kindle.
But, that’s my fault.
Because
This is a heartfelt story of two people, Verity and Harry, to childhood friends, who cared deeply,y for each other but , become separated over the years due to, well, life’s circumstances.
However, they still make time to meet up twice a week at the pub for a drink and catch up.
That’s until, one evening Verity doesn’t show.
Harry can’t contain his annoyance as he leaves numerous messages on her phone.
Then, the shocking news comes through.
Verity is discovered barely alive at the base of Beechy Head.
The police believe, she tried to take her own life.
Harry is bereft…at first
Then, as the days go by, he looks into Verity’s life more closely leading up to that fateful day, and begins to question if her accident might be more sinister than first thought.
With the help of his and Verity’s other childhood friend, lawyer and budding politician, Adam, Harry set off to find out what secrets Verity had been hiding.
In doing so he unleashes a Pandora’s box of repressed childhood memories surrounding the three friends.
By the end, they will be no turning back from the awful truth he uncovers.
A slow start to this one, but the pace builds, and builds until you won’t be able to put it down.
Not sure where I stand on Adam’s Character.
Sometimes, you wanted him to be strong, but he takes the weak way out.
At times he stumbled along blindly getting stuck in his own head, making stupid mistakes.
It wasn’t until he teamed up with Verity’s old assistant, Sam, that she managed to keep his head in the game, making important discoveries.
Even though as a female lead, I didn’t exactly like her much.
As was mentioned at one point, Sam had always fancied Harry but he was head over heels for Verity, so he never paid her much attention.
However, once Verity was out of the action, in a coma, probably never to coming out of, Sam finally makes her move under the guise of “ wanting to help” .
Thus they become co-investigators and, eventually, lovers.
Though Harry still keeps a foot in camp Sam
, and camp Verity, as he is unsure exactly what he and Sam are.
When I read books I’m one of those people who hates an unrealistic HEA, but OMG! I sooo wanted a miracle for Verity and Harry in this one
Four stars
I wish l’d made time for it sooner.
I guess the reason I left it so long was, well, to took a while for me to get “ into” at the start after reading the sample on kindle.
But, that’s my fault.
Because
This is a heartfelt story of two people, Verity and Harry, to childhood friends, who cared deeply,y for each other but , become separated over the years due to, well, life’s circumstances.
However, they still make time to meet up twice a week at the pub for a drink and catch up.
That’s until, one evening Verity doesn’t show.
Harry can’t contain his annoyance as he leaves numerous messages on her phone.
Then, the shocking news comes through.
Verity is discovered barely alive at the base of Beechy Head.
The police believe, she tried to take her own life.
Harry is bereft…at first
Then, as the days go by, he looks into Verity’s life more closely leading up to that fateful day, and begins to question if her accident might be more sinister than first thought.
With the help of his and Verity’s other childhood friend, lawyer and budding politician, Adam, Harry set off to find out what secrets Verity had been hiding.
In doing so he unleashes a Pandora’s box of repressed childhood memories surrounding the three friends.
By the end, they will be no turning back from the awful truth he uncovers.
A slow start to this one, but the pace builds, and builds until you won’t be able to put it down.
Not sure where I stand on Adam’s Character.
Sometimes, you wanted him to be strong, but he takes the weak way out.
At times he stumbled along blindly getting stuck in his own head, making stupid mistakes.
It wasn’t until he teamed up with Verity’s old assistant, Sam, that she managed to keep his head in the game, making important discoveries.
Even though as a female lead, I didn’t exactly like her much.
As was mentioned at one point, Sam had always fancied Harry but he was head over heels for Verity, so he never paid her much attention.
However, once Verity was out of the action, in a coma, probably never to coming out of, Sam finally makes her move under the guise of “ wanting to help” .
Thus they become co-investigators and, eventually, lovers.
Though Harry still keeps a foot in camp Sam
, and camp Verity, as he is unsure exactly what he and Sam are.
When I read books I’m one of those people who hates an unrealistic HEA, but OMG! I sooo wanted a miracle for Verity and Harry in this one
Four stars
June 10, 2024
A sad story about Harry’s own problems and a fascinating twist at the end. Nice to get closure but I was hoping for a more positive ending.
December 28, 2018
One of the most problematic books i've read lately…
I felt that there was a lot of sexism going on and just things that made me really uncomfortable.
This story is about a man who has no past experience in police work or whatsoever, but he thinks he can solve the mystery of his female friend killing herself.
One of the scenes that bothered me was that the main character showed up in the victim's apartment and kicked out her boyfriend/sexpartner whatever - after that the main character was bothered this guy had keys to the apartment (Note: our main character didn't) so he decided to change the locks of someone else's apartment!
The other thing that really bothered me was that the victim of this story was never portrayed as an actual human being, and felt more like an object our main character obsessed about. There were a lot of flashbacks but the narrative was very objectifying towards our victim.
I felt that there was a lot of sexism going on and just things that made me really uncomfortable.
This story is about a man who has no past experience in police work or whatsoever, but he thinks he can solve the mystery of his female friend killing herself.
One of the scenes that bothered me was that the main character showed up in the victim's apartment and kicked out her boyfriend/sexpartner whatever - after that the main character was bothered this guy had keys to the apartment (Note: our main character didn't) so he decided to change the locks of someone else's apartment!
The other thing that really bothered me was that the victim of this story was never portrayed as an actual human being, and felt more like an object our main character obsessed about. There were a lot of flashbacks but the narrative was very objectifying towards our victim.
April 18, 2016
Verity is found at the bottom of a cliff - a suspected suicide. Her childhood friend Harry refuses to believe what the police believe happened. Aided by fellow childhood friend, Adam, Harry slowly pieces together Verity's past life. Although there are chapters revealing the past, the story does not lose momentum. Although not too surprised at the ending there was more than enough going on to sustain attention. A sad but satisfying read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews