She’s paid the price for giving her ex a false alibi, and now she’s moved to a seaside village to escape her past–but more than her lie follows her there in this chilling and twisty psychological thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Exes’ Revenge.One day, a woman turns up in a remote coastal village. She’s bought a crumbling, long-vacant cottage and calls herself Charlie Miller. Charlie … herself Charlie Miller. Charlie keeps to herself, reluctant to integrate with the locals. If they ever find out who she really is, and what she’s done, she’ll lose what little she has left.
Charlie served two years in prison for providing a false alibi for a murderer. It was the mistake of a woman in love, a woman who couldn’t believe her boyfriend was guilty–or lying to her. All she desperately wants now is a fresh start.
As Charlie slowly lets down her guard and becomes friendly with her neighbors, she can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching her, someone who knows what she did. When one of her new friends suddenly disappears, Charlie’s worst fears are confirmed. She must confront her past head-on, but as she knows all too well, everything is far more dangerous than how it appears.
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Where would you go if you had just been released from prison and knew everyone hated you for what you had done?
Steffi Finn, now known as Charlie Miller, went to a remote town….a town with gossipy women. Was this a good idea?
Small towns have small-town ways of protecting each other and are suspicious of outsiders.
The women welcomed Charlie and even invited her to their book club meetings, but they and an elderly neighbor didn’t understand why she would move so far from the city unless she had something to hide.
We follow Charlie as she tries to live this new, free life. We also go back to her life before prison and see what led up to her arrest. Her boyfriend basically tricked her and got her convicted.
Now that she was out, there was another person who didn’t want her free and vowed to have his day with her. He puts all of his time and effort into hunting Charlie down.
Jo Jakeman made SAFE HOUSE very appealing with a terrific story line and pull-you-in writing.
SAFE HOUSE is a suspenseful thriller that will keep you on edge along with Charlie.
The tension won’t let you put the book down and will have you gripping the pages.
If you enjoy guessing until the end, do not miss SAFE HOUSE. 5/5
This book was given to me by the publisher via NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book I have read by Jo Jakeman, and I congratulate her creativity and suspenseful writings. In this story, our main character Charlie Miller has moved to a remote village, far away from her previous life as Steffi Finn in the big city. As Steffi, she unwittingly gave her boyfriend an alibi for the night he murdered a woman. Steffi paid the price with nearly two years in prison, and now that she’s been released, she’s ready to start over in a new place complete with a new name. It doesn’t take long before it is clear someone or someones know who she is and where she is. I loved the side characters in this book, and I grew especially fond of Charlie’s elderly neighbor Aubrey. This was a quick, thrilling read–great for CORONA isolation.
I enjoyed reading Safe House by Jo Jakeman. I first heard of her when I read The Exes’ Revenge. Both are books I would recommend.
I connected with Charlie/Steffi fairly easily. I know how easy it is to want to believe in love, to want to believe things will get better. I also know what it is like when you are made to believe things you didn’t know happened, to be made to feel like your responsible for someone else’s actions. It was easy to put myself in her shoes. Through much of the book, I wondered to myself ‘what if’. I enjoyed Charlie’s new life. Her new friends, her community involvement. It was inspiring the way she built her life even though she was ambivalent about deserving it. You could feel her self doubt and guilt. I was kept guessing about people’s motives and about who was watching her. I didn’t see the reveal before hand.
If you’re looking for a new thriller to keep you turning pages, be sure to mark it, “want to read,” on your Goodreads or BookBub shelves. Look for its release in Kindle, Audible and paperback on March 10, 2020. Preorder is available now. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc for review consideration. My choice to review was voluntary.
Safe House draws you in from the release of Steffi from prison for giving a false albi for her boyfriend who goes on to kill 2 ladies. If only ….
Steffi has to change her identity as there is a lot of hate for her , people think she knew all along that Lee was killing.
Enter Charlie, her new name, she buys herself a run down house , excited for a new beginning but things are never that easy : are they?
Always looking over her shoulder Charlie tries to fit in but as luck as has it, she was right.
Someone is watching her
But who ?
Didnt guess the ending, the clues were cleverly there .
Another good read from Jo Jakeman.
I bleeping loved this book!
Not the most verbose of reviews, I realise, but for me, this story is unputdownable.
As Charlie’s story is revealed via past and present (or, present and past), I found myself walking a tightrope of tension as I held my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop.
They say there are three sides to every story: his, hers and the truth. But which version of the truth is to be believed? Is the truth even the truth?
There are many types of abuse. Psychological is one of the worst. Before you know it, your thoughts are no longer your own.
Even when we set out with the best of intentions, can we atone for sins of the past when the outcomes were so egregious?
Ugh, I really should know better *palms face*. I started this book with judgment already in place, but quickly realised I needed to take a step back and reassess the facts. Perception is everything, isn’t it?
Setting is key, and the author really brought Cornwall alive with her vivid descriptions which lent itself to the overall feel of the book. I was freezing the entire time I read, even though the heating was on full blast *shrugs*.
Safe House is everything I love (and hate in equal measure – coz I’m twisted like that *snorts*) in a great thriller. *rubs chest* I think my heartbeat has just about returned to normal.
Right, enough of my wafflings, I’m off to make a cuppa to calm my nerves.