Stopping for your morning coffee, interrupted by a shotgun.

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srreid Avatar

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First off, i don't give full 5 stars out lightly, it tends to be a book which makes me verbally wow by the end which this one certainly did.

I was a bit dubious when i first saw it, it didn't seem like the sort of book i would normally read. But as i have found out time and time again thanks to Readers First, i would have been massively missing out on an amazing story.

It starts off seeming like a typical crime thriller, nutter takes a group of people hostage in a coffee shop and the negotiator is called in. Thankfully it didn't go all american and turn into a bloodsoaked bullet leaden siege but turned into a psychological character study of not just the gunman but each of the hostages and the negotiator, how their individual stories led them to this location on this day and their individual reactions to what is going on. Do they cower in fear or do they engage with the situation and try and make the most of it?

Without spoiling too much of the story we get a good insight into the early life of the gunman, a normal childhood that begins its downward spiral after his devoted farmer father passes away quite young in his sleep, the man who steps into their life seems like he means well, but then begins a campaign of gaslighting which is just horrible to read, and you live it alongside the main character as he tells his story to his hostages. They get invested in the story as well, and when some of them are given a chance to leave the cafe they decide to stay to hear more and try to understand and help this troubled man. Through this we then learn more about each of the other people as the story changes the viewpoints throughout so we get to see a bit of the siege through that person's eyes as they ponder on their own history and whether it's time for them to share some of their own stories.

You really feel like you are sitting in the cafe alongside this group of people so it is a little disappointing that it does come to an end, an ending which i was satisfied with and did wrap things up neatly.

This wasn't an author i had heard of before, but on the basis of this book i would definitely check out again.