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She Knows
You shouldn’t believe everything you read. . .
When Sky stumbles across a lost diary, she can’t resist looking inside, hoping it contains some scandalous tittle-tattle or lurid gossip.
Instead, she discovers something she was never supposed to read.
Something that brings back the appalling memories of her mother’s tragic death.
It’s clear the owner of the diary is in terrible danger and desperately needs help.
Is this finally an opportunity for Sky to atone for her mother’s murder?
Or has her desire to redress the wrongs of her past clouded her perception of what’s really going on?
After all, you shouldn’t believe everything you read…
When Sky stumbles across a lost diary, she can’t resist looking inside, hoping it contains some scandalous tittle-tattle or lurid gossip.
Instead, she discovers something she was never supposed to read.
Something that brings back the appalling memories of her mother’s tragic death.
It’s clear the owner of the diary is in terrible danger and desperately needs help.
Is this finally an opportunity for Sky to atone for her mother’s murder?
Or has her desire to redress the wrongs of her past clouded her perception of what’s really going on?
After all, you shouldn’t believe everything you read…
322 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2021
208 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Wills
16 books418 followers***Book bloggers join my ARC team and never miss getting your hands on a review copy of my latest books. You can sign up here: bit.ly/bloggersalert ***
AJ Wills writes standalone psychological thrillers with twisty plots.
He’s a former journalist who wrote in his spare time, before and after work for ten years, until he was finally able to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a fulltime author in May 2021.
He’s never looked back and now runs a small independent publishing company, Cherry Tree Publishing with his wife, AJ McDine, also a thriller writer.
He said: “I've always loved thrillers, but psychological thrillers hold a special interest for me because they're about the scary, insane, disturbing things that happen to ordinary people - and we can all relate to them on some level.”
He lives in Kent in the south east of England.
You can download AJ Wills’s psychological thriller, His Lost Wife, for free by visiting bit.ly/hislostwife
You can find out more about him on his website: ajwillsauthor.com, his Facebook page AuthorAJWills or on his Instagram account ajwills_author
Of course, you can always contact him directly at adrian@ajwillsauthor.com, where he loves to answer messages from genuine readers.
And don't forget to follow him on BookBub for his new releases: bit.ly/BookBubAJWills
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 26, 2021
A thoroughly enjoyable and addictive read!
How many people are kind enough to return lost items? Quite a few, I think. If you stumbled across a wallet and found a name and address inside, you’d know that the right thing to do would be to return it to its owner, yes? Well, after reading this book you might change your mind!
Sky is taking a walk on the beach when she stumbles across a woman who is crying, concerned she approaches her and asks if she is alright. Startled, the woman quickly flees, stating that she is fine. It is after she is gone, Sky discovers a small black diary wedged in the sand. Thinking it must belong to the lady who ran away, she decides to take the diary and attempts to track down the mystery woman. What a shame she didn’t know then that the best thing would’ve been to have just left it where it was!
Whilst flicking through the diary to find the name of the owner, Sky just can’t help herself and ends up reading a few passages. Horrified by what she reads, Sky makes it her mission, not only to return the diary but to help the poor woman too, as it seems she is in an abusive relationship. Tragic events from Sky’s past begin to resurface and she is determined not to let another woman be a victim of violence.
Whilst we follow the story of Sky trying to help Esme, the owner of the diary, we also follow a guy called Hanlon who is a private investigator, tasked by a group of Russian mobs to find a man called Derek. These two storylines run well alongside each other, I found them both intriguing and kept wondering if and how they would merge.
I really liked the characters Sky and Hanlon. I felt sorry for Sky, she’s not had an easy life and from trying to do a good deed she ends up involved in some very dark and dangerous things. It did annoy me a little how trusting and naive she was at times, but that suited her character perfectly and with what happened in her past you can understand why she thinks and does what she does! I won’t tell you why I liked Hanlon as I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but he was definitely my favourite in this book. I did feel I had some unanswered questions about a couple of characters but I’m quite happy making up my own scenarios in these situations.
The story hooks you in with its fantastic prologue and holds your attention with some great shocks and twists. I felt these happened earlier on in the book and that they dried up a bit as the story went on, but this didn’t spoil my enjoyment of it at all. There is plenty happening to hold your interest right up to the brilliant showdown at the end.
I love the setting for the story, I’ve not been to the Isle of Sheppey but after googling it, I can tell you that it is exactly how I imagined it would be.
I think the idea for this story is a great one, it just shows how easily one good deed can take such a nasty turn! Next time you decide to return that lost driving licence on the street, maybe have a think about who’s door you could be knocking on to return it!
Thank you so much to A J Wills for my copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.
How many people are kind enough to return lost items? Quite a few, I think. If you stumbled across a wallet and found a name and address inside, you’d know that the right thing to do would be to return it to its owner, yes? Well, after reading this book you might change your mind!
Sky is taking a walk on the beach when she stumbles across a woman who is crying, concerned she approaches her and asks if she is alright. Startled, the woman quickly flees, stating that she is fine. It is after she is gone, Sky discovers a small black diary wedged in the sand. Thinking it must belong to the lady who ran away, she decides to take the diary and attempts to track down the mystery woman. What a shame she didn’t know then that the best thing would’ve been to have just left it where it was!
