Six years ago, Melody Pieterson was attacked and left for dead. Only a chance encounter with a dog walker saved her life. Melody's neighbor and close friend David Alden was found guilty of the crime and imprisoned, and the attack and David's betrayal of her friendship left Melody a different person. She no longer trusts her own judgment, she no longer trusts her friends. In fact, she no longer really has any friends. She's built a life behind walls and gates and security codes; she's cloistered herself away from the world almost entirely.
And then, soon after David is released from prison, Eve Elliot is murdered in an attack almost identical to Melody's. With the start of a new police investigation, Melody is suddenly pulled from her ordered, secluded life and back into the messy world around her. But as she learns more about Eve's murder, Melody starts to wonder if perhaps David hadn't betrayed her after all...if perhaps the killer is someone else entirely, someone who's still out there, preparing to strike again.
Narrated alternately by Melody and by Eve's lingering ghost, The Life I Left Behind is a taut thriller and an intimate look at two young women bound together in ways neither of them could ever have predicted. Colette McBeth has proven once again that she is a master of suspense.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 4, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781250041227
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781250041227
- File size: 1374 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from December 15, 2014
Trust, obsession, and survival provide the foundation for British author McBeth’s outstanding second novel, a standalone like her 2014 debut, Precious Thing. Melody Pieterson nearly dies during an attack by a London neighbor and friend, David Alden, who was convicted of the crime and sent to prison. Six years later, Melody’s physical pain has abated, but she still feels the emotional pain of being betrayed by David. She lives with her fiancé, but seldom leaves their secluded house a few miles from London. Melody is forced to relive the violence when another woman, Eve Elliot, is murdered shortly after David is paroled. McBeth smoothly alternates points of view among Melody, who struggles to rejoin humanity; Eve, who speaks from the grave; and Det. Insp. Victoria Rutter, who investigated both cases and begins to question David’s guilt. The author avoids gimmicks as the action realistically builds to a surprise finale. -
Kirkus
December 15, 2014
From beyond the grave, a brutally murdered woman watches as her killer's accidental survivor begins to piece together disturbing clues. McBeth (Precious Thing, 2014) returns with a taut, mesmerizing thriller. Six years ago, Melody Pieterson's nearly dead body was found in the park, clutching a bird on a gold chain, but she retains no memory of the attack. After having served time for attempted murder, David Alden is finally free-free to begin clearing his name. Eve Elliott, a senior producer at the recently canceled investigative news program APPEAL, meets David at a party. Although she's skeptical at first-after all, the evidence in Melody's attack pointed his way-Eve quickly finds herself seeing that evidence through David's eyes. Maybe there wasn't enough time for him to commit the crime. Maybe he wasn't just Melody's next-door-neighbor-with-a-jealous-streak but truly her friend. Maybe someone else had a better motive. Before Eve can help David, she's murdered, and the crime scene looks familiar. Meanwhile, Melody strives to keep the pieces of her life from shattering. She lives on the edge of town with her attentive fiance, Sam, in a light-filled, thoughtfully reconstructed farmhouse that she rarely leaves, vigilantly fabricating the illusion of a normal life. Even her best friend from college, Patrick, hasn't realized the extent of Melody's trauma. News of Eve's murder hits too close to home, however, and Melody can no longer maintain her fragile facade. McBeth ratchets up the tension, notch by exquisite notch, with chapters told from Melody's perspective alternating with chapters narrated by Eve's ghost. Melody must question whether David was truly her attacker, whether those closest to her may have misled the investigation, whether she can trust anyone. Spellbinding and surprising.COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Booklist
December 15, 2014
Melody Pieterson, who was attacked by her neighbor six years ago, has struggled to reclaim her former life, and now she rarely leaves the home she shares with her fianc' outside of London. Then Melody's attacker, David Alden, is released from prison, and investigative journalist Eve Elliot's body is found in a local park, left in exactly the same way Melody was. Melody should be reassured that this attack will certainly send Alden away again, but when she learns that Eve was investigating the possibility of Alden's innocence in the first attack, Melody's curiosity is awakened. Why would Alden murder the woman trying to clear his name? McBeth's debut novel, Precious Thing (2014), took readers on a fantastic trip into a twisted female friendship, and she again explores the dark area beyond love in this multifaceted portrayal of obsession, loyalty, and control. Melody's reawakening and Eve's regrets and triumphs will hook readers quickly, especially fans of female-centered psychological suspense novels like those by S. J. Watson, Lisa Unger, and Samantha Hayes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)
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