Safe House

Safe House is a story about past mistakes and how quickly you can lose yourself and change your future if you trust the wrong person. In her second thriller, Jakeman weaves a slow-burn suspense story that combines some intense scenes and a main character whose choices will make readers question her intentions.

The story is told using dual timelines. The first focuses on Steffi's new life as Charlie Miller as she tries to quietly start over after serving ten months in prison for giving her murderous boyfriend a false alibi. There are also flashbacks to Steffi's old life which enable readers to witness how and why Steffi made the decisions that irrevocably changed her life.

There are good underlying messages about women standing up for themselves, but I particularly enjoyed the creepy 'someone's watching you' vibe. These aspects were done well but I found the tension inconsistent and the book faltered a bit in the middle, taking on a more contemporary fiction feel as page time is spent showing Charlie easily acclimating to her new life and friends in a small Cornish town. Nice but not quite riveting stuff. Thankfully, things pick up for an exciting and satisfying conclusion as the story refocuses on the suspense aspect.

I thought this was a much stronger book than Jackman's previous book, The Exes' Revenge. I enjoyed how she focused more on character development, the addition of thought-provoking topics and I felt she had better twists in her story this time out.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Viking Publishing for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Jo Jakeman

Genre: Suspense

Type: Trade Paperback

Source: Publisher

Publisher: Viking

First Published: March 10, 2020

Opening Lines: Conor Fletcher slams the palm of his hand on the table 

between them and says, "I knew something like this would happen!"

Book Description from GoodReads: The morning after a terrible storm, a woman calling herself Charlie Miller turns up in a remote coastal village. She's bought a crumbling, long-vacant cottage and keeps to herself, reluctant to integrate with the locals--because if they ever find out who she really is, and what she's done, she'll lose what little she has left.

Charlie has a secret: she served two years in prison for providing a false alibi for a murderer. It was the mistake of a woman in love, a woman who couldn't believe her boyfriend was guilty--or lying to her. All she wants now is to start over. But as Charlie slowly lets down her guard and becomes friendly with her neighbours, she can't shake the feeling that someone is watching her...someone who knows what she did. When one of her new friends suddenly disappears, Charlie's worst fears are confirmed. She must confront her past head-on, but as she knows all too well, people aren't always who they appear to be--and you can't always outrun your mistakes.