What Happened That Night by Sandra Block

Coming – 5 Jun 2018

 

Description

She doesn’t remember that night. But she will never be the same.

One moment, Dahlia is a successful Harvard student; the next, she wakes up from a party, the victim of a brutal assault. Her life veers into a tailspin, and what’s worse — her memory of the attack has been ripped away, leaving a cold rage in its wayke.

Now, years later, Dahlia is a tattooed paralegal suffering from PTSD and still haunted by that night. Until one day, a video surfaces online, and Dahlia sees her attack for the first time.

Now she knows what happened to her. And she knows who is to blame. Her rage is no longer cold, but burning, red hot.

And she is about to make everyone pay.

My Thoughts

Dahlia, both in ‘real time’ and going back five years, and James tell this story with some intermittent conversation in the Hawks Club Chat Room. It is clear, easy to follow and well written.

The story is harrowing, it is after all about the brutal assault on Dahlia, but it is also about people who feel different but find each other and that gives a heartwarming sense to it. Dahlia, with the help of her friends especially Eli, has made small steps to rebuilding her life after that night and all that followed but she still feels vulnerable, she is not who she was. Dahlia met Eli in recovery after attempting suicide they have been close ever since. James has Aspergers people treat him as though he isn’t ‘normal’, it’s not fair and, whilst he understands, he doesn’t like it. They work for the same firm but they become friends after an SOS (Survivors of Suicide) meeting, they click. James’ sister was beaten, badly, he wanted revenge but she committed suicide and it was too late.

Then the video of that night surfaces and Dahlia wants revenge and James wants to help. What happens then may be illegal, you may disagree on some level, there may have been other ways of dealing with the situation but, even if Eli does, Dahlia doesn’t think so, doesn’t want to and James well he understands the desire for revenge.

This book is gripping, sensitively, some of the content may not be easy to read, and well written with wonderful characters. It will draw you in, you will want to know what happens to Dahlia, to James, to Eli, to everyone – you will want to know how this ends.

Note: This book raises questions which would really be interesting for book clubs to consider. This is a book which tells a story but opens up a number of lines for thought and discussion.

With my thanks to Source Landmark via NetGalley for an eARC to read in return for an honest opinion.

Rating: 4.5* Recommended

Information

Publishers:  Source Books

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (1 July 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1492660299

ISBN-13: 978-1492660293

Buy:  Kobo   Barnes and Noble    Amazon

Author:

Sandra A. Block is an International Thriller Award finalist and the author of Little Black Lies, The Girl Without a Name, and The Secret Room. She graduated from Harvard, then returned to her native land of Buffalo, New York for medical training and never left. She is a practicing neurologist and proud Sabres fan, and lives at home with her husband, two children, and her cute, impetuous yellow lab.

Little Black Lies is her debut, a finalist in the International Thriller Awards, and The Girl Without a Name and The Secret Room are the other books in the Zoe Goldman series. Her latest stand-alone novel What Happened That Night comes out in June 2018.