The chilling new psychological thriller from the #1 bestselling author of I Am Watching You.
It was their darkest secret. Three schoolgirls made a promise – to take the horrible truth of what they did to the grave.
Thirty years later, Beth and Sally have tried to put the trauma behind them. Though Carol has distanced herself from her former friends, the three are adamant that the truth must … adamant that the truth must never come to light, even if the memory still haunts them.
But when some shocking news threatens to unearth their dark secret, Beth enlists the help of private investigator Matthew Hill to help her and Sally reconnect with estranged Carol – before the terrible act they committed as teenagers is revealed.
Beth wishes she could take back the vow they made.
But somebody is watching and will stop at nothing to ensure the secret stays buried. Now, with her beloved family in peril, can Beth still keep the promise?
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THE PROMISE is a character driven page turner that paints portraits with nuanced suggestions and inuendo. The well-crafted story makes you want to know more about the long-ago secret they are keeping. There will be times when you want to scream ‘just tell me!’ Then you will settle back to reading and absorbing details that taunt.
I imagine that this book falls squarely in the category of women’s fiction, a category I tend to bypass on general principals. I avoid it in the same way I avoid men’s fiction because to me a book is genderless, a story to be read by whomever is drawn to it. Along these lines, I would encourage men to read this book to better acquaint themselves with the psyche of women that so many find a mystery.
Driscoll has captured the very essence of the female thought process that has, for so long, be taught that they must be careful of what they say and do in the presence of men and/or male authority. The ‘now’ in this book is 2016. To think that women under the age of 40 are still so constrained defines the very reason for the feminist movement.
As you read, you will conjure up all sorts of scenarios to try and make sense of just what promise schoolgirls made some 20 years ago. When the male protagonist is introduced, with his own secret, a balancing act of whose secret is worse starts to fester.
The resolution is neither earthshattering nor is it anticlimactic; it is rather matter of fact and highly believable. The excellent writing and superb plotting make this an excellent choice for your next read.
When Carol, Beth, and Sally were only 14 years old, they made a promise that shaped their lives forever. Something so horrible had happened in their young lives at the boarding school, that it needed to be buried forever. They could barely think about it, yet it haunted every moment. Through the years, Sally and Beth have remained close friends. However, Carol has avoided them and moved to Europe. Is it because of the secret? Do they remind her of that unspeakable day?
Thirty years pass, and Beth and Sally believe that their secret must be safe. However, news of the boarding house is sure to threaten their secret! Their fear is greater than ever. Their trepidation mounts as they discover that someone is threatening Beth and her family.
This psychological drama is jam packed with surprises and twists and turns. When the secret about the promise is revealed relatively early in the book, I wondered what there was left to tell. But that was only the beginning! The characters are well crafted, and the plot kept me reading. This is quite a ride!
Thank you, NetGalley, for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
A very good read, although quite wordy – it could have done with some pruning. Having said that, the storyline was intriguing and I enjoyed this book.
I loved this latest psychological thriller by Teresa Driscoll! She is absolutely a master of writing about crimes and those who hide from the truth! Beth, Sally and Carol became fast friends in boarding school and when a tragedy happens to Carol, the three girls make a promise never to reveal what happened to anyone. Now the convent where they went to school is being sold and their secret may be revealed, so Beth is desperate to find Carol and get her to come to talk to them about the secret and the promise. The characterization was wonderful, with believable dialogues between the girls as teens and later as adults. All suffer in different ways from holding in the secret. Sally is almost a recluse until the investigator hired to find Carol befriends her. Beth seems to be the leader of the girls and the one most determined to keep the secret hidden, but she needs Carol’s help. I enjoyed the flow of the story, from past to present and from one narrator to another. Usually such stories confuse me, but Ms. Driscoll handled this seamlessly. The chapters were short enough that they ran smoothly into each other, leading me to continue to read until the exciting and unexpected conclusion. Readers of psychological thrillers will definitely enjoy this book! And I highly recommend it to anyone who loves suspense as their go-to genre!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
I really liked this book. It kept my interest and I liked the characters. A great read…
The plotline of The Promise did take some time getting going. Like I said in my WWW Wednesday post, I wasn’t a fan of the book at first. There was so much going on that I had an issue keeping storylines/characters straight. The author merged everything down to two main storylines. What happened to the girls at boarding school in the past and what was happening to them in the present. She was able to merge the two at the end of the book.
