The Interview by C. M. Ewan | Book Review

“I call it conviction… The courage to do what has to be done when it needs to be done.”

It’s 5 p.m. on a Friday.
You have been called to an interview for your dream job.
In a stunning office thirteen floors above the city below, you are all alone with the man interviewing you.
Everyone else has gone home for the weekend.
The interview gets more and more disturbing.
You’re feeling scared.
Your only way out is to answer a seemingly impossible question.
If you can’t… what happens next?

It has been a while since I read a psychological thriller, the last being some 17 books ago. This cover and blurb were quick to catch my attention and of course, being approved for a new (previously unread) author is always high up on my list.

Kate Harding is late for her 5pm interview at Edge Communications, one her recruitment agent has set up for her. A former airline hostess who has recently been through a personal tragedy, she now works in PR at her friends’ company. Having lied to them about this interview, Kate is feeling part guilty, part nervous but Maggie, her agent, insists this is the job for her.

The opulent lobby at 55 Ludgate Hill nearly takes Kate’s breath away but from thereon there are little warning signs. The sirens in her head start ringing when she realises she has walked into a trap. It is now upto her to figure a way out of here.

The events of this book take place over the course of a few hours. I’d imagined many scenarios for this plot but none of them came close to how the events eventually played out. The story moves quickly and the short chapters keep the momentum going. I won’t deny some of it was downright scary and I had to consciously remind myself this was fiction.

I would be remiss if I reveal any more details but I will say this is an intense thriller with an unusual storyline. The escape room scenario and interview/interrogation scenes are near terrifying but are also the reason why I enjoyed reading it.

I definitely recommend this, especially if you’re a thriller aficionado. For others – beware, it involves a lot of heart-stopping moments and is excruciatingly tense.

The Interview by C. M. Ewan. Due to be published on 17th February 2022 by Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan. This ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Pan Macmillan.

Book 7 of 2022.

Aquamarine Flavours Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2.

Available on Amazon*.

About Photo: When the concept of time blurs, one must summon every ounce of courage for time waits for no one.

This wall clock is made from paper doilies. The hands are cut from cardstock and the hours are marked with stick-on metal studs. The time is specifically set for the moment the drama begins.

About the Author: C. M. Ewan is a pseudonym for Chris Ewan, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of many mystery and thriller novels. Chris’s first standalone thriller, Safe House, was a bestseller in the UK and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. He is also the author of the thrillers A Window Breaks, Dead Line, Dark Tides and Long Time Lost, as well as the Good Thief’s Guide series of mystery novels. The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam won the Long Barn Books First Novel Award and has been published in thirteen countries.

Chris lives with his wife and their two children in Somerset, where he writes full-time.

You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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