Review: The Evidence Against You by Gillian McAllister @GillianMAuthor @MichaelJBooks @PenguinRHUK

Today is the day! Happy publication day to one of my favourite authors, Gillian McAllister on the book birthday of The Evidence Against You. If you’ve read my Top 15 Reads of 2018 you’ll know that GM’s Anything You Do Say was in the 15, if not you can see why (and the other brilliant reads included) here!

Michael J Comms sent the best invite to my inbox, to read and review Gillian McAllister’s upcoming thriller The Evidence Against you via Netgalley, back in December, as you can imagine I jumped for joy. There was also excited screeching….! Christmas wishes do come true!

The Evidence Against You is the 4th psychological thriller from Gillian McAllister and it is deliciously brilliant, not that I’m surprised!

The day I received THE invite, well of course I read it IMMEDIATELY and what a read! You can always rely on GM to deliver a thriller in such a twisty and compelling way, several times through this read I thought I knew how the storyline was going to go, I was so wrong! Before I go any further, here’s the blurb (thanks Amazon!)

“It’s the day her father will be released from jail. Izzy English has every reason to feel conflicted – he’s the man who gave her a childhood filled with happy memories. But he has also just served seventeen years for the murder of her mother.

Now, Izzy’s father sends her a letter. He wants to talk, to defend himself against each piece of evidence from his trial. But should she give him the benefit of the doubt? Or is her father guilty as charged, and luring her into a trap?”

Now I have your attention, I’ll give you a little nibble of the storyline without giving away any spoilers!

Izzy English was like any other 19 year old girl, she had parents who she loved! Alex (her mum) was a chef at her own restaurant while Gabriel (her dad) was a odd – jobs kind of guy with an artistic streak. Unexpectantly, on the 31st October 1999, her mother goes missing only to turn up dead and her father convicted of her murder. Fast forward 17 years and Gabe is released from prison on probation. Izzy has moved on with her life, still grieving the loss of both parents (Gabe may have been in prison but she still lost him!) The day of release, Gabe reaches out with a letter proclaiming his innocence, he wants to meet with Izzy to defend himself with his version of events. Will she hear him out? Or has she already made up her mind about his perceived guilt?

I found the narrative captivating, I quite literally (in book terms) devoured this book and couldn’t wait to rave about it! The storyline has been well plotted and thought out. Gillian has the immense talent of being able to transport you into the story with her poetic penmanship that doesn’t seem forced. This is just an example;

“The evidence against him has surrounded her like smoke; she’s breathed it in even as she’s tried to ignore it.”

I think that is a great way to describe the absorption of information, rather than saying it just as I have (I hope you get my point!)

The book delves in to life before and after the disappearance and murder of Alex English, which I feel creates the foundational backbone of the story. I think this allows the characterization to be more layered, rather than being basic 2D individuals. We as readers get a feel for the interactions between Alex and Gabe within the confinements of marriage; as well as developing the plot, this also allows for the air of mystery to engulf you while you sit at the edge of your seat demanding the truth! I enjoyed how the narrative flicked into the past, showing the same events from both Izzy and Gabe’s differing points of view. It makes you question everything and nothing at all! It shows how someone’s view of an event can be truly different from another’s, but how do you decide what version is the correct one?

The engagement of characters feel real and not forced, for example, the father – daughter relationship of Gabe and Izzy. I think this shows the extent to which Gillian carefully plans her characters and storyline. Apparently she uses a self – invented ‘box method’ during the planning stage, which evidently works so well!

Taking you back to a previous point, I didn’t have a clue how the book was going to end, it was unpredictable and twisty, which I love! This is a thriller that should most definitely be putting on your summer TBR! GM will never disappoint you, I am super excited for her fifth book!

I have recently begun reading the acknowledgements section of the books I read, because they are great! It is wonderful that Gillian has gone to such efforts to make sure her storyline holds some authenticity, especially when it comes to the law and prison life. (I also ‘aw-ed’ at her acknowledgement to her partner!)

When you read this book, I hope that you love it as much as I did! Obviously I highly recommend it! Enjoy!