My dislike of Beth didn’t turn to like immediately. But, she acknowledged that she needed help. She also knew that telling people about the secret would be a weight lifted off her shoulders. I didn’t like how she handled what Carol told her. I thought that she could have handled it better. But when push came to shove, she was there for Carol.
Carol sideswiped me. I was with the majority of people in the book. I thought that Carol was being a snot. Talk about something that came out of left field. I also was taken aback by her confession to Beth in the hotel room. Again, out of left field.
I liked Sally. The secret she had to keep affected her more than she let on. Her home life when she was younger was awful. The tidbits that she told Matthew and what I read in Beth’s flashback, she didn’t have it good. I did have a good cry about her news at the end of the book. All I have to say about that is that she deserved it.
The Promise fit right in with the mystery/thriller/suspense genre. The author was a master at throwing out red herrings and false leads. I would have never of guessed at who was sending the messages to Beth and who ran Adam off the road. Never would have guessed at all. And what happened at the end of the book. That all came out of the blue for me.
The end of The Promise was one of the more intense ones that I have read to date. The author had a couple of huge plot twists thrown in there that made me go “WTH.” Like I mentioned above, I didn’t see them coming. I also liked that the author was able to wrap up all the storylines. Everyone got what they deserved and then some. Loved it!!
Beth is eleven when she is sent away to the Convent of St Colman’s boarding school on a grant. During assigned sleeping quarters, she meets Sally, who is sent to the school on an armed forces grant too, and Carol, who is there because her mother won the lottery. Beth is a little embarrassed about her blankets, and confides in Carol, who whips off one of hers to exchange for one of Beth’s. It becomes evident that the three will become close friends.
This story goes from present to past and opens with Beth being called by Sally’s husband to come that Sally has lost her baby and locked herself in the bathroom.
Then a letter is sent to all the girls that attended the boarding school about it being torn down and a farewell party. This letter stirs up bad emotions with Sally and Beth, wondering what to do, and if Carol, whom they’ve lost touch with has seen it. It also conjures up a memory that over the course of the story the reader gets bits and pieces of about the promise made by the three. Something terrible that happened, that the three were never to tell anyone, but the closure of the Convent has opened up guilt and brought it to light a Pandora box.
Beth decides to hire a private investigator to help locate Carol, but Matthew Hill, a former police officer who left the force. Beth, remaining loyal, doesn’t fill Matthew in entirely, just that she’s lost track of a friend and is trying to locate her. Matthew follows a lead and finds Carol’s mother, where Beth drags Sally along, only to discover that Carol’s mom goes into a state of shock upon seeing the girls.
The encounter doesn’t go as planned, but more unusual there is a strange message warning them followed by a scare concerning Beth’s children. When Beth’s husband, Adam gets badly injured, she decides she no longer wants to hide the truth, even if it means jail time.
Great story, and I really enjoyed how it went from present to past in retelling with a lot of twists and turns that kept the reader guessing how just what kind of promise was made and for what.
I received an ARC in from NetGalley via Thomas & Mercer General Fiction in exchange from my honest opinion.
Very well written, with a lot of twists. An ending I couldn’t predict. I liked it so much, the next book I read was by the same author.
The author of I Am Watching You, Teresa Driscoll presents her latest book, The Promise.
Meet three boarding school girls, thick as thieves, now all grown up who keep a horrible secrte just that, a secret. They all swore to take it to the grave, but now, 30 years later, everything is threatened to revealed.
The Promise is a full length, angsty standalone novel with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat..
The Promise is a psychological thriller who deals with sensitive and dark subjects and is not fro the faint of heart. I loved the writing and the story and give 4,5 stars.
