Hello Friends!
Today was a crazy day, so I’m quite happy to be able to sit down, and finally post this review.
“While Nobody Is Watching“, written by Michelle Dunne, is a Psychological thriller, published on 27th June 2020.
I want to thank Rachel, at Rachel’s Random Resources, and Michelle Dunne for the eCopy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Synopsis
A semi-inflated football and a curious little girl.
They called it peacekeeping. For Corporal Lindsey Ryan it was anything but.
It’s been three years since that bright day in the Golan Heights and the explosion which killed two and changed the survivors forever.
Now Lindsey deals with the many problems of the city’s troubled youth, to distract her from her own. But as damp days turn to night the kids return home, or somewhere like it, and she returns to her own private war. One that exists solely for her.
Certain that she’s being watched and certain that she’s losing her mind, Lindsey battles with the demons of post traumatic stress, while a very real threat edges ever closer until she finds herself face to face with someone who wants nothing more than to finally help her to die.
And it’s the last person she ever could have seen coming.
Blue helmets and blurred lines – While Nobody is Watching delves into the dark world of PTSD and a battle scarred soldier struggling to find a place in her new world.
Purchase Links: Amazon
Potential Trigger Warnings: PTSD/mental health theme
About the Author
Michelle Dunne wore a Blue Helmet in South Lebanon with B Company the Irish army and the UN, probably in that order.
She now lives in Cobh with her husband, daughter and a cast of characters waiting to be written about.
Michelle was one of those sporty types growing up, all bony elbows and knees, and as she lived on an island, it stood to reason she’d spend her first couple of decades taking in the salty, seaweedy air at the local rowing club (not the serene looking, posh rowing, but the other kind, undertaken by hardy fishermen).
This was where she learned just about everything she ever needed to know about anything. They brought home the County’s, All-Ireland’s were won, but the banter on the bus was always the real prize. From there it made sense that she’d leave town and join another club/asylum and found herself wearing a blue helmet somewhere in South Lebanon.
She’d become attached to the UN, but more importantly, to B-Company, the boldest, brightest, bravest the Irish army had to offer. She called them lots of other names too, but only to their faces. As tracer rounds lit up the sky above her and artillery rained down, she learned the words of every patriotic Irish song ever written and how to smile, laugh, and joke about things that would otherwise have you curled in a ball, rocking back and forth in the corner of the room.
Once her eyes had been opened and she returned to Irish soil, Michelle was promoted and following a spell back at college, is now a part of a company providing physiotherapy and staff training in nursing homes and hospitals all over Munster. A slower pace, but still an unruly bunch when they want to be. She’s back living on the island of Cobh with her husband Dominic and their daughter Emily and the hundreds of colourful characters waiting to make their way onto a piece of paper.
While Nobody is Watching is Michelle’s third book, which draws from her military experiences and the types of relationships that form within its ranks.
Social Media Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter
My Review
I have been reading a lot of Psychological Thrillers in the past months and although I’m no expert in the genre, I have found that they are quite interesting and they are fascinating to me.
As we follow Lindsey Ryan we go on a journey to find out the truth behind the mystery and crime that happened. What are the motivations of the characters? What will they do in the end? Who will Lindsey trust? Lot’s of question, some that I thought about while reading, but I won’t talk about them just in case, no need to spoil the story.
There is mystery, there is danger, there is a woman with a kind heart that works with the city’s troubled youth. The mixed of thrilling and uncertainty with the action pace and the excitement of uncovering what was the truth.
The book as exciting thanks to the characters. They gave realism and what we needed in the story to understand the background and get some clues about each character and the plot. Besides, the interactions made it possible for conversations to start.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. It wasn’t the same kind of enjoyment as a sweet romance, but it was the kind of enjoyment related to a thought provoking story. I loved that the book, thanks to the characters and the storytelling, focused on certain themes. It got me thinking and even emotional at certain points.
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Love,
Jess
Jess Bookish Life 