Safe House by Jo Jakeman

I would like to thank Mia from Harvill Secker for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for fair and honest review

Publisher – Harvill Secker

Published – Out Now

Price - £12.99 Hardback 99p Kindle eBook

Not everyone deserves a second chance…

The morning after a terrible storm a woman turns up in a remote Cornish village. She calls herself Charlie, but it’s a name she’s only had for a few days. She keeps herself to herself, reluctant to integrate with the locals. Because Charlie has a secret. Charlie was in prison for providing a false alibi for a murderer…and now she has a chance to start again. But someone is watching her, waiting for her, wondering if she’s paid the price for what she did...

Trust is important and once we lose it its hard to get it back.  For those we love we always want to trust what they say; for friends we believe in their better natures and we want to believe everyone is a good person.  If we put the trust in the wrong person though the results can be grave for us. In Jo Jakeman’s smart thriller Safe House, we watch how someone’s blind trust in the man they loved turns their life into a nightmare.  One that they may never be truly free of.

Steffi Finn is now calling herself Charlie and has bought a very ramshackle house on the Cornish coast. She has no bed, no fridge and is keen not to discuss her past. We soon find out that Steffi was in prison for ten months as her boyfriend Lee for several years has been killing people.  The first time the police saw Lee as a suspect she covered for him as she believed he was innocent.  Later events made her confess to the police she lied but it turned out Lee had already killed again and so Steffi was sentenced to 10 months for a false alibi. While in prison she lost her job, her old home in Sheffield, her friends and saw the deaths of both parents. She is starting with very little in a remote part of the world and hopes her guise of Charlie will keep her safe. But a man is tracing her movements; investigating those who knew her, and he also has a score to settle at last.

I enjoyed this thriller a lot. Jakeman keeps you guessing as to what exactly is going on and we clearly are getting a message that these events will lead to some form of confrontation.  Charlie is shown as good hearted but naïve in her earlier guide. Lee was the man she wanted – caring despite being a tad possessive and controlling.  She only now realises her mistake and wants to move on. WE are shown she is kind natured and also with the loss of her parents perhaps already been punished quite a bit. The reader is immediately put on her side as someone who wants to turn a new lead. The lovely Cornish coastal town offers her that chance be it through kind neighbours offering jobs and company to a crotchety old neighbour who needs someone to help him.  This creates the idyllic life she has been seeking but as always in paradise there may be something darker waiting.

Jakeman sets up a neat game of cat and mouse.  We see our mysterious stranger stealing mail; pretending to be other people, all to find Charlie’s whereabouts.  He seems to be seeking revenge of some sort but why?  Charlie starts to get the intense feeling that she is being watched and a neighbour is now looking at her suspiciously.  How long before Charlie is found out and will she again be chased away from her new home?  The reveals of who is playing with Charlie and why are handled well (although possibly a little too out of the blue in the very final act). But there has been a great deal of build up so in the final third you end up suspicious of everyone so the final reveal was an interesting moment! 

This is an extremely enjoyable thriller.  Jakeman has created a very interesting lead character in Charlie but clearly has made a big mistake in her life but we want to see her succeed.  I like the idea of a book about redemption and at the same time the thriller of why Charlie is in danger as well as the exploration of the nightmare Lee plunged her into made for an engrossing read.  If you’re looking for a smart thriller to tide you this winter this would be a great read to try.

NB  - I’m advised this new thriller will be 99p throughout November via this link here