Teresa Driscoll has written an intriguing novel about three friends and the secret they have kept for three decades…The Promise, the title so fitting to this story, is about three young girls, Beth, Sally, and Carol, who met at a boarding school and became best friends and when the most innocent of events occur, their lives are changed forever and as a result, a promise that was made.
The Promise is not your typical psychological suspense thriller. This book takes its time to build each character, slowly developing the good, and the bad. I liked the way the author gave a voice to each of the characters, and I felt that I was easily able to relate to all three of these women in different ways. Ms. Driscoll perfectly conveyed the love and the friendship that these women shared, but at the same time, she also showed us the envy, jealousy, and tension that their secrets caused.
The story is told mostly by Beth, bouncing between the past and present day. And, intermittently, the author has the other characters telling their story too.
The story is not rushed but slowly entraps the reader into the lives of these three women and how the promise they made to each other has shaped their lives. There are some dark elements to the book, but I thought the author handled them well. So many secrets, twists, and turns kept me reading. I will say most of the of the build-up was in the first sixty percent and then in the last forty percent the story came together. I would have liked a little more depth to the ending.
The Promise is the first book that I have read by Teresa Driscoll. Overall I enjoyed this book and her writing style and would definitely consider reading more of her books.
***I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion .***
I definitely enjoyed The Promise and would recommend it. The characters were interesting and the story flowed well. That said, there are so many psychological thrillers out now that an author really needs to step up their game to remain competitive in this genre.
I’m not sure The Promise was quite there. The twist was what I’d begun to suspect, but the roundabout way of getting there and the length of time it took flattened it a bit for me.
The ending seemed rushed in comparison to the rest of the book and while it was a good ending, it wasn’t unwound enough for me. I’ve read other books by this author that I definitely would rate higher than this.
Please don’t let this dissuade you from checking it out. It is a good read, but in today’s crowded psychological thriller and thriller genres, is that enough? It’s up to you to decide.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me an ARC at my request. My thoughts in this review are solely my own.
Teresa Driscoll’s THE PROMISE kept me reading, kept me guessing, and made me feel the heavy weight of secrets and of promises that perhaps ought not have been made. “There are seconds between one whole path in your life and a different one.” You may not like the new person you become . . . can you find your way back? “Guilt is a dangerous bedfellow.” Whom to trust on the journey to truth?
This is quite the emotional roller coaster. The story contains nail biting drama. Three young girls swear to keep a secret that brings multiple complications into their adult lives. The story is told through the voice of multiple characters which adds great depth to the feelings and voice of the plot. It also transitions from one period of time to the next to add comparative perspective to what the characters were feeling or doing at different times. The author doesn’t leave anything to chance and only introduces characters and details that are absolutely vital to the plot. This keeps the reader intrigued and guessing at what is truly happening until she is ready to reveal it. A solid mind puzzle you will enjoy reading and trying to solve before you get to the end.
This book was okay. It took a while to grab my interest and stay focused. I like dual timeline books and the fact that each of the chapters were narrated by the characters was a plus. I felt like the ending was a little too rushed.
Thank you to the author and Thomas & Mercer for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I have to admit, while I was reading this book it felt a bit like being on the British version of Jerry Springer. There is lots of drinking of tea, coffee, and wine while constantly apologizing for having thoughts and feelings. Meanwhile dreadful secrets are crawling out of the woodwork, dogging the steps of three women who, as young girls, faced an unimaginable situation and made a dreadful pact. It could have veered of into the absurd, but surprisingly it worked.
In The Promise, Beth, Sally and Carol deal with the consequences of a secret from their days as young teens at a convent boarding school. The school, set to be demolished, contains the remnants of this secret and the threat of this long hidden event coming to light pushes each woman to the brink of madness. The author peels back the layers covering the event with skill and the reader comes along for a harrowing ride. The fact that this secret could belong to any young girl makes it even more shocking.
There are hiccups. At times the story seems a bit extra, a twist too far, but this doesn’t distract from the overall enjoyment. And the stiffness of the characters could be a cultural difference, as Americans like me are much less reserved about communicating our feelings. I also expected a different kind of secret based on the blurb, but was not disappointed with what actually happened.
If you enjoy a juicy thriller, full of long buried trauma and present day dangers, you will like The Promise. It is a brisk and satisfying read.
This book was extremely hard to put down for me! There are so many characters who I needed to keep up with, and the complex storylines are unpredictable to the end!
The writing was a little slow, but I liked the twists and turns the story took. It must have been terrible for the girls to give a promise in a situation they where in. So young and so afraid to talk to an adult, to get help. And getting on with life after an incident like this must’ve been hard. All in all, I liked the book. It’s about a promise, but also about domestic issues and dark minds.
Gripping and intriguing with a few surprising twists. Plenty to keep you enthralled until the end. I’m becoming quite a Teresa Driscoll fan.
I think I’ve been reading too many psychological thrillers lately. It might be clouding my views of other books. Take for instance Teresa Driscoll’s new book The Promise, I had such high expectations for this because of her first book I am Watching You, but this new one was a serious let down.
Beth, Sally and Carol were best friends in an English boarding school. Through flashbacks, we are shown a glimmer of something bad that happened in the girl’s past, and they’ve all agreed to keep it secret.
Back in present time, Beth and Sally are still best friends, yet Carol is withdrawn from her friends. Last anyone has heard of her, she was in France with her new husband, Ned.
When Beth and Sally are told their former boarding school is closing and the building is to be demolished, flashbacks of their secret and the promise all those years ago come to light. Slowly other secrets and facts start to unravel around the three women.
Let me go back to one word I just mentioned, slowly. This book moved at a bloody snails pace. I had to keep putting this book down and going to another book because I was so unbelievably bored. It wasn’t until I noticed 50 percent of the way into this book, that Driscoll finally let’s us know what the secret it. Without spoiling it, it isn’t much of a secret.
Unpopular opinion, but this slow burn was not worth the wait. By the time the big reveal happened, I was not only bored, I decided I wasn’t interested anymore. On top of that, the last 30 percent of this book get’s massively insane. It was like Driscoll threw a plate of spaghetti at the wall hoping it would stick, let me just say, it didn’t! It was chaotic and hard to follow. Then Driscoll tried to tie it all together with a neat bow. It was a bloody mess.
To Teresa Driscoll’s benefit, the characters and writing is what made me keep reading this book. If you’re someone who enjoys a thriller here or there, this book could be for you, it will give you the tiny thrill you’re looking for. Any experience, maybe even obsessed reader of this genre, you’re going to find this to be a massive let down. You might as well skip this one, you’re really not missing anything with The Promise.
Thank you NetGalley, Teresa Driscoll, and Thomas & Mercer for my copy of The Promise in exchange for an honest review.
Read my full review here: https://bit.ly/2SPL3QF
This was an enjoyable read, that I read quickly. But once again, as with so many of these reveal/secrets books, I found that as soon as I was finished, the book already started fading from my mind. This makes the review hard to write, even though I liked the book while reading it.
It sounds like a criticism but I don’t think it is really – or at least, it’s not meant to be.
Not every book is meant to be a life-changing experience or a deep revelation; many books are meant to entertain, and this one assuredly did do that. I think it is simply that this is a genre that I read quickly and for enjoyment, rather than one I obsess over or have to ponder during and/or after I read it. That’s a marvelous reason to read and why I enjoy this type of story – the books are escapes and engaging and I get pulled in quickly and then find myself expelled as soon as the drama winds up.
It doesn’t lend itself to brilliant reviews afterwards, though…
Don’t misunderstand or think I’m lukewarm – there was good character development here, with some twists I didn’t anticipate (although most I did), and the pages flipped by in a flurry. It was a solid entry in the genre and Driscoll has a very engaging and easy to read style that pulls you in quite thoroughly – and then allows you to leave gracefully once it’s all finished.
My review copy was provided by NetGalley.