Whilst flicking through the diary to find the name of the owner, Sky just can’t help herself and ends up reading a few passages. Horrified by what she reads, Sky makes it her mission, not only to return the diary but to help the poor woman too, as it seems she is in an abusive relationship. Tragic events from Sky’s past begin to resurface and she is determined not to let another woman be a victim of violence.
Whilst we follow the story of Sky trying to help Esme, the owner of the diary, we also follow a guy called Hanlon who is a private investigator, tasked by a group of Russian mobs to find a man called Derek. These two storylines run well alongside each other, I found them both intriguing and kept wondering if and how they would merge.
I really liked the characters Sky and Hanlon. I felt sorry for Sky, she’s not had an easy life and from trying to do a good deed she ends up involved in some very dark and dangerous things. It did annoy me a little how trusting and naive she was at times, but that suited her character perfectly and with what happened in her past you can understand why she thinks and does what she does! I won’t tell you why I liked Hanlon as I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but he was definitely my favourite in this book. I did feel I had some unanswered questions about a couple of characters but I’m quite happy making up my own scenarios in these situations.
The story hooks you in with its fantastic prologue and holds your attention with some great shocks and twists. I felt these happened earlier on in the book and that they dried up a bit as the story went on, but this didn’t spoil my enjoyment of it at all. There is plenty happening to hold your interest right up to the brilliant showdown at the end.
I love the setting for the story, I’ve not been to the Isle of Sheppey but after googling it, I can tell you that it is exactly how I imagined it would be.
I think the idea for this story is a great one, it just shows how easily one good deed can take such a nasty turn! Next time you decide to return that lost driving licence on the street, maybe have a think about who’s door you could be knocking on to return it!
Thank you so much to A J Wills for my copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.
October 24, 2021
I didn’t expect this at all. So many twists and when I thought I knew what’s going on , another turn of the events will get me back to square one.
If you want to get lost in a great suspenseful story, this one will surely blow your mind in many ways.
Personal note: not all Romanians are about money loaning and extortion.
If you want to get lost in a great suspenseful story, this one will surely blow your mind in many ways.
Personal note: not all Romanians are about money loaning and extortion.
January 22, 2022
Sky was a TSL heroine--Too Stupid to Live. Her vocabulary in her internal thoughts made her sound quite intelligent, but her actions were incredibly dumb. How did she develop such a strong vocabulary, since she ran away and lived on the street? She seems to drink and party most of the time--doesn't curl up with a book.
Sky was traumatized by the death of her mother, which motivates her to want to protect Esme Winter, a woman she believes is being abused. However, it's soon evident that the woman she wants to protect is an unadulterated bitch. If Sky had a low IQ, or suffered from a mental illness, or was on the autism spectrum, I would have believed she could be so unable to see that Esme was an awful person. The actions she took to try to help Esme were so dumb, she seemed like a young teenager.
I finally got so annoyed by Sky that I skipped to the last chapters of the book to see how the story turned out. The ending, where Sky believes she can sell the stolen jewelry and eventually become an architect, was beyond implausible. How is she going to fence the jewelry? She seems impossibly naive in her dealings with criminals previously, so how is she going to pull that off?
The ideas behind the book had a lot of potential, but the story didn't work for me.
Sky was traumatized by the death of her mother, which motivates her to want to protect Esme Winter, a woman she believes is being abused. However, it's soon evident that the woman she wants to protect is an unadulterated bitch. If Sky had a low IQ, or suffered from a mental illness, or was on the autism spectrum, I would have believed she could be so unable to see that Esme was an awful person. The actions she took to try to help Esme were so dumb, she seemed like a young teenager.
I finally got so annoyed by Sky that I skipped to the last chapters of the book to see how the story turned out. The ending, where Sky believes she can sell the stolen jewelry and eventually become an architect, was beyond implausible. How is she going to fence the jewelry? She seems impossibly naive in her dealings with criminals previously, so how is she going to pull that off?
The ideas behind the book had a lot of potential, but the story didn't work for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2022
2 ⭐
Meh, the only thing stopping me from giving this a 1 ⭐ is I initially found the plot really compelling. Finding a distressed women on a beach then seeing she's left a diary behind with some unsettling entries. Then another timeline following an ex cop maybe hitman?
However, luckily this was a free library book because I'd be so annoyed to have paid for this book. The 'ending' or 'solution' is just so convoluted. The main character just came across as interfering and irritating to me. The only character I seemed to enjoy the storyline of was the ex cop, who got no real ending? what was the point in his storyline? the merging of timelines was so forced and irritating to me. Also, the female villain leaving the suitcase of jewelry to the main character? ew. no that just did not make sense.
Whilst writing this I am slowly wanting to change to a 1 ⭐ review...
Meh, the only thing stopping me from giving this a 1 ⭐ is I initially found the plot really compelling. Finding a distressed women on a beach then seeing she's left a diary behind with some unsettling entries. Then another timeline following an ex cop maybe hitman?
However, luckily this was a free library book because I'd be so annoyed to have paid for this book. The 'ending' or 'solution' is just so convoluted. The main character just came across as interfering and irritating to me. The only character I seemed to enjoy the storyline of was the ex cop, who got no real ending? what was the point in his storyline? the merging of timelines was so forced and irritating to me. Also, the female villain leaving the suitcase of jewelry to the main character? ew. no that just did not make sense.
Whilst writing this I am slowly wanting to change to a 1 ⭐ review...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2021
She's obsessed with her mother's death and is afraid the same thing will happen to someone else.
Because of this she gets used and luckily doesn't end up dead. A very twisted tale that has at least three stories (or more) being intertwined with all of them coming together in the end.
It will keep you interested and on edge until it's all over.
Because of this she gets used and luckily doesn't end up dead. A very twisted tale that has at least three stories (or more) being intertwined with all of them coming together in the end.
It will keep you interested and on edge until it's all over.
September 13, 2024
The book had a promising start, but as the story progressed, the sense and logic gradually declined. The main character came across as silly rather than vulnerable, making it hard to connect with or feel sympathy for her. By the end, any semblance of coherence had completely vanished. Sorry if anybody thinks differently, but I'm totally disappointed.
February 9, 2025
An absolute thriller! The story revolves around Elle, who starts receiving mysterious messages from someone claiming to know her deepest secrets. As she tries to uncover who is behind the messages, her life starts unraveling. The suspense is gripping, and the plot twists keep you guessing until the very end.
July 6, 2021
She Knows
I really enjoyed this book! It didn't lead you down the road you were expecting and, the twists in it kept you wondering how this would turn out! Looking forward to my next A J Wills book!
I really enjoyed this book! It didn't lead you down the road you were expecting and, the twists in it kept you wondering how this would turn out! Looking forward to my next A J Wills book!
July 16, 2021
Forewarned
Mind your own business or maybe no good deed goes unpunished or don't stick your nose where it didn't belong. So many sayings come to mind in this book. One should always listen to that inner voice is what I take away from this book.
Mind your own business or maybe no good deed goes unpunished or don't stick your nose where it didn't belong. So many sayings come to mind in this book. One should always listen to that inner voice is what I take away from this book.
August 18, 2021
Amazing read
Very interesting storyline and I couldn't put the book down until I finished it! Great story telling with an unexpected twist I wouldn't have guessed. Wasn't a big fan of Sky, I found her too impulsive and self-centered.
Very interesting storyline and I couldn't put the book down until I finished it! Great story telling with an unexpected twist I wouldn't have guessed. Wasn't a big fan of Sky, I found her too impulsive and self-centered.
December 4, 2022
Plot was weak, some characters flip flopped from one emotion to another. Ending was predictable and main character came across as quite unbelievable. Sort of enjoyed it but plot holes made it less fun.
April 26, 2021
Another absolute belter from Adrian Wills! I read this book in one sitting, unable to put it down, or turn the pages quick enough to see how it would end. Highly recommend.
April 30, 2021
AWFUL
The worst book I've read I don't think a ten year old would enjoy such rubbish. It was so unbelievable.
The worst book I've read I don't think a ten year old would enjoy such rubbish. It was so unbelievable.
May 16, 2021
Excellent book. Did not want to put it down.
March 1, 2022
May be the stupidest book with the stupidest person ( good old sky) I have ever read but it was semi enjoyable. Idk. Wouldn't recommend it but I read it.
March 13, 2022
Audio version of this book 📚- an ok listen though really far fetched
July 1, 2022
Decent plot. Sometimes Skye was made to seem really simple.
July 25, 2023
Not the best I felt. Bit confusing at times. How the story unfolded wasn’t strong enough for me and I nearly stopped reading.
May 19, 2024
Love the author but couldn’t grasp how naive the main character was
Not your best AJ but still one of my fav people
Not your best AJ but still one of my fav people
January 16, 2025
Terrible, please skip.
February 2, 2025
5 Stars
This was an exciting book , I could not stop reading it. The characters and story are superb as usual , I recommend all A J Wills books they are great !
This was an exciting book , I could not stop reading it. The characters and story are superb as usual , I recommend all A J Wills books they are great !
November 5, 2025
Five stars plus.
I loved this book it had lots of twists and turns and once I started it It was hard to put down. I definitely recommend this book.
I loved this book it had lots of twists and turns and once I started it It was hard to put down. I definitely recommend this book.
May 21, 2021
Didn't like the plot of this book and found the writing flat and dull. The baddie characters were one dimensional cartoons and the main one, Sky, was so dumb and naive and gullible that I was constantly irritated by her stupidity. I know you have to suspend disbelief with these stories but this one was too ridiculous. There were not really any twists or surprises, Esme's nature was obvious from the introduction of her character; if the Frank character was supposed to be a misdirect, it didn't work. It's obvious who he is. This could have been an episode of an old TV show from the 70s, like Hawaii 50 or something. Cheesy. Two thumbs down.
January 1, 2022
A great twist in this story.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews